United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
National Environmental Education Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an Office of Environmental Education within the Office of External Affairs to carry out this Act. Establishes an Environmental Education and Training Program to train educational professionals in the development and delivery of environmental education and training programs and studies. Directs the Administrator to make an annual grant to an institution of higher education or nonprofit research institution to establish and operate such program. Sets forth application and eligibility requirements and criteria to be considered in awarding such grants. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into cooperative agreements or provide grants to support projects to design, demonstrate, and disseminate practices related to environmental education and training. Outlines activities eligible for grant support and priorities in awarding such grants. Requires the Administrator to publish an annual solicitation for environmental education grants. Authorizes local education agencies, colleges or universities, State education or environmental agencies, or nonprofit agencies to apply for such grants. Limits Federal funds for demonstration projects to 75 percent of the total cost, except in specified instances. Limits such grants to $100,000 and requires 25 percent of all funds obligated to be for grants of no more than $5,000. Requires the Administrator to provide for internships by postsecondary students with Federal agencies involved in environmental issues. Directs the Administrator, to the extent practicable, to support at least 150 internships annually. Makes eligible for participation in such program students enrolled at accredited colleges or universities who have successfully completed at least four courses or the equivalent in environmental sciences. Requires the Administrator to provide for a series of national awards recognizing outstanding contributions to environmental education to include: (1) the Theodore Roosevelt Award for environmental teaching or administration; (2) the Henry David Thoreau Award for literature on the environment and pollution problems; and (3) the Rachel Carson Award for film or print media for public education and information on environmental issues or problems. Provides that recipients of such awards shall be nominated by the Environmental Education Advisory Council. Requires the regional administrator of each EPA office to present an "Outstanding Environmental Educator Award" annually to a teacher or faculty member from a local education agency, college or university, or nonprofit organization in recognition of an outstanding contribution to environmental education. Establishes a National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Requires the Council to report biennially to the Congress on: (1) the extent and quality of environmental education in the Nation's schools; (2) activities conducted pursuant to this Act; (3) obstacles to improving environmental education; and (4) training and skills needed to respond to environmental problems. Establishes the Environmental Education Trust Fund to carry out this Act. Allocates funding for this Act's activities and authorizes 50 percent of penalties received under specified environmental Acts to be appropriated to the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Rural Partnerships Act of 1989 - Title I: Rural Business and Job Creation - Subtitle A: Rural Partnerships Investment Board - Establishes a Rural Partnerships Investment Board to provide lines of credit through local revolving funds for rural business expansion. Terminates the Board five years after enactment of this Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Business Investment Fund to provide funds for such purpose. Limits an entity's credit line to $750,000. Stipulates that a State agency may receive up to $1,250,000. Requires a participating entity to: (1) provide matching funds at least equal to the line of credit; and (2) demonstrate financial institution participation. Requires only 50 percent matching funds in areas with per capita income levels below specified levels. Limits the maximum amount of Federal contributions to each State's revolving funds to $100,000. Obligates a specified amount of appropriated funds for businesses serving very distressed rural areas or providing specified rural services, including health care, elderly and handicapped services, educational services, or transportation. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1992 appropriations. Requires each participating entity to establish a local revolving fund to: (1) make loans, investments, or loan guarantees; and (2) pay for various training and related programs. Requires local revolving funds to enter into 50 percent matching loan or investment partnerships with banks and other financial institutions. Limits a fund's annual investments in any one business to $250,000. Sets forth compliance and enforcement provisions, including: (1) grounds for revocation of a line of credit; (2) investigatory authority of the Board; (3) unlawful acts of officers, directors, employees, or agents; (4) penalties; and (5) Board authority to bring an action in district court. Subtitle B: Rural Economic Development Promoted by the Rural Electrification Administration - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to direct the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) to appoint an Assistant Administrator for Economic Development to carry out REA programs concerning the involvement of rural electric and telephone systems in community and economic development. Directs the Administrator to establish a technical assistance unit to assist borrowers with respect to community and economic development activities. Permits a borrower to defer loan repayments (five or ten years, depending on the project) for amounts invested in community or economic development projects. Limits such deferment to 50 percent of a project's cost. Authorizes and limits water and waste facility loans to the lesser of $40,000,000 or ten percent of fiscal year REA insured loan authority. Sets forth loan priority provisions. Requires private sector assistance under specified circumstances. Targets electrification borrower investments in: (1) the Incubation Fund established by this Act or other business incubators; and (2) community, business, or economic development projects. Expands the scope of REA rural economic development functions. Establishes in the Treasury a Rural Business Incubation Fund to make grants and reduced interest loans to electric and telephone borrowers in order to promote business incubation programs or to create rural business incubators. Requires such incubators to: (1) be operated on a not-for-profit basis; and (2) assist businesses to become viable business entities. Provides for funding of such incubators by assisted businesses, REA borrowers, and the Treasury. Deems investments by REA telephone borrowers in rural telecommunication or other rural development projects not to be dividends or capital distributions. Title II: Enhancing Human Resources - Establishes a grant program to increase rural educational opportunities through the use of telecommunications and related technologies. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations. Requires grantee partnerships to consist of: (1) REA borrowers; (2) specified national telecommunication organizations; and (3) educational institutions. Establishes the Rural Educational Opportunities Board to advise grant recipients, evaluate programs and technology, serve as a liaison with REA and the Secretary of Education, and review and make grant application recommendations. Requires REA and the Secretary of Agriculture to make an annual program report to the appropriate congressional committees. Provides for expedited REA telephone loans. Establishes: (1) a rural medical link telecommunications grant program; and (2) a rural business link telecommunications grant program. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations for such programs. Title III: Focus on Rural America by the Department of Agriculture - Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary to establish an Extension Service rural economic and business program to permit State or county extension services to hire business development and related telecommunications specialists. Authorizes appropriations beginning with FY 1990. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to study economically distressed rural counties; (2) evaluate the nature and availability of assistance needed by such counties; and (3) report to the appropriate congressional committees in each of FY 1990 through 1993. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural development assistance information program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees by September 1, 1989, concerning the coordination of Department of Agriculture rural development activities. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study and report to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to the Department's data processing functions and whether they can be performed more economically in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Rural Business and Employment Assistance - Directs the Secretary to make technical assistance grants for rural business development, including business support centers. Prohibits the use of such funds for political activity or business relocation. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary to make grants for rural technology assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make rural emergency assistance loans to communities of less than 20,000 persons. Limits such loans to two-year periods, with a maximum of $50,000 to any one borrower. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse - Directs the Secretary to establish within the National Agricultural Library a National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations. Title VI: Water and Sewer Assistance - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase the authorization of appropriations for small community water and waste facility grants. Directs the Secretary to establish an emergency water assistance grant program for rural and small communities (less than 3000 population, median household income below State nonmetropolitan level) with significant water shortages, or to enable such communities to comply with the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act. Limits grants to: (1) $75,000 for existing system repairs; and (2) $500,000 for water shortage areas. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to base loan rates for health care and related facilities solely on the income of the area to be served. Directs the Administrator of the Farmers Home Administration to establish a national rural waste water circuit rider program modeled after the existing National Rural Water Association rural water circuit rider program. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Directs the Census Bureau to: (1) expand data collection efforts to gather data on the changing economic conditions of rural America, including employment, poverty and income, and the labor force; and (2) employ rural residents for such efforts in FY 1990. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish regulations regarding projects funded under this Act with respect to the preservation of historic properties and historical and archaeological data. Authorizes certain Farm Credit System banks to make small community water and waste system loans. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit a State to designate State areas where the food stamp program (program) employment and training requirements shall be voluntary. Includes self-employment within the scope of such requirements. Increases rural program accessibility for people engaged in certain employment and training programs. Exempts from household financial resources for purposes of program eligibility the value of a vehicle used in rural areas to haul fuel or water. Amends Federal law to increase the amount of annual funds available to the Reforestation Trust Fund. Authorizes Fund use for economic diversification assistance to communities that are economically dependent upon the Forest Service. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of loan restructuring for distressed rural hospitals and health care facilities. Title VIII: Effective Date and Implementation - Makes this Act effective as of October 1, 1989, unless otherwise provided for. Sets forth the effective dates for specified implementing regulations under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Farm Debt Tax Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $350,000 (lifetime total) of capital gain from the transfer of property in complete or partial satisfaction of qualified farm indebtedness of a taxpayer: (1) whose modified gross income is below the national median adjusted gross income median; (2) whose gross receipts for six of the preceding ten years are at least 50 percent attributable to farming; and (3) whose equity in all property held after the transfer in question is less than the greater of $25,000 or 150 percent of income tax liability. Applies a comparable exclusion with respect to the discharge of qualified farm indebtedness of solvent farmers who meet these requirements and whose indebtedness both before and after the relevant transfer equals at least 70 percent or more of equity. Permits both tax exclusions retroactively with respect to taxable years 1987 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Includes veterans receiving class instruction on a regularly-scheduled basis (but not necessarily a weekly basis) among those qualifying for educational assistance benefits. (Current law allows such benefits only for veterans attending qualifying courses on a weekly basis.)
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a highway project to construct a bridge across the Missouri River to improve the flow of traffic between Nebraska and South Dakota, relieve present and projected traffic burdens on existing highway networks, and improve economic development of the area. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1992. Specifies the Federal and State shares of the project.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Title V Infant Mortality Reduction Act of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Requires States, as a condition of receiving additional funds, to conduct a statewide needs assessment of maternity and infant care, including prenatal care and prevention of low birthweight and infant mortality, and to develop a plan to meet those needs. Changes State reporting requirements to monitor plan implementation results.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Rural Health Clinic Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to direct the Office of Rural Health Policy to provide technical assistance to entities seeking certification as rural health clinics and distribute brochures describing the services provided at rural health clinics. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Act to include the services of nurse midwives within covered rural health clinic services. Requires a rural health clinic to: (1) have a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or certified nurse midwife available to furnish patient care services at least 50 percent of the time the clinic operates; and (2) meet certain requirements for funding as a health center under the Public Health Service Act. Expands the area within which rural health clinics may operate. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act to modify the method of determining which costs are reasonable and related to Medicaid rural health clinic services when calculating Medicaid payments to such clinics. Deems clinics which are certified as meeting certain requirements for funding as health centers under the Public Health Service Act to be certified as Medicaid rural health clinics.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Rural Primary Care Incentives Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit of up to $12,000 per year (lifetime total of $36,000) for any physician who provides primary health services to residents of a rural health manpower shortage area and who is not receiving assistance under specified national Health Service Corps programs. Permits advance credit payments through income tax withholding. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to the Congress concerning: (1) the need for non-physician primary care providers in targeted rural areas; (2) the effectiveness of the tax credit in increasing the supply of primary care physicians in the targeted areas; and (3) alternative methods of defining rural health manpower shortage areas. Excludes from gross income any payments made on behalf of a taxpayer by the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Disaster Assistance Act of 1989 - Title I: Emergency Crop Loss Assistance - Amends the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 to extend disaster assistance to winter wheat and other winter crops planted in 1988 for harvest in 1989. Title II: Emergency Livestock Assistance - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to make funds available for emergency livestock transportation and water assistance in 1989. Title III: Businesses - Amends the Disaster Assistance Act of 1988 to extend Federal principal and interest guarantees on rural business loans based on 1989 winter crop losses. Title IV: Planting of Alternate Crops on Permitted Acreage - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend alternate crop authority through 1990. Title V: Implementation - Offsets disaster payments made under this Act by deficiency payment reductions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Amends rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate to revise current committee structure by designating the following standing committees of the Senate: (1) National Priorities; (2) Agricultural Policy; (3) Defense Policy; (4) Commercial Policy; (5) Economic Policy; (6) Energy Policy; (7) Environmental Policy; (8) Foreign Policy; (9) Governmental Policy; (10) Judicial Policy; (11) Social Policy; (12) Native American Programs; (13) Senior American Programs; (14) Veteran American Programs; and (15) Entrepreneurial American Programs. Maintains the committees on Rules, Ethics, and Intelligence. Sets forth procedures for making committee assignments. Provides that each standing committee shall be responsible for appropriations legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1989
Advanced Technology and Emergency Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to target Rural Electrification Administration investments toward business and community development and telecommunications and infrastructure improvements. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to make nonprofit private corporations eligible for rural development grants. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to States, local and regional entities, and community development corporations for rural technology assistance, including the use of telecommunications and computers. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural emergency assistance loan program. Limits loans to $50,000 with a maximum two-year term. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural hospital and health care facility loan restructuring program modeled after the delinquent farm loan program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1989
Rural Monitoring and Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) study and evaluate the needs of economically distressed rural counties; and (2) report annually to the appropriate congressional committees in each of FY 1990 through 1993 on the evaluation of county needs for rural development assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report regarding coordination improvements in various Federal rural development activities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1989
Rural Investment Fund Act of 1989 - Establishes the Rural Partnerships Investment Board (Board) to provide qualifying nonprofit private entities, State and local agencies, and Indian tribes and organizations with lines of credit to form revolving loan funds for rural business development. Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Business Investment Fund to provide funds for the Board. Limits lines of credit to $750,000, except for specified State agencies which may receive up to $1,250,000. Requires qualifying entities to provide matching funds. Requires funding in at least 45 States. Limits total funds to any one State to $10,000,000. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1992 appropriations. Prohibits the use of funds to relocate or refinance businesses. Requires each qualifying entity to establish a local revolving fund. Authorizes the use of such funds to: (1) provide debt or equity capital or loan guarantees; (2) pay for training or technical assistance; (3) provide for return of capital to non-Federal investors in the fund; and (4) cover operating or capital expenses or other charges. Requires banks or other financial institutions to provide at least a 50 percent match of each investment or loan made to a business applicant. Limits: (1) annual assistance to a business applicant to $500,000; and (2) eligible businesses to those with fewer than 100 employees. Requires the revocation of a line of credit and refund for specified false statements or violations of this Act. Sets forth civil penalties for failure to file reports required under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Requires the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission for the acquisition of control of a Class I railroad carrier by a non-carrier, the result of which may produce a significant deterioration of service by such carrier or increase the debt of the acquired carrier and adversely affect its ability to provide adequate service consistent with the public interest.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make individuals eligible for home health services on the basis of their need for occupational therapy.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Health Link Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to direct the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration to maintain a subaccount within the Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund to provide grants and reduced interest loans to eligible entities to improve telecommunication links, patient transportation facilities, and other cooperative activities between rural hospitals or physicians, teaching hospitals or major medical hospitals, and rural electric or telephone borrowers. Sets forth eligibility criteria. Requires the grants and loans to be used to improve: (1) the transmission of medical information through the telecommunications linking of hospitals and physicians in rural counties with teaching hospitals or medical centers; and (2) patient access to medical services by developing patient transportation such as helicopter landing sites, patient shuttle services, and mobile medical clinics. Directs the Administrator to maintain a subaccount to provide grants and reduced interest loans to fund demonstration projects to improve telecommunication links between rural hospitals or physicians, teaching hospitals or major medical hospitals, and rural electric or telephone borrowers. Prohibits use of funds under these provisions for certain telecommunications facilities if: (1) a local exchange carrier providing telephone service agrees to provide such facilities; and (2) other conditions are met. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1989
Radiation Victims Fair Treatment Act - Amends the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 to repeal provisions which: (1) substitute the United States as defendant in all suits against private contractors for radiation injuries arising from atomic weapons testing programs; and (2) make the Federal Tort Claims Act the sole remedy for those injuries. Details the applicability of statutes of limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude allocations in the nature of patronage dividends when determining net book income of rural telephone and electric cooperatives for purposes of the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Rural Medical Assistance Facilities Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make ten to 15, four-year grants to no more than six States covering 90 percent of the costs of transforming a rural hospital into a medical assistance facility. Authorizes appropriations for such grant program. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover services provided by medical assistance facilities. Requires that such facilities: (1) be located in rural areas at least 30 miles from a hospital; (2) have less than 50 beds; (3) provide emergency care, stabilization care, and basic inpatient care for stays not exceeding four days; (4) provide ambulatory care in accordance with standards to be established by the Secretary; (5) receive quality assurance and utilization review services; (6) agree to participate in the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Act); and (7) have transfer and discharge planning agreements with referral hospitals. Authorizes such facilities to provide obstetric services and outpatient surgical care pursuant to protocols to be established by the Secretary. Makes Medicare rural hospital staffing requirements applicable to medical assistance facilities, but authorizes facility care to be provided by nurse practitioners or physician assistance pursuant to protocols developed by the Secretary so that such facilities have flexibility in meeting physician "on-call" requirements. Exempts such facilities from hospital 24-hour service requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to develop a methodology for reimbursing medical assistance facilities which differs from that used in reimbursing hospitals. Amends the Medicaid program to cover services provided by medical assistance facilities. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
National American Indian Museum Act - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution a memorial to Native Americans to be known as the National Museum of the American Indian to provide for the study, research, collection, and exhibition of Native Americans and their culture. Designates specified areas in the District of Columbia and New York City as the sites of facilities for the Museum. Requires establishment of a facility for the conservation and storage of Museum collections at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. Authorizes the Smithsonian to: (1) provide for the transfer of certain assets of the Heye Foundation for the benefit and use of the Museum; (2) construct such facilities; (3) provide for acquisition of Native American objects and artifacts from museums or private collections; and (4) maintain or loan objects and artifacts in the Museum collection. Establishes the Board of Trustees of the Museum. Directs the Board to: (1) recommend annual budgets for the Museum; and (2) assist the Board of Regents on matters relating to the Museum. Grants the Trustees sole authority to: (1) dispose of and acquire additional Museum property; and (2) establish policy with respect to the utilization of the Museum collections. Grants the Trustees authority to: (1) establish policy with respect to restoration, preservation, and maintenance of Museum collections; (2) solicit funds for the Museum; (3) approve expenditures from the Museum's endowment; (4) advise the Museum's Director; (5) provide for the exhibition of Native American objects and artifacts; and (6) conduct research and evaluation and educational programs with respect to the Museum collections. Requires the Trustees to submit annual reports to the Board of Regents and the Congress. Requires the Foundation's employees serving at the time of the transfer to be offered employment by the Smithsonian. Authorizes the Board of Regents to: (1) designate affiliate museums of the Museum in certain U.S. regions and in Alaska and Hawaii; and (2) establish an advisory council within each such region or State to oversee Museum curation and acquisitions and to provide necessary technical assistance for such affiliate museums. Directs the Board of Regents to: (1) identify the geographic and tribal origins of the skeletal remains of Indians and Alaska Natives in the Smithsonian; (2) conduct a study and make recommendations as to the final disposition of such remains; (3) consult with Native American traditional religious leaders in making such recommendations; and (4) report to the Congress within three years after this Act's enactment on the identity of such skeletal remains and the findings and recommendation of such study. Pledges that the United States will provide the funds needed to maintain and operate the Museum. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Low-Income Housing Credit Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the low-income housing income tax credit (under current law the credit will expire after tax year 1989). Permits States a one-year carryover of unused credit authority. Assigns carryovers to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to allocate to eligible States applying for excess credit. Allows the credit only if an extended low-income housing commitment (beyond the current 15-year period) is in effect with respect to any building for the relevant taxable year. Describes procedures to effect transition to a non-low-income use in connection with such extensions. Permits the credit in connection with the acquisition of an existing building only if the taxpayer incurs rehabilitation expenditures of at least $3,000 per unit. Revises rent restrictions to: (1) declare unnecessary a required rent reduction below the initial rent if the median gross income of the area decreases; (2) permit higher rent if units are occupied by higher income individuals and the project has an operating deficit; (3) base income limitations on the number of bedrooms in a unit; and (4) use State median gross income in certain low-income housing status determinations. Broadens categories of existing buildings eligible for a waiver of the ten-year requirement for the low-income housing credit. Revises credit provisions relating to single-room occupancy units and special needs housing. Revises restrictions that limit credit benefits in connection with buildings financed with tax-exempt bonds and below market loans. Permits the credit to be allocated: (1) on a project basis; and (2) in connection with owner-occupied buildings of four units or less if a development plan is submitted. Directs housing credit agencies to adopt plans for allocating credit amounts among projects, prohibiting the credit with respect to any building not included in such a plan. Modifies at-risk rules in connection with buildings subject to the historic rehabilitation credit and those associated with financing provided by certain nonprofit organizations. Sets the tax credit rate on a semiannual basis rather than monthly. Increases the credit in connection with buildings in high cost areas (low-income census tracts or difficult development areas). Establishes special rules for determining the eligible basis and applying at-risk rules in connection with qualified buildings acquired in foreclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
National Health Service Corps Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a third level of priorities, with regard to approving applications and accepting contracts under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program (Scholarship Program), favoring individuals who are residents of health manpower shortage areas, who are disadvantaged or minority students, or who are attending (or planning to attend) an institution that provides rural training opportunities. Adds the same priorities (but without reference to levels of priorities) to provisions relating to application approval and contract acceptance under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (Loan Program). Adds a requirement that a Scholarship Program recipient agree to participate in an annual interview with an official of the institution regarding progress and development of the individual within the course of study. Adds a requirement that the Secretary of Health and Human Services include, in an existing annual report to the Congress on the Scholarship Program, the top half of U.S. medical schools that place a greater percentage of their graduates in underserved areas than the national average of such placement. Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that educational institutions that offer degrees of interest to the Scholarship Program provide applicants for admission information on that Program; (2) provide all Scholarship Program participants with the quarterly publication of the National Health Service Corps; and (3) award, to the extent practicable, 450 scholarships for each school year. Authorizes the Secretary, subject to exception, to pay, under the Loan Program, not less than a specified amount (currently, up to the same amount) for each year of obligated service. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations regarding the period of obligated service, including regulations relating to rotating Scholarship Program Corps physicians among separate facilities, extending the required service time to compensate for periods when such physicians were absent from their primary site, and permitting other Corps physicians to be temporarily reassigned to other facilities to ensure physician continuity.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Designates the Labor Day Weekend beginning on September 2, 1989, as National Drive for Life Weekend. Calls on people to observe that weekend with a pledge to be responsible by driving sober.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least four additional members with demonstrated experience in providing or developing rural health care services should be appointed to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission and that in the future at least 25 percent of the Commissioners should have such experience.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989 - Title I: General Prohibition Against Discrimination - Declares that it shall be discriminatory, on the basis of disability, to deny opportunities or to afford them unequally, to provide opportunities less effectively (or differently or separately, unless necessary for effectiveness), to assist an organization or individual that discriminates, or to otherwise limit opportunities enjoyed by others. Prohibits the use of standards, criteria, or administrative methods that have the purpose or effect of discrimination or perpetuate discrimination. Declares it discriminatory to deny equal opportunities because of the relationship or association of an individual with another individual with a disability. Allows as a defense to a charge of discrimination that an application of standards or criteria has been demonstrated to be both necessary and substantially related to the ability of an individual to take advantage of the essential components of the opportunity, and that the taking advantage cannot be accomplished by reasonable accommodations, modifications, or the provision of auxiliary aids or services. Title II: Employment - Prohibits discrimination by any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee against any qualified individual with a disability in job application procedures, hiring or discharge, compensation, advancement, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes the remedies set forth in specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other specified Federal law available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title III: Public Services - Declares that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from the participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination by a State, or by an agency, political subdivision, or other instrumentality of a State. Lists types of actions deemed, for purposes of this Act and specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to be discrimination with regard to public transportation. Makes the remedies and rights set forth in specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title IV: Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the enjoyment of any place of public accommodation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in transporting people, but that is not in the principal business of air transportation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Title V: Telecommunications Relay Services - Defines "telecommunications relay services" to mean services that enable simultaneous communication between individuals who use telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) or other nonvoice terminal devices and individuals who do not use such devices. Declares it discriminatory for any common carrier that offers telephone services to the public to fail to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunication relay services that are equal to those provided to their customers who are able to use voice services, except in any State in which services are provided through an entity designated by the State. Declares it discrimination by a State that makes such a designation if the State fails to provide interstate or intrastate relay services that are equal to those provided to their voice customers. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Requires the Federal Communications Commission to enforce this title. Makes specified provisions of the Communication Act of 1934 apply with respect to the enforcement of this title. Provides for cease and desist orders by the Commission and for monetary penalties. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits retaliatory discrimination against any individual because of actions related to this Act. Declares that a State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from an action in Federal court for a violation of this Act. Requires the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to issue minimum guidelines to supplement the existing Minimum Guidelines and Requirements for Accessible Design. Allows the awarding of reasonable attorney's fees, in certain circumstances, in any action or proceeding under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue an order (subject to producer referendum) creating a soybean promotion, research, and consumer education program. Requires any such order to provide for the establishment of a: (1) United Soybean Board; and (2) Soybean Program Coordinating Committee. Funds such program through producer assessments. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to designate on their income tax returns a contribution of all or part of their tax refunds to the Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust. Establishes in the Treasury the Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust (trust fund) to distribute hunger relief funds to qualified nonprofit hunger relief services organizations. Appropriates to the trust fund amounts equal to those designated on tax returns. Describes standards and procedures for the distribution of trust fund monies. Specifies a number of restrictions with respect to the activities of recipient organizations, including limitations on administrative expenses. Requires the Hunger Commission to submit to specified congressional committees an annual report detailing trust fund expenditures. Establishes a Hunger Commission to administer the distribution of funds to qualified hunger relief services organizations on a matching grant basis. Permits a maximum award of $100,000 to any single qualified organization in any fiscal year. Requires that: (1) at least 50 percent of amounts received into the trust fund in any year be paid to qualified organizations; and (2) monies in the trust fund be distributed within 180 days of their receipt there. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Excludes Agent Orange settlement payments from income or resources in determining eligibility for benefits under certain Federal or federally-assisted programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1989
National Voter Registration Act of 1989 - Requires each State to establish procedures with respect to presidential and congressional elections to permit voter registration by: (1) application in person simultaneously with application for a motor vehicle driver's license; (2) mail application; or (3) application in person at designated Federal, State, and private sector locations. Declares that this Act does not apply to any State that has no voter registration requirement with respect to presidential and congressional elections. Requires each State to: (1) assure that any eligible applicant who submits his or her application 25 days before the election is registered to vote in the election; (2) require the appropriate State election official to notify each applicant of the disposition of the application; and (3) provide that the name of a voter may not be removed from the official list of eligible voters except by reason of death, criminal conviction, mental incapacity, change in residence, failure to vote in two consecutive elections, or voter request. Requires each State to designate a chief State election official to coordinate State functions under this Act. Provides a private right of action for an individual aggrieved by a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1989
Requires each appropriations request for veterans' health care submitted to the President by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a fiscal year to include specified information which ensures that the amount requested is sufficient to fund a level of care that fully meets the anticipated demand for such care during such fiscal year. Directs the Secretary, at the same time that the President submits his annual budget request to the Congress, to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees and the Comptroller General on the Secretary's assessment of whether the amount specified in the budget for veterans' health care is sufficient for that fiscal year, or, if not, the level needed to sufficiently fund such program. Requires the Comptroller General, no later than 30 days after receiving such report, to report to the same congressional committees on the accuracy of the Secretary's report, together with additional comments as appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1989
Repeals estate tax provisions of the Revenue Act of 1987 and the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 with respect to the inclusion in the gross estate of the value of certain types of transfers with a retained life estate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Declares that it is a shared responsibility of both the public and private sectors at the Federal, State, and local levels to take the necessary steps to remove existing barriers to access to quality health care for every child and pregnant woman.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Agricultural Nitrogen Education and Management Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Agricultural Nitrogen Best Management Practices Task Force to: (1) develop agricultural best management practices for agricultural nitrogen utilization; (2) develop and disseminate related educational and training materials; and (3) report to the Congress with regard to such efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make certain nonpoint source management reports available to the Task Force.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Medicaid Home and Community Care Options Act of 1989 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit States to provide Medicaid coverage of home and community care for functionally disabled elderly individuals. Defines a functional disability as Alzheimer's disease or the inability, due to physical or cognitive impairment, to perform at least two daily living activities. Defines a covered community care setting as a nonresidential setting or a residential setting in which more than two unrelated adults reside and personal services are provided. Requires that home and community care be provided to each client in accordance with an individual community care plan (ICCP) prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by a case manager on the basis of a comprehensive functional assessment of a client's needs conducted by an interdisciplinary team before his or her receipt of care and at least annually thereafter. Sets a ceiling on Medicaid payments to States for home and community care. Reduces Federal Medicaid payments to States that reduce their Medicaid home and community care expenditures below their FY 1989 expenditures for such care. Requires that such care meet minimum requirements, to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, regarding client rights and the quality of such care. Makes the requirements imposed on nursing facilities regarding patient's rights and facility safety and sanitation applicable to settings in which home or community care is provided. Requires that community care settings: (1) disclose persons having an ownership or control interest in the setting; and (2) exclude a person from such interest if he or she has been excluded from the Medicaid program or had an interest in a community care setting repeatedly found to have provided substandard care. Makes the: (1) Secretary responsible for certifying that State home or community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements; and (2) States responsible for certifying that other home or community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements. Requires that providers and settings be certified annually. Bases community care setting certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a protocol for conducting surveys; and (2) conduct sample surveys of community care settings, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a setting or a review of a provider when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Prohibits the use of surveyors who have an interest in the provider or setting being surveyed. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against community care providers or settings concerning violations of this Act's requirements. Requires each State to provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of such providers and settings, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse, and of misappropriation of client property by providers. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding home or community care providers and settings and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; and (2) State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units be given access to provider or setting survey and certification information. Authorizes the Secretary or States to terminate a home or community care provider's participation in the Medicaid program and to impose a civil monetary penalty for failure to meet this Act's requirements. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to home and community care requirements. Requires that State Medicaid payment rates for home and community care be reasonable and adequate to meet the costs of providing such care efficiently, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards. Prohibits the coverage of civil monetary penalties imposed against providers of home and community care.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) ASEAN first asylum countries (defined to include any country which is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and which is the first to receive an individual seeking asylum) should reinstate the practice of providing refuge for all Vietnamese asylum-seekers, while carrying out the screening of such individuals; (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should be given early access to provide humane care to such asylum-seekers; (3) no repatriation of Vietnamese asylum-seekers should occur until an internationally approved mechanism is in place to guarantee that such individuals will not be subjected to persecution; (4) forced repatriation of refugees to Vietnam should not be considered a viable option; and (5) the United States should remain committed to, and urge its Western allies to implement or continue, a generous and humane Southeast Asian refugee resettlement policy.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Declares that the purpose of this Act is to implement the Bipartisan Accord on Central America of March 24, 1989. Authorizes the President to transfer to the Agency for International Development (AID) unobligated funds from specified defense appropriations accounts for: (1) humanitarian assistance (including transportation expenses) to the Nicaraguan Resistance to be available through February 28, 1990; and (2) operating expenses of AID. Limits the total amount of funds that may be transferred for such purposes. Requires the transportation of such assistance to be arranged solely by AID in a manner consistent with the Bipartisan Accord. Prohibits the transportation of any assistance not specified by this Act. Authorizes the President to transfer to AID an additional amount from the specified accounts for medical assistance for the civilian victims of Nicaraguan civil strife. Requires such assistance to be transported and administered by the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. Encourages the President to submit proposals for actions to: (1) provide additional economic assistance to the democratic countries of Central America; (2) facilitate the ability of Central American economies to grow through the development of infrastructure, expansion of exports, and increased investment opportunities; (3) provide a plan to assist Central American countries in managing debt; and (4) develop such initiatives in concert with Western Europe, Japan, and other democratic allies. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds available under this Act to assist the Nicaraguan Resistance in military or paramilitary operations. Prohibits providing assistance under this Act to any group including an individual who has been found to engage in: (1) gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; or (2) drug smuggling or significant misuse of funds. Grants congressional oversight for assistance under this Act to specified congressional committees. Applies provisions of a specified Act concerning management and delivery of assistance to the Nicaraguan Resistance to assistance under this Act. Prohibits additional assistance to the Nicaraguan Resistance unless authorized specifically by a subsequent Act. Repeals title IX (Assistance for the Nicaraguan Resistance) of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1989. Requires the Secretary of State to report to the Congress on progress in the peace and democratization process, including the use of assistance under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Outer Space Protection Act of 1989 - Reaffirms U.S. policy that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes to benefit mankind. Prohibits the use of funds by Federal agencies for: (1) the testing, production, or deployment of any weapon system designed to be based in outer space; (2) the testing of any weapon system to determine its capability to damage or destroy any object in outer space; or (3) the launch of any spacecraft that carries weapons capable of inflicting death or injury on people. Urges and requests the President to enter into bilateral negotiations with the Soviet Union concerning weapons systems in outer space. Specifies the purposes of such negotiations as: (1) prohibiting the testing, production, and deployment of all weapons based in outer space and the testing of all weapons against objects in outer space; (2) establishing limitations on technologies that could become weapons; (3) determining methods for monitoring compliance with such limitations and with mutually agreed upon prohibitions on weapons in outer space and the testing of antisatellite weapons; and (4) encouraging the effective utilization of the Standing Consultative Commission (established under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty) to resolve disagreements and to develop limitations and verification procedures for new technologies. Urges and requests the President, in the event that such negotiations result in an agreement, to initiate discussions in the United Nations toward an international agreement to prohibit the testing, production, and deployment of all weapons in outer space and to prohibit the testing of all antisatellite weapons. Requires the Secretary of Defense to manage the long-term basic research on ballistic missile defense technologies so as to provide the United States with expanded options for responding to any future breakout by the Soviet Union from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Specifies that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the obligation or expenditure of funds for non-weapon military operations in outer space. States that the provisions of this Act relating to bilateral negotiations with the Soviet Union and the prohibition on the use of funds for space weapons shall become inapplicable if the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union: (1) has tested, produced, or deployed space weapons; or (2) has launched into orbit any spacecraft that carries a weapon capable of inflicting death or injury on people.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1989
Sole Community Hospital Protection Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to treat a hospital as a sole community hospital for Medicare payment purposes if it is located: (1) more than 35 miles from other hospitals furnishing short-term, acute care; or (2) 25-to-35 miles from other hospitals furnishing short-term, acute care and not more than 50 percent of part A (Hospital Insurance) Medicare beneficiaries in such hospital's service area are admitted to other hospitals within 35 miles of such hospital or, if larger, within such hospital's service area. Eliminates the termination date for the provision of additional Medicare payments to sole community hospitals which experience a decline in patient volume of greater than five percent over a cost reporting period due to circumstances beyond their control. Covers a percentage of the losses incurred by low-income sole community hospitals which do not qualify for additional Medicare payments on the basis of declining patient volume. Provides such coverage on a sliding-scale basis with lower-volume hospitals receiving more assistance than higher-volume hospitals. Exempts a hospital which meets the criteria for classification as a sole community hospital from Medicare payment reductions for capital-related costs, even if the hospital does not accept such designation for Medicare payment purposes.
![Official portrait of Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000064_200.jpg)