United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Polygraph Protection Act of 1985 - Prohibits any employer from using any lie detector test or examination in the work place, for both pre-employment testing and testing in the course of employment. Requires the Secretary of Labor to prepare and have printed notices setting forth this prohibition. Requires employers to post these notices. Provides for remedies for violations of this Act as found in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Exempts Federal, State, and local employees from the Act's coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs tax credit from 1985 to 1986. Includes economically disadvantaged individuals who have attained the age of 55 as members of a targeted group for purposes of such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Agricultural Export Expansion Act of 1985 - Prohibits the cargo preference laws from applying to export activities of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) or the Department of Agriculture under which: (1) stocks of farm commodities or the products thereof acquired by the CCC are made available to U.S. exporters, users, or foreign purchasers for the maintenance or expansion of export markets for U.S. farm commodities; (2) commercial credit guarantees are blended with direct interest-free credits from the CCC to reduce the interest rate on export sales of U.S. farm commodities; or (3) the CCC or the Department of Agriculture promotes the export of U.S. farm commodities on a commercial basis.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Farm Credit Administration Act of 1985 - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to direct the Federal Land Banks to offer 20-year mortgage loans for agricultural or aquacultural land purchases. Sets forth lending limits on fully and non-fully secured loans. Directs the Farm Credit Administration to establish a central reserve for the Farm Credit System (FCS). Sets forth operating provisions. Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) audit FCS for FY 1985 and for each fifth fiscal year thereafter; and (2) report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to prohibit the use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to finance ocean freight charges for the export of farm commodities to the extent such charges are higher than they otherwise would be because of a requirement that the commodities be transported in U.S.-flag vessels. Directs the Maritime Administration to pay such increased charges. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (the Act) to revise title I provisions. Retitles title I (currently "Continuing Postsecondary Education Program and Planning") as "Targeted Educational Outreach and Informational Programs." Retitles and replaces part A (currently "Commission on National Development in Postsecondary Education") with new provisions for "Postsecondary Education Innovation and Expansion Grants." Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program, in accordance with such title I part A, to assist eligible postsecondary institutions to establish programs to enhance the educational opportunities available to adult learners. Directs the Secretary, from specified sums, to award grants to institutions with applications meeting specified criteria for such assistance. Sets the maximum award that may be made under a single application under part A at $200,000 (or $300,000 in the case of an application from a combination of eligible institutions), which may remain available for expenditure for not more than a three-year period. Makes institutions of higher education, as defined under general provisions of the Act, and combinations of such institutions eligible to apply for such assistance. Sets forth permissible uses of such grant funds. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 to carry out part A. Retitles and replaces part B (currently "Education Outreach Programs") with new provisions for "Postsecondary Outreach Grants." Directs the Secretary, in accordance with such title I part B, to carry out a program to assist postsecondary institutions to establish and carry out programs designed to encourage the establishment and growth of off-campus educational programs. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to institutions with applications meeting specified criteria for assistance. Sets the maximum award that may be made under a single application under part B at $200,000 (or $300,000 in the case of an application from a combination of eligible institutions), which may remain available for expenditure for not more than a three-year period. Makes institutions of higher education, as defined under general provisions of the Act, or combinations of such institutions, eligible for such assistance. Sets forth permissible uses of such grant funds. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 to carry out part B. Eliminates provisions for the National Advisory Council on Continuing Education. Sets forth new title I part C provisions for "Research Program Grants." Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, institutions of higher education, public and private institutions and organizations, and States, or any combination thereof, to support the purposes of such part C by providing assistance to such educational institutions for specified educational research, development, information, and training activities relating to postsecondary education for adult learners. Sets forth application requirements for such grants and contracts. Sets the maximum award that may be made under a single application under part C at $200,000 (or $300,000 in the case of an application from a combination of eligible institutions), which may remain available for expenditure for not more than a three-year period. Sets forth permissible uses of funds under part C. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 to carry out part C. Sets forth a new title I part D ("Defined Term") which defines the term "adult learner" for purposes of title I.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to provide that no provisions of law requiring the transportation of U.S. agricultural commodities in U.S.-flag vessels shall apply to agricultural commodities exported by or through the Commodity Credit Corporation if such exports are covered by commercial credit guarantees that are blended with direct interest-free credit from the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1985
Congressional Pay Reform Act of 1985 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to specify that pay adjustments for Members of Congress shall become effective on March 1 following the beginning of the next Congress after the Congress during which such adjustment is approved. Amends the Federal Salary Act to require the President to transmit to the Congress within a specified time period, recommendations for rates of pay of Members of Congress legislative and judicial employees. (Currently such recommendations are included in the Federal budget.) Prohibits the House of Representatives and the Senate from considering any bill or joint resolution carrying an appropriation for compensation of Members of Congress for any fiscal year if such bill or joint resolution carries an appropriation, or a limitation of appropriations, for any other purpose. Requires a recorded vote on such bill or resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Regulatory Oversight and Control Act of 1985 - Title I: Agency Rulemaking Improvements - Requires each executive agency and each independent regulatory agency to include in the notice of a proposed rule an explanation of the agency's determination as to whether the rule is a major rule. Directs each agency, before or upon publishing notice of a proposed rulemaking proceeding for a major rule, to issue statements concerning: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the benefits, costs, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards; (6) the technical information the agency will rely on in making the rule; and (7) the statutory authority of the agency to regulate any areas previously regulated only by State law. Requires that each agency issue additional statements upon providing notice of the promulgation of a major rule, including a statement of its determination that the benefits of the rule will justify the costs of the rules and that the rule will achieve rulemaking objectives in a more cost effective manner than the alternatives. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions on how the public may obtain copies of agency statements on such rule; (2) send a copy of all statements required at the notice and publication of a major rule to the President; and (3) include such statements and any technical information considered in the rulemaking file. Requires agencies to provide for oral presentations at informal public hearings as part of the rulemaking proceedings for major rules. Directs agencies to allow cross-examination of persons presenting information if necessary to resolve significant issues of fact. Directs agencies to regulate such public hearings so as to ensure orderly and expeditious proceedings. Allows an agency to delay completing the rulemaking requirements of this Act if it publishes a finding that complying with such requirements before making the rule would be impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. Requires an agency to complete such requirements as soon as practicable after promulgating the rule unless the rule will expire within two years. Sets forth provisions governing the judicial review of agency compliance with rulemaking and rule review requirements of this Act and the President's compliance with oversight requirements. Directs the President to: (1) establish procedures for agency implementation of the requirements of this title; (2) afford the public an opportunity to comment on such procedures before adoption; and (3) monitor, review, and comment on agency compliance with such requirements. Permits the Comptroller General to review agency compliance with this Act. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of all rules the agency expects to propose, promulgate, repeal, modify, or review in the next year and specified information concerning such rules. Requires publication of the agendas of all agencies in a single issue of the Federal Register. Directs each agency to publish for public comment a proposed schedule for the review of its existing major rules and other rules that may be added by the agency or the President. Declares that each such rule shall cease to be effective not more than ten years after the date the final schedule is published. Directs each agency to publish its responses to public comments upon publishing the final schedule. Requires an agency to include with the publication of a major rule the date, within ten years, on which the rule will expire and the date by which the rule must be reviewed. Directs each agency to: (1) publish a notice of the initiation of the review of a rule; (2) describe the costs, benefits, problems, and alternatives to the rule; (3) provide a period for public comment; and either (4) conduct a rulemaking proceeding to reissue or amend the rule; or (5) publish an explanation of its decision to allow the rule to expire. Allows agencies to alter review schedules if the President agrees. Eliminates the exemption of rules concerning loans, grants, and benefits from notice and comment rulemaking requirements. Requires that the notice of a proposed rulemaking include: (1) a statement of the objectives of the rule; (2) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (3) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Requires an agency to: (1) provide a period of at least 60 days after publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking for the public to submit comments on a proposed rule; and (2) include the agency's response to such comments in the statement published with the adopted rule. Prohibits an agency from relying on any material of central relevance in a rulemaking if the material is not included in the rulemaking file or the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the material. Directs each agency to maintain a public file on each rulemaking proceeding. Allows an agency to exclude from such file any material relied upon which is exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, if a statement of the basis for such exclusion is included. Requires a court reviewing an agency action: (1) not to accord any presumption in favor of or against agency action; (2) in determining questions of law other than statutory jurisdiction, to give the agency's interpretation such weight as it warrants considering the agency's authority under law; (3) in making determinations concerning statutory jurisdiction, to determine whether the action is within the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the statutory language or other indications of legislative intent; and (4) in determining whether the adoption of a rule is in accordance with law, to consider whether there is substantial support in the rulemaking file for the agency's factual determinations. Declares that when proceedings for review of the same agency action are instituted in two or more courts of appeals within ten days, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall select, by a system of random selection, the court in which the record shall be filed. Authorizes the courts to postpone the effective date of the agency action as necessary to permit designation of the court of record. Prohibits agencies from paying expenses of persons participating or intervening in agency proceedings except as specifically authorized by statute. Title II: Congressional Review of Agency Rules - Requires each agency to transmit a copy of each rule it promulgates to the House of Representatives and the Senate. Declares that such rule shall be considered only as a recommendation of the agency to Congress. Prohibits a major rule from taking effect unless a joint resolution approving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits a rule other than a major rule from taking effect if a joint resolution disapproving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule that is substantially the same as a major rule that was not approved or any other rule that was disapproved. Directs the Comptroller General, at the request of a committee of either House which has primary legislative jurisdiction over a rule or on his or her own initiative, to inform such committee as to whether the rule is consistent with the statutory authority under which it was promulgated. Exempts an emergency rule from such congressional review requirements if the agency submits to the appropriate congressional committees a written notice of: (1) its determination that the rule is an emergency rule; (2) the time period (limited to 210 days) during which the rule will be effective; and (3) its intention to issue a final rule, if necessary, when such emergency rule expires. Sets forth House and Senate procedure for the consideration of such resolutions of approval or disapproval. Declares that: (1) congressional inaction on or rejection of a resolution disapproving a rule shall not be deemed an expression of approval of that rule; and (2) enactment of a resolution approving a major rule shall not be construed to create any presumption of validity with respect to such rule and shall not affect the judicial review of such rule. Title III: Regulatory Oversight and Control Amendments to House Rules - Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish a Regulatory Review Calendar to which all resolutions for the approval or disapproval of agency rules shall be referred. Provides for the consideration of the resolutions on such Calendar on the first and third Monday and the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Declares that it shall be in order during the reading of a general appropriation bill to consider any germane amendment proposing a limitation restricting the implementation of an agency rule, other than a major rule, for which a resolution of disapproval has not been considered by the House, or has been passed by the House but not enacted, within the time required under this Act. Requires each standing committee of the House to consider and adopt its oversight plans in a meeting which is open to the public by March 1 of the first session of a Congress. Directs each such committee to: (1) consult with other congressional committees with jurisdiction over the same areas to assure that such areas are reviewed in the same Congress and that there is maximum coordination and cooperation between such committees in conducting such review; (2) give priority to the review of programs under permanent budget or statutory authority; and (3) attempt to ensure that all laws, programs, activities, and agencies within its jurisdiction are reviewed at least once every ten years. Requires each committee to submit its final plans to the Committee on Government Operations which shall report all such plans to Congress with recommendations to assure the effective coordination of such plans. Authorizes the Speaker of the House, with the approval of the House, to appoint special ad hoc committees to review specific matter within the jurisdiction of two or more standing committees. Requires each committee to include in its biennial report to the House separate sections summarizing the legislative and oversight activities of that committee. Declares that it shall not be in order in the House to consider a primary expense resolution for any committee that has not submitted its oversight plans to the Committee on Government Operations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend indefinitely the income tax exclusion for employee educational assistance programs. (Present law terminates such exclusion as of December 31, 1985.) Limits the maximum amount of such exclusion (beginning in 1986) to $5,000 of amounts paid or expenses incurred for educational assistance furnished to an employee during a calendar year. Exempts graduate students engaged in teaching or research activities from such maximum limit. Provides for annual cost-of-living adjustments in such maximum limit beginning in 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code with regard to the kidnapping of children under the age of 18. Provides for a minimum sentence of ten years. Imposes a life sentence (without the eligibility for parole for 20 years) if certain aggravating conduct is involved. Lists aggravating conduct as: (1) selling the victim of such offense; (2) sexually abusing the victim; (3) using the victim for pornography; (4) denying the victim food or medical care; (5) intentionally harming the victim physically to a life-threatening extent; or (6) causing the victim to be subjected to such conduct by another. Prohibits the granting of a probationary or suspended sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Amends the Highway Improvement Act of 1982 to provide that five percent of the amounts authorized for FY 1986 through 1987 for the Federal-aid Primary System shall be used to complete certain priority primary route projects designated in Committee Print No. 97-61 of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation (including the proposed Corridor Z Priority Primary Route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Brunswick, Georgia).
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the residential energy income tax credit for solar energy property for five years (from 1985 to 1990). Phases out the percentage of expenditures which may be taken into account for such credit between the years 1986 and 1990. Limits to $6,000 the maximum amount of expenditures for solar hot water systems which may be taken into account for purposes of such credit. Specifies additional standards which solar hot water systems and active space heating systems must meet in order to qualify for such credit. Increases and extends for five years (from 1985 to 1990) the energy investment tax credit for specified types of solar energy property.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
High Technology Research and Scientific Education Act of 1985 - Title I: The Credit for Increasing Research Activities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for research and development (R&D) expenditures. Modifies the definition of qualified research for purposes of the R&D credit to narrow the category of eligible activities for which the credit is allowable. Provides that in-house and contract research expenses paid or incurred by a regular corporation (not an S corporation, a personal holding company, or a service corporation) will constitute qualified research expenses for R&D credit purposes if the corporation undertakes the research with the intention to use the result thereof in the active conduct of a present or future trade or business. Provides that in the case of research being conducted in partnership form, research expenses will constitute qualified research expenses if they are incurred by the partnership in carrying on a trade or business as applied at the partnership level, and the credit is apportioned among the partners in accordance with general partnership rules. Provides exceptions to this general rule where: (1) there is a joint venture enterprise of regular corporations; or (2) not all of the members of the joint venture are regular corporations, but each member's own trade or business would satisfy the trade or business test with respect to the partnership's research expenditures. Provides that for these two exceptions the research expenses will flow through to the partners, with the trade or business test being applied at the partner level. Title II: Promotion of University Research and Scientific Investigation - Establishes a new income tax credit equal to 20 percent of that portion of a corporation's payments to universities (and other qualified non-profit tax-exempt organizations for basic research) which exceeds a fixed, historical "minimum university basic research" floor. Defines the "minimum university basic research" floor as one percent of the annual average of the corporate taxpayer's combined qualified in-house research expenses, contract research expenses and university basic research payments for the base period composed of the period from 1981 through 1983. Provides that the amounts of research expenses which fall below the floor shall remain eligible for the present R&D credit and are included in the corporation's base period for purposes of calculating the present R&D credit. Treats the amounts which exceed the "minimum university basic research" floor as ineligible for the present R&D credit and excludes such amounts from the corporate taxpayer's base year research expenses for purposes of calculating the corporations R&D credit under present law. Provides that a corporation's payments to universities for basic research that is eligible for the new tax credit shall be reduced to the extent that the corporation's general (i.e., not designated for research purposes) charitable giving to all universities falls below historical levels (the annual average of undesignated payments for three of the immediately preceding four years as selected by the taxpayer). Makes additions to the list of organizations to which corporate payments for basic research may be made and be eligible for the tax credit. Allows a corporation an income tax deduction for contributions of scientific or technical property to an institution of higher education. Defines scientific property to mean tangible personal property (including computer software) used in a trade or business, which is donated for the direct education of students or faculty, for research and experimentation, or for research training in the United States in mathematics, the physical, biological, or chemical sciences, engineering, or advanced computer sciences. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of the allowable deduction for contributions of scientific property. Provides for an income tax exclusion for the scholarships, fellowship grants, student loan forgiveness, or stipends of a graduate student in mathematics, engineering, computer science, or the physical or biological sciences. Provides that such tax exclusion is not forfeited merely because the student is required, as a condition of the scholarship or fellowship, to perform future service in teaching or research.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Military Real Property Disposal Act of 1985 - Alters the criteria for triggering the notice requirements before a proposed closure or realignment of any military installation may take place. Repeals the current criterion regarding any closure and any realignment involving a reduction of more than 1,000 or more than 50 percent of the civilian personnel authorized at the installation in question. Establishes as a new criterion any closure or realignment which increases the rate of unemployment in the economic region in question by one percent or more. Requires the Secretary of Defense or the military department concerned to include a socio-economic impact statement in any justification to the Armed Services Committees concerning a closing or realignment. Reduces the waiting period following the justification from 60 to 30 days. Removes from the Federal courts jurisdiction to review the actions of Federal officers and employees with respect to such closures or realignments.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Liberty Double-Eagle Bullion Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold double-eagle coins. Sets forth specifications for and the design of such coins. Makes such coins legal tender. Permits the sale of such coins at a price equal to the cost of minting and issuing such coins plus a surcharge equal to the amount by which the fair market value of gold bullion held by the United States and used in the minting of the coins exceeds the statutory maximum value of any gold certificates outstanding against the bullion. Requires the revenue from such surcharges to be used to reduce the national debt. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Revises Federal procedures regarding the establishment of interstate cost estimates to direct the Secretary of Transportation to apportion such estimates for construction funds and substitute highway and urban transit projects on October 1 of 1985-1988 if the Congress has not approved such estimates by that time.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (the Act), and repeals the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982, to provide for a consolidated program of extended unemployment compensation to replace the current extended compensation and Federal supplemental compensation programs. Revises the Act to limit the amount of extended compensation payable to an individual to the amount established in an individual's extended compensation account. Increases the limit on the amount established in an individual's extended compensation account. Sets forth the formula for determining the new limit. Limits an individual's eligibility period for extended compensation to the number of weeks equal to the applicable limit for an individual's compensation account. Requires the amount and duration of extended compensation payable under the interstate benefit payment plan to be the same as if the individual were filing the claim in the State which establishes the individual's extended compensation account. Requires that each unemployment benefit duration period shall be a three-month period beginning on the first Sunday of January of each year and the first Sunday of every third month thereafter. Sets forth formulas based upon each State's insured unemployment rate, for determining whether a benefit duration period shall be a seven-percent, six-percent, five-percent, or four-percent period. Requires that a benefit duration period shall be a "low-unemployment period" if the State's adjusted insured unemployment rate for the first week of such benefit duration period and the immediately preceding 12 weeks was less than four percent. Requires a benefit duration period to be a "national high-unemployment period" if the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the first week of such benefit duration period and the immediately preceding 12 weeks equalled or exceeded ten percent. Sets forth an alternate method of determining a benefit duration period based upon the total rate of unemployment. Requires that each State be paid an amount equal to the applicable percentage of the sum of the sharable extended compensation and the sharable regular compensation paid to individuals under State law. Sets forth the applicable percentage for seven-percent, six-percent, five-percent, four-percent, and national high-unemployment periods. Defines sharable regular compensation. Amends title IX (Employment Security) of the Social Security Act to authorize appropriations into the extended unemployment compensation account. Revises the Act to permit the State to modify the requirement that an individual must actively engage in seeking work during each week of unemployment in order to qualify for extended compensation. Permits States to take into account any State determination that labor market conditions in the labor market area in which such individual last worked and in the labor market area in which such individual resides are so depressed that actively seeking work likely will not result in employment. Prohibits payment of extended unemployment compensation to an individual unless the individual participates in an intensive one-week job search program administered by the Employment Service if requested to so participate. Repeals the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982. Permits States to choose to delay the applicability of the amendments and repeals made by this Act. Sets forth transition provisions for such States. Directs the Secretary of Labor to study and report to the Congress by December 31, 1985, on alternatives to the insured unemployment rate which would be available with respect to all States and which might provide a more accurate measurement of the employment and labor market situation in each State. Directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to increase by threefold the sample sizes used in determining the total unemployment rate and to give special consideration to increasing the statistical reliability of each State's calculation of its total unemployment rate. Authorizes appropriations for such increased sampling out of the employment security administration account in the Unemployment Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Authorizes the Attorney General to make contracts retaining private counsel to furnish legal services in the case of any claim of indebtedness owed the United States. Requires the Attorney General, in making such a contract in any judicial district, to use his best efforts to obtain at least four contracts for legal services with private individuals or firms in such district. Prohibits the fee payable for such legal services from exceeding the fee typically charged in the area for the collection of claims of indebtedness. Permits the head of an executive or legislative agency to refer to a private counsel so retained any claims of indebtedness owed the United States arising out of such agency's activities. Declares that for the purposes of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a private counsel performing collection services under this Act shall be considered a debt collector. Sets forth the procedure for filing counterclaims. Requires the Attorney General to transmit to the Congress an annual report on the activities of the Department of Justice to recover such indebtedness. Requires the Comptroller General to carry out an annual audit of the actions taken by the Attorney General pursuant to this Act during the preceding two years. Requires the Comptroller General to determine the extent to which there is competition among private counsel to obtain contracts pursuant to this Act, the reasonableness of the fees provided in such contracts, and the results of the debt collection efforts. Requires a report to the Congress on the findings and conclusions resulting from such audit. Requires the Attorney General to transmit to the Congress a report on the actions taken under this Act within 180 days after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit from 1985 to 1990. Increases the amount of wages which may be taken into account for such credit from $6,000 to $10,000 per year. Revises the definition of "members of economically disadvantaged families" to increase from 70 percent to 80 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' lower living standard the amount of income a family may have in order to qualify as a member of a targeted group.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to remove the authority for certain Members of Congress to use excess campaign funds for personal purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Synthetic Fuels Corporation Fiscal Responsibility Act - Amends the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act of 1980 to terminate the authority of the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation (the Corporation) to enter into any awards or commitments for financial assistance. Directs the Corporation's Board of Directors to submit a final report to the Congress regarding the status of the Corporation within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Prohibits the Corporation from expending any funds or acting in furtherance of any commitment made after February 5, 1985, unless a joint resolution approving such transaction is enacted. Requires the Secretaries of Energy and of the Treasury and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to agree on a Memorandum of Understanding which includes a plan for: (1) the abolition of the Corporation; and (2) for the administration of synthetic fuels projects which will continue after the abolition of the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Truth in Mileage Act of 1985 - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to prohibit the registration or licensing of motor vehicles when the ownership is transferred in interstate commerce unless: (1) the application for a new certificate of title is accompanied by the prior owner's most recent registration card and title; and (2) the new certificate of title is printed in a specified manner and indicates the odometer mileage. Provides that each State shall require a motor vehicle to furnish the transferee with the transferor's registration card. Prohibits State issuance of a registration card for a motor vehicle used in interstate commerce unless the application contains the mileage of the motor vehicle on the application date. Authorizes States to submit alternative mileage disclosure requirements for the approval of the Secretary of Transportation. Provides that auction companies selling motor vehicles must maintain records showing: (1) the name of the most recent owner; (2) vehicle identification number; and (3) the odometer reading on the date the auction company took possession of the vehicle. Increases the civil penalty for violations of the odometer requirements from $1000 to $2000, and increases the criminal penalty for such violations from one to three years maximum imprisonment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Social Security Reorganization Act of 1985 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Establishes in the Administration a General Counsel and an Inspector General. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; and (3) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator of the General Services Administration. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Title II: Miscellaneous and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth a contributor and beneficiary bill of rights under which: (1) all individuals are required to be treated fairly by the Board and the Secretary; (2) the Secretary and the Board are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of age, sex, race, creed, color, handicap, national origin, or economic condition; and (3) the Board and the Secretary should maintain prompt, professional, and effective service which is responsive to the community. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Board to report to Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs which he or she administers. Title III: Effective Dates and Transitional Rules - Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the use of law enforcement, fire protection, and emergency medical vehicles by government employees shall be treated as a nontaxable fringe benefit.
![Official portrait of Rep. Tauke, Thomas Joseph [R-IA-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000053_200.jpg)