United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1980
Authorizes the expenditure of funds, not to exceed $207,200, for a special study and investigation of welfare and pension plans to be conducted by the House Committee on Education and Labor. Makes such expenditures available to the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations. Specifies that $8,000 of such funds are for the reimbursement of computer and computer related services requested by such committee. Declares that no part of these funds shall be available for expenditure in connection with the study of any subject which is being investigated by any other House committee.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1980
Appoints William G. Bowen, of New Jersey, as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the statutory term of six years.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1980
Appoints Carlisle H. Humelsine, of Virginia, as citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, for the statutory term of six years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1980
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to include within the coverage of those titles services rendered by a nurse-midwife. Defines the term "nurse-midwife" to mean a registered nurse who has successfully completed a prescribed course of study or who has been certified by a recognized organization, and who performs services in the area of the management of the care of mothers and babies throughout the maternity cycle.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1980
Entitles any individual covered by a Federal health benefits program which provides payment for the services of a nurse-midwife, to unrestricted selection of, and access to, such nurse-midwife.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1980
Authorizes the expenditure of funds, not to exceed $1,744,500, for investigations and studies to be conducted by the Committee on House Administration. Specifies that $136,000 of such funds are for the reimbursement of computer and computer related services requested by such committee. Declares that no part of these funds shall be available for expenditure in connection with the study of any subject which is being investigated by any other House committee. Terminates the authorization granted by this resolution on January 3, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress to condemn Soviet actions taken against Andrei Sakharov which further show the lack of the Soviet Union's fitness to host the Olympics.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 1979
Establishes in the House of Representatives and under the direction of the Committee on House Administration a Congressional Child Care Center to provide child care services for children of Senators, Representatives, and congressional employees. Requires all operating expenses of the Center to be recovered through the fees charged for child care services provided by the Center. Directs the chairman of the Committee on House Administration to appoint a nonpartisan advisory board to make recommendations to the Committee with respect to matters relating to the Center and to conduct semiannual reviews of the operations of the Center and submit a written report of each such review. Establishes in the Department of the Treasury a revolving fund within the contingent fund of the House of Representatives to be known as the Congressional Child Care Center Revolving Fund. Authorizes the Committee on House Administration to acquire such facilities as may be necessary for the operation of the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1979
Condemns the use of lethal chemical agents against the Hmong tribespeople in Laos and any such use in Kampuchea (Cambodia). Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) take action to bring about the cessation of such poison gas use; (2) direct the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on Disarmament to express strong concern over such use and reach agreement with the Soviet Union on a general prohibition of chemical warfare; and (3) report to the Congress concerning actions taken.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 1979
Condemns the use of lethal chemical agents against the Hmong tribes people in Laos and any such use in Kampuchae (Cambodia). Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) take action to bring about the cessation of such poison gas use; (2) direct the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on Disarmament to place such warfare on the U.S. agenda and reach agreement with the Soviet Union on a general prohibition of chemical warfare; and (3) report to the Congress concerning actions taken.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1979
Requests the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to develop a plan for local nutrition monitoring including: (1) the identification of priority target areas; (2) the development of a structure for monitoring specified regions; and (3) the choice of methodology and a timetable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 1979
Condemns the use of lethal chemical agents against the Hmong tribespeople in Laos. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) take action to bring about the cessation of such poison gas use; (2) direct the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on Disarmament to place such warfare on the U.S. agenda and reach agreement with the Soviet Union on a general prohibition of chemical warfare; and (3) report to the Congress concerning actions taken.
United States · United States Congress · 28 November 1979
Authorizes such sums as may be necessary for the continuance of necessary committee projects, activities, operations, and services, including payment of staff salaries by each standing or select committee of the House of Representatives, for the period beginning January 3, 1980, and ending March 31, 1980. Authorizes each such committee, for each month during the specified period, to payments in amounts equal to nine percent of the total amount authorized for use by such committee during the first session of the 96th Congress. Directs that the funds authorized under this resolution shall cease on the effective date of the primary expense resolution adopted with respect to such committee.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1979
Immigration and Nationality Efficiency Act of 1979 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with regard to non-immigrant student status to: (1) limit its applicability to academic institutions; (2) authorize non-immigrant student status for vocational, language, or other recognized non-academic study (on the same entry basis as academic students); and (3) authorize the Attorney General to withdraw school approval for any satisfactory reason (presently limited to withdrawal for failure to make required reports). Eliminates from the definition of "ineligible to citizenship" persons exempt by treaty from United States military service. Eliminates (with a new ceiling to be added at a later date) the 290,000 annual worldwide ceiling on immigration to the United States. Eliminates (with a new ceiling to be added at a later date) the 20,000 annual national ceiling on immigration from contiguous nations (Mexico and Canada). Provides that unused visas by a contiguous country in any fiscal year shall be made available to the other contiguous country in the following year. Places a five year time limit (presently indefinite) on the requirement that aliens deported or removed from the United States must get the consent of the Attorney General in order to reapply for admission. Authorizes the Attorney General to admit aliens as immigrants if otherwise admissible except for specified defects in their immigrant papers, provided such inadmissibility was not known to such aliens and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of reasonable diligence. Revises re-entry permit provisions to authorize the issuance of such permit for a two-year non-renewable period (presently one year with up to a one year discretionary extension). Revises alien deportation and maintenance expense provisions to: (1) provide that deportation shall be to the country from which the alien boarded the vessel or airplane that brought him to the United States; and (2) provide that if such departure was from a foreign territory contiguous to the United States of which such alien was not a national or resident, then deportation shall be to the country from which such alien departed for such contiguous territory; (3) set forth guidelines for the Attorney General if a country is unwilling to accept a deportable alien. Makes the non-applicability of fraudulent entry deportation provisions to alien spouses, children, or parents of United States citizens or permanent residents discretionary with the Attorney General rather than mandatory. Eliminates, with regard to suspension of deportation proceedings, the requirement that the Attorney General report to Congress on all such proceedings, and the congressional role in approving or disapproving such suspensions. Provides that upon cancellation of such a deportation proceeding, the Attorney General shall record the alien's admission for permanent residence as of the date of such cancellation. Limits the ineligibility of such deportation suspension and status adjustment proceedings regarding non-immigrant exchange aliens to those aliens subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement. Revises non-immigrant change of classification provisions to: (1) prohibit the reclassification of alien finances; and (2) permit the reclassification of exchange visitors not subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement. Authorizes the Immigration and Naturalization Service to keep funds spent out of its appropriations for the purchase of evidence and subsequently recovered rather than depositing them into the United States Treasury. Makes aliens who have been relieved of United States military service obligations eligible for citizenship if their military exemption was pursuant to a treaty or other international agreement. Provides that such eligibility provision shall have retroactive effect. Provides that the spouse and dependent unmarried children of an alien who qualifies for certain naturalization residence requirement exceptions shall also qualify for such exceptions for the period they resided abroad as members of such alien's household. Removes: (1) the requirement that two witnesses verify an individual's naturalization petition; and (2) certain affidavit and proof of residence requirements for such petition. Repeals the provisions requiring witnesses to be present at a final hearing for naturalization and requiring a 30 day waiting period between the filing of a petition and the issuance of a certificate of naturalization. Requires the clerk of a naturalization court to pay to the Attorney General one-half of all fees up to $40,000 (presently $6,000), and all fees in excess of such amount, in a fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations bring the matter of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, before the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1979
Handgun Crime Control Act of 1979 - Title I: Amendments to Chapter 44, Title 18, United States Code, Gun Control - Amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to revise and add definitions used in the Act. Defines "handgun" to include handgun parts. Defines "Department" to mean the Department of Justice (current law is under the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury). Prohibits non-licensees from engaging in the business of repairing firearms or ammunition. Stipulates that certain otherwise lawful activities, such as the returning of a firearm by a licensee to the person from whom it was received and the mailing of a firearm to a licensee for the purpose or repair, shall be unlawful with respect to "easily concealable handguns" (that is, those handguns not approved by the Attorney General under this Act). Prohibits the loan or rental of an easily concealable handgun to another person for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes. Prohibits a licensee from selling a handgun to a person who does not appear in person at the licensee's business premises. Prohibits a licensee from selling or delivering a firearm or ammunition to any person if such sale or delivery violates a public ordinance at the place of residence of the purchaser. Revises the statement which must be submitted to a licensee by a purchaser not appearing at such licensee's business premises to provide that such purchaser be 18 years of age with respect to all firearms (current law requires a purchaser of any firearm other than a shotgun or rifle to be 21 years of age). Prohibits a licensee from manufacturing, assembling, selling, or transferring any handgun, other than a curio or relic, which has not been approved by the Attorney General. Prohibits any person from transferring such a handgun unless such person has reasonable cause to believe that the handgun has been approved. Excepts the mailing of handguns to comply with approved standards under certain circumstances. Prohibits the modification of an approved handgun resulting in the failure of such handgun to meet the approved standards. Revises the current prohibition against certain classes of individuals transporting a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce to: (1) extend such prohibition to possession or receipt of any firearm or ammunition; and (2) include as additional categories illegal aliens, persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, and persons who have renounced their United States citizenship. Includes such categories in the current prohibition against selling a firearm or ammunition to certain classes of individuals. Prohibits any person from transporting a firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce in violation of a State law in a place to or through which the firearm was transported. Prohibits a licensee from transferring three or more handguns to the same non-licensee within a period of one year, without prior approval of the Attorney General. Prohibits a non-licensee from receiving three or more handguns within one year without such approval. Prohibits any person who has knowledge of the loss, theft, or disappearance of a handgun in his or her control or possession to fail to report such incident to a law enforcement officer and the Attorney General. Specifies the circumstances under which a person in lawful possession of a license or permit to: (1) carry handguns issued under a State licensing or permit granting program approved by the Attorney General may purchase or receive a handgun in any State from a licensed dealer or non-licensee; and (2) purchase handguns issued under an approved program, may purchase or receive a handgun in the State issuing the license or permit. Directs the Attorney General to review State laws providing for licenses or permits to carry or purchase handguns and to certify as approved those satisfying specified requirements. Specifies the circumstances under which (except as provided by other sections of the Act) a licensed dealer or non-licensee may transfer a handgun to another non-licensee. Sets new annual licensing fees of $5,000 for a manufacturer or importer of handguns, $500 for a dealer in handguns, $100 for a dealer in ammunition for handguns that is not also used in rifles, and $100 for a dealer who is a gunsmith. Prohibits a pawnbroker from being licensed as a dealer in handguns or handgun ammunition and such dealers from conducting business from the premises of a pawnbroker. Imposes additional requirements for the approval of a license application by the Attorney General. Increases from 45 to 90 days the period in which an application must be approved or denied. Authorizes the Attorney General, after notice and opportunity for hearing, to suspend or revoke a license, or subject a licensee who violates any provision of the Act to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. Sets forth new recordkeeping requirements for licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers in handguns. Provides for the transfer of records where a licensee loses his or her license, transfers the business to another person, or in any way ceases doing business. Directs the Attorney General to appoint a 15-member Handgun Criteria Commission to develop criteria for the evaluation of handgun models according to frame size and other appropriate factors for determining whether such models are easily concealable, have potential for criminal use, or are particularly suitable for sporting purposes. Requires the Commission to submit a report containing such criteria within one year of enactment and to evaluate biannually the effectiveness of existing criteria. Directs the Attorney General to revise the criteria upon a determination by the Commission that handguns satisfying existing criteria are significantly involved in handgun crime. Requires final criteria to be transmitted to Congress, which may disapprove by resolution the criteria within 60 days of continuous session. Directs the Attorney General to approve for manufacture, importation, or transfer any handgun model which satisfies the established criteria after representative samples of such model are evaluated and tested. Authorizes exceptions with respect to handguns which are particularly appropriate for law enforcement purposes. Directs the Attorney General, prior to the time that criteria have been established, to evaluate samples of all handgun models and approve for manufacture, importation, or transfer handgun models which meet specified requirements. Sets forth procedures for the administrative review of a finding that a sample submitted has failed to meet the approved standards. Requires the Attorney General to publish at least semiannually in the general register a list of handgun models which have been tested and the test results. Deems approved any handgun model not in manufacture on or after October 21, 1968, and which has not been tested. Revises the penalties under such Act. Disallows, with respect to a person who uses or carries a firearm during the commission of any felony and receives an additional sentence, the suspension of such sentence, the giving of probation, or the concurrent running of a term of imprisonment (under current law such prohibitions apply only to a second or subsequent offense). Sets forth a mandatory period of parole ineligibility for such offense, unless the court finds specified mitigating circumstances. Makes any person (including a licensee) who negligently sells or transfers a handgun in violation of this Act civilly liable for the death or injury suffered by an individual as a result of the use of the handgun by the transferee in the commission of an offense that causes death or personal injury to that individual. Stipulates that certain exceptions to the provisions of the Act shall only apply with respect to handguns which have been approved by the Attorney General in accordance with the Act. Allows a mental incompetent to be relieved from the disabilities of the Act with respect to the possession, acquisition, or transfer of firearms upon specific findings by a court. Authorizes the Attorney General to permit the importation of approved handguns. Directs the Attorney General to make annual grants for each fiscal year and supplemental grants at his or her discretion for compensation of victims of handgun crime to qualifying State programs for the compensation of victims of handgun crime. Specifies eligibility criteria for such programs and the amount of authorized payments. Requires the Attorney General to submit annual reports to the congressional judiciary committees concerning such programs. Establishes a nine-member Advisory Committee on Victims of Handgun Crime to advise the Attorney General on the administration of the programs and policies relating to the compensation of victims of handgun crimes. Title II: Gun Control Functions Transferred to Attorney General - Transfers to the Attorney General all functions of the Secretary of the Treasury under the Gun Control Act of 1968. Authorizes the President to transfer additional functions of other agencies to the Department which relate to the functions transferred by this Act. Establishes within the Department of Justice the Firearms Safety and Abuse Control Administration to administer the functions of the Attorney General under the Gun Control Act of 1968. Directs the Attorney General to transmit to Congress as part of the annual report of the Department of Justice a report on the activities of the Administration. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Federal criminal code to increase from 45 to 90 days the period in which an application for a user permit or a license to import, manufacture, or deal in explosive materials must be approved or denied. Authorizes the Attorney General, after notice and opportunity for hearing, to suspend or revoke a license, or subject a licensee who violates any statutory requirement to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. Directs the Postal Service to promulgate regulations for the conveyance of handguns in the mails. Directs the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations established by the Act of September 24, 1959, in consultation with the United States Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, and representatives of Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, to report within six months of enactment on: (1) intergovernmental problems in controlling illicit handgun traffic; and (2) the effectiveness of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Gun Control Act of 1968. Repeals title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (relating to the receipt, possession, or transportation of firearms by felons, veterans dishonorably discharged, mental incompetents, illegal aliens, and persons renouncing their United States citizenship). Makes this Act effective 120 days after enactment, with specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1979
Pay Continuity Act of 1979 - Appropriates the funds necessary to pay the salaries of employees of the executive branch of Government, Members of Congress, and members of the uniformed services during any period when such funds are not available because the legislation making appropriations to the Government entity responsible for paying such individuals has not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1979
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to authorize the use of certified mail for the service of complaints, orders, and other process and papers of the National Labor Relations Board.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Soviet Union should release Ida Nudel and allow her to emigrate to Israel. Urges the President to: (1) express U.S. opposition to the exile of Ida Nudel to Siberia; and (2) inform the Soviet Union that the United States will take into account the extent to which countries honor their commitments under international law, particularly concerning human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. delegation to the 1980 Madrid meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to seek free elections supervised by the United Nations in the Baltic States after the withdrawal of all Soviet military and civilian personnel. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should inform and gain the support and cooperation of other nations in realizing independence for the Baltic States. Expresses the sense of Congress that the: (1) President should warn the Soviet Union against making citizenship claims on U.S. citizens; and (2) Secretary of State should inform U.S. citizens planning to visit the Soviet Union of the implications of the Soviet law on citizenship.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1979
Federal Employee Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1979 - Applies specified standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to the Federal workplace of employees of Executive agencies, the Postal Rate Commission and the United States Postal Service (but not the Office of Personnel Management). Requires each agency to: (1) furnish its employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards; and (2) comply with safety and health standards. Requires employees to comply with standards and with specified rules, regulations, and orders. Authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to conduct inspections, investigations, and recordkeeping relating to Federal employee occupational safety and health. Permits employees or their representatives to request such inspections in specified cases. Directs the Office to issue citations to the head of any agency in violation of any requirement, standard, order, rule, or regulation under this Act. Provides for an enforcement procedure, including, in specified cases, hearings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Provides for review of any Commission order in a U.S. court of appeals upon request of the head of any agency or any employee adversely affected by such order. Permits the Office to obtain review or enforcement of any final order of the Commission in a U.S. court of appeals. Prohibits any agency from discharging or discriminating against any employee because such employee has: (1) filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act; (2) testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding; or (3) exercised any right afforded by this Act on behalf of anyone. Permits employees who believe they have been so discharged or otherwise discriminated against to file complaints with the Special Counsel. Directs the Special Counsel to undertake an appropriate investigation and to file a complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board if a violation has occurred. Authorizes the Board to restrain such violations for cause shown and to order all appropriate relief. Authorizes the Office to order any agency to restrain any conditions or practices constituting a danger immediately or before that danger can be eliminated through other enforcement procedures. Declares that any such orders which prohibit the employment or presence of any individual in locations in which imminent danger exists shall not apply to specified individuals, including those whose presence is necessary to maintain the capacity of a continuous process operation to resume normal operations without a complete cessation of operations. Directs inspectors, as soon as they conclude that such an imminent danger exists, to inform the affected employees and agency. Permits employees, or their representatives, to bring actions against the United States in district courts to compel the Office to issue such orders and for appropriate further relief. Authorizes attorneys designated by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to represent the Office in civil litigation under this Act, subject to the direction and control of the Attorney General. Authorizes the Office to allow reasonable variations and exemptions from provisions of this Act to avoid serious impairment of the national defense. Provides for civil or criminal penalties for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes the Commission to assess all such civil penalties. Authorizes the Office to conduct short-term training of personnel in work related to responsibilities under this Act. Directs the Office, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to: (1) provide for education of heads of agencies and employees in the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions; and (2) consult with and advise heads of agencies and employees, and their representative organizations, as to effective means of preventing occupational injuries and illnesses. Authorizes the head of each agency to establish a health service program for employees. Directs that the Secretary of Health and Human Services offer mandatory consultation before, and requested reviews after, such programs are established. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Director, Office of Personnel Management, to carry out a safety program covering specified maritime employees under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. Authorizes the President to establish a safety council of labor organization representatives and employing agencies to advise the Secretary of Labor concerning such program. Directs the head of each agency with such employees to develop an organized safety promotion, to keep specified records, and make reports to the Secretary of Labor. Makes funds available for the purchase and maintenance of special protective clothing and equipment from appropriations for supplies, materials, or equipment procurement. Directs the Office, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to compile and analyze occupational safety and health statistics for Federal agencies. Authorizes the Office to make contracts and matching grants for such statistical research and to cooperate with States in such efforts. Directs the Office to make annual reports to Congress concerning Federal employee occupational safety and health. Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to: (1) establish and maintain a comprehensive occupational safety and health program applicable to the Office consistent with specified standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (2) provide employment conditions consistent with such standards; (3) require the use of protective equipment; (4) keep records of occupational accidents and illnesses; and (5) consult with and report annually to the Secretary of Labor concerning such records and program. Directs the Secretary of Labor to transmit such annual report to the President. Directs the President to transmit an annual report of such activities of the Office. Authorizes the Office to prescribe regulations concerning Federal employee occupational safety and health. Repeals specified provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 relating to programs of Federal agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1979
Condemns the use of lethal chemical agents against the Hmong tribes people in Laos. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) take action to bring about the cessation of such poison gas attacks; (2) direct the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on Disarmament to place such warfare on the U.S. agenda and reach agreement with the Soviet Union on a general prohibition of chemical warfare; and (3) report to the Congress concerning actions taken.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1979
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of benefits to any individual for any month in which such individual is confined in a penal institution. Stipulates that benefits withheld from such individuals shall be treated as having been paid to such individuals for purposes of determining the benefits to which other persons are entitled on the basis of the same wages and self-employment income.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1979
National Historic Preservation Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Act known as the "National Historic Preservation Act of 1966" to officially entitle such Act the "National Historic Preservation Act." Declares under such Act, that it is the duty of the Federal Government, in cooperation with other nations, the States, local communities, and private organizations and individuals, to promote the preservation and conservation of the historic, architectural, archaeological, and cultural resources of the United States and of the international community of Nations. Declares that the Federal Government shall give priority to preservation activities for the revitalization of urban areas, the conservation of agricultural areas, the creation of local employment opportunities, and the conservation of energy. Directs the Administrator for Historic Preservation appointed pursuant to this Act to establish and maintain a National Register of Historic Places at the national, State, or local level in accordance with procedures set forth in this Act. Requires that such properties shall: (1) be of national or world heritage significance; (2) involve a direct or indirect public investment; and (3) be legally dedicated to preservation. Directs the Administrator, not later than one year after his initial appointment, to establish an Inventory of Historic Resources on a State-by-State basis. Declares that those properties which are determined to meet the criteria of significance, but which lack the other requirements for inclusion in the National Register, shall be designated as eligible for inclusion on the Register. Makes such Inventory available to all Federal, State, and local government departments, agencies, and instrumentalities. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations concerning nondisclosure to the public of any property location where such disclosure would be likely to endanger the property. States that properties included in such inventory and designated as eligible properties shall be treated as certified historic structures under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, unless the Administrator finds that such treatment would not further the purposes of this Act. Declares that such properties shall be entitled to financial assistance in accordance with provisions of such Act. Directs the Administrator to review, during the one-year period following enactment of this Act, all properties included in the National Register under prior authority of law. Requires the Administrator to include each property designated as "National Historic Landmarks" under prior authority and each property which meets the requirements of this Act in the National Register. Provides that those properties included in the Register under prior authority, but which do not meet all the requirements under this Act shall be designated in the Inventory as "eligible properties." Allows any State or local government carrying out an approved program under this Act or any Federal agency to nominate a property for inclusion in the Register or for inclusion in the Inventory as an eligible property. Requires such information to be included in the Register, as appropriate, unless the Administrator disapproves such nomination within 30 days of its receipt. Allows the Administrator to accept a nomination from any person, if the property nominated is located in a State or political subdivision where there is no approved program. Requires the Administrator to determine the eligibility or inclusion of such property in the Register. Allows the Administrator on his own motion or at the request of any person, to include any property on the Inventory and designate such property as eligible if he determines such property to meet the requirements of this Act. Declares that a property shall be considered of national significance when: (1) the Congress so designates a property; (2) a property is included in the National Park System as a historical unit; or (3) the Administrator determines the property to be of national significance. States that a property shall be considered to be of World Heritage significance when it is included in the World Heritage list maintained in accordance with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Declares that a property shall be considered a public investment if government agency fund expenditures directly or indirectly contribute substantially to the preservation of such property, or if a Federal income tax deduction or similar State or local measure is taken with respect to the amortization of amounts spent for rehabilitation of a certified historic structure. Provides that a property shall be treated as legally dedicated to preservation when: (1) an easement, or other property interest, requiring preservation of significant features of such property for not less than 30 years is held by any person or government entity or is otherwise legally binding on the owner; (2) such property is under public ownership and managed for preservation; or (3) any State or local law provides for the designation or preservation of such property. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish and administer grant-in-aid programs to States and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and programs of direct grants, loans or loan guarantees for historic preservation. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States, upon application, for programs approved under this Act. Prohibits such grants from paying more than 50 percent of the costs of such programs. Provides that the remaining 50 percent shall be contributed by non-Federal sources, and of such percentage not more than 25 percent may be contributed in the form of property or services, or both. Requires the Administrator, upon approval of such programs, to evaluate such programs every four years to determine whether or not such programs are in compliance with the requirements of this Act. Requires the Administrator to conduct periodic fiscal audits of the recipients of Federal grants. States that State and local governments may assume the responsibility for financial and compliance audits of Federal grants received by them and other persons or organizations and their subgrantees. Declares that the Federal Government shall be responsible for audits which deal with economy, efficiency, and program results and for assuring that such financial and compliance audits are conducted under generally accepted audit standards. Directs State and local governments receiving grants to set forth in writing criteria by which they judge whether they are meeting program requirements, to be available for use by the auditors. Directs the Administrator to reimburse State and local governments for actual expenses incurred in conducting such audits. Sets forth the following requirements for approval of State programs: (1) designation by the Governor of a State historic preservation officer; (2) transfer of not less than 50 percent of the grants received to political subdivisions of the State having preservation programs; (3) provision of financial mechanisms for the development of properties on the National Register or in the Inventory of Historic Resources; (4) provision of mechanisms for the acquisition, acceptance of donations, and dedication of fee title in applicable properties; (5) provisions for relocation assistance to persons or businesses affected within the historic district; (6) giving priority to projects that will conserve energy, are labor intensive, or will further urban revitalization or agricultural conservation; (7) provision of a professional acceptable mechanism for the identification, evaluation, and protection of historic properties within the State; and (8) otherwise carrying out the purposes of this Act. Sets forth restrictions for grants made under this Act for the improvement of properties. Prohibits grants made under this Act for the improvement of properties. Prohibits grants made for any single property to exceed $50,000. Prohibits any grant to any State in any fiscal year to exceed ten percent of such funds to carry out a comprehensive statewide survey of historic resources. Requires that no more than 15 percent of such grant be used for improvement of government buildings used for governmental purposes. Sets forth procedures for the allocation by States of grants to political subdivisions. Allows the Administrator to allocate funds to any political subdivision of any State that does not have an approved program within two years after the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth procedures for approval of State historic preservation programs in effect under prior authority of law. Sets forth conditions for grants and loans that may be made by the Administrator for: (1) the preservation of properties of national or world heritage significance; (2) demonstration projects to preserve any eligible property or property on the National Register; (3) the training and development of skilled labor in trades and crafts and in curation relating to historic preservation; and (4) Indian tribes for the preservation of historic properties. Provides that any such loans made by the Administrator shall be at an interest rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury guided by applicable provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to make loan guarantees for any project approved by the State historic preservation officer, or the chief elected official of any State that does not have an approved program. Sets forth conditions for loans and loan guarantees made by the Administrator in consultation with the Secretary of Treasury. Authorizes the Administrator to deem any portion of any record, material, or data received in connection with any financial application as privileged or confidential within the meaning of applicable law. Establishes as an independent agency a Historic Preservation Agency to be under the direction of the Administrator for Historic Preservation, appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Directs the President to establish an Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to be composed of the following members: (1) the Secretary of the Interior and the Architect of the Capitol; (2) four agency heads (other than the Department of the Interior) whose activities affect historic preservation; (3) representatives of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and four professionals in the fields of history, architecture, archeology, urban planning, or related disciplines; (4) three State governors or mayors; and (5) three at large members of the general public. Sets forth requirements and procedures to be followed in the operation of the Council. Authorizes the Council to conduct hearings and make determinations and recommendations with respect to the protection of historic properties. Requires the Council, when transmitting legislative recommendations, testimony, or comments on legislation to the President or the Office of Management and Budget, to concurrently transmit such copies thereof to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Sets forth the duties of the Administrator including: (1) advising the President and the Congress on matters relating to historic preservation; (2) encouraging public interest and participation in historic preservation; (3) conducting studies relating to historic preservation and the effects of tax policies on such preservation; (4) assisting State and local governments in drafting appropriate legislation; (5) providing training and education in the field of historic preservation; and (6) maintaining the historic register, surveys, and records of the agency. Requires the Administrator to submit an annual comprehensive report of his activities and the results of his studies to the President and the Congress. Authorizes the Administrator to accept donations and bequests of money and real and personal property, and to use such donations in accordance with provisions of this Act. Directs the Administrator, consistent with the provisions of this Act, to institute a program of education and training relating to historic preservation for Federal agencies, State and local governments, private organizations and individuals, and other nations and international organizations connected with the World Heritage Convention. Directs the Administrator to increase the awareness of historic resources and preservation among the student population of the United States, to develop mechanisms to give the public a greater knowledge of historic resources in the cultural heritage of the United States, and to establish a program for training and development of skilled labor in trades and crafts relating to historic preservation. Requires the Administrator to review the policies and programs of Federal agencies whose activities are under the purview of this Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate guidelines relative to archaeological and historical data for Federal agencies consistent with provisions of this Act. Directs the Administrator, within one year after his appointment, to establish, jointly with the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense, and the Administrator of the General Services Administration, standards for the management and preservation of federally owned historic properties. Directs the Administrator to review and approve the plans of transferees of surplus federally owned properties eligible for or on the National Register to ensure historic preservation in the rehabilitation of such properties. Requires all Federal agencies administering any program of Federal assistance to any State or local government or under which any Federal approval is required to coordinate such program with the purposes of this Act. Requires such agencies to submit proposals to the Administrator, within 180 days after his appointment, relative to their preservation activities. Directs the Administrator to designate National Historic Landmarks and World Heritage properties and to submit such designations to the appropriate World Heritage properties and to submit such designations to the appropriate congressional committees 30 days after such designations become effective. Directs the Administrator to encourage and coordinate United States participation in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and other international historic preservation activities in cooperation with the Secretaries of the Interior and State, and the Smithsonian Institution. Requires the Administrator to establish a program to nominate historic properties to the World Heritage Committee on behalf of the United States. Requires such nominations to be submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 60 days prior to the intended action. Authorizes the participation of the United States as a member of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. Authorizes the appropriation of the sums necessary for United States membership in the Centre for fiscal years 1979 through 1989. Directs the Administrator to establish a program to encourage tourism by people of other nations to historic properties of the United States, reflecting the diverse, ethnic and cultural heritages of the citizens of the United States. Requires each Federal agency to notify the Administrator 45 days prior to any undertaking outside the United States that may affect a property on the World Heritage list or which has been nominated for inclusion on such list. Requires the head of each Federal agency to designate a Preservation Officer responsible for coordinating the agency's activities under this Act. Requires each agency having jurisdiction or control over properties on the National Register to submit property management plans to the Administrator for comment within one year after the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study and investigate properties included in the National Register which are under the jurisdiction or control of Federal agencies. Authorizes the Secretary to recommend to the President the transfer of administrative jurisdiction or control of such properties to him as a unit of the National Park System. Requires such recommendation to be concurrently submitted to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Authorizes the Secretary, upon the concurrence of the Administrator, to accept gifts or donations of less than fee interests in any properties in the National Register, where such acceptance will facilitate the preservation of such property. Authorizes each Federal agency having authority for management of any real property, with the concurrence of the Administrator, to lease or exchange with any person or organization the management of properties on the National Register. Requires the proceeds of such leases to be retained by the agency to defray the expenses with respect to such properties, and the surplus proceeds to be deposited in the United States Treasury. Allows the heads of such agencies to enter into contracts for the management of such properties. Directs all Federal agencies to cooperate with purchasers and transferees of eligible property or property included in the National Register in the development of plans for uses of such property comparable with preservation and conservation objectives without imposing unreasonable economic burdens on public or private interests. Requires each Federal agency having direct or indirect jurisdiction over a proposed Federal or federally assisted undertaking in any State to survey the affected area to determine the effect of such undertaking on the protection of historic properties. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, under which Federal programs or undertakings may be exempted from the requirements of this Act. Authorizes all Federal agencies to expend appropriated funds for purposes of this Act. Requires each Federal agency to provide the Administrator a 45-day comment period with respect to any program or policy that may affect historic properties. Defines terms used in this Act. Establishes a Historic Preservation Fund in the Treasury of the United States to be funded from revenues payable to the United States under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or the Act of June 4, 1920, or both. States that not less than two-thirds of appropriated funds shall be available for other grants or loans and for the Administrator to carry out his duties under this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish regulations to insure maximum public participation in all activities of the Administrator, the Council, other Federal agencies, States, and units of local governments in carrying out requirements under this Act. Declares that grants made under this Act may not be used to satisfy requirements of other provisions of law requiring matching by State or local funds nor shall they be treated as taxable income for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Grants attorney fees to any person who prevails in any civil action brought in any United States district court against any Federal agency to enforce the requirement relating to the protection of historic properties in connection with the action of a Federal agency. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an annual preservation awards program under which he makes awards to Federal, State, or local government officers or employees in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the preservation of historic resources. Allows the President to award any citizen of the United States recommended for such award by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for carrying out the awards program. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate to any State having an approved program under this Act the authority to carry out responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to such approved program. Transfers the provisions of various Acts relating to historic preservation responsibilities from the Secretary of the Interior to the Administrator for Historic Preservation. Authorizes the Administrator to issue an order to postpone for 60 days any action undertaken, or being undertaken, by any Federal agency, or agency or instrumentality of a State or local government, or by any other person if such action may adversely affect any property included in the National Register. Directs the Administrator, during the period, to endeavor to develop an acceptable preservation plan for the affected property, or to exercise his emergency acquisition authority provided under this Act. Provides procedures for the assessment of civil penalties for violations of such orders, and for judicial review in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or any other district in which such person resides. Provides procedures for administrative hearings for the assessment of civil penalties. Establishes the Pension Building in Washington, District of Columbia, as a national historic site to be named the "National Center for the Building Arts." Requires the Administrator of the General Services Administration to transfer such building and lands to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. Directs the Secretary to administer the management of the Center in accordance with provisions of this Act and other Acts generally applicable to units of the National Park System. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts with the National Building Arts Foundation relating to management of such Center. Appropriates $15,000,000 to be used for the renovation of the Center. Establishes a National Building Arts Foundation and specifies programs it shall carry out relating to the building arts. Directs the Foundation to coordinate its activities with other public and private organizations and individuals in order to avoid duplication of efforts relating to the functions of the Foundation. Establishes a Board of Trustees of the Foundation and provides for the funding of the Foundation. Directs the General Accounting Office to review and audit regularly the accounts of the Foundation to determine the ability of the Foundation to pay for the functions of the Center. Requires the Foundation to submit annually a report to the appropriate congressional committees containing a statement of its activities pursuant to this Act and a proposal for its programs during the succeeding four years. Provides emergency acquisition procedures for the Administrator for any properties eligible for or in the National Register where such properties are threatened with demolition or impairment. Directs the Administrator, in consultation with the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress and the Buildings Arts Foundation, to report within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, to the President and the Congress on preserving and conserving the intangible elements of our cultural heritage. Requires the report to include recommendations for legislative and administrative action by the Federal Government relating to such heritage. Directs the Administrator for the Historic Preservation Agency to submit the following reports: (1) to the President and the Congress within eight years on the operation of the Historic Preservation Fund; (2) to the Congress within 90 days of his appointment on his study of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation; (3) to the President and Congress within one year of his appointment on recommendations with respect to Federal tax laws relating to historic preservation; and (4) to the President and the Congress within two years of enactment of this Act on recommmendations for the creation of a National System of Cultural Parks. Amends the Pennsylvania Development Corporation Act to require any historic property demolition, or other rehabilitation, to be in accordance with applicable Federal and District of Columbia laws.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1979
Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act - Establishes the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to: (1) determine whether a wrong was committed against American citizens and permanent resident aliens who were subjected to relocation or internment as a result of Executive Order Numbered 9066 and other associated Government acts; and (2) recommend appropriate remedies. Directs the Commission: (1) to hold public hearings in specified cities; and (2) within 18 months after enactment of this Act, to submit a final report of its findings and recommendations to Congress and the President. Terminates the Commission six months after such report is submitted.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1979
National Publications Act of 1979 - Abolishes the Joint Committee on Printing and the Government Printing Office. Establishes the National Publications Agency (NPA) as in independent establishment in the executive branch to provide for public printing services and the distribution of public documents. Creates within the NPA a ten member National Publications Commission composed of seven voting members and three nonvoting members. Grants such Commission overall responsibility for NPA policies and operations. Lists the duties of the Commission which include: (1) providing for appropriate use of private commercial sources for public printing services and the distribution of documents; (2) prescribing indexing and bibliographic standards for public documents; (3) furnishing supplies manufactured by NPA to other Government entities; and (4) fixing standards for materials used to produce public documents. Provides for the appointment of the voting members of the Commission by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the composition, administrative procedures, and compensation of the Commission. Directs the Commission to submit to the President and specified committees of Congress any regulations it may prescribe to carry out the provisions of this Act. States that such regulations shall take effect within ten legislative days after submission unless the President issues an Executive order or either committee adopts a resolution disapproving them. Authorizes the Chairman of the Commission to appoint and fix the pay of necessary staff personnel without regard to existing provisions governing appointments in the competitive service or classification and pay rates under the General Schedule. Directs the Chairman, with the Commission's approval, to appoint a Director of Administration of the NPA to be responsible for administrative and support services common to more than one component of the NPA. Authorizes the Director to employ necessary personnel including special police officers. Requires labor-management relations in the NPA to be based on principles of collective bargaining contained in existing Federal law relating to private sector employees. Declares that the provisions of title 5 of the United States Code (Government Organization and Employees) affecting the terms and conditions of Government employment, with specified exceptions, shall apply to NPA employees who are represented by a labor organization. Requires that unresolved collective bargaining matters be referred to binding arbitration whenever an impasse occurs. Provides for selection of an arbitrator. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by the arbitrator to resolve the impasse. Establishes the NPA revolving fund in the United States Treasury. Requires the Comptroller General to audit the activities of the NPA at least once every three years beginning in fiscal year in 1982. Sets forth restrictions pertaining to: (1) the procurement of property by the Chairman; and (2) the procurement of public printing services by the Director of Production Services. Requires Commission regulations governing such procurement to: (1) promote competition; (2) provide opportunities for small business participation in NPA contracts; (3) permit contractors to use subcontractors in the performance of a contract; and (4) limit the duration of any procurement contract to five years. Requires the Commission to submit any budget requests concurrently to the President, or the Office of Management and Budget, and to Congress. Creates within the NPA a position for a Director of Production Services who shall be appointed by the Chairman with the approval of the Commission. Makes the Director responsible for the provision of public printing services in the NPA. Requires that all public printing services for the Government be provided through the NPA. Directs the NPA to prescribe regulations allowing a Government entity to have printing services performed by a private person or in an authorized field printing plant of a Government entity under specified conditions. Requires materials which are printed as permanent public documents or at Government expense, to bear notice of such information. Establishes within the NPA the position of Director of Distribution Services to be responsible for the maintenance, distribution, and international exchange of public documents. Requires that public documents be distributed through the NPA unless the Director deems another method of distribution to be in the public interest. Declares that the price of a document shall not be less than the cost of production and distribution of such document, except under specified conditions. Requires the Director of Distribution Services to: (1) maintain an index of public documents; (2) prepare a catalog listing recent documents; (3) make available all documents to depository libraries; and (4) provide reference services to such libraries with respect to such documents. Authorizes each Member of Congress to designate two libraries within the Member's congressional district for the deposit of public documents. Permits the head of each Government agency to designate a depository library within the agency. Designates specified libraries as depository libraries. Requires any free public document to disclose certain information concerning its availability. Authorizes the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate to regulate public printing services and the distribution of public documents for Congress. Directs the NPA to prepare the Congressional Record, the Congressional Directory, and specified congressional documents. Directs the head of each Government entity to designate one employee as an information resources manager to: (1) coordinate public printing services and the distribution of documents for such entity; (2) certify the legality and necessity of a requested public printing service; (3) furnish the Director of Distribution Services with information concerning the publications of such entity; and (4) oversee compliance with this Act. Prohibits the Director of Production Services from providing public printing services without receiving a certification of the need and legality of such service from an information resources manager. Eliminates existing provisions of Federal law governing the public printing of particular reports and documents. Sets forth provisions concerning the transfer of functions, funds, and personnel of the Government Printing Office and the Joint Committee on Printing to the NPA and, with respect to oversight functions of such committee, to appropriate congressional committees. Directs the National Publications Commission to prescribe comprehensive regulations relating to the functions of the NPA. Makes technical and conforming amendments. States that this Act shall take effect on January 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1979
National Center of Afro-American History and Culture Act - Establishes the National Afro-American History and Culture Commission which shall: (1) be responsible for the development of a definitive plan for the construction and operation of the National Center for Afro-American History and Culture; and (2) solicit subscriptions of funds from private sources to help meet costs of the construction, furnishing, and operation of the center, including the costs of acquiring works of art and artifacts. Allows the Commission to: (1) acquire by gift, purchase with appropriated or donated funds, transfer from any Federal or State agency, exchange, or otherwise acquire suitable land and interest in land in the vicinity of Wilberforce, Ohio, for the location of the headquarters of the center; (2) acquire appropriate works of art and any other real or personal property necessary for the establishment and operation of the center; and (3) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any property acquired and designate any proceeds from such disposal for the benefit of the center. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire by donation or purchase with donated or appropriated funds the Colonel Charles Young Home and adjacent lands in Wilberforce, Ohio, not to exceed 80 acres, which when acquired shall be known as the Wilberforce National Historic Site.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a separate income tax on the severance pay of unmarried individuals whose employment is terminated by a closing of their place of employment which appears reasonably likely to be permanent and which involves the discharge within a 12 month period of at least 75 percent of the employees. Allows an income tax deduction for severance pay received in a taxable year to the extent that such pay is included in the gross income of the taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1979
District of Columbia Retirement Reform Act - Title I: Financing of Retirement Benefits - Establishes the District of Columbia Retirement Board to exercise exclusive authority to manage and control the funds established by this Title. Details provisions relating to the Board's composition, the election and terms of office of Board members, the procedures to be followed by the Board, and the financing of the Board's operations. Establishes the District of Columbia Policemen and Fire Fighters' Retirement Fund into which shall be deposited: (1) amounts withheld from the salaries of, and deposited by, members of the Metropolitan Police and the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, pursuant to the Policemen and Firemen's Retirement and Disability Act; (2) amounts appropriated to the Fund pursuant to this Act; and (3) amounts made as return on investment of the assets of the Fund. Establishes the District of Columbia Teachers' Retirement Fund into which shall be deposited: (1) amounts withheld from the salaries of, and amounts deposited by, each teacher in the public schools of the District of Columbia for such teachers' retirement account; (2) assets transferred from the District of Columbia teachers' retirement and annuity fund; (3) amounts appropriated to the Fund pursuant to this Act; and (4) amounts made as return on investment of the assets of the Fund. Establishes the District of Columbia Judges' Retirement Fund into which shall be deposited: (1) amounts withheld from the salaries of, and amounts deposited by, judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; (2) assets transferred from the District of Columbia Judicial Retirement and Survivors Annuity Fund; (3) amounts appropriated to the Fund pursuant to this Act; and (4) amounts made as return on investment of the assets of the Fund. Requires that the assets of each Fund established by this Act be kept separate from other moneys, but not necessarily kept separate from one another if the Board determines that commingling of such assets is advisable for investment purposes. Requires the Board to maintain a cash reserve for the funds sufficient to meet current annuity and disability benefit outlays. Prohibits the investment of assets of the funds in obligations issued or guaranteed in whole or in part by the government of the District of Columbia, the government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the government of the State of Maryland, or the government of any political subdivision thereof, or in obligations secured by real property in the District of Columbia, Virginia, or Maryland. Directs the Board to engage an enrolled actuary to determine, in accordance with generally accepted actuarial practices, the level percentage of payroll required to be paid into the Fund, considering length of participation in the retirement program and the present value of future benefits. Sets forth formulae to determine annual Federal Payments and annual District of Columbia payments to each Fund. Authorizes the appropriations of specified sums from the revenues of the United States and from amounts in the United States Treasury credited to the District of Columbia contributions to each Fund, respectively. Provides for a reduction in Federal contributions to the District of Columbia Policemen and Fire Fighters' Retirement Fund should the costs of police officers and fire fighters' disability retirement prove excessive as determined by a specified formula. Sets forth the criteria for determining the percentage of disability for current employees who apply for disability retirement. Requires each member of the Board to submit detailed annual personal financial disclosure statements to Congress and the D.C. government. Directs the Board to publish annual reports with respect to each retirement program and corresponding Fund to which this Act applies. Requires that each such report include: (1) a financial statement containing a statement of Fund assets and liabilities, a statement of changes in net assets available for benefits under the retirement program, and other specified information; (2) an opinion by an independent public accountant as to whether such financial statement is presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles; (3) an actuarial statement containing specified information relating to the Fund and retirement program; (4) information relating to the number of employees covered by the retirement program, persons receiving compensation from the Fund, and specified changes to the Funds' operation; and (5) a report from each insurance company or similar organization from which program benefits are purchased or which guarantees such benefits. Directs the Board to prepare summary retirement programs descriptions to be supplied to each participant in, and beneficiary under, each retirement program to which this Act applies. Requires that annual reports and copies of summary retirement program descriptions, including periodic updates containing material modification, be filed with the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Council, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Empowers the Mayor, the Council, or either House of Congress to reject any filing upon making specified findings. Suspends Federal contributions to any Fund with respect to which a filing is rejected or no timely filing has been made pending an acceptable filing. Requires that copies of such reports and descriptions be made available for public inspection. Designates the Board and each member of the Board fiduciaries with respect to the Funds. Authorizes the Board to designate one or more persons to exercise fiduciary responsibilities with respect to Funds established by this Act but places with the Board fiduciary responsibility for the oversight of any person so designated. Lists standards and guidelines to be followed by fiduciaries in the discharge of their duties. Specifies circumstances under which a fiduciary shall be liable for a breach of fiduciary duty by another fiduciary. Prohibits a fiduciary from causing the Fund to engage in specified transactions with interested parties or with itself. Deems void any provision in an agreement instrument which purports to relieve a fiduciary of responsibility or liability. Permits the Board, fiduciaries, and groups of retirement program participants to purchase insurance to cover liability or losses arising from a breach of fiduciary duty. Prohibits any person convicted of specified crimes from serving as an administrator, fiduciary, counsel, or employee of, or as a consultant to, the Fund established by this Act within five years of any such conviction or release from imprisonment, unless the Board of Parole of the United States determines that such person's service with the Fund would not be contrary to the purposes of this Act. Requires every fiduciary of a Fund established by this Title and every person who handles its funds to be bonded. Sets forth criminal penalties for violation of fiduciary obligations. Creates civil causes of action for the benefit of specified plaintiffs to enforce the provisions of this Act. Specifies time limits within which civil action grounded on breach of fiduciary duty must be brought. Title II: Changes in Retirement Benefits - Revises the method for determining the salary base period for computation of annuities of participants in the District of Columbia Policemen and Fire Fighters' Retirement Fund. Permits any member or officer of the Metropolitan Police or Fire Department who is on approved leave without pay to serve as a full-time official of an employee organization to have such service credited towards his retirement upon meeting specific requirements. Sets forth separate procedures and standards for members of the Metropolitan Police and the Fire Department with respect to: (1) eligibility for optional retirement; (2) eligibility for disability retirement; (3) amount of disability annuities; (4) suspension of disability annuities; (5) physical examination of disability annuitants; (6) amount of survivors annuities; (7) deferred annuities; and (8) interest on refunds and on deposits for prior service credit. Authorizes cost-of-living adjustments in annuities payable from the District of Columbia Policemen and Fire Fighters' Retirement Fund. Permits the Mayor to waive collection of any overpayment to an annuitant if such overpayment is less than $100. Permits the Mayor, in the case of payments due to mental incompetents or minors, to make payment to any person, who in his judgment, is responsible for the care of such claimant. Directs the Board of Police and Fire Surgeons to submit to the Mayor recommendations for regulations to improve the administration of disability retirements. Places restrictions on retired police officers and fire fighters receiving an annuity under this Act while employed by the District of Columbia government. Authorizes cost-of-living adjustments in annuities payable from the District of Columbia Teacher's Retirement Fund and District of Columbia Judges' Retirement Fund. Revises the means for determining eligibility for each such adjustment. Revises the amount of benefits due under a teacher's annuity in the event the name beneficiary of such annuity predeceases the annuitant. Provides the termination of teachers' disability annuities based on excessive outside earned income. Places restrictions on retired teachers receiving an annuity under this Act while employed by the District of Columbia government.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1979
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit specified House committees and subcommittees from holding regular or additional meetings on days when the House is in session, other than for the purpose of taking testimony or receiving evidence, on Thursdays or on Wednesday afternoons, and other specified committees on Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings. Prohibits any subcommittee from meeting in the District of Columbia, except for the purpose of taking testimony or receiving evidence, unless the chairman of the committee has specifically authorized in writing the subcommittee meeting. Requires the Committee on House Administration, through the House Information Systems, to provide a scheduling service which shall be used by all the committees and subcommittees of the House to eliminate any meeting and scheduling conflicts. Requires any announcement made by a House committee concerning the date, place, and subject of any committee hearing to be promptly entered into the committee scheduling service of the House Information Systems.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1979
Fuel Assistance Act of 1979 - Title I: Fuel Assistance for Low-Income and Elderly Households - Directs the Secretary of Health. Education, and Welfare (HEW), in cooperation with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the Community Services Administration, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to establish procedures for determining the needs of eligible low- income and elderly households for increased weatherization and other energy-related assistance and for providing such assistance on a time basis. Earmarks specified funds for the purpose of creating public information and outreach programs designed to ensure maximum participation in the energy assistance program established under this Act. Directs the Secretary of HEW, acting through the Social Security Administration, to establish a program to provide assistance to low-income and elderly households for meeting primary residential fuel costs. Sets forth criteria for determining the amount of such assistance, and requirements for eligibility. Specifies that the amount or value of benefits provided under such program shall not be considered income or resources for any purposes under any Federal or State law. Establishes a system of making payments to fuel suppliers supplying fuel to eligible recipients. Requires such suppliers to provide specified information to the appropriate State agency in order to qualify for such payments. Provides that such program shall be administered by the appropriate State agency according to an agreement between such agency and the Secretary, or, in the absence of such agreement, by the Secretary in accordance with regulations. Requires suppliers to keep full records and submit them to the Comptroller General as needed for auditing purposes. Prohibits suppliers from refusing to sell fuel to eligible participants solely on the basis of their participation in the fuel assistance programs established under this Act. Prohibits suppliers from terminating supplies of primary residential fuel to eligible households except in accordance with specified procedures. Imposes criminal penalties for violations of the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations necessary to carry out this Act. Authorizes appropriations to carry out such fuel assistance program. Directs the Director of the Community Services Administration to establish a crisis intervention program to supplement the fuel assistance program with evacuation procedures, emergency shelter, home repair, or payment of bills. Authorizes appropriations for such crisis intervention for fiscal years 1980 through 1982. Title II: Middle-Income Energy Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit to eligible taxpayers for amounts paid for heating oil for principal residences.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 1979
Education Amendments of 1980 Title I: Establishment of a New Title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a new title I: "Education Outreach Programs". Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 through 1985, with 85 percent of such sums designated for State programs and 15 percent for Federal discretionary grants. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants to States to conduct comprehensive statewide planning for improving access to postsecondary education for traditional and nontraditional learners, coordinating educational and occupational information services for youth and adults, and coordinating all continuing education programs. Sets forth formulas to determine the percentage of grant funds which may be spent on statewide studies, information services, and continuing education. Authorizes the States to make grants to public and private institutions and organizations for such purposes. Sets forth formulas and procedures for determining the allotment of such funds to each State. Authorizes the Secretary to make Federal discretionary grants to promote and develop postsecondary and continuing education. Title II: Amendment and Extension of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Changes the title II heading to: College and Research Library Assistance and Library Training and Research. Directs the Secretary (formerly directed the Commissioner of Education) to make resource development grants to institutions of higher learning and to other public and private nonprofit library institutions whose primary function is to provide library and information services to institutions of higher education on a formal cooperative basis. Limits the amount of such grants to $10,000 each. Directs the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, institutions of higher education and library organizations or agencies to assist them in training persons in librarianship. Requires that at least 50 percent of such grants be for establishing and maintaining fellowships and traineeships. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, institutions of higher education and other public or private agencies, institutions, and organizations for research and demonstration projects related to library improvement, librarianship training, information technology, and dissemination of project information. Authorizes the Secretary to make special purpose grants to: (1) institutions of higher education to meet special national or regional needs in library or information sciences; (2) combinations of such institutions for joint-use library facilities, resources, and equipment; and (3) other public and private nonprofit library institutions providing formal, cooperative library and information services to higher education institutions to improve such services. Requires recipients of such grants to expend specified matching sums. Directs the Secretary to make grants to institutions with major resource libraries. Bars recipients of such grants from receiving other specified grants in the same fiscal year. Establishes a National Periodical Center and a National Periodical Center Corporation. Directs the Corporation to establish a national system to provide reliable and timely document delivery from a comprehensive collection of periodical literature. Provides for the authority to carry out Corporation functions, a Board of Directors, a Director and Staff, nonprofit status, and corporate powers. Directs the Corporation to report to the President and Congress each year. Title III: Amendment to Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to improve the academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of developing institutions. Redefines "developing institution" as "an institution of higher education: (1) the enrollment of which includes a substantial percentage of students from low-income families; and (2) the average expenditures of which are low, per full-time equivalent student, in comparison with the average expenditures of institutions that offer similar instruction." Authorizes appropriations for such program for fiscal years 1981 through 1985. Sets forth formulas for allocating such appropriations to junior or community colleges, institutions awarding bachelor degrees, and for specified grants. Authorizes the Secretary to waive specified requirements for eligibility for such assistance in order to increase higher education opportunities for American Indians or Spanish-speaking people. Sets forth purposes and durations of grants, requirements for applications for assistance, and limitations on the use of funds granted to this title. Title IV: Student Assistance - Extends through the end of fiscal year 1986 the period during which the Commissioner of Education is directed to pay basic educational opportunity grants to eligible undergraduate students. Redefines student eligibility requirements for such basic grants to include attendance at an eligible institution, carrying at least one-half the normal full-time workload, maintaining satisfactory progress in the course of study, not owing a refund on previous grants or being in default on a student loan, and filing a statement that such funds will be used solely for educational purposes. Sets the maximum amount of each such grant for academic years 1981-1982 through 1985-1986. Requires that such grant payments be made in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary (formerly by the Commissioner). Requires that a schedule of reductions, in case of insufficient funds, be established by the Secretary and that such schedule provide for a uniformly increasing reduction as the entitlement decreases and that no payment less than $50 shall be made. Extends through fiscal year 1985 the requirement that entitlements be paid only if certain minimum amounts for specified programs are appropriated. Eliminates provisions for payments to institutions of higher education to cover information and administrative costs of the basic grant program and for multiple State processing of student aid. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1985 to enable the Secretary (formerly the Commissioner) to make payments to eligible institutions of higher education for supplemental grants to undergraduate students. Raises the limit on the amount of each such grant to $2,000 per academic year. Allows the $200 minimum payment requirement to be reduced proportionately for students enrolled for less than a full academic year. Eliminates the requirement that the Commissioner prescribe criteria and schedules for the guidance of institutions in determining student need. (Prescribes such criteria and directs the Secretary to publish such schedules, later in this Act). Redefines institutional eligibility criteria for such programs to include a program participation agreement with the Secretary (formerly with the Commissioner), continued spending of funds from other sources in its scholarship and student aid program, proper and efficient administration of funds, reporting to the Secretary, and providing financial aid information to students. Redefines student eligibility requirements for such supplemental grants to include attendance at an eligible institution, settlement of previous grants or student loans, the filing of a statement that such funds will be used for educational purposes, and demonstration of financial need in accordance with specified criteria which include expected family contribution as prescribed by the Secretary. Transfers to the Secretary specified duties of the Commissioner relating to the apportionment and allocation of funds to States for undergraduate student assistance. Extends through fiscal year 1985 the authorization of appropriations for payments to States for student incentive grants. Directs the Commissioner to allot, from 60 percent of appropriations in excess of $77,000,000 in any fiscal year, for such incentive grants, a specified proportion to States which have met specified spending requirements, with the remainder to all other States. Raises the limit on the amount of such incentive grants to $2,000 per individual per academic year. Requires that State programs receiving such funds maintain specified levels of State expenditures under such programs. Adds the training of persons serving or preparing for service in a special program for disadvantaged students as an element to be funded under such special program. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants and contracts for such a program without regard to specified advertising requirements for Federal contracts. Removes public agencies and organizations from among the entities which may receive such grants and contracts. Authorizes appropriations for such program through fiscal year 1985. Sets forth requirements for eligibility in the Talent Search, Upward Bound, Special Services for Disadvantaged Students, and Educational Opportunity Centers programs. Requires that specified percentages of those participating in such programs be low-income individuals and/or first-generation college students. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to provide training for staff and leadership personnel in such programs. Extends the program for veterans cost-of-instruction payments to institutions of higher education through fiscal year 1985 for specified institutions and through any academic year ending before the end of fiscal year 1986 for specified institutions. Directs the Secretary (formerly the Commissioner) to administer such program. Eliminates the requirement that only an institution with fewer than 2,500 students in attendance may carry out such program through a consortium agreement with other institutions. Lowers to $100,000 (formerly $135,000) the maximum amount of such program payments in any fiscal year to any one institution and its branches. Raises the percentage (from 75 to 90) of such amount which must be spent to maintain a full-time office of veterans' affairs. Extends the Federal student loan insurance program through fiscal year 1986 for new student loans and through fiscal year 1990 for loans to enable students with prior insured loans to continue or complete their education. Sets a $3,000 limit on the total of loans made to an independent undergraduate student in any academic year which may be covered by Federal loan insurance. Raises the limitations on aggregate unpaid principal amounts for all such insured loans to $12,500 (from $7,500) for non-independent undergraduate students, to $15,000 for independent undergraduate students, and to $25,000 (from $15,000) for graduate or professional students. Makes similar changes in limitations on State and non-profit institution loan insurance programs which receive Federal payments to reduce student interest costs or which are reimbursed under Federal loan insurance supplemental guaranty agreements. Authorizes the Commissioner to increase the limits applicable to graduate and professional students pursuing exceptionally expensive programs. Includes among those permitted to defer repayment of principal on federally-insured student loans: officers in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, full-time volunteers with specified tax- exempt organizations, interns, and those temporarily totally disabled or unable to secure employment because of the care required by a temporarily disabled spouse. Permits similar deferments under specified student loan programs insured by States or nonprofit institutions. Directs the Commissioner to enter into cooperative agreements with credit bureau organizations providing for the exchange of information concerning student borrowers. Requires that such agreements provide that: (1) the Commissioner disclose only accurate and complete information and not disclose that a loan is in default until a reasonable effort has been made to collect the debt; (2) such organization will be promptly notified of, and will promptly record, changes submitted by the Commissioner or objections by the borrower with respect to such information; and (3) no unfair, unreasonable, harassing, or misleading collection practices will result. Directs the Commissioner to notify promptly any borrower of any such disclosure. Requires that written agreements evidencing federally-insured student loans (or loans insured by specified State or non-profit institutional programs) contain notice of such system of disclosure and provide that the lender on request of the borrower will inform such credit bureaus of the repayment status of the note. Authorizes the Commissioner to provide eligible lenders, and State or nonprofit organizations having specified guaranty agreements, any relevant information from whatever source with respect to borrowers. Permits parents of a dependent undergraduate student to borrow, under the same terms as other guaranteed student loans, up to $3,000 per student per academic year and up to $15,000 as an aggregate insured principal for loans on account of any one student. Prohibits such borrowing to pay for the expenses of more than three students in any academic year. Provides for annual insurable limits, deferments of repayment of principal, and interest rates for such loans. Directs the Secretary to insure such loans in a State only if the State does not do so within a specified period. Prohibits the payment of special allowances on loans made or purchased with funds obtained from specified tax-exempt securities or on loans pledged as security to obtain specified funds. Sets forth the conditions under which special allowances must be paid to specified agencies. Deletes provisions for a Committee on the Process of Determining Student Loan Special Allowances. Redefines student eligibility requirements for federally insured student loans to include: (1) maintaining satisfactory progress in the course of study; (2) not owing a refund on previous grants and not being in default on specified student loans; and (3) filing a statement that such funds will be used solely for educational purposes. Sets forth requirement for the types of security which must be made on warehousing advances made by the Student Loan Marketing Association and for the use of proceeds from such advances. Requires that student loans set aside pursuant to the offering of participations or pooled interests be adequate at all times to ensure timely principal and interest payments on such securities. Includes lenders with less than $100,000,000 (formerly $50,000,000) in deposits among those permitted to condition student loans upon the student or the student's family maintaining a business relationship with the lender. Permits the Board of Directors of the Student Loan Marketing Association to fix from time to time the par value of its shares of common stock. Terminates the requirements that the Secretary prescribe regulations for the maximum number of shares of such stock which may be issued or be outstanding at any one time. Includes nonvoting common stock among such stock for which dividends may be declared. Authorizes the Association to issue nonvoting stock, which shall be freely transferable. Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from conditioning approval of issuance of obligations by the Association on such obligations being made or sold to the Federal Financing Bank. Extends through fiscal year 1984 the authority of the Secretary (of Health, Education, and Welfare) to guarantee payment on such obligations. Requires prompt Government action on Association requests for approval to issue such obligations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase such obligations, within specified limits. Authorizes the Association to sell or issue obligations on the security of guaranteed student loans to the Federal Financing Bank. Authorizes the Association to make new insurable loans to specified borrowers to discharge the liability on old student loans. Authorizes the Association to make insurable student loans whenever the Secretary, after consulting with representatives of a State, determines that a substantial portion of all eligible borrowers in a State or within an area of substantial population within a State are unable to obtain student loans. Stipulates that the Association in making such loans shall not be deemed a creditor for any purposes of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Declares that the Truth in Lending Act shall not apply to any guaranteed student loans. Establishes, as an independent agency within the executive branch, a National Commission on Student Loans. Directs the Commission to make a report and recommendations to the President and the Congress on specified issues relating to the financing of student loans. Authorizes the Commission to accept grants, gifts, or bequests. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the work of the Commission. Extends the authorization of appropriations for work-study programs through fiscal year 1985. Directs the Commissioner to allot not to exceed one percent of such appropriations among Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Virgin Islands according to their respective needs for work-study programs. Includes Puerto Rico among "States" for purposes of allotments of work-study funds. Requires that specified reallotments of funds be available for grants for work-study programs until the close of the second fiscal year next succeeding the fiscal year for which appropriated. Authorizes the Secretary (formerly authorized the Commissioner) to enter into agreements under which the Secretary will make grants to eligible institutions to assist in the operation of work-study programs. Revises conditions for such agreements to require: (1) that the work involved will not pay less than the current Federal minimum wage; and (2) that only students who demonstrate financial need and who meet specified eligibility requirements will be assisted. Repeals additional requirements for such agreements with area vocational schools. Requires that ten percent of work-study sums granted to an eligible institution remain available for expenditure during the succeeding fiscal year. Authorizes the Commissioner to use up to ten percent of the sums which an eligible institution may receive from appropriations for a fiscal year to make grants to such institution during the preceding fiscal year. Raises from $15,000 to $25,000 the limitation on the amount of work-study funds which eligible institutions may use to establish or expand job location and development programs, if such amount is less than ten percent of the allotment. Extends the authorization for appropriations for the National Direct Student Loans program through Fiscal year 1985. Changes the dates during which there shall be a capital distribution of the assets from student loan funds to after fiscal year 1984 and not later than March 31, 1985, with provision for distribution of specified excess assets prior to fiscal year 1985. Raises the limit on the aggregate of loans for all years made by an institution of higher education from National Direct Student Loan funds from $10,000 to $12,000 for graduate or professional students, from $5,000 to $6,000 for undergraduates who have completed two years towards the bachelor's degree, and from $2,500 to $3,000 for any other students. Includes among those permitted to defer, for specified periods, repayment of principal of, or interest on, National Direct Student Loans: (1) officers in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service; (2) full-time volunteers with specified tax-exempt organizations; (3) interns; and (4) those temporarily totally disabled or unable to secure employment because of the care required by a temporarily disabled spouse. Requires that agreements with institutions for Federal contributions to National Direct Student Loan funds provide that the Commissioner will provide to such institutions any relevant information, from whatever source, on borrowers. Directs the Commissioner to enter into cooperative agreements with credit bureau organizations to exchange information concerning student borrowers in default for specified periods. Requires that student loan agreements contain notice of such system of information disclosure. Removes the limitation on the aggregate of the amount of specified Federal capital contributions paid for any fiscal year to proprietary institutions of higher education. Stipulates that the amount of a national direct student loan, and interest on such loan, which has been cancelled for certain public service shall not be considered taxable income. Revises the formulas and procedures by which the administrative expenses of student assistance programs are compensated by the Federal government. Directs the Secretary (formerly the Commissioner) to administer such compensation. Includes among required information which participating institutions must give to all students: (1) special facilities and services available to handicapped students; and (2) names of entities which accredit, approve, or license the institution and its programs. Directs the Secretary (formerly the Commissioner) to make available to eligible institutions descriptions of Federal student assistance programs. Extends the annual authorization of appropriations, for the Student Financial Assistance Training Program through fiscal year 1986. Terminates all authority for such program at the end of fiscal year 1986. Directs the Secretary to publish annually in the Federal Register a proposed schedule of expected family contributions for an academic year for various levels of family income for the purpose of determining a student's need for financial assistance. Directs the Commissioner to provide interested parties an opportunity for comments and recommendations during a 30-day period following such publication. Requires such schedule to be submitted to Congress and, if either house of Congress adopts a resolution of disapproval, directs the Commissioner to publish a new schedule. Directs the Commissioner to promulgate regulations concerning the determination of such expected family contributions, as well as special regulations for determining the expected family contribution and effective family income of an independent student, in accordance with specified basic criteria. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations necessary to carry out this title, including regulations for the limitation, suspension, or termination of the eligibility for any student assistance program of any otherwise eligibility institution upon determination, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing on the record, that such institution has violated or failed to carry out specified provisions, agreements, or regulations. Limits such periods of suspension to sixty days, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to prescribe a single application form for determining a student's need and eligibility for financial assistance under this title. Title V: Amendment and Extension of Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Extends authorizations of appropriations for the Teacher Corps Program and for Teacher Training Programs through fiscal year 1985. Removes the limit on the rate of compensation for teacher interns in the Teacher Corps program. Directs the Commissioner to allocate teacher training program grants so as to most nearly provide an equitable geographical distribution of grants throughout the States when appropriations in any fiscal year are less than the $50,000,000 level requirement for one teacher center per State. Includes "educational service agencies" among those entities which may operate teacher centers. Includes "collaboration with one or more institutions of higher education which serve teachers" in the definition of teacher centers. Permits institutions of higher learning to apply for grants to plan, establish, and operate teachers' centers either separately or together with other such institutions or with local educational agencies. Ends the authorization of local educational agencies with approved applications to contract with institutions of higher education. Authorizes the Commissioner to use not less than ten percent of teacher center program funds as grants to institutions of higher education for the operation of teacher centers. Title VI: Establishment of a New Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Establishes a new title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965: "Foreign Studies and Language Development". Terminates the program of grants to institutions of higher education for the improvement of undergraduate instruction through acquisition of equipment, including television equipment, and by minor remodeling. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to or contracts with institutions of higher learning for establishing, equipping, and operating modern foreign language studies, foreign area studies, and international studies programs and centers. Authorizes the Secretary to pay stipends to individuals undergoing advanced training in such centers or programs, upon reasonable assurance that recipients will be available for teaching or other public service. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education and to nonprofit organizations for graduate and undergraduate centers of international studies. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to or contracts with any public or private agency or organization for educational programs to promote U.S. student understanding of the cultures and actions of other nations. Directs the Secretary to distribute such assistance throughout the Nation on a broad and equitable geographical basis. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for fiscal years 1981 through 1985. Repeals the foreign studies and language development program of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. Title VII: Amendment to Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Directs the Secretary (formerly directed the Commissioner) to assist institutions of higher education and higher education building agencies to construct, reconstruct, or renovate academic facilities and acquire special equipment for: (1) energy use economy; (2) conforming with specified legal requirements relating to access for the handicapped, environmental protection, or health and safety; or (3) research facilities, including libraries. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes through fiscal year 1985. Raises to $100,000 the minimum amount allotted to any State for any fiscal year for grants to all institutions of postsecondary education other than public community colleges and public technical institutes. Requires that each State's allotment be ratably reduced if appropriations are not sufficient. Terminates the program of assistance for construction of academic facilities and replacement of equipment and supplies by public institutions of higher education in major disaster areas. Title VIII: Cooperative Education - Increases the amount of appropriations authorized for fiscal years 1980 through 1982 for grants to institutions of higher education for programs of cooperative education. Allows such programs to provide parallel, as well as alternate, periods of academic study and of public or private employment. Increases the amount of appropriations for specified training, demonstration, or research grants or contracts for fiscal years 1981 and 1982, and extends such authorization through fiscal year 1985. Raises the limits on the amounts of grants for cooperative education programs made to any one institution of higher education and to combinations of such institutions. Title IX: Graduate Programs - Extends the authorization of appropriations for financial assistance to graduate and professional programs through fiscal year 1985. Changes one of the authorized activities for which such funds may be used from "expansion" to "maintenance and improvement of quality" of such programs. Directs the Commissioner to gather data necessary for the periodic assessment of the state of U.S. graduate education and to submit a special report to Congress on the financing of graduate education. Extends the authority of the Commissioner to award graduate fellowships, public service fellowships, and fellowships for other purposes through fiscal year 1985. Authorizes additional appropriations to carry out a program of assistance for training in the legal profession through fiscal year 1985. Extends the authority of the Commissioner to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, public and private agencies and organizations other than institutions of higher education to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to train for the legal profession. Removes the three-month limit on preliminary training for such individuals. Title X: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, institutions of postsecondary education and other public and nonprofit private educational institutions and agencies to improve postsecondary educational opportunities. Requires that such grants or contracts be submitted to appropriate State commissions for their comments and recommendations. Establishes a National Board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to advise the Secretary and the Director of the Fund. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title through fiscal year 1985. Repeals the provisions of the General Education Provisions Act relating to the fund for the improvement of postsecondary education. Title XI: Establishment of a New Title XI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 - Establishes a new title XI of the Higher Education Act of 1965: "Urban Grant University Program". Directs the Commissioner to carry out programs to aid urban universities in finding answers to urban problems and in making their resources more readily and effectively available to their urban communities. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes through fiscal year 1985. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to urban universities for such urban-oriented projects. Requires that applicants for grants show that the chief executives of the local governments within whose jurisdictions fall the needs to be addressed by such proposed projects have had an opportunity for review and comment. Sets forth guidelines for the Commissioner in approving such projects. Directs the Commissioner to designate institutions receiving such grants as urban grant universities and to publish an annual list of such institutions. Prescribes limitations on the amounts of individual grants and of the portion allotted to individual States. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1985 for Law School Clinical Experience Programs established pursuant to the Higher Education Act of 1965. Title XII: General Provisions - Repeals specified provisions relating to State Postsecondary Education Commissions, Comprehensive Statewide Planning, the Advisory Council on Graduate Education, cost of education data, and funding requirements of title XII of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Requires States to enter into agreements with the Secretary setting forth terms and conditions for the relationship between the Federal Government and each individual State for the purposes set forth in specified programs under this Act in order to receive assistance under such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 1979
Health Care for All Americans Act - Establishes a comprehensive "national health insurance system" (defined as the programs established by this Act and Medicare for the financing of health-care services). States the findings and purposes of this Act. Enumerates the rights of eligible individuals, providers, and insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Requires that such individuals and entities have their views considered with respect to actions under this Act affecting them. Gives such an individual the right to: (1) choose any participating provider with respect to a covered service; (2) the prompt and accurate making of decisions under this Act; (3) be heard on any grievance related to benefits under this Act; and (4) confidential treatment and use of information collected under this Act. Gives such a provider the right to: (1) decide whether or not to participate in the system; (2) the prompt and accurate payment for services; and (3) choose the mode and place of practice (with respect to a physician provider). Gives such an insurer and HMO the right to: (1) decide whether or not to participate in the system; and (2) carry on a supplemental health insurance business. Defines terms used in this Act. Title I: Eligibility, Entitlement, and Enrollment - Extends eligibility for the benefits of this Act to: (1) U.S. citizens; (2) aliens lawfully admitted or permanently residing in the U.S. under color of law, including refugees; (3) aliens admitted to the U.S. as employees of a foreign government or international organization which has entered into an agreement with the U.S.; and (4) aliens admitted as temporary visitors from a foreign government which has entered into such an agreement. Directs the National Health Board (established by this Act), after consultation with the Secretary of State, to recommend to the President that executive agreements be entered into: (1) with foreign governments and international organizations to make their employees and officers eligible for health benefits in return for a payment of the national community-rated premium plus an amount equal to what would otherwise be payable as the Medicare hospital insurance payroll tax, if such employees were so taxed; and (2) with foreign governments upon a determination that it is in the national interest to make nationals or citizens of such nations who visit the U.S. eligible for benefits in return for comparable treatment of U.S. citizens abroad. Entitles each eligible individual to: (1) enroll in a qualified plan offered by an insurer or HMO and to change enrollment during certain periods; (2) have payment made on such individual's behalf and not be charged any fee for basic covered services; and (3) be issued a health insurance enrollment card. Stipulates that such a card shall not identify the category or basis for the individual's enrollment. Requires enrollment information to be available and provided: (1) by employers to employees; (2) by or through the Board to Medicare-eligible individuals; (3) by the Secretaries of Defense, Transportation, Commerce, and HEW to active- duty uniformed service personnel under their jurisdiction; (4) by the Social Security Commissioner to Supplemental Security Income (SSI)- eligible individuals; (5) by managers of Federal and State institutions to residents; (6) by State welfare agencies to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)-eligible persons; and (7) by or through State health boards to other individuals. Directs the Board to notify State health boards of the identity of eligible individuals who, in certain Federal information returns, have failed to indicate enrollment under a qualified plan. Requires providers to transmit to their respective health boards requests for payment for eligible persons who did not indicate enrollment at the time of receiving services. Directs State health boards to make special efforts to locate such persons and provide for their enrollment. Defines "first general open enrollment period", "general open enrollment period", and "special enrollment period" for purposes of the program. Stipulates that all members of a family (other than those who are Medicare or SSI-eligible or residents of a Federal or State institution) be enrolled at any time in only one qualified plan. Requires employers to offer qualified employees during specified enrollment periods the choice of enrollment under: (1) at least one plan offered by an insurer belonging to (A) the Blue Cross-Blue Shield consortium or (B) the commercial insurance consortium; and (2) at least one plan offered by an HMO belonging to (A) the individual group practice HMO consortium or (B) the prepaid group practice HMO consortium (if such a plan is available in the area in which the employees obtain health care services). Allows the employer to also offer enrollment in plans offered by a self-insurer. Requires an offer of enrollment to be made first to a collective bargaining representative or other employee representative designated under law. Requires each employee to elect a plan in accordance with procedures established by the Board. Directs the employer to enroll such employee in a plan in accordance with procedures in the absence of such an election. Requires any employer offering in conjunction with a qualified plan a plan with benefits supplemental to basic services to provide employees with written information regarding additional employee costs for such supplemental plan. Limits a family which is offered a choice of plans to enroll under only one qualified plan. Subjects an employer who knowingly fails to comply with these requirements to a civil penalty which may be assessed by the Board and collected by civil suit in a district court. Requires active-duty members of the uniformed services to enroll in a plan from among such health plans offered by or through the Department of Defense as the Secretary of Defense, after consultation with the Secretaries of HEW, Transportation, Commerce, and the Board, finds are consistent with the statutory requirements regarding uniformed services medical care and with policy requiring provision of basic and other covered health services to such members and their families. Requires Medicare-eligible individuals to enroll with the Board or a participating HMO in accordance with the Medicare program. Allows SSI-eligible individuals, residents of Federal or State institutions not otherwise enrolled, AFDC-eligible individuals, or other individuals not otherwise enrolled to enroll during specified periods in any qualified health plan available to such individuals. Provides for the mandatory enrollment of such individuals who fail to enroll in a plan, in accordance with regulations of the Board and rules and procedures of the State health boards. Title II: Benefits and Providers - Includes as basic covered services: (1) inpatient and outpatient hospital services (and inpatient mental health services up to (A) 150 consecutive days for Medicare-eligible individuals, or (B) 45 consecutive days for other eligible individuals, during certain periods of treatment as determined under Medicare); (2) physicians' services, including hospital-based physicians (and services for the treatment of mental illness and outpatient mental health services to the extent that expenses for such services do not exceed the fee-equivalent of 20 psychiatric visits per year, as determined under Medicare); (3) post-hospital extended care services up to 100 days during any spell of illness; (4) the following preventive health services: (A) basic immunizations; (B) pre-and post-natal maternal care; (C) well-child care (including periodic physical examinations, hearing and vision screening, and developmental screening and examinations) for persons up to the age of 18 years; and (D) such other services as the Board may add on a year-by-year basis after consultation with appropriate experts and a determination by the Board that such services will be cost-effective (but limits the expenditure for such additional preventive services to $500,000,000 for the first effective year (defined as the third year after the year of enactment) and for subsequent years an increase tied to the average annual rate of increase in the gross national product. Includes as additional basic services: (1) outpatient physical therapy services, outpatient speech pathology services; (2) health clinic services, including rural health clinic services; (3) home dialysis supplies; (4) tests and other diagnostic tests; (5) X-ray therapy; (6) durable medical equipment used in the patient's home; (7) ambulance service, to the extent provided by regulations; (8) prosthetic devices (other than dental), including lenses after cataract surgery and replacements; (9) leg, arm, back, and neck braces, and artificial legs, arms, and eyes, including replacements; (10) insulin and outpatient prescription drugs for treatment of chronic conditions (but for Medicare-eligible individuals only to the extent provided under such program); (11) one audiological examination per individual per year and the provision of one hearing aid per individual for any three-year period; and (12) mental health day care services to the extent of two days for each day of inpatient mental health services permitted by this program. Excludes as basic services: (1) items and services for which payment may not be made under Medicare; and (2) for other than Medicare-eligible individuals payment for (A) orthopedic shoes or other supportive devices for the feet, (B) certain physician services described under Medicare, and (C) certain inpatient hospital services described under Medicare. Authorizes the Board, after consultation with the Commission on Health-Care Benefits and the Commission on Quality of Health Care (established by this Act), to exclude payment for an item or service under a plan under this program and Medicare on the basis of cost-effectiveness, notwithstanding any other provision. Makes specified provisions of title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) and title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act applicable to basic services provided under qualified plans to the same extent as they apply under Medicare. Authorizes the Board, after consultation with the Commissions on Health-Care Benefits and Quality of Health Care, to establish a list of high-risk, high-cost, elective, or overutilized items or services for which payment may be made only if one or more of the following conditions are met: (1) the provider is board-certified in the relevant specialty; (2) the diagnosis and recommended service are supported by a second opinion or specific objective findings; (3) the provider-institution is adequately equipped and staffed; (4) the specialist or institution is providing care upon referral by a primary-care physician; or (5) the provider has demonstrated through statistical services that it provides high-quality services and properly uses appropriate methods and technologies. Title III: Financing and Planning - Part A, Budget and Planning Process - Specifies the annual timetable for the budget process for the national health insurance system as follows: (1) by January 15th proposed annual State budgets are to be prepared by the State Health Boards, in accordance with regulations and after consultation with specified interests, and submitted to the Board; (2) the Board shall transmit for inclusion without change in the Budget presented by the President an estimate of the anticipated Federal expenditures related to the appropriate Annual Budgets; (3) by March 1st a comprehensive Annual Budget is to be prepared and adopted by the Board and transmitted to the President, Congress, the States, and the public; (4) the Congressional Budget Office shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees as soon as practicable after receipt of the Annual Budget an analysis of its impact on the Federal Budget; (5) by July 1st the annual State budgets are to be adopted by the State Health Boards, taking into consideration the State Health Care Improvement Plan mandated by this Act, and transmitted to the Board; and (6) on the following January 1st the budget year begins. Specifies the contents of the Annual Budget and annual State Budgets, including enumerated items in the following categories: (1) anticipated expenditures; (2) anticipated revenues; (3) separate schedules, including Medicare and other public programs; (4) premium rates, including the national community-rated and group-rated premium amounts and national premium rate; and (5) five-year projections. Places the following limitations on expenditures under this program: (1) total anticipated expenditures for a year may not exceed the amount of the estimated expenditures by more than the average annual rate of increase in the gross national product for the three-year period ending with the year before the year in which the Annual Budget is adopted; (2) the amounts budgeted for covered health-care services for the U.S. and for any State are the maximum amounts that may be expended for such services (except for costs associated with uniformed service members); (3) a State Health Board may not provide for total expenditures for items covered in the budget in excess of those contained in the Annual Budget with respect to the State; (4) the total anticipated expenditures for the U.S. and for any State for the provision of basic services within a category of services or of providers are the maximum amounts that may be expended for such purposes (within percentage variations that the Board may permit); and (5) the percentage increase in the anticipated expenditures per capita for covered health-care services over the actual expenditures for such services for the previous year are limited according to specified formulas. Directs the Board, in consultation with the President's Commission on the Health of Americans, to prepare and annually revise, before the adoption of each Annual Budget, a National Health Care Improvement Plan which describes: (1) needs over a five-year period relating to the accessibility, quality, and cost of health care; (2) the effect of the provisions of this program on meeting such needs; and (3) recommendations. Directs the Governor of each State to prepare and annually revise a State Health Care Improvement Plan in accordance with Board standards and guidelines which describes: (1) needs over a five-year period relating to the accessibility, quality, and cost of health care; and (2) specific actions for meeting such needs. Requires such State Plan to include to the extent appropriate the objectives of: (1) the State health plan in effect under title XV of the Public Health Service Act (National Health Planning and Development); (2) the State medical assistance plan in effect under Medicaid; and (3) any plan submitted by the State to receive assistance under the Public Health Service Act and the Community Mental Health Centers Act. Title III - Part B, Payments to Providers - Provides for payment to providers as follows: (1) insurers and HMOs shall make payments to providers furnishing services to (A) their respective enrollees and (B) individuals not enrolled at the time of services but who are subsequently enrolled; (2) the Board shall make payments to providers furnishing services to a Medicare-eligible individual who is not enrolled in a plan offered by a HMO: and (3) the Secretary of Defense shall pay for services furnished to a member of the uniformed services on active duty. Requires each insurer or HMO to provide for payments of such allocated portion of the approved prospective budget (required under this Act) of the provider as reflects, in accordance with Board regulations, the proportion of the costs in the budget used to provide such services to such enrollees. Prohibits payment for expenditures by an institutional provider for covered services it furnishes to the extent such expenditures are not included in such approved prospective budget. Requires Board regulations to provide for methods of cost apportionment among insurers and HMOs in accordance with specified criteria. Allows such methods to include apportionment based on: (1) the number of treatments of particular conditions or diagnoses; (2) the relative value of the health-care services furnished (with respect to indices of relative values to be established by the Board); or (3) the number of admissions, patient days, diagnoses, or other easily determinable factor that may fairly allocate costs. Allows a State health board, when regulations provide for more than one apportionment method, to select and require the use of one such method. Requires each institutional provider in a State with an approved prospective budget to transmit annually to the State Health Board an experience report which shows the differences between the actual expenditures and services provided by the provider and those allowed for in its approved prospective budget. Directs the State Health Board to provide for: (1) the retention by the provider of one-half of savings produced by actions which lowered expenditures below those predicted; and (2) adjustments, to the extent appropriate, in the amounts of payments made by insurers and HMOs or in the prospective budget for the following year to correct unintended differences in the amount or source of payments to a provider. Provides for payment to a provider, other than an institutional provider (defined as including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, community health centers and clinics, and, to the extent provided by the National Health Board, HMOs), for covered services (other than drugs, hearing aids, durable medical equipment, or laboratory services) in accordance with the lowest of: (1) the fee charged by the provider; (2) the fee agreed upon between the provider and the insurer or HMO; or (3) the applicable maximum fee schedule for the service (established by this Act). Allows the National Health Board, upon the recommendation of a State Health Board, to increase the payment to a physician provider on an individual basis to recognize performance of unusual merit by such physician. Allows such a provider to elect to be paid on a salary or fee-for-time basis if the total amount payable in a year is not greater than the total amount payable for the equivalent amount of services as computed by the applicable maximum fee schedule. Provides for payment to a provider for: (1) durable medical equipment and laboratory services in accordance with the lowest of: (A) the charge for such service; (B) the charge agreed upon between the provider and the insurer or HMO; or (C) the maximum reasonable cost for such service; and (2) drugs and hearing aids in accordance with the lowest of: (A) the provider's fee charged for dispensing the drug or hearing aid; (B) the charge agreed upon between the provider and the insurer or HMO; or (C) the highest fee permitted under the applicable fee schedule. Provides for payment to a provider for other covered services in accordance with the lowest of: (1) the charge for the service; (2) the charge agreed upon between the provider and the insurer or HMO; or (3) the maximum reasonable cost of the service, as established by the State Health Boards in accordance with national guidelines and standards. Allows the National Health Board to permit experimental or demonstration methods of reimbursement which will further the purposes of this Act. Provides for periodic review of reimbursement methods. Sets forth procedures with respect to the budget limitations, including the following: (1) monitoring by the State Health Boards, the consortia (all the clearinghouses certified under this Act with respect to the financing of covered services), insurers, and HMOs of payment made to providers; (2) reporting by insurers and each consortium of excessive payments; (3) investigation and corrective actions by the State Health Boards; (4) shifting of funds among categories of services or providers and use of contingency funds for excess expenditures due to unforeseen circumstances; (5) modification of reimbursement methods; (6) additional certifications by State Health Boards of the need for particular services; and (7) requiring insurers and HMOs to make payments for services during certain periods. Allows philanthropic contributions and supplemental payments by State and local governments to finance services additional to those reimbursed under this Act. Stipulates that capital expenditures assisted by such assistance shall not be recognized by a State Health Board in its review of prospective budgets and maximum fee schedules. Requires each institutional provider to submit to the State Health Board its proposed prospective budget for the subsequent year which covers all medical services (not merely covered services) and includes the following: (1) anticipated costs, broken down by schedules for specified costs; (2) the proportion of such costs associated with covered services; and (3) anticipated revenues, broken down by source with respect to each class of items of anticipated costs. Authorizes the National Health Board to require accompanying documentation relating to specified factors for purposes of review. Specifies the manner in which certain costs shall be treated in such prospective budgets, including the following provisions: (1) the costs of all physicians' services under contract with the provider shall be included and the amount budgeted for such services shall be reasonable in relation to the cost of obtaining such services on a salaried or other basis, whichever is less; (2) the total cost of wages and fringe-benefits for nonsupervisory employees shall be included and shall reflect any existing collective-bargaining agreement; (3) the costs of furnishing basic services to ineligible individuals shall be included if no other reimbursement is obtainable by the provider; (4) depreciation costs shall not be included, except for certain capital costs, debt repayments, and costs associated with the closing of a facility; and (5) a reasonable rate of return on equity capital with respect to certain proprietary institutions shall be included. Directs the National Health Board, after appropriate consultation, to establish guidelines respecting review and approval by State Health Boards of proposed prospective budgets of institutional providers. Requires such guidelines to include: (1) standards to determine which budgets and budgetary elements may be approved without individual scrutiny; and (2) the detailed review of a random sample. Specifies standards which may be included with respect to providers of inpatient services. Requires the guidelines to provide for the collection and reporting of data in such uniform manner as the Board may set. Establishes procedures for the review and approval of prospective budgets by the State Health Boards, including the following provisions: (1) each review shall be made public and shall (A) assess whether changes in services or capital expenditures conform to the current plan of the health systems agency in the area (mandated under title XV of the Public Health Service Act) and the most recent State Health Care Improvement Plan; (B) review the quality, accessibility, and effectiveness of provider services, taking into consideration any relevant findings of professional standards review organizations (PSROs) and of any national provider accreditation organization for that category of provider; (2) a provider shall be given the opportunity to comment on any pending disapproval; (3) the State Health Board shall consider any timely recommendations submitted by consumer groups, the provider, and employee organizations, including negotiated recommendations; (4) a State Health Board may delegate its review functions to an independent entity; and (5) such budgets may not provide for any capital acquisition or expenditure unless the provider has participated in a planning process in accordance with regulations. Requires a State Health Board to approve a budget without modification, taking into account the following factors: (1) total limits on anticipated expenditures; (2) the health systems agency plan; (3) demographic factors; (4) the impact of inflation on budget costs; (5) the effects of any approved capital expenditure or reduction, service modification plans, or future wage increases; and (6) certain other efficiency and cost-effectiveness objectives. Requires resubmission of a budget to the State Health Board if a modification is required for excess expenditures. Disallows payments to an institutional provider for covered services not included in its approved prospective budget. Requires each State Health Board to develop maximum fee schedules for covered services (other than durable medical equipment and laboratory services) after opportunity for negotiations with participating providers. Directs the National Health Board to develop guidelines for such schedules which: (1) establish the relative value of particular services, taking into account specified factors; (2) provide for geographical variations in fees, taking into consideration certain criteria; (3) set the maximum fee for a service which can be provided by two or more categories of health personnel at the lowest of the maximum fees authorized for such categories; and (4) include a formula for allowing annual changes in such schedules. Requires payment for the provision of: (1) durable medical equipment and laboratory services to be the lower of (A) the charge, or (B) the reasonable cost of the equipment or service; and (2) drugs and hearing aids to be the lower of (A) the charge, or (B) the reasonable cost of the drug or aid, plus a reasonable professional fee. Directs the National Health Board to establish guidelines for the reasonable cost of durable medical equipment, laboratory services, drugs, and hearing aids which shall be the lowest cost at which any such item of comparable quality is (or could be made) generally available in an accessible area. Provides for the computation of the professional fee with respect to drugs and hearing aids. Outlines procedures for the use of negotiations to determine the amounts of payments to providers. Directs the National Health Board to establish criteria for the selection of the negotiating groups for each of the following groups of providers: (1) hospitals; (2) skilled nursing facilities; (3) home health care agencies; (4) other institutional providers, including community health centers, migrant health centers, and health clinics; (5) physicians; (6) other non-institutional providers, such as pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists; and (7) hospital employees. Sets forth requirements for representation within such groups. Requires that the selection guidelines by the National Health Board shall provide for: (1) differences in the sizes of the various negotiating groups; (2) proportional representation for each type of health-care provider; (3) three-year terms for each representative; and (4) nomination and election methods. Provides that such negotiations shall concern: (1) limitations with respect to payments made to institutional providers on the basis of approved prospective budgets; (2) maximum-fee schedules; (3) reasonable cost levels with respect to durable medical equipment, laboratory services, drugs, and hearing aids; and (4) other cost control methods. Allows a State Health Board to incorporate within its annual State budget the provision of any agreement reached as the result of such negotiations which would keep expenditures within the budgetary limits. Title III- Part C, Determining Amounts of Premiums and Incentive Payments and Benefits - Directs the National Health Board to establish, in conjunction with the adoption of the Annual Budget and after negotiations with consortia, participating insurers, and HMOs: (1) a national community-rated premium; and (2) a national premium rate. Requires the national community-rated premium to be set so that, if such amount were paid by the members of each family enrolled through an employer plan, the total premiums paid would equal the anticipated expenditures under the Annual Budget, including payments to providers for basic services and administrative costs, but excluding administrative costs for the National and State Health Boards, PSROs, contingency funding, and the costs of covered services to persons who are Medicare-, SSI-, AFDC-eligible residents of Federal or State institutions, or members of the uniformed services on active duty. Requires that the national premium rate be set so that the sum of all wage-related and non-wage related premiums, the government payment for unpaid private premiums, and the voluntary premiums under international agreements equals the anticipated expenditures for covered services to Medicare- eligible, SSI-eligible, and AFC-eligible individuals, and residents of Federal and State institutions. Directs the Board to establish a group-related premium for SSI-eligible individuals and for residents of Federal and State institutions who are enrolled in a qualified plan. Requires that: (1) such premium be set so that the total amounts paid on behalf of such individuals equals the expenditures for furnishing care to such persons; and (2) such premium be adjusted annually to reflect the actual cost experience with respect to such expenditures. Provides that the national community-rated premium and the national premium rate are to apply as the State community-rated premium and the premium rate for each State, unless a State is able to provide for reduced premiums by negotiating a lower level of approved expenditures than would otherwise be provided for in the national budget. Requires each State to establish a group-rated premium for AFDC-eligible individuals and residents of State institutions. Requires that such premium: (1) be set so that the total amounts paid on behalf of such individuals equals the expenditures for furnishing care to such persons; and (2) be adjusted annually to reflect the actual cost experience with respect to such expenditures. Permits a participating insurer or HMO to offer eligible individuals (other than Medicare eligibles) an incentive to enroll in a qualified plan by providing additional services or by paying dividends or cash rebates on premiums. Permits an HMO to offer such incentives to Medicare-eligible persons. Sets forth requirements with respect to such dividend and cash rebates, including that: (1) in the case of employed enrollees, they be divided between the employees and employer in accordance with Board procedures; and (2) they not be treated as taxable income to individuals or income under federally-assisted welfare programs, nor reduce any credit relating to a limit on the amount of private premium payments. Sets a limit on the amount of premiums paid with respect to members of a family unit as employees and by members of the family unit. Provides for a refund to families of amounts in excess of such limit. Title III-Part D, Payment and Collection of Premiums - Requires each employer to pay to the applicable consortium on behalf of each employee for each payroll period an amount equal to the product of the wages paid during such period and the applicable State premium rate. Permits an employer (subject to any collective-bargaining agreement) to require employees to pay up to 35 percent of such amount. Requires an employer to pay any voluntary contributions such employee may wish to have made on his behalf. Permits an employer to obtain certification from the Board as an impacted employer and so qualify for: (1) a payment from the Board if such employer is a State employer or nonprofit employer; or (2) a tax credit with respect to other employers. Specifies the formula for determining such payment or credit. Defines terms for the purposes of this section. Requires all persons (with specified exceptions) to pay to the applicable consortium an amount equal to the product of one-half the State premium rate and the amount of non-wage-related income of such persons' family units. Requires such persons to file quarterly information returns in accordance with Board regulations. Authorizes the Board to impose a collection surcharge for untimely payments. Prescribes the payment procedure for premiums under executive agreements. Requires: (1) the Board to make monthly premium payments to consortia on behalf of SSI-eligible individuals and residents of Federal institutions; and (2) each State to make monthly premium payments to consortia on behalf of AFDC-eligible individuals and residents of State institutions. Sets forth rules regarding Government compensation to consortia for certain uncollected premiums and an assessment against State or local governments which fail to make a required employer payment. Title III-Part E Distribution of Premiums - Requires the consortia to: (1) compute for each capitation individual an amount equal to the average anticipated expenditure in the State budget for the individual, including certain administrative costs and funds for the contingency fund, but excluding the administrative costs of the State health board; and (2) report such amounts to the Board for review. Requires each consortium to adjust capitation amounts to reflect for a specific capitation individual: (1) the relative actual costs of providing covered services in the area of such person's residency; and (2) the actuarial risk associated with the individual's characteristics. Requires that such risk adjustment be made to eliminate financial incentives for insurers or HMOs to practice risk selection or experience rating. Requires that the total of capitation amounts and adjusted capitation amounts for enrollees in a State be equal to the total expenditures in the State budget for the provision and administration of covered services, excluding State health board administrative expenses. Requires each consortium to apportion to its members an adjusted capitation amount for each capitation individual and a group-rated premium for each group-rated individual. Requires these amounts to be paid to members in installments consistent with Board guidelines. Directs the Board to provide supplementary payments from the Health Resources Distribution Fund to participating HMOs in operation for less than five years. Requires consortia to provide, in accordance with Board guidelines, for redistribution of collected premiums to assure that each consortium is provided an adjusted capitation amount for each capitation individual, and a group-rated premium for each group-rated individual. Directs each consortium to maintain a contingency fund for expenditures for unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of insurers or HMOs. Authorizes the Board, in any year when premiums collected are less than amounts provided in the annual budget, to guarantee the principle and interest of loans issued by the consortia to assure adequate revenues. Sets forth requirements with respect to such loans. Directs the Board, in any year when premiums collected are greater than provided for in the annual budget, to provide for the consortia to distribute such excess funds, including appropriate adjustments in subsequent national and State budgets. Title IV: Administration-Part A, National Health Board and State Health Boards Establishes an independent, five-member National Health Board, to be appointed by the President, to (among other specific functions): (1) establish commissions, bureaus, divisions, offices, and other entities required by this Act or deemed appropriate; (2) perform the functions of a participating insurer, HMO, or consortium with respect to any area or group of insurers for which there is no certified insurer or consortium; (3) perform the functions of a State health board with respect to any State in which such a board has not been established; (4) establish administrative procedures with respect to consumer and provider appeals from State health board decisions; (5) be responsible for the general implementation of this Act; and (6) study and evaluate on a continuing basis the operation of this Act. Transfers to the Board all functions of the Secretary of HEW relating to specified provisions of: (1) the Social Security Act (including Maternal and Child Health Services, Professional Standards Review Organizations, Medicaid, and Medicare); (2) the Public Health Service Act (but excluding, among other provisions, certain provisions of title III (Administration), title IV (National Research Institutes), title V (Miscellaneous), title X (Population Research), and title XIV (Safety of Public Water Systems); (3) the Community Mental Health Centers Act; (4) the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970; (5) the Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act of 1972; and (6) the provision of health care services to Indians (PL 94-437). Requires the Board to have: (1) an Ombudsman, to investigate complaints about program operation; (2) an advocate, to assist consumers in determining and protecting their rights to services; and (3) an inspector general, to direct the auditing and investigative activities of the Board. Directs the Board to establish the following Commissions: (1) Commission on Benefits, to review and make recommendations with respect to the provision of basic covered services under qualified plans and determine their cost and effectiveness in improving public health; (2) Commission on Quality, to review and make recommendations with respect to the quality of health services provided under this Act; (3) Commission on Access, to review and make recommendations with respect to the utilization of covered services by the different categories of eligible individuals; and (4) Commission on Health Care Organization, to review and make recommendations with respect to the cost and effectiveness of methods for the delivery of services. Requires at least one-half of the members of each Commission to be consumers or representatives of consumers and to include appropriate representation of health care providers and other participants. Establishes: (1) a nine-member Commission on the Health of Americans, to be appointed by the President, to conduct an ongoing review of the health status of the U.S. population and to review a broad range of proposals for improving such health status, including research, environmental programs, highway safety, public health programs, and personal health services programs; and (2) under the direction of the National Health Board, a National Institutes of Health Care Research which shall be composed of (A) an Institute of Health Statistics, (B) an Institute of Health Services Research, and (C) an Institute of Health Technology Evaluation. Transfers to such Institutes certain functions of the Secretary under the Public Health Service Act. Requires each State to charter as a public corporation a State health insurance corporation in accordance with Board guidelines. Directs each State health board (that is, the board of directors of the State corporation) to establish an ombudsman, an advocate, and such advisory commissions as are appropriate to carry out its functions. Delineates the duties of such boards. Title IV - Part B, Participating Insurers, Health Maintenance Organizations, and Consortia - Directs the Board to certify an insurer or HMO when certain conditions are met, including a participation agreement between the Board and the insurer or HMO containing specified provisions. Requires the insurer or HMO to: (1) become a member of the appropriate consortium; (2) offer enrollment in at least one qualified health plan which provides basic services without a charge other than the premium; (3) accept during open enrollment all eligible persons in the order they apply without restriction, up to its capacity (but permits the Board to provide for enrollment limits to reflect needs for cost-effective services and for special characteristics of self-insurers); (4) issue an enrollment card for each enrolled person; (5) pay participating providers in amounts no greater than permitted under this Act; (6) report to the State health board and its consortium on payments made and expenses incurred; (7) maintain and afford access to records by the consortium, State health boards, and the Board and provide confidential treatment of individually-identifiable records; (8) offer any rebates or other benefits to all enrollees on the same basis; (9) establish hearing procedures for an enrollee or provider who is dissatisfied with respect to certain services or payments; and (10) comply with other reasonable regulations respecting marketing and customer service practices which the Board establishes. Directs the Board to agree that, in return for agreed-upon services and understandings, the insurer or HMO is to be paid by its consortium for each enrollee in a qualified plan. Requires the Board to certify in each State one consortium for each of the following types of insurers or HMOS: (1) a Blue Cross-Blue Shield consortium, representing nonprofit State-chartered medical/hospital service corporations; (2) a commercial insurance carrier consortium, representing profit-making commercial insurers not directly furnishing health care services; (3) a prepaid group practice HMO consortium; (4) an individual practice association HMO consortium; and (5) a self-insurer consortium. Permits an insurer or HMO to serve as a member of a different consortium with the approval of the Board and the consortium. Sets forth requirements with respect to these consortia including: (1) a participation agreement between the Board and the consortium containing specified provisions; (2) that the consortium provide for premium collection and reallocation and pay members for each enrollee; (3)that a contingency fund be maintained; (4) that certain information be reported regularly to the Board; (5) that the consortium negotiate with provider groups in establishing prospective budgets and maximum fee schedules in areas where its members offer plans; (6) that certain review procedures be established for dissatisfied enrollees and providers; and (7) that other regulations be followed. Establishes as a defense in any civil or criminal antitrust action brought with respect to actions by a participating insurer or HMO or consortium that such actions were taken in the course of performing duties required under agreements entered into under this Act. Directs the Board, after consultation with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission, to prescribe standards and procedures for the conduct of insurers, HMOs, and consortia which is consistent with the promotion of competition. Directs the Board to investigate complaints by a participating insurer or HMO that another participating organization has engaged in anticompetitive activity. Title V: Health Care Improvement Program - Directs the National Health Board to establish a program to improve the distribution of health care resources in the United States in order to promote the improvement in the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of services provided under this Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Health Resources Distribution Fund. Directs the Board to make grants to the State health boards from the Fund for projects to achieve the purposes of the program, including: (1) the conversion or closure of health care facilities; (2) the provision of health care services in health manpower shortage areas; (3) renovations of institutional health care facilities; (4) HMO and other delivery systems; (5) educational programs for health professionals to meet projected needs; and (6) continuing professional education programs. Requires that the Board allocate an amount to each State health board based on the State's needs as reflected in the National Health Care Improvement Plan. Requires that each State health board provide for a program for the education of consumers concerning health and their rights and privileges under this Act. Directs the Board to: (1) study the impact of this Act on, and means of improving, the Medicaid programs, and report appropriate recommendations to Congress within five years of enactment; (2) provide for the development and demonstration of methods to improve (A) the coordination of services by different providers, (B) the provision of services, and (C) peer review and control of utilization and quality in the provision of drugs, laboratory services, and other services under this Act and Medicare; (3) provide for demonstration projects to evaluate the feasibility of providing hospice services as part of basic covered health- care services; (4) provide for an analysis of provider malpractice and the provision of malpractice insurance, and report recommendations to Congress within two years of enactment. Directs the Board to provide for the conduct of a demonstration project in the organization, delivery, and financing of personal care services to groups likely to require such services. Requires that the Board make grants for establishing and maintaining programs to provide personal care services for a substantial population of persons residing in their homes who would otherwise be required to reside in an institution providing personal care services. Sets forth requirements with respect to such program. Directs the Board to transmit to Congress a comprehensive report with appropriate recommendations within five years of enactment. Title VI- Effective Dates, Transition Provisions, Amendments - Part A, Effective Dates and Transition Provisions - Sets forth effective dates for provisions of this Act. Provides for a special national premium rate for the period between October 1 and December 31 of the year before the first effective year. Directs the Board to establish for localities within each State maximum fee schedules applicable to services reimbursed under Medicare Part B for the period between July 1 and January 1 of the first effective year. Requires the Board to establish regulations, guidelines, standards, and procedures providing for the orderly administration of the Act, and to report to Congress within 18 months of enactment its progress in establishing implementation procedures. Directs the General Accounting Office to report to Congress within 18 months of enactment on the Board's progress. Provides that this Act does not alter or affect any contractual or other nonstatutory obligation of an employer to pay for or provide health services to present or former employees if the effect shifts the obligation in any part to such persons. Sets forth provisions relating to transfer of functions. Title VI: - Part B, Medicare-Related Amendments - Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) to conform such Act with the Health Care for All Americans Act. Eliminates the prohibition against Federal supervision or control over the practice of medicine and the compensation of employees and officers of health care providers. Includes the following changes among those relating to eligibility: (1) broadens Medicare entitlement to include citizens of the U.S., persons legally admitted for permanent residence, and certain other persons aged 65 and over; (2) deletes the 24-month waiting period for eligibility for the disabled; and (3) entitles individuals to enroll in a participating HMO. Changes Medicare Part B from a voluntary insurance program to an entitlement program financed by premium payments and Federal funds. Includes the following among the changes relating to the scope of benefits: (1) deletes the limitation on inpatient hospital days; (2) adds mental health day care services; (3) replaces the existing limitation on inpatient psychiatric hospital services with a 150 consecutive day limit for Medicare purposes and a 45-consecutive-day limit for purposes of the Health Care for All Americans Act. Limits payment for outpatient psychiatric services and services related to the diagnosis or treatment of mental illness to an annual amount equal to 20 times the fee set forth in the maximum fee schedule for a psychiatrist's visit. Limits to $100 payment for certain outpatient therapy services in the therapist's office or beneficiary's home. Conforms coverage for end-stage renal disease with the provisions of the Health Care for All Americans Act. Includes the following among the changes relating to exclusions from coverage: (1) extends the applicability of exclusions to the Health Care for All Americans Act; (2) stipulates that preventive services are not excluded; (3) excludes hearing aids and related examinations only if they exceed one every three years, and one per individual; (4) eliminates the exclusion relating to orthopedic shoes; (5) permits the waiver, under certain conditions of the foot care exclusions for persons with diabetes mellitus; and (6) adds a new exclusion for insulin or outpatient prescription drugs for chronic conditions exceeding maximum amounts established by the Board. Makes technical and conforming amendments to Medicare Parts A and B relating to: (1) requirements for certification and requests for payment; (2) agreements with participating providers; (3) the use of State agencies to determine compliance with conditions of participation; (4) PSROs; and (5) payments to HMOs. Requires providers prescribing outpatient prescription drugs to use only generic or other names and specify such amounts as the Board may provide to insure quality and efficiency. Makes certain revisions with respect to payments to institutional and other providers and the administration of benefits. Repeals the deductible and coinsurance provision of the Medicare Part A program and the existing definition of "reasonable cost". Expands the definition of employment subject to the Medicare hospital insurance tax to include employment with Federal, State, and local governments, service performed for charitable organizations, service performed by certain employee representatives, certain students, and other organizations. Repeals provisions relating to the establishment of the Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council. Applies certain procedural provisions of title II of the Social Security Act (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) to Medicare and to the Health Care for All Americans Act. Amends title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) to establish a new arrangement for the determination of the Federal Medicaid payment, by which payment is to be equal to "excess State payments" according to a specified formula. Increases the Federal share of certain State Medicaid expenditures, including: (1) the training and compensation of skilled professional personnel (from 75 to 90 percent); (2) operation of management information systems (from 75 to 90 percent); and (3) general administration (from 50 to 90 percent). Establishes certain additional State Medicaid plan requirements including that States: (1) continue to provide services (other than those covered under the Health Care for All Americans Act) in the amount, duration, and scope as were covered by the States in the quarter before the first effective year of the program; (2) pay premiums on behalf of AFDC-eligible recipients; and (3) reimburse providers in a manner consistent with methods established by the Board. Requires any State not having a Medicaid program to enter into an agreement with the Board by which the State agrees to pay premiums on behalf of AFDC-eligible recipients and receives financial assistance from the Board. Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (General Provisions and PSROs) to: (1) extend the provisions for uniform reporting and disclosure of ownership and related information to the Health Care for All Americans Act; and (2) repeal the provisions relating to limitations on capital expenditures and programs for determining the qualifications of certain health care personnel. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the present deduction for health insurance payments. Permits a deduction for amounts of medical expense not compensated for by insurance, in excess of three percent of adjusted gross income. Adds a new excess health insurance credit for impacted employers. Establishes special rules for computing such credit with respect to controlled groups of corporations and employees of partnerships and proprietorships which are under common control. Amends title XIII of the Public Health Service Act (Health Maintenance Organizations) to make conforming and certain other revisions with respect to the organization and operation of HMOs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1979
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the definition of "special immigrant" an immigrant (and accompanying spouse and children) entering the United States to pursue a course of religious study at an institute of religious training, which is registered with the Attorney General, in order to carry out the vocation of minister of a religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States and needing the services of such immigrant.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1979
Sales Representatives Protection Act - Title I: Contracts Between Sales Representatives and Principals - Requires a principal to furnish specified information to a sales representative concerning orders placed through the representative's account and a monthly accounting of commissions due such representative. Enumerates items which must be set forth in any contract between a sales representative and a principal. Title II: Indemnification - Exempts principals conforming with such information requirements from the indemnification provisions set forth in this Act. Requires a principal who, without good cause, terminates a contract between such principal and a sales representative, or reduces the rate of commission for orders solicited on behalf of such principal, to indemnify the representative according to this Act. Requires a principal who reduces the size of the geographic territory assigned to a representative for a specified account, which results in a specified reduction in commissions, to indemnify such representative. Sets forth formulae for the indemnification of such representatives. Title III: Miscellaneous - Allows a plaintiff to bring an action to enforce any rights or liabilities created by this Act in a United States district court. Stipulates the procedure for such action.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1979
National Employment Priorities Act of 1979 - Requires a business concern to give notice, with an economic impact statement, to the Secretary of Labor and to affected employees, labor organizations, and local governments whenever such business concern intends a change of operations at an establishment which will result in an employment loss in any 18-month period of the lesser of 100, or of 15 percent, of the employees at such establishment. Requires, with exceptions, that such notice be given within specified periods of time (varying according to the number of employees affected) before such business concern reduces the weekly wages or suspends or terminates the employment of any employee in connection with such change. Directs the Secretary to investigate and hold public hearings on specified matters related to such change upon receipt of a written request for such investigation from an affected labor organization or from at least ten percent of the employees at such establishment. Requires such request to be made within 60 days of receipt of notice. Authorizes the Secretary to investigate and hold closed hearings on such matters, without regard to whether such notice is given, upon: (1) a determination that such investigation would serve the purpose of this Act; or (2) a request from at least 50 percent of such employees. Empowers the Secretary to issue subpoenas for witnesses and evidence in such investigations. Directs the Secretary to prepare and publish a report of such investigation. Makes employees who accept employment with such business concerns, with knowledge that such notice has been given, ineligible for specified assistance under this Act. Requires such business concerns to give written statements of employment status to employees whose weekly wages are lowered by a specified amount or who are suspended or terminated. Stipulates that an employee will be deemed to suffer an employment loss if a business concern fails to: (1) give such a statement of employment status to an employee; or (2) include in such statement an assurance of increased wages or reinstatement. Requires a business concern which gives such assurance, yet fails to prevent such employment loss, to pay such employee a lump sum in a specified amount in addition to other required payments. Requires a business concern, for a 52-week period following an employment loss, to make payments: (1) to the employee in a weekly income maintenance payment equal to 85 percent of such employees's wage rate or 100 percent of such rate while such employee participates in specified training programs; and (2) to specified employment benefit plans for such employees. Sets forth conditions under which such payments may be reduced or limited. Stipulates that such payments are not to be deemed wages for all other purposes, including specified employee benefit plans. Requires such business concerns to pay moving expenses for employees who resume employment with the same business concerns within three years. Requires such business concerns to continue weekly income maintenance payments to employees between 53 and 61 years of age when the 52 week payment period expires. Directs the Secretary to reimburse such business concerns for such continued payments. Directs the Secretary to make transitional assistance payments to employees upon their request whenever a business concern fails to make such payments. Provides that the amount of such payments shall then be owed, with interest, to the United States by such business concern. Makes a business concern which transfers ownership or control of an establishment to avoid liability for transitional assistance payments liable to the United States for a specified amount if the owning or controlling business concern fails to provide such assistance. Requires such business concerns to offer employees, who suffer an employment loss, any available employment, with equivalent wages and benefits, at any establishment of such business concerns for a three-year period after such employment loss. Sets forth such former employees' rights to credits and benefits in employee benefit plans and such business concerns' liability for payments to such plans. Stipulates that specified violations shall be deemed violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, for which civil actions may be brought. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with specified groups, to implement a comprehensive assistance program (including existing or new programs of job training, job placement, and payments for job search and moving expenses) for employees who suffer or may suffer employment loss. Authorizes the Secretary to develop and implement retraining programs and to condition specified assistance to business concerns upon their implementation or assistance with such programs. Directs the Secretary to issue certificates of Federal procurement credit to business concerns which comply with this Act for appropriate periods if the Secretary finds that such assistance would provide additional employment opportunities through the cooperating concerns. Sets forth conditions of eligibility for assistance of business concerns, local governments, and certain employers or cooperative associations of employees. Authorizes the Secretary to provide specified forms of such assistance, giving priority to those which enable employees to continue at their present establishment. Makes such business concerns liable to local governments which lose revenue because of such changes of operations. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount of such liability. Directs the Secretary to pay such amounts to local governments if a business concern fails to do so (with such amount to be owed, with interest, to the United States by such business concern). Makes business concerns which transfer operations to an establishment outside the United States, when an economically viable alternative to such transfer exists, liable to the United States for lost revenues according to specified formulas. Sets forth criminal and civil violations and penalties. Enumerates violations of employees' rights and remedies for such violators. Directs the Secretary to: (1) recover overpayments for specified Federal assistance to employees obtained through a knowing deception; (2) maintain specified operating reserves; and (3) record mortgage security on specified loans. Provides procedures for Congressional disapproval of rules promulgated by the Secretary to carry out this Act. Directs the Secretary to make specified reports and legislative proposals to the Congress. Sets forth general powers of the Secretary in carrying out this Act. Directs the Secretary to implement this Act through the National Employment Priorities Administration. Authorizes the Secretary to delegate any function, power, or duty under this Act to the Administrator of the National Employment Priorities Administration. Establishes the National Employment Priorities Administration in the Department of Labor to: (1) perform such delegated functions, powers, and duties; (2) conduct research on the relationship between unemployment and changes of business operations; and (3) identify services and products which may profitably be provided by business concerns receiving specified assistance. Establishes the National Employment Priorities Advisory Council to: (1) advise and assist the Secretary in carrying out this Act; (2) evaluate programs under this Act; (3) study and report on those areas of future economic activity in which the United States will be at a competitive disadvantage and on industries in which many businesses may change operations; and (4) research and propose new assistance programs for employees, local governments, and business concerns. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1979
Fuel Stamp Act of 1979 - Establishes a fuel stamp program to assist participants in the food stamp program to pay the cost of fuel consumed for residential heating during the period of December through March. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to administer such program. Sets the monthly value of such fuel stamps to an eligible household at: (1) $20, plus (2) the total value of food coupons authorized for such month in excess of $20 (up to a maximum of $50). Limits the use of such fuel stamps to payment for fuel consumed by a household to heat its residence. Requires payment to and acceptance by any person who sells such fuel to such household. Prescribes criminal penalties for the violation of such requirements. Limits redemption of fuel stamps to persons who sell fuel. Directs the Secretary to prescribe for the printing and inventory control of fuel stamps. Requires every State agency administering the food stamp program to submit for the Secretary's approval a plan of operation, containing specified general provisions, for conducting the fuel stamp program. Authorizes the Secretary to pay up to 50 percent of a State plan's administrative costs, and up to 75 percent of the cost of its investigations and prosecutions. Authorizes payment of a bonus for agencies with a less than five percent error rate. States that the value of any fuel stamp shall not be considered income or a resource under any Federal, State, or local law. Prohibits the reduction of State or local assistance to a household because of the receipt of fuel stamps. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to prohibit, in the calculation of household income, the consideration of the value of any fuel stamp as a household expenditure for shelter.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1979
Amends the National Museum Act of 1966 to authorize additional appropriations of $1,000,000 each year for fiscal years 1981, 1982, and 1983 to the Smithsonian Institution to carry out the purpose of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1979
Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1979 - Title I: Amendments to Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to revise the definitional section. Changes the organizational structure of the political committees by eliminating the requirement that every committee have a chairman. Vests in the treasurer of each committee exclusive authority to authorize disbursements. Extends to ten days the time during which any person who receives a contribution for a political committee must forward to the treasurer of such committee certain information regarding the contribution. Revises the recordkeeping procedures to be followed by the treasurer with respect to contributions received by or on behalf of a political committee. Requires each candidate for Federal office (other than the office of Vice President) to authorize his or her principal campaign committee, together with any other political committees, to receive all contributions and make all expenditures on such candidate's behalf. Stipulates that no political committee which supports or has supported more than one candidate may be designated as an authorized committee. Requires that each designation, report, or statement of receipts received or disbursements made by an authorized committee be filed with the candidate's principal campaign committee. Directs each principal campaign committee to compile and file such reports in accordance with procedures set forth in this title. Requires each authorized campaign committee to file a statement of organization no later than ten days after designation. Requires all other committees to file such statement no later than ten days after becoming a political committee. Revises the content of the organization statement. Stipulates that a political committee may terminate only upon the filing of a written statement stating that it will no longer receive or disburse funds, and that such committee has no outstanding debts. Revises the section of the Act relating to the reporting of receipts and expenditures to require that each treasurer of a political committee file reports of receipts and disbursements with the Federal Elections Commission. Eliminates the requirement that each candidate must file such reports with the Commission. Revises the procedures for reporting data on receipts and expenditures by principal campaign committees, other political committees, and individuals. Amends Title III of the Act to strike out the sections dealing with: (1) regulation of campaign advertising; (2) preservation of financial reports; (3) reporting of pledges; (4) reports to the President; (5) use of the frank; and (6) penalties for violation of the Act. Requires any individual who at the time of his or her appointment to the Federal Election Commission is engaged in any other business, vocation, or employment to terminate or liquidate such activity no later than 90 days (previously one year) after such appointment. Prohibits any member of the Commission from delegating to any person his or her vote or any decisionmaking authority or duty vested in the Commission. Revises the procedures for the issuance of advisory opinions by the Commission. Sets forth revised enforcement procedures. Sets forth revised requirements relating to the filing of campaign expenditure and disbursement statements with State officers. Limits the amount of honorariums a person may accept while such person is an elected or appointed officer or employee of any branch of the Federal Government. Requires any communications expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for Federal office, or soliciting any contributions for such candidate, to clearly state who financed the communication and that it was authorized by the political committee of such candidate. Prohibits any individual who sells space in a newspaper or magazine to a candidate from charging any amount for such space that exceeds the amount charged for comparable use of such space for other purposes. Sets forth amendments and technical changes to specified Federal laws. Increases to $3,000,000 (presently, $2,000,000) the aggregate amount of payments to which a national committee of a major party is entitled with respect to any presidential nominating convention.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1979
Consumer Checking Account Equity Act of 1979 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to authorize member banks in the Federal Reserve System and federally insured nonmember banks to make automatic funds transfers from a savings deposit to a demand deposit pursuant to the written authorization of the depositor to make such transfers in connection with checks or drafts drawn upon the bank. Authorizes federally insured banks and savings and loan associations, State banks and savings and loan associations, savings banks, and mutual savings banks to offer interest-bearing deposits or accounts upon which the depositor may make withdrawals by negotiable instrument for the purpose of making transfers to third parties (NOW accounts). Stipulates that such deposits or accounts may only be held by individuals or nonprofit organizations. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 to permit Federal savings and loan associations and Federal mutual savings banks to establish remote service units pursuant to regulations of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Authorizes such associations to extend loans directly related to negotiable order of withdrawal accounts. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to require any institution which has subscribed for the stock of a Federal Home Loan Bank to maintain reserves against its negotiable order of withdrawal accounts pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Board after consultation with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Prescribes the required form of such balances. Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to permit insured credit unions to offer share draft deposits to individuals and nonprofit organizations in accordance with regulations prescribed by the National Credit Union Administration Board. Requires each Federal credit union to maintain reserves against such deposits in amounts and forms prescribed by the Board after consultation with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1979
Campaign Contribution Reform Act of 1979 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit any multicandidate political committee (other than a multicandidate committee of a political party) from making contributions to a candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress and his or her authorized committees which in any calendar year exceeds: (1) $5,000 with respect to any general or special election and a primary election relating to such election; or (2) $7,500 (but not more than $5,000 for one election) with respect to a general or special election and both a primary and runoff election relating to such election. Prohibits a candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress or any authorized political committee from accepting contributions from political committees, other than committees of a political party, aggregating more than $50,000 in any calendar year, except in the case of a candidate who is a candidate in a general election and a special election, such candidate may accept such contributions aggregating: (1) $50,000 with respect to such general and any primary election relating to such general election; and (2) $50,000 with respect to such special election and any primary election relating to such special election. Specifies that any contribution made in a year, other than the calendar year in which the election is held, is considered to be made in the calendar year in which such election is held, and any contribution made after the date of such election shall be considered a contribution with respect to such election only if such contribution is used to pay obligations incurred with respect to such election. Specifies that any extension of credit for goods or services relating to advertising on broadcasting stations, in newspapers or magazines, by direct mail or other similar types of general public political advertising shall be considered a contribution, if such extension of credit is: (1) in an amount of more than $1,000; and (2) for a period of more than 30 days.
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