United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Amends the Federal Reserve Act to authorize the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to regulate the activities and operations of Government securities dealers. Directs the Board to prescribe necessary regulations to take effect within one year after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1985 - Title I: Community and Neighborhood Development - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize FY 1986 through 1987 appropriations for: (1) the community development block grant (CDBG) program; and (2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development's discretionary fund. Modifies the definition of "Indian tribe" for community block grant purposes to mean an Indian tribe, band, nation, or Alaskan Native Village, and not a tribal organization. Provides for a statewide, rather than a county-by-county basis for determining nonmetropolitan low-and moderate-income levels for CDBG State program purposes. Amends the CDBG statement of activities and review provisions to: (1) repeal provisions requiring a description of a grantee's past use of funds; (2) exempt States from the community development plan requirement; (3) substitute for the housing assistance plan certification a certification that the grantee will cooperate in providing low-and middle-income housing; and (4) repeal the limitation on assessments to recover the cost of CDBG-assisted public improvements. Provides that 60 percent of CDBG funds shall be for metropolitan cities and urban counties, and 40 percent for the State's program. (Current law requires a 70/30 distribution.) Requires (current law authorizes) State administration of the State CDBG program. Repeals the requirement that the Governor sign the necessary program certifications. Sets forth transition funding provisions for communities which lose their classification as a city or urban county for FY 1986 or thereafter. Makes a FY 1985-eligible metropolitan city that loses such classification for FY 1986: (1) eligible for 50 percent funding in FY 1986; and (2) eligible for parallel State funding. Stipulates that any city that elects to have its population included in an urban county for FY 1986 shall be ineligible for such transition funding. Makes a community that loses its metropolitan city or urban county classification as a result of population loss eligible for full transition funding for the first year and 50 percent funding for the second year. Authorizes parallel State funding. Stipulates that: (1) a community that elects to have its population included in an urban county shall be ineligible for such transition funding; and (2) a community that receives such funding for the first year cannot join with an urban county in the second eligibility year. Amends State allocation provisions to include, for cities or counties receiving transition funding, 50 percent of the values relating to population, poverty, housing age, and housing overcrowding for the year or 50 percent funding. Reduces from $102,000 to $100,000 the amount of administrative expenses that a State may deduct from amounts received for distribution in nonentitlement areas. Makes the existing CDBG annual reporting requirement a triennial reporting requirement, with the first such report due within 180 days of the end of FY 1985. Repeals the provisions authorizing: (1) discretionary grants for new communities; (2) advance drawdowns of rehabilitation-designated funds; (3) loan guarantees; and (4) the urban development action grant program. Amends the Housing Act of 1964 to repeal the direct rehabilitation loan program. (Retains revolving fund provisions until transferred or until the end of FY 1986, whichever is earlier.) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize FY 1986 and 1987 appropriations for the urban homesteading program. Authorizes States and localities to charge for the conveyance of homestead property to non-lower income people. Directs that such funds be transferred to the Treasury. Title II: Housing Assistance Programs - Part A: General - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to increase budget authority for specified lower-income housing projects. Limits FY 1986 contract authority for public housing improvement assistance to $175,000,000, to be used only for emergency needs. Authorizes the Secretary to require applicants and participants in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): (1) programs involving loans, grants, interest or rental assistance, or mortgage or mortgage loan insurance to provide their social security number or employer identification number as a condition of eligibility; or (2) programs involving initial or periodic income review to sign a consent form as a condition of eligibility. Amends the Social Security Act to give HUD and public housing authorities access to State unemployment and wage information. Amends the definition of "disabled" in a specified section of the United States Housing Act of 1937 and the definition of "developmentally disabled individual" in a section of the Housing Act of 1959 to conform to the Developmentally Disabled and Bill of Rights Act. Part B: Public and Indian Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to prohibit the Secretary from making low income housing project loans except for projects for which funding has been reserved before October 1, 1986. Provides, with regard to such loans, for the cancellation of: (1) principal and interest, except for those loans not intended to be repaid from annual contributions or involving third parties; and (2) the Secretary's debt to the Treasury. Replaces the existing annual contribution method of financing public housing with a one-time capital contribution method, effective as of October 1, 1987. Increases the portion of income that may be used for rent for public housing home ownership programs. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) apply to a Federal or State court for appointment of a receiver for a public housing authority if such authority is in substantial default of the covenants and conditions to which it is subject; and (2) petition the court for temporary or preliminary relief pending the default determination. Part C: Other Assisted Housing - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to make permanent borrowing authority for direct loans for housing for the elderly or the handicapped. Provides with regard to the section 8 assisted housing program that FY 1985 fair market rents shall continue through FY 1986. Makes the housing voucher program permanent. Authorizes the Secretary to increase maximum rents above the amounts otherwise permitted if necessary to assist in the sale of HUD-owned multifamily projects. Repeals the moderate rehabilitation program. Permits lower-income families whose rent exceeds 30 percent of their adjusted income to participate in the housing voucher program. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to repeal: (1) the provision providing for local review of housing applications where the local authority has a HUD-approved housing assistance plan; and (2) the notice and comment exemption for specified State-financed assistance. Requires the Secretary, beginning in FY 1988, to allocate housing funds equally between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 to require a rent supplement project owner (currently the Secretary) to give housing priority to persons who are displaced, in substandard housing, or paying more than 50 percent of their income for rent. Repeals the requirement that HUD issue tenant eligibility certificates to requesting project owners. Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to repeal the requirement that entities receiving loans to develop housing for the elderly or handicapped include community representatives in their governing boards. Title III: Program Amendments and Extensions - Part A: Federal Housing Administration - Amends the National Housing Act to extend through FY 1987 the following HUD-Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage and loan insurance programs: (1) property improvement and manufactured home loan insurance; (2) basic home mortgage insurance; (3) rental housing insurance; (4) cooperative housing insurance; (5) rehabilitation and neighborhood conservation housing insurance; (6) moderate income and displaced families housing; (7) miscellaneous housing insurance, including insurance in older urban areas and for existing multifamily housing projects and hospitals; (8) housing for the elderly; (9) experimental housing; (10) condominium insurance; (11) special mortgage insurance; (12) homeowner fee simple purchases; (13) supplemental loans for multifamily housing projects, health facilities, and energy conservation improvements; (14) middle income home ownership; (15) coinsurance; (16) mortgage insurance on graduated payment and indexed mortgages; (17) single family mortgage on Hawaiian and Indian home lands; (18) adjustable rate single family mortgages; (19)shared appreciation mortgages; and (20) mortgage insurance for land development. (Permits expiration of the following HUD-FHA mortgage insurance programs: (1) mortgage insurance for servicemen; (2) mortgage insurance for nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, and board and care homes; (3) homeownership for lower income families; (4) countercyclical economic stimulus; (5) mortgage insurance for hospitals; (6) armed forces housing; and (7) group practice facilities.) Makes conforming and technical amendments to the National Housing Act. Amends the National Housing Act to revise the Secretary's authority in setting insurance premium charges under the property improvement and manufactured home loan programs. Provides that Hawaiian and Indian home lands mortgages shall be General Insurance Fund obligations. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 to repeal the requirement that HUD publish prototype housing costs for one- to four-family housing units. Amends the National Housing Act to increase mortgage limits for multifamily projects in high-cost areas. Civil Recovery Double Damages Act - Provides a double damages civil remedy for the unauthorized use of multifamily housing project assets and income. Gives the Attorney General, upon the Secretary's request, exclusive authority to initiate such proceedings (which may be brought up to six years after any misuse of funds has been discovered). Part B: Other Programs - Authorizes FY 1986 and 1987 appropriations for HUD research programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, State or local governments or private or public institutions for programs to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing practices. Authorizes FY 1986 and 1987 appropriations. Repeals specified congressional reporting requirements under the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act and the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Act. Amends the National Manufactured Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to expand HUD's fee-collection authority. Amends the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act to eliminate the maximum fee amount for interstate land sales registration. Title IV: Rental Rehabilitation and Development Grants - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to repeal the housing development grant program. Permits States to use rental rehabilitation grants in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Amends the Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through FY 1991. Permits monies from the National Flood Insurance Fund to be used for the coordination of flood insurance with land management programs in flood-prone areas.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Federal Deposit Insurance Improvements Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to make technical revisions to definitions. Provides that deposits owed to a federally insured depository institution or owned or placed by a Federal agency shall not be eligible for insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Requires the FDIC, in deciding whether to decline to insure a national or State bank that becomes a member of the Federal Reserve System, to base its decision only on such bank's financial and managerial resources. Eliminates as insurance assessment base deductions specified percentages of a bank's adjusted demand deposits and adjusted time and savings deposits. Directs the FDIC to allocate annual assessment credits to insured banks on the basis of the risks each such bank may present to the Permanent Insurance Fund. Eliminates a requirement that the FDIC Board of Directors provide an insured institution and its supervisory authority up to 120 days to correct any violation of law or any unsound or unsafe practice or condition before terminating the bank's insured status. Declares that a temporary cease and desist order issued by the appropriate Federal banking agency may place limitations on the activities or functions of an insured bank or its directors, officers, employees, agents and other persons participating in bank affairs or may bar any such person from conducting bank affairs. Authorizes a Federal banking agency that has removed a person from office at one insured bank to prohibit such person from participating in the affairs of any insured bank without the agency's prior written approval. Authorizes such an agency to proceed against any person who has acted as an officer or director of an insured bank during the year preceding the date on which the agency institutes proceedings against such person or bank. Provides that the FDIC shall have enforcement powers over any insured bank or any insured branch of a foreign bank. Requires the FDIC to notify the appropriate Federal banking agency of its intent to initiate enforcement proceedings involving a national bank, district bank, insured Federal branch, State member bank, or an insured Federal savings bank or any director or officer or other person participating in the conduct of the bank's affairs. Allows the FDIC to proceed unless such agency takes corrective actions within a specified time. Provides for a six-month continuation of the insurance of deposits of an institution insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation that are assumed by an FDIC-insured bank. Authorizes the FDIC Board to set reasonable fees for examining or investigating insured banks and bank affiliates (as redefined by this Act to include subsidiaries of insured banks). Sets forth the order of payment of unsecured claims against the estate of a closed bank or branch by the FDIC as receiver of such bank or branch. Subrogates the FDIC to the rights of any depositor of any closed insured bank or any closed insured branch of a foreign bank to the extent of the deposit payments made to such depositor. Eliminates provisions that require new banks (organized by the FDIC to assume the insured deposits of closed banks) to: (1) accept as new deposits only demand deposits aggregating not more than $100,000; and (2) maintain funds in cash, invested in Government or federally-guaranteed obligations, or deposited with the FDIC, a Federal Reserve bank, or an insured bank. Provides that, so long as an executive officer appointed by the FDIC Board has authority to manage such a new bank, such bank shall not be subject to any limitations imposed by law that restrict the activities of a national bank by measuring the amount of investment that the bank may devote to such activities by the amount of the bank's capitalization. Permits the business of such a new bank that has assumed the insured deposits of a closed bank with total assets of $500,000,000 or more to be acquired by, or transferred to, an insured depository institution located in the State where the closed bank was chartered but established by an out-of-State bank or holding company. Deletes the requirement that the stockholders of the closed bank be provided the first opportunity to purchase common stock of the new bank. Extends from two to five years the period within which the stock of a new bank must be sold or its assets acquired. Permits the FDIC to waive its right to receive unclaimed deposits transferred to a new bank or to another insured bank from a closed bank. Authorizes the FDIC to purchase the voting or common stock of an insured bank in order to provide emergency assistance to such bank. Exempts any insured bank: (1) while receiving assistance under an emergency assistance agreement, from any State or local taxes that are determined on the basis of the bank's deposits; and (2) which has received emergency assistance to increase its capital or net worth and which has a net worth exceeding one-half of one percent of assets, from any Federal, State, or local law limiting the authority of the bank to continue operations because of the level of the bank's capital, net worth, surplus fund, or guarantee. Authorizes the merger or acquisition of any insured bank with $500,000,000 or more in total assets if such bank is in danger of closing or has emergency assistance outstanding. Sets forth the conditions under which a representation or warranty made to a borrower by a bank in connection with the investment of the proceeds of a loan shall be valid against the assets of a closed bank acquired by the FDIC. Eliminates the requirement that one Federal banking agency request reports from the other banking agencies when evaluating bank mergers. Requires a State nonmember insured bank to notify the FDIC (current law requires FDIC approval) concerning moving any domestic branch or establishing and operating a new domestic branch. Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 to repeal the termination dates of specified emergency assistance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Youth Employment Opportunity Wage Act of 1985 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize employers to pay employees under 20 years of age 75 percent of the minimum wage rate between May and September of each year. Exempts such employees from special certificate requirements. Restricts such authorization to: (1) hours worked by eligible employees in compliance with applicable child labor laws; and (2) youth employed after May 1 of each year. Prohibits the removal of employees ineligible for the subminimum wage rate in order to replace them with employees who are eligible. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to monitor the implementation of this Act and to report to the Congress concerning the employment effects of this Act. Terminates such minimum wage rate exception after September 30, 1987, and repeals, as of that date, the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1985
Insured Institution Improvements Act of 1985 - Title I: Insurance of Accounts - Savings Insurance Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) to establish classes of accounts and to determine whether accounts in any such class constitute insured accounts. Authorizes the FSLIC to assess an additional premium against institutions which engage in activities not authorized for Federal associations or which exceed certain percentage-of-assets limitations. Title II: Enforcement - Savings Institutions Supervisory Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the authority of the FSLIC concerning cease and desist proceedings to cover institution-related parties that it determines are: (1) engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting the business of an insured institution; or (2) violating an FSLIC regulation or agreement. Declares that the affirmative actions the FSLIC may order an institution or related party to take to correct the condition resulting from such practice or violation may include restitution, rescission, the disposal of loans or assets, or guarantees against loss. Extends the authority of the FSLIC to any subsidiary corporation wholly or partly owned by an insured institution. Requires the FSLIC to show some dissipation of assets or some weakening of an insured institution (currently a substantial dissipation of assets or a serious weakening) in order to constitute grounds for issuing a temporary cease and desist order. Provides the FSLIC new authority to issue a temporary cease and desist order requiring the cessation of institution activities if the institution's books and records are so incomplete or inaccurate that the FSLIC is unable to determine the institution's financial condition. Revises provisions dealing with the suspension or removal of institution directors and officers and a prohibition from participation in institution affairs by other institution-related parties. Amends the FSLIC's subpoena power to include inquiries into the affairs, assets, or ownership of insured institutions, affiliates thereof, or any entity that was such an institution or affiliate at the time of the transaction or conduct being examined. Sets penalties for failure to comply with FSLIC subpoenas. Prohibits any person who has been suspended from, or prohibited from participation in, the affairs of an FSLIC-insured institution from participating in the affairs of any federally-insured institution without the approval of the appropriate Federal regulatory authority. Prohibits any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense involving dishonesty or breach of trust from serving as an institution-related party without the prior written consent of the FSLIC. Authorizes the FSLIC to apply to U.S. district courts for injunctive relief when administrative remedies are insufficient to deal with violations of the National Housing Act. Amends the Federal Home Owners' Loan Act to make the same changes previously prescribed under this title with respect to Federal savings and loan associations and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). Title III: Payment of Insurance - Insurance Amendments of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to state that the FSLIC, where it pays insurance on accounts of a defaulted institution, shall be subrogated to all rights of the insured member to the extent of such payment. Permits the FSLIC to withhold payment of insurance to the extent of any liability of an insured depositor to the institution or the receiver (other than a liability as a borrower under a note that has not defaulted). Title IV: Receivership Powers, Automatic Stay, and Priorities - Receivership Improvement Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to provide that the FSLIC, in connection with its activities as receiver for a defaulted institution, shall not be required to furnish bond, but may employ necessary personnel and pay related expenses from the receivership funds. Sets forth requirements for any valid agreement diminishing the right, title, or interest of the FSLIC as receiver in any asset acquired in such capacity. Declares that any property in which an insured institution in receivership has a legal or equitable interest is property of the receivership estate. Provides, upon the appointment of a receiver by the FHLBB for an insured institution under such Act or the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933, for an automatic stay on claims against the receivership estate. Excludes from such automatic stay certain security interests of Federal Home Loan Banks. Sets forth the rights and powers of an appointed receiver (which shall include the rights of a lien creditor, bona fide purchaser, or equity receiver) to avoid transfers of property or obligations of the insured institution. Specifies the payment priority of unsecured claims against the receivership estate. Title V: Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation - Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Improvements Act of 1985 - Redefines the FSLIC (currently a wholly owned Government corporation) as a mixed-ownership Government corporation. Amends the National Housing Act to direct the FSLIC to determine its expenditures without regard to restrictions of any other law concerning personnel or apportionment of expenditures. Authorizes the FSLIC to issue regulations governing risk-taking by insured institutions. Declares that FSLIC expenditures to carry out such Act shall not be deemed to be appropriations. Provides that insured institution funds paid to, or on deposit with, the FSLIC shall not be subject to attachment, garnishment, or other legal process by creditors of such institution. Provides that any action to which the FSLIC is appointed by a State authority as receiver of a State-chartered institution shall be a State matter. Title VI: Holding Companies - Holding Company Amendments of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to prohibit savings and loan holding companies and insured institutions from directly or indirectly engaging in the activities of an underwriter or market-maker in: (1) equity securities; or (2) debt securities other than those secured by interests in real estate or that are eligible to be underwritten by national banks. Extends prohibitions on transactions between a savings and loan holding company and subsidiary insured institutions to transactions between subsidiaries of such subsidiary insured institutions and such holding company. Provides for transaction exceptions with respect to service corporation subsidiaries of insured institutions. Prohibits the FSLIC from approving: (1) a transaction which would result in a savings and loan holding company that is itself uninsured or that has control of an uninsured institution, unless certain conditions are met; and (2) an acquisition of an insured institution by a company engaged in the activities of an underwriter or market-maker in equity or debt securities other than those representing interests in real estate or that are eligible to be underwritten by national banks. Authorizes the FSLIC to bring actions in U.S. district court to require the rescission of transactions in violation of the National Housing Act or the restitution to persons suffering damages as a result of such violations. Excludes from the requirement for approval by a State official any emergency acquisition of a federally-chartered insured institution. Title VII: Qualified Thrift Lenders - Qualified Thrift Lender Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to condition eligibility for FSLIC insurance of non-federal associations and Federal savings banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) upon meeting the definition of a qualified thrift lender. Defines a qualified thrift lender as an institution that maintains at least 60 percent of its assets in certain liquid assets and specified housing and housing-related investments. Provides a 20-year period during which a State-chartered mutual savings bank maintaining at least 50 percent of its assets in such categories (with specified increases every five years) shall qualify as a qualified thrift institution. Prohibits any institution which loses its status as a qualified thrift lender from regaining such status for five years. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to limit the eligibility for Federal Home Loan Bank advances by members with deposits insured by the FSLIC or the FDIC to qualified thrift lenders. Increases from three to five percent of assets the maximum service corporation investment authority of qualified thrift institutions. Requires a Federal association to be a qualified thrift lender in order to establish and operate a branch outside of its home State. Requires that a bank or bank holding company making an out-of-State acquisition of an insured institution conform to the branching limitations applicable to banks in the State in which the acquired institution is located if the institution is not a qualified thrift lender. Limits the business activities of a savings and loan holding company whose subsidiary insured institution fails to qualify as a qualified thrift lender. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC to accept payment from Federal or non-Federal entities for expenses incurred by officers and employees in attending meetings concerning Board or FSLIC activities or functions. Permits Federal associations to accept deposits without limitation. (Currently demand deposits are accepted only from persons with a business relationship with an association.) Allows former employers of participants in the Board's professional accounting fellows programs to pay such participants' actual expenses for relocating to Washington, D.C. Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 to extend the Deposit Insurance Flexibility Act and the Net Worth Certificate Act for three years. Amends the National Housing Act to set forth provisions concerning the transfer of insurance coverage between the FSLIC and FDIC insurance funds. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prescribe notification requirements for mergers involving an insured Federal savings bank or an FSLIC-insured institution. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize the Board to provide for staggered terms for Federal home loan bank directors. Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the FSLIC to define "control" of an insured institution.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Asbestos Workers' Recovery Act - Title I: Supplemental Benefits - Establishes a Federal supplemental benefit program for death or disability caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Provides guidelines for: (1) the calculation of benefits in proportion to disability; (2) payment methods; and (3) payment priorities. Exempts such supplemental benefits from: (1) any tax or legal process; and (2) any offset for administrative benefits under State or Federal law. Sets guidelines for the offset of supplemental benefits where reorganization or liquidation proceedings occur under Federal bankruptcy laws. Makes supplemental benefits payable only out of the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund established by this Act. Conditions eligibility for supplemental benefits upon such benefits' being the exclusive remedy of an individual for occupational exposure to asbestos. Prescribes guidelines for the filing and payment of asbestos-related disease claims. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to apply by analogy specified portions of the Social Security Act when making determinations of: (1) entitlement to benefits; (2) review of claims; and (3) delegations of authority to State agencies. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary, in determining eligibility for a supplemental benefit under this Act, to determine annually the average weekly wage for manufacturing workers in each State. Requires such determinations to govern decisions regarding all claims filed in the following calendar year. Requires the Secretary to rely upon: (1) prior court decisions regarding a claimant; and (2) prior determinations by the appropriate workers' compensation program regarding specified eligibility criteria. Specifies exceptions. Requires the Secretary to apply the appropriate workers' compensation law when reviewing supplemental benefit claims. Creates within the Department of Health and Human Services the National Medical Panel on Asbestos-Related Diseases to: (1) decide which diseases belong to the list of asbestos-related diseases; (2) review claims to determine whether a person's disease was caused by asbestos exposure; and (3) publish certain Medical Assessment Guidance Documents. Provides guidelines for the appointment of medical scientists to the Panel from certain organizations. Directs the Panel to promulgate a list of asbestos-related diseases and to provide explanations of any decisions to include or omit a disease from such list. Outlines conditions under which the Panel shall review claims for asbestos-related diseases which do not appear on the panel's list of diseases. Requires the Panel to determine within a specified time whether the disease in the referred claim should be included on such list. Requires the Panel to publish Medical Assessment Guidance Documents including specific medical diagnostic criteria to aid parties and decisionmakers determine whether a death or disability was caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Title II: Finance - Prescribes guidelines under which: (1) assessments are imposed against each asbestos defendant; (2) assessment allocating factors are assigned to asbestos defendants; (3) assessments are imposed against asbestos insurance policies; and (4) assessments are imposed against companies undergoing Federal bankruptcy proceedings. Sets the aggregate semiannual assessment on defendants on June 30 and December 31 of 1985 and 1986 at $150,000,000. Sets forth formulas for determining the aggregate semiannual assessment on each assessment due date in 1987 and thereafter. Imposes interest upon assessments not paid by the due date. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) conduct studies determining assessment allocation factor amounts and assessment apportionment ratios; and (2) promulgate compliance regulations. States that assessment payments do not prejudice the right to recover or challenge such payments. Treats asbestos-related disease assessments imposed upon either an asbestos defendant or an asbestos insurance policy, for Federal income tax purposes, as ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in carrying on the trade or business, on the one hand, and insurance contract losses, on the other. Treats asbestos-related disease assessments as miscellaneous excise taxes. Establishes in the Treasury the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund (the Trust Fund). Details the manner in which such Trust Fund shall be funded and administered. Makes the Secretary of the Treasury the Managing Trustee, and delineates trustee functions. Provides for repayable initial advances and repayable cash flow advances to the Trust Fund during specified periods of FY 1985. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and subsequent fiscal years for the Trust Fund. Establishes within the Department of the Treasury the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund Conservation Committee (the Committee) comprised of the Managing Trustee and five public members appointed by the President. Includes among the consultation and review functions of such Committee: (1) claim disposition; (2) grant and contract awards; and (3) claims and assessments analysis. Directs the Committee to submit an annual report to the Congress regarding the performance of its responsibilities. Authorizes the Committee, with the advice and assistance of the Secretary of Labor, to instruct the Managing Trustee to award grants and contracts to specified organizations for the purpose of: (1) improving State workers' compensation programs; (2) assuring the availability of medical specialists to assist government agencies; (3) establishing medical evaluation units to determine occupational sources of asbestos-related diseases; and (4) medical treatment research. Title III: Miscellaneous - Makes the supplemental benefits under this Act and the applicable workers' compensation programs the exclusive remedy for occupational exposure to asbestos. Exempts certain persons from liability for occupational exposure to asbestos. Removes jurisdiction from State or Federal tribunals to adjudicate any claim of liability for occupational exposure to asbestos after enactment of this Act. Confers jurisdiction for judicial review of administrative acts under this Act only upon the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Confers jurisdiction for questions of assessments and constitutionality under this Act only upon a special three-judge district court established in the District Court for the District of Columbia. Requires all administrative costs and expenses of this Act to be paid out of the Trust Fund. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury, and the Attorney General to submit an analysis and certification of their respective costs under this Act to the Managing Trustee for reimbursement.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1985
Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement Act of 1985 - Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from a major exporting country to the lesser of an amount equal to 101 percent: (1) of the total quantity of textile products imported from such country if the total had increased by six percent annually (one percent annually for wool products) during 1981 through 1984; or (2) if the United States has an agreement with such country providing for an annual growth rate of less than six percent, of the total quantity of such products from such country imported during 1984. Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from an exporting country to an amount equal to the total quantity of such products imported from such country during 1984 plus: (1) 15 percent of such quantity in the case of a category that is not an import sensitive category; or (2) one percent in the case of an import sensitive category. Provides for changing the classification of a country, except for a Caribbean country, from an exporting country to a major exporting country if the total textile imports from such country equals or exceeds one and one-quarter percent of all textiles imported into the United States. Sets forth a formula for adjusting the growth of textile imports annually. Sets forth certain minimum quantities of textile imports that all countries shall be allowed to export to the United States. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to enforce this Act. Directs the Secretary, within six months of enactment of this Act, to establish an import licensing system under which an importer of textiles will be required to present an import permit as a condition of entry of such textiles. Directs the President to report to the Congress annually on the administration of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to review a certain study by the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the feasibility of constructing a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and report any findings to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1985
Handicapped Independence Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to treat sensory and communication aids, including training in the use of such aids, as medical and other health services. Requires such items and services to be designed to substantially reduce handicaps to employment and education caused by blindness, deafness, a severe hearing or visual impairment, or the inability to communicate vocally. Limits expenses that may be incurred under this Act for such items and services.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1985
Veterans' Employment Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Emergency Veterans' Job Training Act of 1983 to extend through July 1, 1986, the provisions of such Act. Increases the eligibility for job training assistance to veterans of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts by lowering the required period of unemployment necessary for such eligibility. Increases to GS-11 the level to which veterans may be appointed for veterans readjustment appointments and career-conditional appointments (currently to GS-9). Eliminates the disability requirement as a condition to such appointments for Vietnam-era veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Regulatory Oversight and Control Act of 1985 - Title I: Agency Rulemaking Improvements - Requires each executive agency and each independent regulatory agency to include in the notice of a proposed rule an explanation of the agency's determination as to whether the rule is a major rule. Directs each agency, before or upon publishing notice of a proposed rulemaking proceeding for a major rule, to issue statements concerning: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the benefits, costs, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards; (6) the technical information the agency will rely on in making the rule; and (7) the statutory authority of the agency to regulate any areas previously regulated only by State law. Requires that each agency issue additional statements upon providing notice of the promulgation of a major rule, including a statement of its determination that the benefits of the rule will justify the costs of the rules and that the rule will achieve rulemaking objectives in a more cost effective manner than the alternatives. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions on how the public may obtain copies of agency statements on such rule; (2) send a copy of all statements required at the notice and publication of a major rule to the President; and (3) include such statements and any technical information considered in the rulemaking file. Requires agencies to provide for oral presentations at informal public hearings as part of the rulemaking proceedings for major rules. Directs agencies to allow cross-examination of persons presenting information if necessary to resolve significant issues of fact. Directs agencies to regulate such public hearings so as to ensure orderly and expeditious proceedings. Allows an agency to delay completing the rulemaking requirements of this Act if it publishes a finding that complying with such requirements before making the rule would be impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. Requires an agency to complete such requirements as soon as practicable after promulgating the rule unless the rule will expire within two years. Sets forth provisions governing the judicial review of agency compliance with rulemaking and rule review requirements of this Act and the President's compliance with oversight requirements. Directs the President to: (1) establish procedures for agency implementation of the requirements of this title; (2) afford the public an opportunity to comment on such procedures before adoption; and (3) monitor, review, and comment on agency compliance with such requirements. Permits the Comptroller General to review agency compliance with this Act. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of all rules the agency expects to propose, promulgate, repeal, modify, or review in the next year and specified information concerning such rules. Requires publication of the agendas of all agencies in a single issue of the Federal Register. Directs each agency to publish for public comment a proposed schedule for the review of its existing major rules and other rules that may be added by the agency or the President. Declares that each such rule shall cease to be effective not more than ten years after the date the final schedule is published. Directs each agency to publish its responses to public comments upon publishing the final schedule. Requires an agency to include with the publication of a major rule the date, within ten years, on which the rule will expire and the date by which the rule must be reviewed. Directs each agency to: (1) publish a notice of the initiation of the review of a rule; (2) describe the costs, benefits, problems, and alternatives to the rule; (3) provide a period for public comment; and either (4) conduct a rulemaking proceeding to reissue or amend the rule; or (5) publish an explanation of its decision to allow the rule to expire. Allows agencies to alter review schedules if the President agrees. Eliminates the exemption of rules concerning loans, grants, and benefits from notice and comment rulemaking requirements. Requires that the notice of a proposed rulemaking include: (1) a statement of the objectives of the rule; (2) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (3) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Requires an agency to: (1) provide a period of at least 60 days after publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking for the public to submit comments on a proposed rule; and (2) include the agency's response to such comments in the statement published with the adopted rule. Prohibits an agency from relying on any material of central relevance in a rulemaking if the material is not included in the rulemaking file or the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the material. Directs each agency to maintain a public file on each rulemaking proceeding. Allows an agency to exclude from such file any material relied upon which is exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, if a statement of the basis for such exclusion is included. Requires a court reviewing an agency action: (1) not to accord any presumption in favor of or against agency action; (2) in determining questions of law other than statutory jurisdiction, to give the agency's interpretation such weight as it warrants considering the agency's authority under law; (3) in making determinations concerning statutory jurisdiction, to determine whether the action is within the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the statutory language or other indications of legislative intent; and (4) in determining whether the adoption of a rule is in accordance with law, to consider whether there is substantial support in the rulemaking file for the agency's factual determinations. Declares that when proceedings for review of the same agency action are instituted in two or more courts of appeals within ten days, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall select, by a system of random selection, the court in which the record shall be filed. Authorizes the courts to postpone the effective date of the agency action as necessary to permit designation of the court of record. Prohibits agencies from paying expenses of persons participating or intervening in agency proceedings except as specifically authorized by statute. Title II: Congressional Review of Agency Rules - Requires each agency to transmit a copy of each rule it promulgates to the House of Representatives and the Senate. Declares that such rule shall be considered only as a recommendation of the agency to Congress. Prohibits a major rule from taking effect unless a joint resolution approving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits a rule other than a major rule from taking effect if a joint resolution disapproving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule that is substantially the same as a major rule that was not approved or any other rule that was disapproved. Directs the Comptroller General, at the request of a committee of either House which has primary legislative jurisdiction over a rule or on his or her own initiative, to inform such committee as to whether the rule is consistent with the statutory authority under which it was promulgated. Exempts an emergency rule from such congressional review requirements if the agency submits to the appropriate congressional committees a written notice of: (1) its determination that the rule is an emergency rule; (2) the time period (limited to 210 days) during which the rule will be effective; and (3) its intention to issue a final rule, if necessary, when such emergency rule expires. Sets forth House and Senate procedure for the consideration of such resolutions of approval or disapproval. Declares that: (1) congressional inaction on or rejection of a resolution disapproving a rule shall not be deemed an expression of approval of that rule; and (2) enactment of a resolution approving a major rule shall not be construed to create any presumption of validity with respect to such rule and shall not affect the judicial review of such rule. Title III: Regulatory Oversight and Control Amendments to House Rules - Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish a Regulatory Review Calendar to which all resolutions for the approval or disapproval of agency rules shall be referred. Provides for the consideration of the resolutions on such Calendar on the first and third Monday and the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Declares that it shall be in order during the reading of a general appropriation bill to consider any germane amendment proposing a limitation restricting the implementation of an agency rule, other than a major rule, for which a resolution of disapproval has not been considered by the House, or has been passed by the House but not enacted, within the time required under this Act. Requires each standing committee of the House to consider and adopt its oversight plans in a meeting which is open to the public by March 1 of the first session of a Congress. Directs each such committee to: (1) consult with other congressional committees with jurisdiction over the same areas to assure that such areas are reviewed in the same Congress and that there is maximum coordination and cooperation between such committees in conducting such review; (2) give priority to the review of programs under permanent budget or statutory authority; and (3) attempt to ensure that all laws, programs, activities, and agencies within its jurisdiction are reviewed at least once every ten years. Requires each committee to submit its final plans to the Committee on Government Operations which shall report all such plans to Congress with recommendations to assure the effective coordination of such plans. Authorizes the Speaker of the House, with the approval of the House, to appoint special ad hoc committees to review specific matter within the jurisdiction of two or more standing committees. Requires each committee to include in its biennial report to the House separate sections summarizing the legislative and oversight activities of that committee. Declares that it shall not be in order in the House to consider a primary expense resolution for any committee that has not submitted its oversight plans to the Committee on Government Operations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend indefinitely the income tax exclusion for employee educational assistance programs. (Present law terminates such exclusion as of December 31, 1985.) Limits the maximum amount of such exclusion (beginning in 1986) to $5,000 of amounts paid or expenses incurred for educational assistance furnished to an employee during a calendar year. Exempts graduate students engaged in teaching or research activities from such maximum limit. Provides for annual cost-of-living adjustments in such maximum limit beginning in 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) veterans' disability compensation payments should remain exempt from Federal income taxation; and (2) the President should reject any proposals to tax such payments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Authorizes the Armored Force Monument Committee, the United States Armor Association, the World Wars Tank Corps Association, the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Association, the Tank Destroyer Association, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th Armored Division Associations, and the Council of Armored Division Associations to erect a memorial in or near Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, to honor and commemorate the American Armored Force. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site and approve the design and plans. Obligates the United States to expenses of maintenance only. Requires the commencement of the erection of the memorial within five years with a certification of sufficiency of funds necessary before commencement.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Amends the Education Assistance Act of 1980 to extend through FY 1988 the authorization of appropriations for grants to the Robert A. Taft Institute of Government in New York, New York, under the Robert A. Taft Institute Assistance Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Revises Federal procedures regarding the establishment of interstate cost estimates to direct the Secretary of Transportation to apportion such estimates for construction funds and substitute highway and urban transit projects on October 1 of 1985-1988 if the Congress has not approved such estimates by that time.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat as a tax-exempt employee fringe benefit any transportation provided by an airline to parents of its employees.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit from 1985 to 1990. Increases the amount of wages which may be taken into account for such credit from $6,000 to $10,000 per year. Revises the definition of "members of economically disadvantaged families" to increase from 70 percent to 80 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' lower living standard the amount of income a family may have in order to qualify as a member of a targeted group.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to continue the excise tax on cigarettes at its present 16 cents per pack level (rather than reducing the excise tax to eight cents per pack October 1, 1985, as currently provided). Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer amounts received from this excise tax on cigarettes to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the use of law enforcement, fire protection, and emergency medical vehicles by government employees shall be treated as a nontaxable fringe benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985 - Amends the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide a definition of the phrase "program or activity." Defines such term as all of the operations of: (1) a department or agency of a State or of a local government; (2) the entity of such State or local government that distributes Federal assistance and each such department or agency to which the assistance is extended; (3) a university or a system of higher education; (4) a local educational agency or other school system; (5) a corporation, partnership, or other private organization; or (6) any other entity consistent with the coverage provided above.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the tax on unrelated business income any income received by a tax-exempt organization from the sale, exchange, or rental of names from donor lists or membership lists.
![Official portrait of Rep. Wylie, Chalmers P. [R-OH-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000781_200.jpg)