United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1981
Economic Equity Act - Title I: Tax and Retirement Matters - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the maximum deduction for contributions to an individual retirement plan: (1) shall be computed separately for each individual who is married; and (2) in the case of a married individual who has no compensation or less compensation than that of the spouse, shall be determined as if such compensation were the same as that of the individual's spouse. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to require that a retirement plan that provides an annuity to a participant with at least ten years of creditable service shall provide a survivor's annuity for the spouse of a participant who dies before the annuity starting date in an amount not less than the amount that would have been made under the survivor's annuity if the participant had survived and retired on such annuity date. Provides that a participant's election not to take a joint and survivor's annuity shall not be effective unless the spouse of the participant consents in writing to such an election. Allows the assignment of the benefits of a qualified retirement plan in the case of a judgment decree or order relating to child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights pursuant to a State domestic relations law. Amends ERISA to lower the age limitation for participation in a qualified retirement plan from age 25 to age 21. Amends ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to provide for accruals of creditable service to continue while an individual is on approved maternity or paternity leave at the rate of 20 hours service for each week of approved leave. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the zero bracket amount; (2) lower the tax rate; (3) decrease withholding requirements; and (4) increase minimum filing requirements for heads of households. Entitles former spouses of members of the uniformed services, civil service employees, and Members of Congress, who were married for at least ten years during creditable service, to an annuity based upon a portion of retired or retainer pay. Amends the Survivor Benefit Plan of the uniformed services to make former spouses eligible for annuities under such plan. Provides for survivor's annuities for surviving former spouses of civil service employees or Members of Congress. Provides that the election of a member of the uniformed services, civil service employee, or Member of Congress not to make a joint and survivor's annuity shall not be effective unless the spouse and any former spouse consents in writing to such an election. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax credit to employers of displaced homemakers. Title II: Day Care Program - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the formula for determining the tax credit for household and dependent care services necessary for gainful employment. Provides that such credit may exceed tax liability. Increases the dollar limit for such credit from $2,000 to $2,500 (from $4,000 to $5,000 for two or more dependents). Allows a higher limit in the case of a taxpayer with children under two years of age. Increases the earned income limitation for such credit in the case of a spouse who is a student or incapable of self-care. Provides that employers may make advance payments of the credit to qualified employees. Excludes from gross income of an employee any amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for dependent care assistance to such employee. Title III: Armed Forces - Revises the rules for the distribution of the property of deceased members of the Air Force and Army by removing any gender distinctions from such rules. Establishes a distribution formula based on six classes: (1) beneficiary named in a will; (2) surviving spouse; (3) children; (4) parents; (5) siblings; and (6) next of kin. Eliminates sexual distinctions with regard to promotion procedures and procedures to remove reserve officers from active duty status in the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve. Requires the Secretary of Defense to make an annual report to the Congress concerning the status of women in the armed forces. Title IV: Estate Tax on Agricultural Property and Farm Loans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against the estate and gift tax from $47,000 to $192,800 by specified annual increments through 1985. Increases the minimum gross estate requirement for filing a return from $175,000 to $600,000. Qualifies estates of decedents who were disabled or retired for the special valuation of certain farms based on use if they materially participated in the operation of the farm for five out of eight years preceding the year in which they became disabled or eligible for disability benefits. Permits the spouse of a decedent to use such valuation if the spouse has managed the farm or business for ten years preceding the decedent's death or during the period beginning on the date of deaths of the decedent and ending on the date of death of the spouse. Permits active management rather than material participation as a test for qualification of the estate for spouses, children under 21, students, and disabled individuals who received property from a decedent who qualified for special use valuation. Repeals the $500,000 limitation on the reduction of the value of qualified real property permitted by the special use valuation. Provides that the interest rate on extended payments of estate taxes shall be the lower of six percent or 75 percent of the prime rate. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to remove the preference to married persons in receiving farm improvement loans. Title V: Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Permits insurers who regularly provide insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation to continue to do so. Grants to State or local governments having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer, if a State or local authority: (1) has received notice of a complaint and fails to act within 60 days; or (2) has no insurance discrimination laws. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the rights granted by this Act and that such denial raises an issue of general public importance. Title VI: Regulatory Reform and Sex Neutrality - Requires the heads of each Federal administrative agency to conduct a review of the regulations of that agency to assure that such regulations are sex neutral. Requires that, to the extent practicable, all rules, regulations, documents, and other writings of Federal administrative agencies shall use words that are neutral as to gender, unless the subject matter specifically applies only to one sex or the words used do not result in sex-based discrimination. Title VII: Study of Enforcement of Alimony and Child Support Payments - Directs the Attorney General to undertake a study of the appropriate role of the Federal Government in the enforcement of delinquent payments of alimony, child support, and property settlement orders against an absent spouse or parent. Requires the Attorney General to submit to the President and the Congress not later than one year after enactment of this Act a report of such study together with recommendations for appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Noninstitutional Acute and Long-Term Care Services for the Elderly and Disabled Act - Amends the Social Security Act by adding a new title, title XXI (Noninstitutional Acute and Long-Term Care Services for the Elderly and the Disabled), to provide a comprehensive system of noninstitutional health, developmental, and social services for individuals with chronic disabilities. Entitles an eligible individual to the following benefits: (1) home health services; (2) homemaker-home health aide services; (3) adult day services; (4) respite care services for up to 14 days, or 336 hours, in any year; (5) service coordination; (6) home help services; and (7) other services, provided on a demonstration basis, which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines may be of value. Sets forth definitions of such benefits. Provides benefits to every individual who: (1) has attained age 65; (2) is disabled and eligible for benefits under titles II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance), XVI (Supplemental Security Income), XVIII (Medicare), and XIX (Medicaid) of the Act; (3) was eligible for such benefits and ceased to be so eligible, but only if loss of benefits would seriously jeopardize such individual's ability to continue to live in a noninstitutional community residence and such individual's income is not sufficient to allow such individual to provide a reasonable equivalent of the services available under this Act; or (4) has been certified as eligible by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. States that no eligible individual shall be eligible to receive any benefits under title XXI or any long-term care benefits under titles XVIII, XIX, or XX (Grants to States for Services) of the Act unless such individual has a plan of care, as specified in this Act, and has been screened and assessed by a preadmission assessment and screening team (PAT) in order to determine the types and frequency of services required by such individual and in order to assure the maximum level of independence for such individual. Requires the Governor of each State to designate the State agency or agencies which shall administer or supervise the administration of the State's PAT program. Directs such agency or agencies to designate entities responsible for establishing area PATs. Directs the Secretary to determine the composition of the PAT. Directs the Secretary to reimburse any PAT, and any State, for the reasonable costs incurred under this Act. Requires beneficiaries under title XXI to make copayments. Sets limits based on income for such copayments. Exempts those below the poverty line from copayments. Directs the Secretary to pay amounts for benefits incurred by an eligible individual in accordance with specified guidelines. Creates the Federal Long-Term Care Trust Fund into which specified funds will be deposited in order to make the payments required by this Act. Coordinates the provisions of this Act with titles XVIII, XIX, and XX of the Act by providing that no payment shall be made under such titles to or on behalf of an individual who is eligible under title XXI for services available under title XXI, unless the individual seeking coverage first undergoes a preadmission screening and assessment as provided in title XXI. States that this Act shall be effective between January 1, 1982, and December 31, 1987. Directs the Secretary to monitor the effects of this Act and report to the Congress. Directs the Comptroller General to also conduct an ongoing evaluation of the effects of this Act and to report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Competitive Export Financing Act of 1981 - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to direct the Export-Import Bank to adopt export finance programs comparable in structure to those extraordinary measures of official export credits offered by competing countries, until such financing is limited by international agreements. Authorizes appropriations for such programs. Requires the Bank to report annually to Congress on whether any additional funds are necessary to carry out this Act. Sets the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Commends Secret Service Agents Timothy McCarthy and Jerry Parr and Metropolitan Police Officer Thomas Delahanty for their performance in the line of duty with respect to the assassination attempt on the life of the President of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Limits the increase of total budget outlays of the United States Government during any fiscal year to the rate of increase in the gross national product during the previous calendar year. Requires the use of any surplus to reduce the public debt. Allows the limit on total outlays to be changed by a three-fourths vote of both Houses of Congress, or by a two-thirds vote in the case of an emergency declared by the President. Prohibits the Congress from requiring or authorizing any agency of the government to require that a State or local government engage in additional or expanded activities unless such State or local government is compensated for the costs incurred.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Title I: Export Trading Companies - Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies by providing information and by facilitating contacts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency to exempt from specified requirements of the Federal Reserve Act any loan or extension of credit made by a national or State bank to an export trading company affiliate if such exemption is necessary to finance an affiliated export trading company and does not expose the bank to undue financial risks. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for a remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes up to $10,000,000 to be appropriated for initial investments and operating expenses for each of fiscal years 1982-1986. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees for expansion to export trading companies or exporters when adequate financing is not otherwise available. Requires such loan guarantees to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories. Directs the Board of Directors to try to insure that a major share of such guarantees promotes exports from small, medium-size, and minority businesses or agricultural concerns. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to subsidize the employment of export managers by small business manufacturing firms which have not previously been substantial exporters. Limits such grants to the lesser of: (1) 50 percent of the expenses related to employing a full-time export manager for one year; or (2) $40,000. Sets forth the requirements for an application by a firm for such grant and the factors the Secretary shall consider in making such grants. Authorizes appropriations for each of fiscal years 1982-1984 to carry out this grant program. Directs the Secretary to evaluate this program and to submit such evaluation and any recommendation to Congress by a specified date. Title II: Export Trade Association - Export Trade Association Act of 1981 - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the trade, activities and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Permits automatic certification for existing associations. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Requires firms to report changes in membership, export trade activities, or methods of operation to the Secretary and to apply for an amendment of their certificates. Directs the Secretary to revoke a firm's certificate if it does not comply with the requirements for an antitrust exemption or to amend such certificate so that it does comply with such requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate certification. Provides for judicial review of such actions. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish certification guidelines. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an Office of Export Trade. Requires such Office to report annually to the appropriate Congressional committees on all East-West trade transactions requiring validated licenses and on the role of U.S. export trading companies in such trade. Requires, with specified exceptions, that all applications for certification be kept confidential. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force, seven years after enactment, to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Makes the amendments of the Webb-Pomerene Act set forth in this Act effective with regard to existing associations only at such time as such associations elected to be certified.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Amends the Veterans Health Programs Extension and Improvement Act of 1979 to direct the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to develop and publish regulations for resolving claims for benefits administered by the Veterans' Administration based on exposure to Agent Orange during military service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
National Laser Institute Act - Establishes a National Laser Institute to study laser research and technology applications for future civilian and national security uses and to make recommendations to Congress regarding implementation of its findings and the coordination of the efforts of the Federal Government with respect to laser technology. Sets forth the composition and terms of membership of the Institute. States that members of the Institute shall have access to such classified or nonclassified information as is necessary to carry out their responsibilities under this Act. Directs the Institute to prepare and submit to the President and specified Committees of Congress an annual report regarding its activities under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this Act. Terminates the provisions of this Act five years after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 - Title I: Individual Tax Rate Cuts - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce individual and estate and trust income tax rates for 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984, lowering the maximum rate to 50 percent in 1984. Repeals the 50 percent maximum tax rate on personal service income. Reduces the alternative minimum tax for noncorporate taxpayers. Title II: Incentives for Plant, Equipment, and Real Property - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) Ten-year property, including owner-used buildings and their structural components and certain public utility property; (2) five-year property, including tangible property, and (3) three-year property, including automobiles, light-duty trucks, and certain tangible property used in connection with research and experimentation. Excludes from the category of recovery property: (1) property placed in service before January 1, 1981; (2) certain property eligible for amortization; and (3) certain depreciable real property. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Revises the treatment of progress expenditure property with respect to the investment tax credit and the allowance for depreciation. Includes as recovery property, property which would have been depreciated using the retirement-replacement-betterment method. Provides special rules for recovery property predominantly used outside of the United States. Establishes definite useful lives for certain types of real property, (e.g., buildings, low-income housing, owner-occupied industrial and commercial buildings) which are not subject to change by the Internal Revenue Service upon audit. Allows current depreciation of any qualified progress expenditure property not yet placed in service. Revises the applicable percentage for determination of the investment tax credit to make eligible for such credit: (1) 100 percent of the basis of ten-year or five-year recovery property; and (2) 60 percent of the basis of three-year recovery property. Revises the progress expenditure rules to eliminate the useful life requirement for depreciable property being constructed by or for a taxpayer for use in trade or business (qualified progress expenditure property) and to apply to such property the revised percentages for determining the investment tax credit under this Act. Revises rules for the recapture of tax benefits upon the disposition of property eligible for the investment tax credit. Prescribes recapture percentages for each of the three classes of recovery property. Limits the amount of the investment tax credit to the amount that the taxpayer has at risk. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Repeals the retirement-replacement- betterment methods of depreciation allowed for certain types of property. Specifies that such property shall be depreciated using a ratable method. Requires the recapture as ordinary income of excess depreciation from recovery property which is subsequently sold or exchanged. Exempts accelerated depreciation on real property with a shortened audit-proof life and recovery property from classification as an item of tax preference for purposes of computing the minimum tax. Sets forth rules for treatment of the depreciation allowance for any recovery property under real property with a shortened audit-proof life in computing the earnings and profits of a corporation. Extends the carryover period for the net operating loss deduction, the investment tax credit, the work incentive program credit, and the new employee credit. Sets forth a method of computing the recovery allowance for recovery property and certain real property in the case of certain corporate acquisitions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Limits the increase of total budget outlays of the United States Government during any fiscal year to a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the gross national product during the previous calendar year. Requires the use of any surplus to reduce the public debt. Allows the limit on total outlays to be changed by a three-fourths vote of both Houses of Congress, or by a two-thirds vote in the case of an emergency declared by the President. Prohibits the Congress from requiring or authorizing any department, agency, or instrumentality of the government to require that a State or local government, in order to qualify for any program of the United States Government, engage in additional or expanded activities unless such State or local government is compensated for the costs incurred.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Urges the President to extend for three years the orderly marketing agreements between the United States and Taiwan and between the United States and South Korea which limit the exportation from Taiwan and South Korea of nonrubber footwear to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1981
Artists Tax Equity and Donation Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for the current fair market value of a literary, musical, or artistic composition created by the taxpayer and contributed to a charitable organization. Disallows a fair market value deduction for a contribution of property which was produced while the taxpayer was a Government officer or employee if such property arose out of the performance of the taxpayer's duties. Permits the executor of an estate, in calculating the gross estate, to elect to value any copyright or any literary, musical, or artistic work created by the decedent at an amount equal to the decedent's adjusted basis in such property.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1981
Antiterrorism Act of 1981 - Directs the President to report biannually to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on acts of international terrorism or within 60 days of an incident affecting U.S. citizens or property. Directs the President to submit to Congress a list of nations which have demonstrated a pattern of support for international terrorism. Specifies sanctions to be imposed upon such nations, including: (1) denial of foreign assistance; (2) an embargo on the sale of any defense articles or extension of credit under the Arms Export Control Act; (3) denial of an export license with respect to commodities or technical data which would enhance any such nation's military or terrorist capabilities; (4) disallowance of duty-free treatment under the Trade Act of 1974; and (5) denial of entry to nationals for the purpose of education in subjects having military application. Provides a Congressional veto procedure by concurrent resolution regarding a Presidential request to remove a foreign state from the list. Permits the President to suspend application of these sanctions in the interests of national security after consulting with the appropriate Congressional committees. Authorizes the President to exercise other appropriate sanctions. Directs the President to submit biannually to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a Report on Federal and International Capabilities to Combat Terrorism, which includes a comprehensive and specific review of Federal antiterrorism organization, policies, and activities. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to assess the effectiveness of security measures maintained at foreign airports and report such assessments to Congress. Authorizes the Secretary, after notifying the appropriate foreign authorities, to restrict operations at foreign airports failing to bring their security measures to the standards and recommendations set forth at the Montreal Convention on International Civil Aviation. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance to foreign governments for promoting aviation security. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982 through 1984 for such purpose. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to empower the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to authorize FAA employees to carry firearms in connection with their air transportation security duties and to make arrests. Urges the President to seek international agreements to assure more effective cooperation in combating international terrorism and to develop standards and programs to insure the full implementation of the provisions of the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation. Amends the Federal criminal code to redefine the offense of "destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities" to, among other revisions: (1) prohibit communicating false information which endangers any aircraft in flight; (2) prohibit any act of violence against any individual on an aircraft which is likely to endanger the aircraft in service; and (3) define "in service" to mean pre- and post-flight ground preparation. Establishes criminal penalties for whoever commits an offense in violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation and is afterward found in the United States. Establishes a new Federal crime of "imparting or conveying threats" to commit an act which would constitute the felony of aircraft sabotage if executed. Amends the Federal Aviation Act to establish civil penalties for conveying false information regarding aircraft crimes and concealing a deadly weapon while boarding an aircraft. Makes any person who willfully and maliciously conveys false information criminally liable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1981
Directs the Education Appeal Board to dismiss all actions which are based on audits conducted prior to the enactment of the Education Amendments of 1978, and which seek the repayment of funds provided to State or local agencies under the Financial Assistance to Meet the Special Educational Needs of Children (title I) provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the manufacture, importation, installation, offer to sell, rent, or lease, or other distribution of telephone receivers or similar equipment manufactured after the date of enactment of this Act for use in connection with any interstate or foreign communication, unless such receiver or equipment is designed and manufactured to permit telephone reception by means of hearing aids with inductive receptors.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the special use valuation of farms for estate tax purposes for real property which is put to a qualified use by a member of the decedent's family.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Soil and Water Conservation Incentives Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer engaged in the business of farming an investment tax credit for soil and water conservation expenditures not treated as deductible expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Amends the Energy Security Act to prohibit the use of Federal funds in excess of $500,000 for construction work financed under this Act unless the goods used for such construction are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States. Waives such restriction if the contracting authority determines that: (1) such restriction is not in the public interest; (2) adequate domestic goods are not available; or (3) such restriction will increase project costs more than 20 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress shall work its will and take final action no later than May 31, 1981, on the economic recovery proposals which President Reagan presented to the Congress on February 18, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Tuition Tax Relief Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for 50 percent of the educational expenses paid for the elementary, secondary, college, or vocational education of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse or dependents. Sets forth maximum dollar amounts allowable as a credit. Excludes from eligibility for the credit educational expenses for: (1) elementary and secondary education at a privately operated institution of a State educational agency, other than an institution which offers education for the handicapped as a substitute to regular education; (2) part-time study; and (3) graduate study. Requires the individual for whom the tuition tax credit is allowed by this Act to be a full-time student or a half-time student during any four months of the calendar year. Excludes from the definition of "educational expenses" any amounts paid for books, supplies, and equipment for courses of instruction, meals, lodging, transportation, similar personal expenses, and education below the first-grade level. Forbids any construction of this Act as granting the Government additional authority to examine the books or activities of any church school. Requires that any amount received by the taxpayer as a tuition tax credit be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of the taxpayer for Federal, State, or local educational assistance. Specifies that the granting of a tax credit to a student due to his enrollment in any educational institution shall not be considered as Federal assistance to such institution.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act to provide coequal treatment, under Federal law, for a stationary source voluntarily converting from oil or natural gas to an alternate fuel and a stationary source mandated to convert.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Revises the congressional budget in order to: (1) reduce budget authority by $10.7 billion, and outlays by $4,8 billion, in fiscal year 1981; (2) reduce budget authority by $61.3 billion, and oulays by $41.4 billion, in fiscal year 1982; and (3) reduce budget authority by $88.4 billion, and outlays by $79.7 billion, in fiscal year 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that agricultural resources are of strategic importance to the United States' future and calling for Federal cooperation with State and local governments and assistance to persons engaged in agriculture.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1981
Ozone Depletion Validation Act of 1981 - Amends the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to continue ozone protection studies and research while increasing actual measurements of stratosphere ozone and improving methods of monitoring potential trends in such measurements. Directs the Administrator to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) continue review and research; (2) determine the extent, nature, and causes of changes in stratospheric ozone concentration (with particular attention to the effects of chlorofluorocarbons); (3) investigate unreasonable effects on health and the environment; and (4) report all findings and associated uncertainties. Prohibits the Administrator from proposing further regulations for the control in the United States of any chlorofluorocarbon: (1) until an international agreement or agreements among major free-world producing countries of chlorofluorocarbons are reached as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken; or (2) until depletion of the stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbons at a rate determined to be eventually harmful to human health and the environment is actually detected. Provides that any such final regulation not take effect until at least 90 days after its promulgation and not until the expiration of the period provided for adoption of a resolution of disapproval. Requires that continuing research and monitoring programs be expanded to determine the extent, nature, causes, effects, and associated uncertainties of stratospheric ozone concentration changes. Directs the National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to report, within two years and annually thereafter until such time as the theory of ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons has been validated, all findings concerning actual or potential alteration of the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere, its causes, and associated implications and uncertainties. Requires that such report be made to the Administrator and to the Congress, with copies available to the public. Directs the President, within two years from the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, to report to the Congress and the public on efforts to reach international agreements among the major free-world producing countries of chlorofluorocarbons as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Prohibits States or local governments from adopting or attempting to enforce any regulation (except ones controlling halocarbon use as an aerosol propellant) respecting the control of chlorofluorocarbons to protect the stratosphere or stratospheric ozone until the Administrator has promulgated such regulations for such control in the United States. Provides that this Act shall not affect: (1) the validity of regulations concerning aerosol propellants containing chlorofluorocarbons promulgated by the Administrator before the effective date of this Act; or (2) the Administrator's obligation to comply with other applicable requirements in adopting regulations for the control of chlorofluorocarbons consistent with international agreements or after actual detection of eventually harmful depletion. Requires that such final regulations be submitted to the Congress and only take effect if both Houses of Congress do not adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval within a specified period. Sets forth procedures and other provisions relating to such resolutions.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1981
Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 to eliminate the "national trigger" under the extended benefits program. Provides for a State option as to criteria for State "on" and "off" indicators under such program. Requires 20 weeks of employment (or the wage equivalent) in order to qualify for benefits under such program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the credit against employment tax liability available to an employer shall not be reduced due to advances made to the unemployment account of a State under title XII (Advances to State Unemployment Funds) of the Social Security Act, if such State repays during the one-year period ending on November 9 of the taxable year the advances made to its unemployment account and such repayments are not less than the sum of the State's potential additional taxes for the taxable year, plus any advances made to such State during the one-year period. Empowers the Secretary of Labor to require a State to furnish any information necessary to determine if such State has made proper repayments. Permits States which borrow Federal funds for payment of unemployment benefits to qualify for a cap on any increase in employer tax liability due to the failure of such State to repay outstanding loans, if such State meets certain minimum solvency requirements with respect to its unemployment compensation system. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to disqualify a State for such cap if he determines that the State has not provided adequate information with respect to the solvency of its unemployment compensation system. Permits States which have current loan balances for unemployment compensation benefits to waive certain new borrowing provisions: (1) during periods of high unemployment; and (2) for certain borrowing in taxable year 1981. Amends the Social Security Act, title XII (Advances to State Unemployment Funds), to set forth interest rates for State repayments of any advance made to a State during a taxable year in which such State is availing itself of the cap on credit reduction. Amends Social Security Act provisions relating to the Unemployment Trust Fund to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to determine the available portion of the funds credited to the book account of each State agency which is not required to meet current withdrawals. Permits each State to direct the Secretary to invest up to 50 percent of such available portion in such manner as the State determines to be appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the amount of the charitable deduction allowable for motor vehicle expenses will be determined in the same manner Federal employees determine reimbursement for business use of their vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Farmland Protection Policy Act - Defines "agricultural land" as any land (including crop, pasture, range, or forest lands) being used or capable of being used for agriculture, forestry, or timber production. Requires each Federal agency or other unit to: (1) develop procedures within 60 days for identifying the effects of its programs regarding the conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural uses; (2) review within 90 days relevant administrative and legal provisions which may prevent such unit from acting to mitigate losses of such land; and (3) develop within 120 days appropriate administrative and legislative proposals.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude certain amounts of gain from the sale or exchange of foreign investment company stock from treatment as ordinary income.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Underground Coal Gasification and Unconventional Gas Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy to prepare a comprehensive program management plan for research, development, and demonstration activities for underground coal gasification and unconventional natural gas production. Directs the Secretary to establish such a research and development program. Directs the Secretary to solicit proposals for the design of underground coal gasification and enhanced gas recovery facilities to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of producing synthetic and unconventional natural gas. Directs the Secretary to prepare a comprehensive commercialization plan. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress, as a separate part of the annual report submitted under the Department of Energy Organization Act, an annual report of the activities undertaken pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration should develop and validate an alternative nonanimal testing procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Commission on the International Application of the United States Antitrust Laws Act - Establishes a Commission on the International Application of the United States Antitrust Laws. Directs the Commission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive study concerning international aspects of the antitrust laws of the United States; and (2) transmit to the President and Congress, within one year after its first meeting, a final report containing its findings and recommendations for administrative, judicial, and legislative action. Terminates the Commission after the submission of such report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Health Incentives Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include in a taxpayer's gross income any contribution to him or on his behalf by his employer to a health benefit plan, or dental benefit plan, or both, for any month: (1) to the extent that such contribution amount exceeds a specified limitation; or (2) if such employer fails to comply during that month with any of certain specified requirements. Limits the employer's contribution to: (1) $50 for employee-only coverage, adjusted according to a specified formula for fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index medical care component; (2) $100 for employee-and-spouse coverage, adjusted similarly; and (3) $125 for family group-coverage, adjusted similarly. Requires any employer having a total of more than 100 employees covered under any health benefit plan offered by such employer to require that such plan offer at least three coverage options, each offered by a separate carrier. Requires the employer to make the same amount of contribution for each option offered. Requires continuity of coverage for family members following the death, termination, or divorce of the employee. Requires minimum benefits from each plan (or option thereof) which comprise the same types of coverage provided under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Requires each plan (or option) to provide for full payment of services during a catastrophic benefit period.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1981 - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to establish criminal penalties for any person who knowingly discloses information which identifies a U.S. covert intelligence agent. Establishes a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine for any person who, having had authorized access to classified information which identifies a covert agent, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses such information. Establishes a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and/or a $25,000 fine for any person who, having had authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses such information. Establishes a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment and/or a $15,000 fine for any person who, in the course of a "pattern of activities intended to identify" covert agents and with "reason to believe" that such activities would impair U.S. foreign intelligence activities, discloses information identifying an agent. Directs the President to establish procedures requiring Federal agencies to provide assistance in concealing the identity of U.S. intelligence agents.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that, in accordance with specified international agreements, the Soviet Union should provide proper medical care for Viktor Brailovsky and permit him to emigrate to Israel with his family. Urges the President to: (1) continue to express U.S. opposition to the imprisonment and treatment of Brailovsky; and (2) inform the Soviet Union that the United States, in evaluating its relations with other countries, will consider the extent to which those countries honor their commitments to human rights under international law.
![Official portrait of Sen. Heinz, John [R-PA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000456_200.jpg)