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United States · Official source
6,541 records where Sen. Dodd, Christopher J. [D-CT] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1995
Constitutional Amendment - Grants authority to the Congress, States, and local governments to set reasonable expenditure limits for their respective elections.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1995
Designates February 2, 1995, and February 1, 1996, as National Women and Girls in Sports Day.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Streamlining and Consolidation Title II: Market Building Activities Subtitle A: Federal Level Activities Subtitle B: State Level Activities Subtitle C: Local Level Activities Title III: Enhancing Individual Choice Through Training Accounts Title IV: Private-Public Linkages Title V: Integrated Labor Market Information System Workforce Development Act - Consolidates and revises Federal job training programs to create a workforce development system. (Sec. 3) Authorizes appropriations. Title I: Streamlining and Consolidation - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any budget savings realized through elimination or consolidation of programs under this title should be reinvested in the national job training (or workforce development) system; and (2) elimination or merging of programs should be done without reducing the Federal commitment or level of effort to improve education, employment, and earnings of all workers, particularly hard-to-serve individuals. (Sec. 102) Repeals the provisons of various Federal laws for certain employment training programs, including specified ones under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Federal Transit Act, Displaced Homemaker Self-Sufficiency Assistance Act, Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), and Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. (Sec. 103) Repeals provisions for certain adult job training and employment programs under the JTPA, Wagner-Peyser Act, Trade Act of 1974, Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980, and Older Americans Act of 1965. Requires any State receiving an implementation grant (to develop an integrated workforce development system) to include the components of these repealed programs and activities in such system. Allows any such State to include additional programs in such system, under certain conditions. (Sec. 104) Directs the National Workforce Development Board (established under title II) to advise on consolidation of workforce development programs through: (1) recommendations to the President and the Congress for the elimination of Federal workforce development programs, or programs whose functions should be subsumed under other Federal programs; (2) a report and recommendations for proposed reforms to specified congressional committees based on its analysis of the experience of leading edge States and the progress toward establishing an integrated workforce development system; and (3) a draft of a joint resolution to the Congress with provisions to develop a streamlined, integrated, federally supported workforce development system, from listed programs and any other appropriate Federal program (including recommendations for standard program measures and a description of how the new system will maintain services to hard-to-serve populations). (Sec. 105) Directs the President to establish an expedited process to consider and act on requests by States for waivers of laws and regulations for specified programs for: (1) two years to facilitate provision of assistance for workforce development, for States not receiving implementation grants; or (2) the duration of the implementation grant, for States receiving such grants. Title II: Market Building Activities - Subtitle A: Federal Level Activities - Establishes the National Workforce Development Board (the Board). (Sec. 202) Requires the Board to prepare annually the Nation's Workforce Development Report Card (National Report Card), which shall assess the U.S. workforce development system performance and evaluate all workforce development programs that receive Federal funding. Directs the Board to review development, implementation, and matching incentive grant proposals. Terminates the Board after it submits to the President and the Congress the joint resolution to develop a streamlined, integrated, federally supported workforce development system required by title I. Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to repeal the establishment of the National Commission for Employment Policy. Replaces references to such Commission with references to the Board. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make grants to applicant States to: (1) develop strategic plans for development of comprehensive statewide integrated workforce development systems; and (2) if they are leading edge States, implement such systems. Directs the Secretary to use specified information clearinghouses and other entities to: (1) collect and disseminate information to help States and localities to streamline and reform their job training systems; and (2) facilitate exchange of information and ideas among States and localities carrying out job training reform initiatives. Requires the Board to determine whether any proposed Federal job training legislation complies with data reporting, common definitions, and common funding cycles provisions under this Act. Makes it out of order for the Senate or House of Representatives to consider any bill or resolution concerning workforce development that would not comply with the national workforce development system, as determined by the Board. Requires a three-fifths affirmative vote to waive or suspend such requirement in the Senate or House. (Sec. 204) Establishes a quality assurance system. Directs the Secretaries of Labor, of Education, and of Health and Human Services to jointly develop common terms and definitions and a placement accountability system and adjust existing program performance standards. Directs the Board to recommend a system of performance standards in its joint resolution to the Congress that includes standard outcome measures relating to employment, job retention, earnings, and nonemployment outcome measures (such as learning and competency gains). Requires each workforce development program that receives Federal funds to collect, and report to the Governor and State Council, specified information relating to each participant's: (1) quarterly employment status and earnings for one year after no longer receiving program assistance; (2) economic and demographic characteristics; (3) services received and spending for them; (4) program outcomes; and (5) other data that may be added as the Board develops other standard definitions. Requires that program monitoring under these provisions supplant existing monitoring and reporting requirements for program participants. Directs each Federal department and agency with responsibility for a workforce development program to report to the Board on its progress in adopting common terms and definitions for program participants, service activities, and outcomes by program operators and grant recipients. Directs the Board to make recommendations to: (1) the Secretaries and heads of other agencies operating workforce development programs, on common definitions for other terms; and (2) the Congress, on legislative action if any of the proposed common definitions require amendment to existing laws. Establishes a placement accountability system for all federally funded workforce development programs. Requires each such program to: (1) monitor its own performance by measuring quarterly employment status and earnings of each participant for one year after he or she no longer receives program assistance; and (2) provide required information on participants, to be matched by information from the State agency for labor market information which shall be reimbursed by the requesting program with Federal funds. Directs the State agency to submit the results of the matching to the State Council. Requires the Governor to ensure submission of matched data to the State Council, the Board, the Secretary (of Labor), and other Federal entities. Requires that such program quality assurance information be made available to the State Council, local workforce development boards in the State, and consumers of labor market information. Requires all federally funded workforce development programs to be funded on a consistent funding cycle basis. Directs the Board to make recommendations to the Congress on the appropriate funding cycle. Subtitle B: State Level Activities - Requires each State desiring to participate in development of an integrated and accountable workforce development system to: (1) establish a State Workforce Development Council (State Council); or (2) have an existing entity similar to a State Council that includes representatives of employers and workers. Directs each State Council to: (1) serve as principal advisory board to the Governor for all programs in the State's integrated workforce development system; and (2) assume the functions and responsibilities of councils and commissions required under Federal law that are part of such system. (Sec. 214) Directs the State Council to assist the Governor in: (1) preparing a biennial State Workforce Development Policy Blueprint and an annual State Workforce Development Report Card; and (2) certifying each local workforce development board, as well as recommending criteria to judge such local boards' effectiveness. (Sec. 215) Requires the State Council to develop a quality assurance systems to complement and expand upon the one established under subtitle A, in order to provide customers of job training services with consumer reprts on the supply, demand, price, and quality of job training services in each unified service delivery area in the State. Directs each State to select tools and measures appropriate to its needs, including: (1) collecting and organizing service provider performance data; and (2) conducting surveys to ascertain customer satisfaction. Directs the State Council, with the local workforce development boards, to establish mechanisms for collecting and disseminating the quality assurance information to individuals seeking employment, employers, Federal, State, and local policymakers, and training and education providers. Requires each public and private education, training, and career development service provider receiving Federal funds under a program in a State integrated system to collect and provide the quality assurance information. (Sec. 216) Sets forth State Council authorities, including funding and operating special projects for research or improvement of system performance. (Sec. 217) Directs State Councils to make recommendations to Governors for establishment of unified service delivery areas (SDAs). Requires States receiving implementation grants to establish unified SDAs to provide community-wide workforce development assistance in one-stop career centers. Requires consideration of existing labor market areas, local governments, and SDAs under JTPA, as well as distance traveled by individuals to receive services. Allows merger of existing SDAs. Prohibits approval of a total number of such unified SDAs greater than that of the existing SDAs in the State. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to use a portion of its development grant to design a unified financial and management information system. Directs each State receiving an implementation grant to require all programs in the integrated system to use such unified financial and management information system. Sets forth requirements for such systems. (Sec. 219) Requires each State, from its development or implementation grant, to develop a strategy to enhance capacity of institutions, organizations, and staff involved in State and local workforce development activities by providing certain types of services. (Sec. 220) Provides that the Governor of each State implementing an integrated workforce development system: (1) may adjust existing performance standards for programs in such system, using specified criteria; and (2) shall, within parameters established by the Board, prescribe adjustments to such performance criteria for unified SDAs based on certain factors. Requires such developed performance criteria to be used in lieu of similar criteria for programs receiving Federal funding included in the State's integrated system, to the extent determined by the State Council subject to Board approval. Subtitle C: Local Level Activities - Requires the local elected officials of each unified SDA, in each State receiving an implementation grant (except any with a single unified SDA with contiguous borders), to establish a workforce development board (local board) to administer the workforce development assistance provided by all programs in the integrated workforce development system in such area. (Sec. 232) Requires each local board to report to the State Council a biennial workforce development board policy blueprint. (Sec. 233) Requires each local board to submit to the State Council an annual unified SDA report card. (Sec. 234) Requires each local board receiving funds under an implementation grant to develop and implement a network of one-stop career centers in its unified SDA to provide jobseekers, workers, and businesses universal access to a comprehensive array of quality employment, education, and training services. Requires selection of a method for such establishment consistent with specified criteria. Makes eligible for selection as a one-stop career center each entity within the unified SDA that performs specified brokerage services for individuals and employers. Prohibits any entity that performs one-stop career center functions from making an education and training referral to itself; but allows waivers of this prohibition under certain conditions. Allows each one-stop career center to charge fees for certain brokerage services to employers, subject to local board approval. Requires each such center to: (1) adopt core data elements and common definitions; and (2) enter into an operating agreement with the local board. (Sec. 235) Requires each local board to identify capacity building actions to be taken for the workforce development system in its unified SDA. Directs the State Council to make funds available to each local board for capacity building activities from implementation grant funds and other funds within the State's integrated workforce development budget. Lists types of capacity building activities. Title III: Enhancing Individual Choice through Training Accounts - Requires each State receiving an implementation grant under title II to establish a training account system to provide education and training. (Sec. 303) Requires such States to use at least 60 percent of the funds made available under JTPA title III provisions for dislocated workers and certain funds under this Act to provide education and training under the JTPA dislocated worker program only through the training account system. Allows a State, at least one year after it begins administering such system, to provide education and training through it to adults eligible to participate in other workforce development programs, under certain conditions including Board approval. (Sec. 304) Allows an eligible individual to apply to establish a training account only at a one-stop career center. Requires such centers to provide certain assistance and information. Allows an individual to be provided a training account for a maximum of two years within any five-year period. Sets the total amount to be deposited in such an account for any fiscal year at the greater of the maximum amount of a Pell grant for such year established under the Higher Education Act of 1965 or by an appropriations Act. Allows account funds to be used by the individual for education and training services from eligible service providers. Sets forth requirements for administrative procedures. Requires the State blueprint to describe how it will administer such system. (Sec. 305) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds from such training accounts if they use certain common definitions and performance-based information and are either: (1) eligible to participate in student assistance programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965; or (2) determined eligible under alternative eligibility procedures established by State Governors. (Sec. 306) Directs the Board to evaluate the administration and effectiveness of the training account system, and include such evaluation in its National Report Card and draft joint resolution. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary of Labor to report, with recommendations, to the Congress on the need for income support to enable dislocated workers and economically disadvantaged adults to participate in long-term job training, and on options for ways of providing such support. Title IV: Private-Public Linkages - Directs the Board to make recommendations on measures (including tax code changes) to: (1) encourage employers and workers to invest in training and skills upgrading; (2) encourage employers to hire and train hard-to-serve individuals; and (3) provide income support to enable job-seekers and workers to participate in long-term training programs. (Sec. 403) Directs the Board to issue an annual report on private-public training programs. (Sec. 404) Establishes a program of incentive grants for incumbent worker training, consisting of competitive matching grants to local boards to respond to the training needs of front-line workers in their communities. Sets forth provisions for applications, selection of grantees by the Secretary according to certain criteria, authorized uses of funds, and Federal and local matching shares of funding. Title V: Integrated Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to oversee and ensure development, maintenance, and continued improvement of: (1) a nationwide integrated system of labor market information that will serve specified functions, include certain information, use common standards, and make certain data and information available to the Board and to consumers in automated delivery systems; and (2) certain mechanisms and programs for dissemination, technical assistance, and research. (Sec. 502) Directs the Board to plan, review, and evaluate the national integrated labor market information system. (Sec. 503) Requires the Secretary to: (1) manage the investment in an integrated labor market information on system in a specified manner; and (2) submit an annual plan for improving such system to the Board for review and recommendations, and to the President and the Congress. (Sec. 504) Directs each Governor and State Council to designate one State agency to be responsible for: (1) managing and overseeing a statewide integrated labor market information system; and (2) developing an annual State unified labor market information budget. Conditions Federal financial assistance under this title on the Governor or State Council's carrying out other specified functions with respect to labor market information. Provides that the State agency is not limited by this Act from conducting additional data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities with funds derived from sources other than this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1995
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Attorney General should fully enforce the law and take any necessary measures to protect from violent attack persons seeking to provide or obtain reproductive health services.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Insurance Market Reform Subtitle A: Insurance Market Standards Subtitle B: Establishment and Application of Standards Subtitle C: Health Care Cost and Access Advisory Commission Subtitle D: Definitions Title II: Improving Access to Health Care Coverage Subtitle A: Coverage Under Qualified Health Plans and Premium Assistance Subtitle B: Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Title III: Improving Access in Rural Areas Subtitle A: Offfice of Rural Health Policy Subtitle B: Development of Telemedicine in Rural Underserved Areas Subtitle C: Rural Health Plan Demonstration Projects Subtitle D: Antitrust Safe Harbors for Rural Health Providers Title IV: Quality and Consumer Protection Subtitle A: Administrative Simplification Subtitle B: Privacy of Health Information Subtitle C: Enhanced Penalties for Health Care Fraud Subtitle D: Health Care Malpractice Reform Title V: Budget Neutrality Family Health Insurance Protection Act - Title I: Health Insurance Market Reform - Subtitle A: Insurance Market Standards - Prohibits a health plan, with specified exceptions, from denying, limiting, or conditioning its coverage (or benefits), or varying its premium, for an individual based on the health status, medical condition, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, anticipated need for health care services, disability, or lack of evidence of insurability. (Sec. 1002) Requires each health plan that offers coverage in the small group market or large employer market to guarantee enrollment in and renewal of (at the option of the individual or employer) such plan to each individual purchaser and employer. (Sec. 1003) Requires a health plan offering coverage in the small group market to comply with certain rating (premium rates) standards to be developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). (Sec. 1004) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish minimum guidelines for the issuance by each State of delivery system quality standards. Sets forth such guidelines, including: (1) establishing health plan quality assurance; (2) providing consumer protection for health plan enrollees; and (3) ensuring reasonable access for vulnerable populations in underserved areas. (Sec. 1005) Requires a sponsor of a health plan to offer a benchmark benefits package which covers specified health care items and services and provides for a cost-sharing schedule. Authorizes a sponsor to offer any other health benefits package. (Sec. 1006) Requires each health plan offering coverage in the small group market in a State to participate in a risk adjustment program. Subtitle B: Establishment and Application of Standards - Prohibits any requirement or standard imposed on a health plan under this Act from preempting any State consumer protection laws unless such laws conflict with such requirement or standard. (Sec. 1012) Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting States from enacting health care reform measures that exceed the measures established under this Act, including reforms that expand access to health care services, control health care costs, and enhance quality of care. (Sec. 1013) Requires the Secretary to make grants to States that submit applications that meet certain requirements for the establishment and operation of small group health insurance purchasing arrangements. Requires the Secretary in awarding such grants to consider the potential impact of the State's proposal on the cost of health insurance for the small group market and on the number of uninsured, and the need for regional variation in the award of such grants. Authorizes the use of grant funds to finance administrative costs associated with developing such arrangements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1014) Directs States to require that each health plan issued, sold, offered for sale, or operated in such State meets the insurance reform standards established under this title pursuant to an enforcement plan filed by it with, and approved by, the Secretary. Subtitle C: Health Care Cost and Access Advisory Commission - Establishes the Health Care Cost and Advisory Commission to monitor and respond to trends in national health care spending and health insurance coverage. Requires the Commission to report annually to the Congress and the President on the status of health care spending and health insurance coverage in the nation. Sec. 1023) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Definitions - Sets forth definitions. Title II: Improving Access to Health Care Coverage - Subtitle A: Coverage Under Qualified Health Plans and Premium Assistance - Part 1: Access to Qualified Health Plans - Requires States, in order to qualify for certain Federal payments, to establish a program under which a State: (1) makes available at least one qualifed health plan to each premium subsidy eligible individual residing there; and (2) furnishes premium assistance to such individual. (Sec. 2002) Requires the Secretary to issue regulations specifying requirements for State programs with respect to determining eligibility for premium assistance, including measures to prevent individuals from knowingly making material misrepresentations of information or providing false information in applications for assistance under the program. Requires a premium subsidy eligible individual who receives premium assistance to use such assistance only for payments toward the premium under a qualified State health plan. (Sec. 2011) Sets forth a formula for: (1) the amount of premium assistance for a month that a premium subsidy eligible individual shall receive; and (2) the maximum subsidy amount for a State. (Sec. 2012) Sets forth eligibility requirements for children and temporarily unemployed individuals to receive premium assistance. Part 2: Aggregate Federal Payments - Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of Federal payments to States for the payment of premium assistance under a qualified State health plan. Part 3: Definitions and Determinations of Income - Sets forth definitions. Subtitle B: Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals from 25 percent through 1996 to 50 percent in 1997 to 75 percent in 1998 and to 100 percent in 1999 and thereafter. Title III: Improving Access in Rural Areas - Subtitle A: Office of Rural Health Policy - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to mandate that the Office of Rural Health Policy of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) be headed by an Assistant Secretary for Rural Health, who shall report directly to the Secretary. Adds as one of the duties of the Assistant Secretary that he or she advise the Secretary on reforms to the health care system and their implications for rural areas. Transfers the functions, powers, duties, and authority of the Office of Rural Health Policy to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Rural Health. Subtitle B: Development of Telemedicine in Rural Underserved Areas - Directs the Secretary to award grants to eligible entities to expand access to health care services for individuals in rural areas through the use of telemedicine. (Sec. 3102) Directs the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force to report to the Congress an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of telemedicine, including recommendations for a coordinated Federal strategy to increase access to health care through telemedicine. (Sec. 3103) Directs the Secretary to issue regulations regarding reimbursement for telemedicine services provided under title XVIII (Medicare) of the SSA. (Sec. 3104) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Rural Health Plan Demonstration Projects - Directs the Secretary to establish not more than three demonstration projects for the designation of rural health plan areas. Subtitle D: Antitrust Safe Harbors for Rural Health Providers - Directs the Attorney General to establish, and publish in the Federal Register, policy guidelines to assist rural health care providers in complying with safe harbor requirements with respect to the provision of health care services in rural areas. Title IV: Quality and Consumer Protection - Subtitle A: Administrative Simplification - Part 1: Purpose and Definitions - Establishes a national framework for health information whose goal, through standardization of data elements, code sets, and electronic transactions, and by assuring a secure environment for the transmission and exchange of health information, is to reduce the burden of administrative complexity, paper work, and cost on the health care system, including Medicare under title XVIII and Medicaid under title XIX the SSA. Part 2: Standards for Data Elements and Information Transactions - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards for health information transactions and data elements. (Sec. 4012) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations specifying procedures for the electronic transmission and authentication of signatures on medical records and prescriptions. Part 3: Requirements with Respect to Certain Transactions and Information - Sets forth specified requirements with respect to certain transactions conducted by a health plan or health care provider. Part 4: Accessing Health Information - Requires the Secretary to adopt technical standards for persons to locate and access health information that is available through the health information network. Part 5: Penalties - Sets forth penalties for violations committed under this subtitle. Part 6: Miscellaneous Provisions - Mandates that any provision, requirement, or standard under this subtitle supercede any contrary provision of State law (except State provisions governing the reporting of disease or injury, child abuse, birth, or death, public serveillance, or public health investigation or intervention). (Sec. 4052) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Privacy of Health Information - Part 1: Defintions - Set forth definitions. Part 2: Authorized Disclosures - Subpart A: General Provisions - Sets forth requirements for the disclosure of protected health information by a health information trustee, or by a health care provider and person receiving such information, including a health information protection organization. Subpart B: Specific Disclosures Relating to Patient - Authorizes a health care provider, health plan, employer, or person who receives protected health information to disclose it to a health care provider for the purpose of providing health care (including emergency situations) to, or providing for the payment of such care for, an individual. Subpart C: Disclosure for Oversight, Public Health, and Research Purposes - Authorizes a health information trustee to disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency or to a health researcher. (Sec. 4117) Authorizes a health care provider, health plan, public health authority, employer, or person who receives protected health information to disclose it to a public health authority or other person authorized by law for use in: (1) disease or injury reporting; (2) public health surveillance; or (3) public health investigation or intervention. Subpart D: Disclosure for Judicial, Administrative, and Law Enforcement Purposes - Authorizes a health care provider, health plan, health oversight agency, employer, or person who receives protected health information to disclose it, (subject to a court's rules of procedure): (1) in connection with litigation where an individual's physical or mental condition is at issue; (2) in response to a court- ordered physical or mental examination; or (3) pursuant to a law requiring the reporting of specific medical information to law enforcement authorities. (Sec. 4122) Authorizes such entities or persons to disclose such information to law enforcement agencies. Subpart E: Disclosure Pursuant to Government Subpoena or Warrant - Authorizes a health care provider, health plan, health oversight agency, employer, or person who receives protected health information to disclose it pursuant to an administrative or judicial subpoena or warrant. Subpart F: Disclosure Pursuant to Party Subpoena - Authorizes a health care provider, health plan, employer, or person who receives protected health information to disclose it pursuant to a party subpoena. Part 3: Procedures for Ensuring Security of Protected Health Information - Subpart A: Establishment of Safeguards - Directs a health information trustee to establish administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality of protected health information created or received by such trustee. Subpart B: Review of Protected Health Information By Subjects of the Information - Requires a health care provider or health plan to allow an individual who is the subject of protected health information to inspect any such information, with specified exceptions, that the provider or plan maintains. (Sec. 4142) Requires a health care provider or health plan, upon the written request of the subject individual, to correct or amend his or her protected health information. (Sec. 4143) Requires a health care provider or health plan to provide written notice of its information practices, including notice of individual rights with respect to protected health information. Part 4: Sanctions - Subpart A: Civil Sanctions - Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this subtitle. (Sec. 4152) Authorizes an individual who is aggrieved by the negligent conduct of a health information trustee to bring a civil action in court. Subpart B: Criminal Sanctions - Subjects to civil and criminal penalties any person who, in violation of this subtitle, knowingly: (1) obtains protected health information relating to an individual; or (2) discloses such information to another person. Part 5: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) preemption of State law with respect to the disclosure of protected health information; and (2) the rights of incompetents with respect to such information. Subtitle C: Enhanced Penalties for Health Care Fraud - Directs the Secretary to establish a program to: (1) coordinate Federal, State, and local law enforcement programs to control fraud and abuse with respect to the delivery of and payment for health care in the United States; (2) conduct investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections relating to the delivery of and payment for such health care; (3) facilitate the enforcement of specified sections of the SSA and other applicable statutes with respect to health care fraud and abuse; and (4) provide for the modification and establishment of safe harbors, and to issue interpretative rulings and special fraud alerts. (Sec. 4201) Establishes a Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account which shall comprise all criminal and administrative fines imposed in cases involving a Federal health care offense. (Sec. 4202) Amends SSA title XI to provide for the application of sanctions under the Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and abuse programs for all fraud and abuse against any health plan. Subjects any person (including any organization, agency, or other entity, but excluding a beneficiary) who violates a provision of this section to a civil monetary penalty. (Sec. 4203) Directs the Secretary to establish a national health care fraud and abuse data collection program for the reporting of final adverse actions (not including settlements in which no findings of liability have been made) against health care providers, suppliers, or practitioners. (Sec. 4204) Amends Federal criminal law to subject to civil and criminal penalties any person who knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme to: (1) defraud any health plan or other person, in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits or services; or (2) obtain, by false pretenses, any money or property owned by, or under the control of, any health plan, or person in connection with the delivery of or payment for such health care or services. Subtitle D: Health Care Malpractice Reform - Declares that these provisions apply to any health care liability action (except damages for vaccine-related injury or death) brought in any Federal or State court. (Sec. 4302) Requires each State to adopt an alternative dispute resolution method for the resolution of health care malpractice claims and consumer grievances. (Sec. 4303) Limits attorney contingency fees and award amounts for noneconomic damages. (Sec. 4304) Authorizes a party to a medical malpractice liability action to petition the court to instruct the trier of fact to award any future damages on an appropriate periodic basis. (Sec. 4305) Requires 50 percent of any punitive damages awarded in a medical liability action to be paid to the State in which such action is brought to carry out: (1) licensing or cretifying health care professionals and providers; (2) implementing health care quality assurance and improvement programs; (3) reducing malpractice-related costs for providers volunteering to provide services in medically underserved sreas; and (4) providing resources for additional investigation and disciplinary activites. Title V: Budget Neutrality - Prohibits any provision of this Act from taking effect until legislation is enacted which provides for its Federal budget neutrality.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions Title III: Aid to Families with Dependent Children Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1995 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore the deduction for individual retirement plans (IRAs). Provides a phase-up of income limits (from 1995 through 1998) with respect to the limitation on the deductibility of contributions to IRAs by active participants in employer-maintained plans. Removes the spousal rule from such limitation. Terminates income limits after December 31, 1998. Provides an inflation adjustment for deductible amounts after 1995. Allows certain spouses a full deduction for contributions to an IRA. Makes certain coins and bullion ineligible as collectible investments for purposes of distributions from an IRA. Coordinates the limit on such deduction with the elective deferral limit under other pension provisions. Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus (IRA plus) accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Excludes distributions from such accounts from the gross income of the distributee, if the assets remain in such accounts for at least five years. Allows qualified transfers to be made to such accounts. Establishes penalties for early withdrawals and excess contributions. Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions - Allows distributions from certain retirement plans without penalty to purchase first homes, pay higher education expenses and financially devastating medical expenses, and assist certain unemployed individuals. Title III: Aid to Families with Dependent Children - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to exclude from AFDC eligibility determinations certain income and resources that are to be used for education, training, and employability purposes. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to specified congressional committees on the use of qualified asset accounts. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on a revision of the AFDC limit on automobiles in order to increase the employability of AFDC recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Job Training Account System Title II: Elimination of Federal Job Training Programs Title III: Information for Better Choices Title IV: Reports and Plans Working Americans Opportunity Act - Title I: Job Training Account System - Directs the Secretaries of Labor and of Education to establish a job training account system that provides vouchers to individuals for job training and employment related services. (Sec. 102) Allows an individual to: (1) receive such a voucher of $3,000 for two years beginning on the date of application approval; and (2) use such voucher to purchase authorized job training or employment-related services. (Sec. 103) Makes individuals eligible for such vouchers if they are dislocated workers or economically disadvantaged adults. (Sec. 104) Requires each State to establish or designate easily accessible voucher application offices to assist in administering the training account system. Allows such offices to be administered by private for-profit or nonprofit or public entities. Requires such offices to provide: (1) performance-based information on service providers; and (2) information on local economy,employment, industries, and labor market demand. Requires conflict of interest standards for such offices that are concurrently eligible service providers. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, as States become more experienced in such voucher administration, such offices should be converted to one-stop assistance centers. (Sec. 105) Requires the Secretaries to issue oversight and accountability regulations relating to such vouchers. (Secs. 106 and 107) Sets forth eligibility requirements for providers of job training or employment-related services, including requirements for submission of performance-based information. (Sec. 108) Directs the Secretaries to evaluate annually the training account system and the one-stop assistance centers under title III, and report to the appropriate congressional committees. (Sec. 109) Provides for apportionment of system funds to States based on relative numbers of: (1) unemployed individuals; (2) excess unemployed individuals; (3) individuals who have been unemployed for 15 weeks or more; and (4) economically disadvantaged adults. Requires at least 75 percent of such funds to be made available as vouchers; but waives this requirement if a State provides non-voucher job training and employment-related services which the Secretary of Labor considers more beneficial in meeting the self-determined training needs of individuals. Requires the remaining balance of such funds to be used for certain authorized employment-related services provided through means other than voucher. Directs the Secretaries to determine the equitable distribution of such voucher and non-voucher assistance between dislocated workers and economically disadvantaged adults. Title II: Elimination of Federal Job Training Programs - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the elimination and streamlining of Federal job training programs should not reduce Federal commitment and effort to improve education, employment, and earnings of all workers and jobseekers, particularly those in hard-to- serve communities. Repeals specified employment training program provisions under the Job Training Partnership Act, Food Stamp Act of 1977, Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, Displaced Homemakers Self- Sufficiency Assistance Act, Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and other specified Federal law relating to certain workers affected by an expansion of Redwood National Park in California. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Information for Better Choices - Allows a State to use funds for non-voucher employment services under this Act to make arrangements with private or public entities to establish assistance centers to provide employment and training information and employment- related services to voucher recipients, job seekers, employers, and workers. Allows such an assistance center to serve as a voucher assistance application location, which may be within an existing unemployment office. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the Secretaries to make arrangements with public or private entities to develop and provide relevant regional labor market information to interested individuals. (Sec. 303) Directs the Department of Education to try to make known the value and availability of direct loans through the Federal Direct Student Loan Program under the Higher Education Act of 1965, through cooperative arrangements with training and educational training programs, assistance centers, State agencies, and other Federal agencies. Title IV: Reports and Plans - Directs the Secretaries to report annually to the Congress on how additional Federal job training programs not covered by this Act can be consolidated into a more integrated, accountable, and effective workforce development system. Directs the Secretaries to develop a plan that, wherever practicable, requires all Federal job training programs not covered by this Act to use common definitions, outcome measures, eligibility standards, and funding cycles. (Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary of Labor to report to the Congress on the need for income support, and options for providing it, to enable dislocated workers and economically disadvantaged adults to participate in long-term job training.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994
Bank Insurance Fund and Depositor Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to exclude from its definition of "deposit" any liability of an insured depository institution that arises under an annuity contract, the income on which is tax deferred (thus excluding such liabilities from Federal deposit insurance coverage).
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994
Bank Insurance Fund and Depositor Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to exclude from its definition of "deposit" any liability of an insured depository institution that arises under an annuity contract, the income on which is tax deferred (thus excluding such liabilities from Federal deposit insurance coverage).
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1994
Ryan White CARE Reauthorization Act of 1994 - Amends the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 (title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act) to limit the grant program for emergency relief for areas with substantial need for services to eligible areas with a population of at least 500,000 individuals. Requires an HIV health services planning council (which advises on the distribution of such grants) to be reflective of the demographics of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in an eligible area, with particular consideration given to disproportionately affected and historically underserved groups. Revises the method of distributing such grants and extends authorized appropriations for them until FY 2000. Revises the care grant program that makes funds available for individuals and families with the HIV disease. Authorizes the award of supplemental grants to eligible entities to enhance community-based care, treatment, and supportive services through the development and operation of consortia and innovative approaches. Extends authorized appropriations for such grant program through FY 2000. Requires the establishment of grievance procedures to address allegations of egregious violations of title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate the planning and implementation of Federal HIV programs to facilitate the development of a complete continuum of HIV-related services for individuals with HIV disease and those at risk of such disease. Extends authorized appropriations for early intervention services until FY 2000. Extends authorized appropriations until FY 2000 for grants for coordinated services and access to research for children, youth, women, and families (formerly known as demonstration grants for research and services for pediatric patients regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Makes appropriations available for special projects of national significance program to award direct grants to public and nonprofit private entities to fund special programs for the care and treatment of individuals with HIV disease.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1994
Designates March 1995 and March 1996 as Irish-American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1994
Designates October 19, 1994, as National Mammography Day.
United States · United States Congress · 25 August 1994
Arts Endowing the Arts Act of 1994 - Amends copyright law to provide for the auction of certain copyrights to financially support the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Applies such provisions to copyrights in literary works, sound recordings, visual arts works, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, and motion pictures. Establishes the Arts and Humanities Copyright Board within the Library of Congress. Sets forth auction procedures, including selection of copyrights for auction, copyright for auction selected upon bidder's initiative, copyrights excluded from auction, notification, and auction copyright bids. Provides for registration and issuance of a certificate for auction copyright in a work for 20 years after the expiration of the term of copyright in the work last held under copyright law other than auction copyright provisions. Prohibits renewal or extension of such auction copyright. Limits U.S. liability. Provides that such auction shall have no effect on the original copyright. Establishes the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities Copyright Trust Fund in the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 23 August 1994
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited deduction of partnership investment expenses for purposes of computing the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1994
Designates the week beginning September 12, 1994, as National Hispanic Business Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization Title II: Research and Education in Strategic Areas Title III: General Provisions National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1994 - Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization - Authorizes appropriations to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for FY 1995 through 1999. (Sec. 103) Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to direct the NSF to include in its annual report to the President a strategic plan defining its goals, criteria, and procedures. Title II: Research and Education in Strategic Areas - National Science Foundation Strategic Research and Education Authorization Act of 1994 - Authorizes the Director of the NSF to establish the following cross-directorate initiatives: (1) advanced manufacturing technology; (2) advanced materials and processing; (3) biotechnology; (4) civil infrastructure systems; (5) global change research; (6) environmental research; (7) high performance computing and communications; and (8) science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. Title III: General Provisions - Amends the Academic Research Facilities Modernization Act of 1988 to require the NSF Director, when making awards for academic facilities maintenance, to include projects for the acquisition of research instrumentation. (Sec. 302) Amends the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to authorize the Director to make awards to institutions of higher education and local educational agencies to develop science, computer science, technology, and mathematics curricula in accord with traditional cultural values of Native Hawaiian students, Pacific Islander students, and Native American students. Includes individuals with disabilities as an underrepresented group for which the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering should encourage full participation in scientific, engineering, and professional fields. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations for the Director to: (1) make grants to organizations, including colleges and universities, to promote cooperative research projects between scientists in the United States and scientists in Latin America; and (2) establish a cross-directorate program between the United States and the Newly Independent States to make awards to individuals, small groups, and research centers to support collaborative research efforts between scientists and engineers from both countries. (Sec. 304) Requires the Director to continue to carry out the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in certain States. (Sec. 305) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 and 1996 for the National Undergraduate Teaching Fellows program. (Sec. 306) Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 and the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 to modify certain administrative procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1994
Mohegan Nation of Connecticut Land Claims Settlement Act of 1994 - Provides for the settlement of land claims between the Mohegan Tribe and the State of Connecticut and its subdivisions. Authorizes the Mohegan Tribe to make payments to the town of Montville, according to a specified agreement. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to take and hold certain lands in trust for the Mohegan Tribe as its initial reservation. Provides for Federal ratification of the State and Town Agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1994
Defines the term "disease," for purposes of determining the relationship between undiagnosed illness and disease for purposes of entitlement to veterans' disability compensation, as any deviation from or interruption of the normal structure or function of any part, organ, or system of the body that is manifested by a symptom or sign the etiology, pathology, and prognosis for which is known or unknown. Requires due consideration to be given to the common or shared experiences, medical symptoms, or signs of other veterans who were engaged in similar service and who exhibit similar medical symptoms or signs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions Title III: Aid to Families With Dependent Children Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1994 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the limitation on the deductibility of contributions to individual retirement plans (IRAs) by active participants in employer-maintained plans, thereby restoring the IRA deduction. Provides an inflation adjustment after 1995. Allows certain spouses a full deduction for contributions to an IRA. Makes certain coins and bullion ineligible as collectible investments for purposes of distributions from an IRA. Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus (IRA plus) accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions - Allows distributions from certain retirement plans without penalty to purchase first homes, pay higher education expenses and financially devastating medical expenses, and assist certain unemployed individuals. Title III: Aid to Families with Dependent Children - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to exclude from AFDC eligibility determinations certain income and resources that are to be used for education, training, and employability purposes. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the Congress on a revision of the AFDC limit on automobiles in order to increase the employability of AFDC recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1994
Designates August 2, 1994, as National Neighborhood Crime Watch Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1994
Designates the month of November 1994 as National Native American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1994
Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally recognized worker rights to the articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee on worker rights within the World Trade Organization to which the functions of the working group shall be transferred.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1994
Designates the week of November 6 through 12, 1994, as National Health Information Management Week.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1994
Provides for the printing as a Senate document a collection of statements made in tribute to the late First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should actively seek: (1) an international agreement prohibiting the production, possession, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines; and (2) in the interim, international agreements to further limit the production, possession, transfer, and use of such landmines. Expresses the sense of the Congress that a U.S. moratorium on the purchase and production of such landmines would encourage other nations to adopt similar measures. Establishes such moratorium for a one-year period beginning 90 days after enactment of this Act. Calls for the President to urge other nations to adopt such a moratorium. Allows the moratorium to be extended. Earmarks funds authorized under the current Department of Defense Authorization Act for improving landmine detection and neutralization. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development and the Secretary of State to jointly submit to the Congress a report containing an analysis of the social, economic, and environmental costs and effects of the use of antipersonnel landmines. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the Congress on the total number of U.S. military personnel killed or wounded by such landmines during World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, and the Persian Gulf War.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1994
Flow Control Act of 1994 - Authorizes each State and qualified political subdivision to direct, regulate, or prohibit the transportation of, and designate waste facilities for: (1) municipal solid waste generated from household sources within the boundaries of the State or subdivision; (2) municipal solid waste that is generated, or is commingled with municipal solid waste that is generated, from commercial, institutional, or industrial sources within such boundaries or that is incinerator ash or construction or demolition debris if, before May 15, 1994, the State or political subdivision adopted a law that regulated or prohibited the transportation of waste to a facility designated before such date; and (3) recyclable materials generated within such boundaries. Permits such authority with respect to recyclable materials only if: (1) the generator or owner of the materials voluntarily made the materials available to the State or subdivision and relinquished any rights to, or ownership of, such materials; and (2) the State or subdivision assumes such rights or ownership. Permits such authority only if the State or subdivision: (1) establishes a program to separate or divert specified materials for purposes of recycling, reclamation, or reuse before exercising such authority; (2) develops and implements a competitive designation process for facilities; and (3) finds on the basis of public hearings that it is necessary to exercise such authority to meet current and anticipated solid waste management needs. Retains the applicability of certain existing laws and contracts and provides that such laws and contracts shall not be considered to impair or discriminate against interstate commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: JOBS Title II: WORK Title III: Child Care Title IV: Provisions with Multi-Program Applicability Title V: Prevention of Dependency Title VI: Child Support Enforcement Title VII: Improving Government Assistance and Preventing Fraud Title VIII: Self Employment/Microenterprise Demonstrations Title IX: Financing Title X: Effective Dates Work and Responsibility Act of 1994 - Title I: JOBS - Amends parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) and F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the Federal welfare system for the purpose of making AFDC a transitional program with the goal of enabling participants to achieve maximum economic independence and self-sufficiency by, among other changes, imposing time-limited AFDC benefits and requiring participation in modified and new State-administered job training and subsidized employment programs that have been designed to eventually move them into the permanent work force and prepare them for a life without welfare by enabling them to get work experience and by requiring them to perform job searches for suitable nonsubsidized employment. (Sec. 101) Modifies current AFDC and JOBS participation requirements. Requires all AFDC recipients (including minor custodial parents not attending school full time) who are able to participate in the JOBS program to so participate, starting in FY 1996 or 1997 on a phased-in basis with custodial parents (including such minor parents) born in 1972 or later, and continuing thereafter with any such additional classes of parents of dependent children or other AFDC applicants or recipients. Requires a recipient unable to participate in the JOBS program because of a third trimester pregnancy, temporary incapacity, or other specified reason, to participate in related preparatory activities the State in appropriate cases may require pursuant to the recipient's employability plan, in order to prepare the recipient for full JOBS participation. Requires suspension for up to six months of the AFDC benefits of a family with a member who is required to participate in JOBS but refuses without good cause to accept the required number of weekly hours of employment offered by a public or private sector employer under the program. Grants States the option of continuing AFDC to the dependent children of any family with a parent who is required to participate in JOBS but fails without good cause to do so and is cut off AFDC for the period specified under current law, while preserving their eligibility under SSA title XIX (Medicaid). Directs the applicable State agency to provide appropriate counseling and other supportive services to assist the parent in addressing such failure. Requires custodial parents below age 20 who do not have a high school diploma (or its equivalent), and are required to participate in JOBS, to participate in an educational activity, regardless of State resource availability as currently conditioned under law. Allows States to apply AFDC sanctions to any individual required to get substance abuse treatment as a condition of JOBS participation who fails to get such treatment. (Sec. 102) Requires the States to implement statewide within two years of initial implementation in FY 1996 or 1997 modified JOBS programs that, with respect to the AFDC recipients required to participate in JOBS, provide for an assessment of such recipient's literacy skills and for expanded education, optional free substance abuse treatment, mandatory job search, and self-employment (including microenterprise) preparation services, in addition to the currently authorized child care and other supportive services. Requires such State JOBS programs to provide any other appropriate services or activities detailed in the recipient's individualized employability plan which the State agrees to provide and the recipient agrees to participate in by signing a personal responsibility agreement, in order to prepare the recipient for either permanent unsubsidized employment or temporary subsidized employment through the new WORK program. Requires such JOBS programs to address participant training for child care providers and nontraditional employment positions. Requires such JOBS programs to require employability plans to: (1) indicate the overall time for achieving their employment goals; and (2) be extended whenever the 24 month limit on AFDC benefits is extended. Subjects them to periodic review and revision to reflect the recipient's progress towards meeting such goals. (Continues with further modifications in the JOBS program as provided below under title II of this Act.) (Sec. 103) Revises JOBS program provisions on dispute resolution and service provision, with changes in the latter provisions: (1) extending their applicability (although modified, and along with additional specified wage, benefit, and working condition requirements) to the WORK program; (2) specifying the components of grievance procedures for resolving regular employee complaints alleging violations of worker displacement prohibitions or other specified work-related requirements; (3) requiring written notification of labor organizations when JOBS program participants are assigned to regular employment positions; (4) establishing an alternative expedited grievance procedure for complaints involving such an assignment; and (5) providing for binding arbitration for adverse grievance decisions. Changes earned income disregards and the limit on Federal reimbursement for State expenditures under work supplementation program provisions. (Sec. 104) Requires the States to generally limit AFDC benefits to 24 months, subject to extension for certain educational purposes, unless they have opted to participate in a limited number of demonstrations using alternative limits. (Sec. 105) Places administrative jurisdiction of the WORK program under the Assistant Secretary for Family Support in the Department of Health and Human Services. Title II: WORK - Adds to SSA title IV part G the WORK program. Requires States to have new programs requiring former JOBS participants who have been cut off AFDC after 24 months without receiving an extension or finding suitable employment to: (1) register with the applicable State agency for an approprate Work assignment of up to one year in the local area, involving placement in a temporary position in a subsidized private or public sector job (including ones as community service and child care providers) that gives them the experience for eventually finding a nonsubsidized job; and (2) conduct job searches for suitable nonsubsidized employment after completing an assignment while awaiting assignment to the next WORK job. (Sec. 201) Allows registrants to receive supplemental AFDC benefits in addition to their WORK earnings, as well as have their Medicaid-eligibility preserved while participating in WORK. Prohibits the upward adjustment of the amount of such supplemental benefits because of any failure to work the required hours for each assignment. Requires the aplicable State agency to conduct a comprehensive assessment at periodic intervals and either reassign the WORK participant to JOBS for additional training or to another assignment if he or she cannot find unsubsidized employment. Details other program provisions, chief among them provisions for: (1) local WORK advisory boards for advising administering agencies; (2) child care and other supportive services; (3) sanctions, hearings, and evaluations following WORK violations; and (4) optional joint JOBS and WORK administration and provision of program services through one-stop career centers. (Sec. 202) Revises current JOBS funding provisions, among other changes: (1) increasing the capped JOBS entitlement beginning in FY 1996, with the level of such entitlement specified for FY 2005 and each fiscal year thereafter adjusted for inflation; (2) limiting entitlement payments under JOBS to a State according to the average monthly number of adult recipients in the State for the preceding fiscal year relative to the number in all States (no longer factoring in the amount allotted to the State for FY 1987); (3) including enhanced Federal matching in the formulae for determining Federal payment with respect to a State's JOBS, WORK, and associated child care support expenditures; (4) establishing similar separate funding for the WORK program and specified set-asides under both programs for Indian tribes and Alaska Native organizations; and (5) earmarking specified funds for use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to provide to States requesting additional funding for JOBS or WORK in the following fiscal year beyond that which was originally allocated and subsequently reallocated. (Sec. 204) Requires the States to implement modified JOBS programs as described above that, additionally, provide: (1) at the State's option, for a separate program for job training and employment opportunities for non-custodial parents without requiring their participation in JOBS or WORK in order to participate in the separate program; (2) for revised components for Indian tribes and Alaska Native organizations, among other changes, making such components applicable to such entities applying to conduct WORK programs, and to provide funding for Indian and Alaska Native child care under the AFDC, JOBS, and WORK programs; and (3) for special rules for territories regarding applicability of the 24 month limit on AFDC benefits and the WORK program. (Sec. 205) Amends SSA title XI to remove WORK and "at-risk" family child care from the territorial cap. (Sec. 207) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to exempt earnings from WORK employment from being: (1) subject to Federal income and unemployment taxes; and (2) treated as earned income or qualified wages for purposes of the earned income and targeted jobs tax credits. Title III: Child Care - Makes various specified changes with regard to AFDC's child care support programs, including those largely conforming to the provisions of this Act concerning child care support for JOBS and WORK participants. Provides, in addition, for transitional child care for individuals leaving the WORK program. Provides also, with respect to AFDC recipients, JOBS and WORK participants, transitional child care recipients, and "at-risk" families, for parental rights and child care health and safety standards consistent with those under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (Child Care Block Grant Act), including requirements for proper child immunizations and protection against toxic substances and weapons at sites where child care is provided. (Sec. 302) Provides for: (1) family cost-sharing for transitional and "at-risk" family child care consistent with the methodology used under the Child Care Block Grant Act; (2) "at-risk" family child care only in cases where the family involved is not eligible for other SSA title IV part A child care support programs, and regardless of whether they need child care in order to work; and (3) modified State payment and Federal reimbursement rules, among other changes making State licensing and monitoring activities with respect to child care providers reimbursable as an administrative cost. (Sec. 304) Provides for: (1) optional administration of AFDC's child care support programs by the lead State agency designated under the Child Care Block Grant Act; (2) establishment of a set-aside in the "at-risk" family child care support program for improving the quality and increasing the supply of appropriate child care for low-income communities; (3) increased Federal funding for the "at-risk" family child care support program as well as a new enhanced Federal match for that program consistent with that for other SSA title IV part A services; and (4) reallotment of unused "at-risk" funds to States with expenditures exceeding applicable limits. (Sec. 307) Provides for offering working AFDC families a supplement if certain earned income disregard provisions are applied in order to guarantee child care. Title IV: Provisions with Multi-Program Applicability - Revises current JOBS performance standards and AFDC quality control and management information system provisions. Provides for: (1) an outcome-based performance standards system for measuring the extent to which JOBS and WORK help participants and their families move towards self-sufficiency and economic well-being and away from welfare; and (2) an expanded quality control system, as well as new State automated systems, for use in assessing the State's performance in administering its AFDC, JOBS, WORK and child care support programs, by applying such standards and in assisting the States in monitoring participants, processing payments, providing services, managing information, and performing the other operations involved in administering such programs. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 403) Amends AFDC to require the Secretary to establish and maintain an automated National Welfare Receipt Registry of information on current and past AFDC and WORK participants for assisting States in administering their AFDC, JOBS, and WORK plans. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 404) Earmarks funding out of the capped JOBS and WORK entitlements above for specified demonstration projects, studies, and other activities related to the programs created and modified by this Act and involving, for instance: (1) JOBS placements in positions with significant retention rates; (2) WORK programs conducted outside the State's AFDC program; (3) State Work Support Agencies for assisting former AFDC recipients in retaining unsubsidized employment; and (4) parenting skills for noncustodial parents. (Sec. 405) Requires the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, beginning in FY 1998, to make certain certifications over a six-year period regarding the use of the component databases of the National Welfare Reform Information Clearinghouse (established under title VI of this Act) by State and Federal agencies. Requires the Director to determine whether Federal agencies have used such databases for reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in their programs in order to achieve the mandatory spending reductions assumed in the cost estimates accompanying this Act. Specifies required reductions in mandatory spending for the succeeding fiscal year if the Director certifies before the close of the current fiscal year that despite the full use of such databases mandatory spending was not reduced by the projected amount. Title V: Prevention of Dependency - Amends AFDC and JOBS to make various specified changes designed to prevent welfare dependency, including changes relating to: (1) supervised living arrangements for unmarried minor parents with dependent children and pregnant women; (2) State options to limit AFDC benefit increases for families on AFDC who have additional children, and to conduct a program of montary incentives and penalties to encourage teen custodial parents and pregnant women to complete high school and participate in parenting activities; and (3) case management for teen custodial parents on AFDC. (Sec. 505) Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to provide for: (1) grants for development of school-based programs in high risk areas for promoting adolescent personal responsibility and character development with emphasis on drug use and pregnancy prevention; (2) grants for carrying out similar demonstration projects providing comprehensive services for promoting educational advancement, improving community stability, and developing employment opportunities in addition to focusing on personal responsibility and drug use and pregnancy prevention; and (3) establishment by appropriate Federal officials of the National Clearinghouse on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programs for disseminating information on and performing other specified functions, including sponsoring training institutes, with regard to adolescent pregnancy prevention programs. Title VI: Child Support Enforcement - Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to revise the Federal child support and paternity establishment system and related IRC and other provisions to mandate among other things: (1) centralized collection and disbursement (including interstate collection and disbursement) of child support payments through a new single statewide automated system linked to a central registry of all child support orders established or modified in the State involved subject to wage withholding; and (2) a National Welfare Reform Information Clearinghouse composed of specified automated registries and directories (including an expanded Federal Parent Locator Service) containing employment, locate, and other specified types of information for assisting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in verifying employment and States in administering their AFDC, JOBS, WORK, and child support and paternity establishment programs, verifying the income and eligibility of Medicaid, food stamp, and SSI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSA title XVI) program participants, and ruling on unemployment and worker compensation claims. (Sec. 601) Mandates: (1) outreach for voluntarily establishing paternity and facilitating access to child support enforcement services; (2) annual State reviews of and reports on child support and paternity establishment programs for use by Federal auditors in assessing program performance using new Government standards; and (3) increased Federal matching payments for such programs. Includes among such changes new State plan requirements regarding: (1) AFDC recipient cooperation in State efforts to establish paternity and secure support; (2) distribution of support payments; (3) due process rights; (4) privacy safeguards; and (5) State and local agency program staff and contractor training. (Sec. 612) Revises provisions on: (1) State incentive payments, providing for performance-based incentive adjustments to the Federal matching rate for payments to a particular State; and (2) reductions in State AFDC payments for certain failures, adding specific failures to achieve appropriate levels of performance in paternity establishment and child support enforcement or to submit complete or reliable data, and conditioning the effectiveness of such reductions on the State's failure to take sufficient corrective action in the succeeding fiscal year to achieve compliance. (Sec. 615) Requires the Secretary to conduct staffing studies for a report to the Congress. (Sec. 616) Earmarks specified funding for Federal technical assistance, training, research, demonstrations, and other activities assisting State child support and paternity establishment programs. (Sec. 617) Makes specified changes with regard to: (1) annual congressional reports on all SSA title IV part D activities; and (2) data collection and reporting. (Sec. 623) Revises State law requirements regarding: (1) income withholding; (2) locate networks; (3) labor union cooperation in such State efforts; (4) use of social security numbers on child support and paternity orders and other specified party records; (5) modification of child support orders (including uniform interstate enforcement and modification of such orders); (6) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity (including before the child is born) and establishing, modifying, and enforcing support obligations; (7) imposition of motor vehicle title liens and other specified actions for support arrearages (including mandatory credit bureau reporting of all arrearages); (8) arrearage statute of limitations and interest and penalties; and (9) visitation rights. (Sec. 625) Directs the Secretary to establish a National Welfare Reform Information Clearinghouse and an automated National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 627) Directs the Secretary to conduct studies on: (1) (and make grants to States for demonstrations involving) certain locate activities; and (2) the use of tax return information for modifying child support orders. (Sec. 642) Provides for: (1) a reduction in State AFDC payments for failure to establish paternity promptly; and (2) State options to provide for incentive payments to families to encourage paternity establishment. Directs the Secretary to authorize certain State demonstrations involving financial incentives for paternity establishment. (Sec. 651) Authorizes the Secretary to establish: (1) a revolving loan fund for program improvements to increase child support collections; and (2) the National Commission on Child Support Guidelines to determine whether a national child support guideline is advisable and develop one for congressional consideration if it is. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 662) Amends IRC to make specified changes with regard to the IRS tax refund offset program and collection of arrearages, among other changes: (1) eliminating the disparities between AFDC and non-AFDC cases; and (2) prohibiting additional fees for updating open case arrearages. (Sec. 664) Consolidates and revises provisions for collecting support from Federal employees and members of the armed forces. (Sec. 672) Modifies support obligation treatment under the Federal bankruptcy code. (Sec. 673) Provides for passport denial in cases involving child support arrearages exceeding $5,000. (Sec. 681) Directs the Secretary to make grants for State demonstrations to determine the effectiveness of programs to provide assured levels of child support to custodial parents of children whose paternity and support obligations have been established. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 691) Authorizes appropriations for State absent parent access and visitation programs. Title VII: Improving Government Assistance and Preventing Fraud - Amends AFDC, the Family Support Act of 1988, the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (Food Stamp Act), SSA title XI, and the IRC to make various specified changes in income disregard, resource exclusion, and other provisions under the Federal welfare system that are designed to: (1) simplify administration, for example, by changing the policy of obtaining citizenship declarations from each family member in cases where a single family is applying for AFDC, and by conforming program rules between AFDC and the food stamp program on the treatment of educational assistance; and (2) prevent fraud by allowing State agencies to use the IRS to collect AFDC overpayments from Federal tax refunds. (Sec. 731) Individual Development Account Demonstration Act of 1994 - States that it is U.S. policy to: (1) eliminate barriers that prevent AFDC recipients from becoming self-sufficient through self-employment and asset accumulation; (2) identify and implement cost-effective strategies to encourage saving and entrepreneurship among low-income families that have the potential to reduce Federal spending on transfers and services to them; (3) enhance private-sector opportunities for such families by enabling them to use their own resources through expanded business investment, job creation, home ownership, and human capital investment; and (4) expand the capacity of local organizations to provide asset-related services, such as savings mechanisms and loan funds, that help people to help themselves. (Sec. 732) Provides for the establishment of State and local demonstration projects designed to determine: (1) the social, psychological, and economic effects of providing low-income individuals with the opportunity to accumulate assets and develop and use entrepreneurial skills; and (2) the extent to which an asset-based assistance policy may be used to enable such individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 734) Amends the IRC to allow the establishment of individual development accounts (IDAs) by or on behalf of an eligible individual for the purpose of accumulating funds to pay his or her qualified expenses. Establishes an annual limit on such contributions (except contributions to IDAs established under the demonstration projects above), and a limit on total contributions for all years of $10,000. Defines qualified expenses as those for: (1) post-secondary education expenses; (2) a first-home purchase; and (3) business capitalization. Declares that contributions to IDAs are not subject to the gift tax or the tax on prohibited transactions. (Sec. 741) Provides for State demonstrations under which participating residents will receive advanced earned income payments from a responsible State agency in lieu of receiving them from an employer. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Self-Employment/Microenterprise Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, subject to available funding, to jointly develop a self-employment/microenterprise demonstration program for welfare recipients and low-income individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Financing - Caps AFDC's emergency assistance program. (Sec. 902) Establishes uniform eligibility criteria under AFDC, SSI, and Medicaid for all categories of aliens, including those lawfully admitted for permanent residence. (Sec. 903) Makes the current five-year period of sponsor responsibility permanent law under SSI and increases sponsor periods under AFDC and food stamps to five years, among other changes in AFDC, SSI, and food stamp alien eligibility rules, which include changes disqualifying after five years certain aliens with sponsors having income in excess of applicable limits. (Sec. 904) Amends the National School Lunch Act, among other things, to: (1) establish a two-tiered reimbursement structure for family or group day care homes; (2) provide family or group day care home sponsoring organizations with additional funding for administrative expenses for each home located in a low-income area; and (3) require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide State assistance grants. (Sec. 905) Amends the Food Stamp Act to extend expiring provisions reducing the percentage of recovered food stamp overpayments retainable by State agencies. (Sec. 906) Make persons receiving in excess of $100,000 in off-farm adjusted gross income ineligible for Commodity Credit Corporation crop subsidies. (Sec. 907) Amends the IRC to: (1)extend the expiring corporate environmental income tax used to finance the Hazardous Substance Superfund; (2) extend the earned income tax credit to military personnel on extended active duty abroad; and (3) deny such credit for non-resident aliens. (Sec. 908) Amends the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 to extend railroad safety inspection fees permanently. (Sec. 911) Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to extend certain customs fees. Title X: Effective Dates - Specifies the effective dates of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1994
Support for Families with Children with Disabilities Act of 1994 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to add a new part I, Family Support, which may be cited as the Families of Children with Disabilities Support Act of 1994. Directs the Secretary of Education to make three-year grants to States for systems change and advocacy activities for statewide systems of support for families with children with disabilities. Sets forth priorities and application requirements. Requires States desiring such assistance to designate lead entities and establish State Family Support Policy Councils. Includes among authorized activities training and technical assistance, interagency coordination, local or regional councils, outreach, advocacy services, policy studies, hearings and forums, public awareness and education, needs assessment, program data, and pilot demonstration projects. Requires State strategic plans, progress criteria, and reports. Requires panels of experts to evaluate grant applications. Directs the Secretary to make grants to or contracts with appropriate public or private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, for: (1) providing technical assistance and information on statewide systems of family support; and (2) conducting a national evaluation of the program of grants to States. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review Federal programs with respect to their impact on such family support, consistent with specified policies; and (2) make grants or contracts for projects of national significance for developing national and State policies and practices for family-centered and family-directed systems of support for families of children with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Designates August 1, 1994, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes the President to reassert America's commitment to the Helsinki Accords and requests him to: (1) convey to all signatories of the Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a vital element of further progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (2) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of such process to address the major problems that remain.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1994
Public Braodcasting Act of 1994 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to extend through FY 1999 the authorization of appropriations for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Designates 1995 the Year of the Girl Child.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1994
Interstate Compact - Grants congressional consent to the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact entered into among the States of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts to assure the viability of dairy farming in the northeast and to assure consumers of an adequate, local supply of milk.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1994
Weir Farm National Historic Site Expansion Act of 1994 - Amends the Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 to expand the boundary of the Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut to include specified lands.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1994
Haitian Restoration of Democracy Act of 1994 - Supports the restoration of democracy in Haiti and the return to office of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the elected President of Haiti. Urges the President to: (1) facilitate the return to Haiti of a full contingent of human rights observers; and (2) subject to the request of Aristide, effect the deployment of a multinational border patrol between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to halt cross-border violations of sanctions against Haiti imposed by the United States and other countries. Supports multilateral socieconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti upon the return to power of the democratically-elected President and the removal of Haiti's military high command. Prohibits any U.S. officer or employee from attempting to amend, reinterpret, or nullify the Governors Island Agreement (except with regard to the October 1993 deadline for the return to power of Aristide). Requires the President to notify the Haitian Government of the intention to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement effected in 1991. Prohibits the return to Haiti of any Haitian national or habitual resident without the individual's consent, unless the President determines, in a manner that incorporates procedural safeguards consistent with internationally endorsed standards, that such individual is not a refugee. Makes exceptions to such prohibition if an individual was involved in persecution of another person or is a felon who constitutes a danger to the United States. Imposes sanctions against Haiti, including prohibitions on: (1) credits or loans; (2) imports and exports; (3) contracts; and (4) air transport activities. Prohibits U.S. assistance to other countries that are not cooperating with sanctions against Haiti. Imposes sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act against such countries. Terminates sanctions when the President certifies to the Congress that the democratically-elected President has been reinstated and Haiti's military high command has met its obligations under the Governors Island Agreement. Grants eligible Haitians temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Excludes certain Haitians connected with the military, the military coup, and terrorist activities from admission into the United States. Blocks assets of such individuals that are in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
United Negro College Fund 50th Anniversary Resolution - Designates May 8 through 14, 1994, as United Negro College Fund Week.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1994
Better Pharmaceuticals for Children Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prescribe guidelines under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall defer for a six-month period the effective date for approved drug applications pending the conduct of clinical trials in the pediatric population.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1994
Low-Income Housing Preservation Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a 15-year recovery period for the depreciation deduction for new investments to rehabilitate qualified low-income housing projects. Exempts a specified amount of such rehabilitation costs from the passive loss limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Head Start Act Title II: Community Services Block Grant Act Title III: Demonstration Partnership Agreements Addressing the Needs of the Poor Title IV: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 Title V: Coordinated Services for Children, Youth, and Families Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1994 - Title I: Head Start Act - Amends the Head Start Act to extend the authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act and its Head Start program, a longitudinal study of Head Start participants, and the Head Start Transition Project Act. Title II: Community Services Block Grant Act - Amends the Community Services Block Grant Act to extend the authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act and its Community Services Block Grant program and community food and nutrition programs. Title III: Demonstration Partnership Agreements Addressing the Needs of the Poor - Amends the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1986 to extend the authorization of appropriations for demonstration partnership agreements addressing the needs of the poor and for programs directed to special populations. Title IV: Low-income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 - Amends the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to extend the authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act and its program. Title V: Coordinated Services for Children, Youth, and Families - Amends the Augustus F. Hawkins Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1990 to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, State coordination of services for children, youth, and families, supportive services, family resource and support programs, the National Center on Family Resource and Support Programs clearinghouse, and evaluation of family resource and support programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1994
Condemns the assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio. Extends the condolences of the American people to the people of Mexico, especially to the Colosio family. Pledges the full and unequivocal support of the United States to the Government and people of Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment and Retraining Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, II, and III of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff and retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes substate area funds to be used for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows such grants to be used for providing comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation and for establishing on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement: (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; and (5) community service employment for Older Americans Act. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions from the Secretary. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to programs under JTPA provisions for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Establishing Support Orders Subtitle A: National Child Support Guideline Subtitle B: Improved Procedures for Establishing Support Orders Subtitle C: Child Support Registries Title II: Collections and Enforcement Title III: Interstate Child Support Enforcement Title IV: Financing State Child Support Enforcement Activities Title V: Effective Dates Child Support Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Establishing Support Orders - Subtitle A: National Child Support Guideline - Directs the separate organizational unit (SOU) established under part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to submit to the Congress a bill for implementing a national child support guideline for: (1) use in each State as a rebuttable presumption of the correct amount of the support award; (2) evaluating rebuttal requests; (3) maximizing support; and (4) accounting for child health insurance coverage and educational needs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint a National Child Support Guideline Advisory Board to assist in the bill's development. Subtitle B: Improved Procedures for Establishing Support Orders - Amends SSA title IV part D to revise provisions for State procedures increasing the effectiveness of child support enforcement, with changes made concerning: (1) expedited administrative processes; and (2) enforcement of the national subpoena developed below. Subtitle C: Child Support Registries - Makes changes concerning the establishment of a central State child support order registry (registry) of all child support orders issued or modified in the State and transmittal of registry abstracts to the Division of the National Registry of Child Support Orders (National Registry) established below. (Sec. 112) Requires the SOU to draft and distribute a national subpoena duces tecum for use by child support litigants in obtaining relevant income information. (Sec. 113) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to allow State agency use of consumer report information relevant to the setting of a child support award without a court order. Title II: Collections and Enforcement - Creates a new system requiring employees to report child support information on W-4 forms to their employers, who shall: (1) provide a copy of such form to the National Registry for comparison against registry abstracts; (2) deduct and withhold from employee wages the appropriate amount owed; and (3) send the amount to the appropriate registry for proper disbursement. (Sec. 202) Requires States to adopt procedures suspending the issuance and renewal of occupational, professional, and business licenses, as well as driver's licenses and vehicle registrations, of certain noncustodial parents delinquent in child support payments or subject to an outstanding warrant for failure to appear at a child support proceeding. Modifies other procedures for reporting delinquent parents to consumer reporting agencies. (Sec. 204) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to qualify as a medical child support order one issued by an administrative adjudicator with the force and effect of law under applicable State law. (Sec. 205) Requires State to have in effect laws adopting the officially approved version of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Title III: Interstate Child Support Enforcement - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish within the Internal Revenue Service an Office of the Assistant Commissioner for Interstate Child Support Enforcement which shall establish the National Registry and a Division of Enforcement to perform specified duties. (Sec. 304) Adds additional requirements for State part D plans, including a requirement that the State child support enforcement agency refer to the Division certain matters involving delinquent parties residing in different States. Title IV: Financing State Child Support Enforcement Activities - Amends SSA title IV part D to repeal provisions on incentive payments to States and provide for a greater share of Federal financial participation with regard to State child support enforcement activities. (Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Child Support Audit Advisory Committee to assist the Secretary in preparing revised audit criteria for evaluating part D programs. Modifies and shifts to SSA title IV part D payment provisions under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) providing for a reduction in part A payments as a result of the State's part D program's substantial noncompliance with the requirements of such part. Title V: Effective Dates - Provides effective dates for this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Private Securities Litigation Title II: Financial Disclosure Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Private Securities Litigation - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act) to prohibit brokers or dealers from soliciting or accepting referral fees from an attorney for obtaining the representation of a customer in any implied private action. Prohibits the use of disgorgement funds resulting from actions brought by the Securities Exchange Commission (the Commission) to pay legal expenses incurred by private parties seeking distribution of such funds. Modifies the guidelines for class action litigation, including: (1) recovery by named plaintiffs in the same manner as all other members of the class; (2) court determination of conflicts of interest on the part of counsel with a beneficial interest in the securities that are the subject of the litigation; (3) restrictions on settlements under seal; (4) restrictions on payment of attorney's fees from settlement funds; (5) disclosure of settlement terms to class members; (6) special verdicts; and (7) the threshold enabling a plaintiff to obtain certification as representative for the class. Prescribes procedural guidelines for alternative dispute resolution. Establishes a limitations period for implied private rights of action. Provides for a court-appointed guardian ad litem or class action steering committee to oversee counsel and settlement offers for the plaintiff class. Delineates the requirements for securities fraud actions. Amends the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute to exclude from its purview an action involving fraud in the sale of securities. Title II: Financial Disclosure - Directs the Commission to re-examine the regulatory and judicial framework with respect to predictive statements ("forward-looking statements") concerning the future economic performance of an issuer of securities. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prescribe litigation procedures governing safe harbors for forward-looking statements. Modifies requirements for audits conducted by an independent public accountant of an issuer's financial statements to include procedures to: (1) detect illegal acts; (2) identify related party transactions material to financial statements; and (3) evaluate an issuer's ability to continue as a going concern. Sets forth notification and reporting guidelines for a public accountant who detects illegal activities during the course of an audit. Limits such auditor's liability for complying with such guidelines. Establishes civil penalties for an auditor's noncompliance with this Act. Modifies the allocation of damages scheme to distinguish between primary degrees of responsibility and the application of proportionate liability. Directs the Commission to establish a Public Auditing Self-Disciplinary Board (the Board). Prohibits a public accounting firm from furnishing an accountant's report on any document required to be filed with the Commission unless it has registered with the Board. Requires the Board to establish guidelines for: (1) investigations and disciplinary proceedings against public accounting firms; and (2) criteria for certification of public accountant peer review organizations. Grants the Commission responsibility for oversight of the Board. Includes within Board jurisdiction a foreign public accounting firm that furnishes accountant's reports on any document required to be filed with the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Designates October 16 through 22, 1994, as National Character Counts Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Commends: (1) the President of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revoluntionary Union for establishing a framework for formal negotiations to bring an end to the internal armed conflict and set Guatemala on the road to democracy; and (2) the leaders of the various segments of civilian society, under the leadership of Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, for their role in articulating the concerns of all sectors of Guatemalan society and for bringing critical issues onto the agenda of the peace negotiations. Calls on: (1) the Group of Friends of the peace negotiations (Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela, Norway, and the United States) to continue and intensify their support of such negotiations; (2) President de Leon Carpio to develop a measurable and substantive plan to end human rights abuses and disband the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, to ensure the safety of the returnees, and to recognize the civilian character of the Communities of Populations in Resistance; and (3) the executive branch of the U.S. Government to condition all assistance to Guatemala, except for humanitarian and development assistance, on achieving concrete and significant progress with respect to full compliance with recommended measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the continuation of the peace process, substantive improvement in the protection of human rights, the dissolution of the Patrols, the guaranteed safety of refugees, returnees, and the internally displaced, verifiable resolution of the Devine, Ortiz, Harbury, and Mack cases, and the strengthening of the various segments of civilian society.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1994
Child Support Assurance Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to up to six States for demonstration programs to establish or improve a system of assured minimum child support payments. Requires the custodial parent to have, or be in the process of obtaining, a child support award, or the child to have good cause for the absence of such an award, to qualify for the program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1994
Civilian Ex-Prisoner of War Health and Disability Benefits Act of 1994 - Entitles a former civilian prisoner of war (POW) to receive necessary medical care and disability benefits for any injury or disability resulting from the period of internment or hiding. Requires any presumptive medical and dental condition related to a period of internment provided for former military POWs to be extended to former civilian POWs and requires that it be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by the period of internment or hiding regardless of the absence of any record of the injury. Establishes the Former Civilian Prisoner of War Committee. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 through 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation Title III: One-Stop Career Center System Title IV: National Labor Market Information System Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) retraining income support and flexibility in unemployment compensation; (3) a one-stop career center system; (4) a national labor market information system; and (5) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation - Part A: Retraining Income Support Program - Establishes a retraining income support program to assist permanently laid-off individuals participating in long-term training programs. (Sec. 202) Sets forth eligibility requirements for tenured workers (who have been employed for more than three years before being permanently laid off) and for trade-impacted workers. Provides, at a later date, for additional eligibility coverage for workers who have been employed for more than one year but less than three years before being permanently laid-off. (Sec. 203) Sets forth formulae for determining weekly amounts of such assistance. (Sec. 204) Limits the maximum duration of such assistance to: (1) 52 weeks for individuals with three years or more of job tenure; and (2) 26 weeks for individuals with less than three years of job tenure. Provides for coordination with the extended unemployment compensation benefit program. (Sec. 205) Provides for agreements with States, administration absent State agreement, liabilities of certifying and disbursing officers, fraud and recovery of overpayments, and penalties. Part B: Retraining Income Support Account - Amends the Social Security Act to establish a Retraining Income Support Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Provides for transfers to such Account and transfers to States. (Sec. 222) Provides for funds to assist States in administering cash benefits for retraining income support. Part C: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. (Sec. 232) Provides for voluntary withholding of Federal individual income tax on unemployment and other benefits, including retraining income support. Requires States to provide for a system for deduction and withholding of Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation upon the recipient's voluntary request. Part D: Integration of Trade-Impacted Workers into the Comprehensive Reemployment System - Phases out the trade adjustment assistance program. (Sec. 242) Establishes within the Department of Labor a temporary, transitional certification program to integrate trade-impacted workers into the comprehensive system of worker reemployment and retraining income support. Part E: Unemployment Compensation Flexibility - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow States, under their unemployment compensation programs, to conduct: (1) short-time compensation programs; (2) reemployment bonus programs. (Sec. 253) Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to repeal a sunset provision which would terminate the self-employment assistance program after five years. (Thus this Act extends such program indefinitely.) Title III: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 312) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 313) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 314) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 315) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 316) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 318) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 333) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 334) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 335) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 336) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title IV: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 501) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 502) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins for a one-year period to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) distribute all surcharges from the coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Amendments of 1994 - Amends Federal law with respect to Home Energy Assistance to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to assist low-income households, particularly those that pay a high proportion of household income, both for meeting immediate energy needs and in attaining the capacity to meet such needs independently in the future. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for home energy assistance needs arising from a natural disaster or other emergency. Modifies the authorized uses of funds including: (1) outreach activities and assistance particularly to low income households that pay a high proportion of household income for home energy; (2) intervention in energy crisis situations; (3) low-cost residential weatherization; and (4) State program planning and development, including leveraging programs. Authorizes the States to give priority to households with the highest home energy burdens. Requires State applications for assistance to include a plan which targets assistance to households with high home energy burdens. Repeals the prohibition against the Secretary's prescription of the manner in which the States will comply with the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981. Requires State applications for assistance to include: (1) a plan which describes which Department of Energy rules for Low Income Weatherization Assistance Program the State will follow with respect to repairs and improvements; and (2) specified data on the households assisted under this Act. Requires each State to notify the Secretary of any amounts that remain unobligated prior to the close of the fiscal year.