United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies Title IV: Technical Amendments Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for expanding State options under Medicaid for workers with disabilities, namely by creating State options to eliminate income, assets, and resource limitations for workers with disabilities who buy into Medicaid and to expand opportunities for such workers to make such a buy. Provides that Federal funds paid to a State for medical assistance provided to certain working disabled individuals must be used to supplement but not supplant the level of State funds expended as of FY 1999 for programs to enable working disabled individuals to work. (Sec. 102) Provides for certain continuation of Medicare coverage for working individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible States to support establishment of State infrastructures to support the working disabled as well as to enable State outreach campaigns on infrastructure existence; and (2) submit a recommendation to specified congressional committees on whether such grant program should be continued after FY 2010. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 104) Authorizes State demonstration projects for certain Medicaid coverage of up to a specified maximum number of workers with a potentially severe disability, coverage equal to that afforded under the State option provided for above for eliminating income, assets, and resource limitations for disabled workers buying into Medicaid. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to direct the Commissioner to establish a Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (TWSSP) under which a disabled beneficiary may use a TWSSP ticket issued by the Commissioner under a described system, designed to ensure quality assurance, to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services, pursuant to an appropriate individual beneficiary work plan that meets specified requirements, at the Commission's expense, from a participating employment network, public or private, which: (1) meets specified qualifications and is under an agreement with the Commissioner who must select a program manager to assist in administering TWSSP; (2) is chosen by the beneficiary, and (3) is willing to accept assignment of the beneficiary's TWSSP ticket. Allows State agencies administering or supervising the administration of the State plan under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to elect to participate as an employment network. Sets forth special requirements applicable to cross-referral to certain State agencies and requirements relating to provision of services. Describes employment network payment systems. Provides that during any period for which an individual is using a TWSSP ticket, the Commissioner and any applicable State agency may not initiate a continuing disability or similar review with regards to whether the individual is or is not disabled. Requires payments to employment networks to be made out of the social security trust funds in the case of ticketed SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) disability beneficiaries who return to work, or from the appropriation made available for making Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments under SSA title XVI, in the case of SSI disability beneficiaries who return to work. Provides for allocation of other costs. (Sec. 202) Establishes within the Social Security Administration the Work Incentives Advisory Panel to advise the Commissioner with respect to TWSSP, and other Federal officials on related issues. Provides that the costs for carrying out this paragraph shall be paid from amounts available for the administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among those amounts as appropriate. Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives - Amends SSA title II to set forth a number of measures designed to eliminate work disincentives, namely prohibiting work activity as a basis for review of an individual's disability status and providing for expedited eligibility determinations for applications for disability benefits of former certain long-term disability beneficiaries that engaged in substantial gainful activity during a certain extended period following the end of a rehabilitation services trial work period. Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach - Amends SSA title XI part A (General Provisions) to direct the Commissioner to establish a community-based work incentives outreach program for disabled beneficiaries that includes the provision of technical assistance to organizations and entities that are designed to encourage disabled beneficiaries to return to work. Provides that the costs of carrying out this subtitle shall be paid from amounts made available for administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among such amounts as appropriate. (Sec. 222) Amends SSA title XI to authorize the Commissioner to make certain minimum payments in each State to the protection and advocacy system established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act for the purpose of providing services to disabled beneficiaries, services which may include advocacy or other services that such a beneficiary may need to secure or regain gainful employment. Provides for funding similar to that in he paragraph above. Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies - Amends the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 to provide for an extension of disability insurance program demonstration project authority to include any group of applicants for benefits under such program with impairments that may reasonably be presumed to be disabling for purposes of such demonstration project. (Sec. 302) Directs the Commissioner to conduct certain demonstration projects designed to provide for specified reductions in disability insurance benefits based on earnings. Requires expenditures for such demonstration projects to come out of the social security and Medicare trust funds to the extent provided in advance in appropriation acts. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should establish additional demonstration projects to assist individuals with disabilities to engage in work. (Sec. 304) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report to the Congress on various described studies concerning existing disability-related employment incentives and coordination of the OASDI disability insurance program and the SSI program as they relate to individuals entering or leaving concurrent entitlement under such programs, as well as on a study concerning the impact of the substantial gainful activity limit on return to work. Title IV: Technical Amendments - Amends the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 with respect to: (1) final adjudication of denied claims by drug addicts and alcoholics for SSA title II disability benefits; and (2) the effective dates of certain requirements concerning representative payees and treatment referrals for such individuals. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title II to: (1) provide for payments to State and local prisons for monthly reports on the identities of inmates whose OASDI benefits are determined by the Commissioner not to be payable as a result of such reports; (2) provide for a 50 percent reduction in such payments under SSA titles II and XVI in cases involving a comparable payment under the other title with respect to the same prisoner; (3) exempt from the Privacy Act of 1974 any agreements with State and local prisons to supply such information; (4) transfer from the OASDI trust funds any sums necessary to enable the Commissioner to make such payments; (5) eliminate the requirement that confinement stem only from a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year (thus denying OASDI benefits to individuals confined for any criminal offense); and (6) provide for continued denial of benefits to sex offenders remaining confined to public institutions upon completion of prison term. (Sec. 403) Provides for a two-year open season for members of the clergy who wish to revoke their exemption from social security coverage. (Sec. 404) Amends SSA title XI to make a miscellaneous technical amendment relating to cooperative research or development projects under SSA titles II and XVI. (Sec. 405) Amends SSA title XI to make miscellaneous technical amendments to provisions concerning the requirements of State income and eligibility verification systems, among other changes allowing a State to permit certain employers that make returns with respect to domestic service employment taxes on a calendar year basis to instead make such reports on an annual basis.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 - States as U.S. policy to deploy as soon as technologically possible a National Missile Defense system capable of defending U.S. territory against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate).
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1999
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 - States as U.S. policy to deploy as soon as technologically possible a National Missile Defense system capable of defending U.S. territory against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate).
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1999
Trade Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to repeal the requirement that the cause of serious injury (or threat) be substantial to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an article that is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities with respect to the President taking action to facilitate efforts by such industry to make a positive adjustment to the import competition. Revises certain factors the International Trade Commission must consider when investigating to determine whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury (or threat) to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Repeals, similarly, the requirement that such injury be substantial. Declares that imports shall be considered to be a "cause of serious injury, or threat thereof," if a causal link is established between imports and injury to the domestic industry. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish and implement a steel import permit and monitoring program. Requires: (1) a person to have a steel import permit before he or she can import certain steel products into the United States; and (2) the Secretary to issue such permit to any person who files an application that meets specified requirements. Requires the Secretary to compile and publish certain information with respect to such imported steel.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Financial Information Privacy Act of 1999 - Directs the Federal financial regulatory authorities (banking regulatory agencies and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) to jointly issue final rules to protect the privacy of confidential information relating to customers of institutions under their respective jurisdictions (covered institution). Mandates that such rules: (1) prohibit a covered institution from disclosing or sharing confidential customer information with any affiliate or agent if the customer has provided a written notice which forbids such disclosure; (2) prohibit a covered institution from disclosing or sharing confidential customer information with a non-affiliate or non-agent unless the customer has provided written or electronic consent; (3) require the covered institution to disclose to the customer the specific type of information disclosed or shared, under what circumstances, to what specific types of businesses, and for what types of purposes; (4) require customer access to information that could be disclosed so that it may be reviewed for accuracy and supplementation; and (5) establish a compliance and enforcement mechanism that includes consumer complaint resolution. Cites circumstances under which such information may be released.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages (such FLSA prohibitions are also known as the Equal Pay Act). (Sec. 3) Amends FLSA to provide for enhanced enforcement of equal pay requirements, adding a nonretaliation requirement. Increases penalties for such violations. Provides for the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in such cases. (Sec. 4) Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, including convening a national summit and carrying out other specified activities. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop guidelines for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria, to be used voluntarily by employers to compare wages for different jobs to determine if pay scales adequately and fairly reflect each job's educational and skill requirements, independence, working conditions, and responsibility, in order to eliminate unfair pay disparities between occupations traditionally dominated by men or women; and (2) establish a program to recognize employers who use such guidelines to ensure that women are paid fairly in comparison to men without lowering men's wages. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance for employers to carry out such evaluations. (Sec. 7) Establishes the Robert Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be evidenced by a medal. Sets forth criteria for specified types of entities to receive such an award. (Sec. 8) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should: (1) take appropriate steps to increase the amount of information available with respect to wage disparities; and (2) consider ways to collect such information that maximize its utility, protect individual privacy, and minimize reporting burdens. (Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Designates the Department of Housing and Urban Development headquarters at 451 Seventh Street, SW. Washington, D.C., as the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Air Transportation Improvement Act - Title I: Authorizations - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations. Earmarks amounts for: (1) wildlife hazard mitigation measures and management of the wildlife strike database of the FAA; and (2) the establishment of a university consortium to provide an air safety and security management certificate program in cooperation with the FAA and U.S. air carriers. (Sec. 102) Amends Federal aviation law to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for: (1) the FAA Facilities and Equipment Program; and (2) continuation through FY 2000 of the instrument landing system inventory program. Directs the Administrator of the FAA to establish life-cycle cost estimates for any air traffic control modernization project in which such costs equal or exceed $50 million. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning programs. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in order to improve security at U.S. public airports, to carry out at least one project to test and evaluate innovative airport security systems and related technology. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 106) Prohibits the Administrator of the FAA from terminating human weather observers for Automated Surface Observation System stations until certain conditions are met. Title II: Airport Improvement Program Amendments - Removes the maximum cap on airport improvement funds credited to the discretionary fund. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program of up to 20 projects for grants to implement innovative financing techniques for airport development projects. (Sec. 203) Limits to no more than 90 percent the Federal share of costs for certain airport projects. (Sec. 204) Increases the apportionment for airport improvement grant funds for airport noise compatibility programs. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the use of airport improvement funds apportioned to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico for any of their public airports. Authorizes the use of the supplemental apportionment of airport improvement funds for Alaska for any of its public airports. Repeals a certain limitation on the apportionment of airport improvement funds for commercial airports in Alaska. Revises the amount of certain funds apportioned to the discretionary and small airport funds. Authorizes the Secretary to distribute a certain percentage of funds from the small airport fund for grants for projects at small hub airports. Declares that an airport development project shall remain eligible for funding from the discretionary fund (subject to the availability of funds) even though the status of the airport project changes from a primary airport to a non-primary airport. Revises, for purposes of grant eligibility for airport development funds, the definition of "public-use airport" to include a privately-owned airport that, as a reliever airport, received federal aid for airport development before October 9, 1996, but only if the Administrator of the FAA issues revised administrative guidance after July 1, 1998, for the designation of reliever airports. Repeals the eligibility of reliever airports for the issuance of a letter of intent to obligate airport development funds. Prohibits the collection of a passenger facility fee from a passenger in Alaska aboard an aircraft having a seating capacity of less than 20 passengers. Permits certain regulations promulgated by the Secretary to authorize a public agency to request waiver of a passenger facility fee for: (1) any class of domestic or foreign air carriers that enplane not more than a specified of the total number of passengers enplaned annually at a airport; or (2) passengers enplaned on a flight to an airport with scheduled passenger service but fewer than 2,500 passenger boardings each year, or in a community with a population of less than 10,000 and not connected by land to the National Highway System. Grants priority (except for requests from another Federal agency or instrumentality) to a request by a public agency for surplus property for use at a public airport. Increases the apportionment of airport improvement funds to sponsors of cargo-only airports. Declares that the Secretary may permit the use of State highway specifications for airfield pavement construction using airport development funds at non-primary airports with runways of 5,000 feet or shorter serving aircraft that do not exceed 60,000 pounds, if the Secretary determines that: (1) safety will not be negatively affected; and (2) the life of the pavement will not be shorter than it would be if constructed using FAA standards. Prohibits an airport from seeking airport development funds for runway rehabilitation or reconstruction of any such airfield pavement constructed using State highway specifications for a period of ten years after construction is completed. (Sec. 206) Directs the secretary to report to specified congressional committees on FAA efforts to implement capacity enhancements and improvements, such as precision runway monitoring systems, and the time frame for implementation of such improvements. (Sec. 207) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to discourage airport sponsors and airports from using entitlement funds for lower priority projects by giving lower priority to discretionary projects submitted by airport sponsors and airports that have used entitlement funds for projects that have a lower priority than the projects for which discretionary funds are being requested. (Sec. 208) Prohibits the Secretary from waiving certain required assurances that property be used for aeronautical purposes with respect to the grant of airport development funds, unless the Secretary provides public notice at least 30 days before issuing such waiver. (Sec. 209) Amends Federal aviation safety law to revise the term "public aircraft" to include non-government-owned aircraft transporting passengers if the aircraft is operated for prisoner transport. (Sec. 210) Authorizes the Secretary, in order to enable additional air service by an air carrier with less than 50 percent of the scheduled passenger traffic at an airport, to consider the shell of a terminal building (including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) to be an eligible airport-related project. (Sec. 211) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to evaluate, and report to specified congressional committees on, options for improving the quality of information available to the FAA on airfield pavement conditions for airports that are part of the national air transportation system. (Sec. 212) Authorizes the Secretary to use unobligated airport development and noise compatibility program funds to make discretionary grants for noise abatement activities. Title III: Amendments To Aviation Law - Amends Federal aviation law to authorize the Administrator of the FAA to contract for procurement of severable services for a period that begins in one fiscal year and ends in the next fiscal year if (without regard to any option to extend it) the contract period does not exceed one year. Declares that funds available for a fiscal year may be obligated for the total amount of the contract. (Sec. 302) Amends the Airport Noise and Capacity Act to make foreign air carriers eligible for a waiver from stage three noise level requirements for certain aircraft. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to establish consortia of government and aviation industry representatives at airports to provide advice on matters related to aviation security and safety. (Sec. 304) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to enter into bilateral agreements with the aeronautical authorities of another country to exchange with that country all or part of their respective functions and duties with respect to certain domestic and foreign aircraft. (Sec. 306) Amends the Pilot Records Improvement Act to require an employment investigation (including a criminal history check) in the case of passenger, baggage, or property screening at airports if the Administrator of the FAA decides it is necessary to ensure air transportation security. Permits an air carrier that has not obtained information about a pilot from a foreign government or entity that has employed the pilot to allow such pilot to begin service as a pilot of certain small aircraft if the carrier has made a documented good faith attempt to obtain it. (Sec. 307) Amends Federal aviation law to extend Federal aviation insurance and reinsurance programs through December 31, 2003. (Sec. 309) Establishes criminal penalties for any individual who: (1) knowingly and willfully serves or attempts to serve as an airman without an airman's certificate; (2) knowingly and willfully employs for service or uses as an airman an individual who does not have such certificate; or (3) without an airman's certificate provides for the air transportation of a controlled substance. (Sec. 310) Requires major air carriers providing air service to essential airport facilities that have interline agreements involving ticketing, baggage and ground handling, and terminal and gate access with other carriers, to provide on a nondiscriminatory basis the same services to any requesting air carrier that offers air service to a small community airport. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to specified congressional committees every three months on electronic data processing problems associated with the year 2000 (Y2K problem) within the FAA. (Sec. 402) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to require by regulation that collision avoidance equipment (TCAS II) be installed on each cargo aircraft with a payload capacity of 15,000 kilograms or more. (Sec. 403) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to solicit comments on the need for: (1) improvement of runway safety areas; and (2) the installation of precision approach path indicators. (Sec. 404) Makes applicable to other specified types of aircraft (currently exempted from them), including turbojet-powered aircraft and aircraft equipped to carry only one individual, certain requirements that commercial aircraft be outfitted with an emergency locator transmitter. (Continues to exempt from such requirements aircraft used in scheduled flights by scheduled air carriers holding certificates issued by the Secretary, training operations conducted entirely within a 50-mile radius of the airport from which the training operations begin, flight operations related to design and testing, the manufacture, preparation, and delivery of aircraft, showing compliance with regulations, exhibition, or air racing, or the aerial application of a substance on agricultural crops.) (Sec. 405) Prohibits the Administrator of the FAA, except for the facilitation of law enforcement, from issuing a certificate to any person: (1) convicted of a violation of any Federal or State law relating to the installation, production, repair, or sale of a counterfeit or falsely represented aviation part or material; or (2) subject to a controlling or ownership interest of an individual convicted of such violation. Directs the Administrator to revoke any such certificates issued to convicted persons or persons who knowingly facilitate such a violation. Prohibits the employment of an individual convicted of counterfeit parts dealing to perform a function related to the procurement, sale, production, or repair of a part or material, or the installation of a part into a civil aircraft. (Sec. 406) Subjects to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 any individual who interferes with the duties or responsibilities of the flight crew or cabin crew of a civil aircraft, or who poses an imminent threat to the safety of the aircraft or other individuals on the aircraft. (Sec. 407) Directs the Secretary to work with appropriate international organizations and aviation authorities of other nations to bring about their establishment of higher standards for accommodating handicapped passengers in air transportation, particularly with respect to foreign air carriers that code-share with domestic air carriers. Establishes a civil penalty for any air carrier that discriminates against handicapped persons while providing air transportation, unless such carrier provides such individual a credit or voucher in a certain amount for the purchase of a ticket on that carrier or any affiliated carrier. (Sec. 408) Authorizes the Secretary to request the head of any Federal department, agency, or instrumentality to convey land or airspace owned or controlled by it to a public agency for use that will complement, facilitate, or augment airport development, including the development of additional revenue from both aviation and nonaviation sources. Authorizes the Secretary, upon making certain determinations, to grant a release from any conditions contained in such conveyances in order to facilitate the development of additional revenue from aeronautical sources. Authorizes the Administrators of the FAA or the General Services Administration (GSA) to convey all right, title, and interest in 12 acres of property at Lake Minchumina, Alaska, to the Iditarod Area School District. (Sec. 409) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to develop procedures to protect air carriers and their employees from civil enforcement action under the Flight Operations Quality Assurance program. (Sec. 410) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to identify or develop a plan to implement the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) to provide navigation and landing approach capabilities for civilian use and make a determination as to whether a backup system is necessary. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 411) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to reissue, and provide for public comment on, the notice to operators published in the Federal Register on January 2, 1998, which advised Alaska guide pilots of the applicability of part 135 of CFR title 14 to guide pilot operations. (Sec. 413) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to establish an advanced qualification program oversight committee to give advice on the development and execution of Advanced Qualification Programs (alternative methods for qualifying, training, certifying, and ensuring the competency of flight crews and other commercial aviation operations personnel (human factors training program)) for air carriers, and to encourage their adoption and implementation. (Sec. 414) Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) to initiate an independent assessment that ensures that the method for capturing and distributing overall FAA costs is appropriate and reasonable. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 415) provides for the enforcement of whistleblower laws for FAA employees. (Sec. 416) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to the Congress on a plan to modernize the oceanic air traffic control system (including a budget for such program). (Sec. 417) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report biannually to the Congress on the air transportation oversight system program announced on May 13, 1998, in detail on the training of inspectors, the number of them using the system, air carriers subject to the system, and the budget for the system. (Sec. 418) Declares that the Secretary may authorize the use, in whole or in part, of a completed environmental assessment or environmental impact study for a new airport construction project that is substantially similar in nature to one previously constructed pursuant to a completed assessment or study in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of expense and effort. (Sec. 419) Prohibits air carriers, contractors, and subcontractors from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee as to pay, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee: (1) is about to provide or has provided to the Federal Government information relating to any violation of any FAA order, regulation, or standard or any other Federal law relating to air carrier safety; or (2) is about to file or has filed a proceeding, or testified, or otherwise participated in a proceeding relating to such violations. Sets forth a department of Labor compliant procedure for persons who believe they have been discharged or discriminated against in violation of this Act. Specifies civil penalties for violation of this Act. (Sec. 420) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to improve real property leased for air navigation facilities without regard to the costs of such improvements in relation to the cost of the lease, if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 421) Declares that the denial to air carriers (that conduct operations as a public charter with aircraft that are designed to carry more than nine passengers per flight) of access to certain reliever airports shall not be considered to be unreasonable or unjust discrimination. (Sec. 422) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an Intergovernmental Task Force for International Visitor Assistance. Requires the Task Force to: (1) examine, and report to the President and the Congress its recommendation on, signage at U.S. facilities (including airports, seaports, land border crossings, highways, and bus, train, and other public transit stations); and (2) identify and suggest solutions to existing inadequacies, such as the adoption of uniform standards on international signage for use throughout the United States in order to facilitate international visitors' travel here. Requires the Task Force also to examine and report on: (1) the availability of multilingual travel and tourism information and means of disseminating it; and (2) establishment of a toll-free, private-sector operated telephone number, staffed by multilingual operators, to provide assistance to international tourists coping with an emergency. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete, as soon as may be practicable, a satellite system of accounting for the travel and tourism industry. Authorizes appropriations for the U.S. National Tourism Organization international promotional activities. Prohibits the use of such funds for any purpose other than marketing, research, outreach, or any other activity designed to promote the United States as the premiere travel and tourism destination in the world. States that the Organization's general and administrative expenses shall be borne by the private sector. (Sec. 423) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to determine whether its safety regulations are equivalent to the safety standards set forth in European Union Directive 89-336EEC. Directs the Administrator, if such standards are equivalent, to work with the Secretary of Commerce to gain acceptance of such determination pursuant to the Mutual Recognition Agreement between the United States and the European Union of May 18, 1998, in order to ensure that aviation products approved by the FAA are acceptable under the Directive. (Sec. 424) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the property taxes on public-use airports should be assessed fairly, regardless of the location of the airport owner; and (2) the property tax recently assessed on the City of The Dallas, Oregon, as the owner and operator of the Columbia Gorge Regional-The Dallas Municipal Airport, State of Washington, should be repealed. (Sec. 425) Amends the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 to authorize FAA employees under the new FAA personnel management system to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board and seek judicial review of Board decisions. (Sec. 426) Establishes an Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Advisory Panel to review issues related to the use and oversight of aircraft and aviation component repair and maintenance facilities located within, or outside of, the United States. Authorizes the Administrator to seek the advice of the panel on issues related to methods to improve the safety of domestic or foreign contract aircraft and aviation component repair facilities. Directs the Administrator to request aircraft and aviation component repair stations located outside or inside the United States to submit information necessary to assess safety issues and enforcement actions with respect to the work performed at those stations on aircraft used by U.S. air carriers. Requires such information to include: (1) the existence and administration of employee drug and alcohol testing programs; and (2) the amount and type of aircraft and aviation component repair work performed on U.S. and foreign aircraft. (Sec. 427) Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the desirability and implications of: (1) decreasing from 75 to 51 percent the portion of the voting interest owned or controlled by U.S. citizens necessary to qualify a corporation or association as a U.S. citizen under the Federal transportation law; and (2) revising the definition of air carrier under such law to cover any company whose principal place of business is in the United States (currently, such an air carrier must be a U.S. citizen). (Sec. 428) Declares that the memorandum of agreement between the Administrator of the FAA and any person that directly obtains aircraft situational display data shall require that such person: (1) demonstrate the capability of selectively blocking the display of any aircraft-situation-display-to-industry derived data related to any identified aircraft registration number; and (2) agree to block selectively the aircraft registration numbers of any aircraft owner or operator upon FAA request. (Sec. 429) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary should: (1) act vigorously to ensure the enforcement of U.S. rights under the Bermuda II Agreement; (2) intensify efforts to obtain assurances from the United Kingdom to allow U.S. air carriers to operate commercially viable, competitive service for the Charlotte-London (Gatwick) and Cleveland-London (Gatwick) routes; and (3) ensure that the rights of the United States and U.S. citizens and air carriers are enforced under the Agreement before seeking to renegotiate a broader bilateral agreement to establish additional rights for U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers of the United Kingdom, including the right to commercially viable competitive slots at Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport in London, England, for U.S. air carriers. (Sec. 431) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report annually to the Secretary the amount of State taxes collected during the preceding fiscal year that were transferred to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress for the preceding fiscal year: (1) the State dollar contribution to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund; and (2) the amount of airport development and noise compatibility funds made available to the State. (Sec. 432) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to work with the Taos Pueblo to study the feasibility of conducting a demonstration project to require all aircraft that fly over Taos Pueblo and the Blue Lake Wilderness Area of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, to maintain a mandatory minimum altitude of at least 5,000 feet above ground level. (Sec. 433) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to provide for improved oral and written disclosures to each consumer of air transportation concerning the corporate name of the air carrier that provides such transportation. (Sec. 434) Directs the FAA to use necessary funds to contract for the operation of air traffic control towers in Salisbury, Maryland, Bozeman, Montana, and Boca Raton, Florida. (Sec. 435) Amends the Death on the High Seas Act to authorize, in addition to any pecuniary damages, the recovery of up to $750,000 (adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2000) of nonpecuniary damages for wrongful death caused during commercial aviation. Title V: Aviation Competition Promotion - Directs the Secretary to establish a four-year pilot aviation development program to provide funds to up to 40 small communities or consortia of communities and States with inadequate access to the national transportation system to improve their access to such system. (Sec. 503) Directs the Administrator of the FAA, in order to facilitate the use of, and improve the safety at, small airports, to establish a pilot program (community-carrier air service program) to contract for Level I air traffic control services at 20 facilities not eligible for participation in the Federal Contract Tower program. Waives the State or local contribution requirement with respect to such program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 504) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004 for the community-carrier air service program. (Sec. 505) Directs the Secretary to review the marketing practices of air carriers that may inhibit the availability of quality, affordable air transportation services to small and medium-sized communities. Requires the Secretary, if such practices are found to inhibit the availability of such service, to promulgate regulations to address the problem. (Sec. 506) Requires the Secretary, after receiving an application for an exemption to provide nonstop regional jet air service between an airport with fewer than two million annual enplanements and a high density airport, to grant or deny the exemption in accordance with established principles of safety and the promotion of competition. Authorizes the Secretary to permit: (1) an air carrier or an affiliated air carrier to upgrade its service under the exemption to a larger jet aircraft; and (2) an air carrier to change the nonhub airport or small hub airport for which the exemption was granted to provide the same service to a different airport that is smaller than a large hub airport, if certain conditions are met. Provides for the termination of an exemption if the air carrier uses the slot for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was granted or in violation of the conditions under which it was granted. (Sec. 507) Directs the Secretary, subject to specified conditions, to grant exemptions from the prohibitions against the operation of aircraft nonstop between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and another airport more than 1,250 miles away (perimeter rule), and against the increase or decrease by the Administrator in the number of takeoffs and landings (the High density Rule), to any air carrier that operates limited frequencies and aircraft on select routes between National Airport and domestic hub airports. Mandates such an exemption if the Secretary finds that it will: (1) provide air transportation service with domestic network benefits in areas beyond the perimeter; (2) increase competition in multiple markets; (3) not reduce travel options for communities served by small hub airports and medium hub airports within the perimeter; and (4) not result in meaningfully increased travel delays. Sets forth specified requirements with respect to such exemptions. Directs the Secretary to: (1) grant exemptions from the High Density Rule to commuter air carriers (not including Stage 3 aircraft) for service to airports with fewer than two million annual enplanements within the perimeter established for aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington national Airport; and (2) develop criteria for distributing slot exemptions for flights within the perimeter to such airports in a manner consistent with the promotion of air transportation. Directs the Secretary to assess the impact of granting slot exemptions, including the impacts of additional slots and flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on safety, noise levels, and the environment. Declares that certain provisions prohibiting the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority from increasing or decreasing instrument flight rule takeoffs and landings under the High density Rule shall not apply to any increase in the number of such takeoffs or landings necessary to implement slot exemptions granted by the Secretary under this Act. Directs the Secretary to give priority in making grants to applications for airport noise compatibility planning and programs at and around airports where operations increase under this Act. (Sec. 508)Directs the Secretary to grant 30 slot exemptions over a three-year period at Chicago O'Hare international Airport provided certain conditions are met. Directs the Secretary to study and submit a report three years after the first slot exemption granted is used on the impact of the additional slots on the safety, environment, noise, access to underserved markets, and competition at such airport. Requires the Secretary to study community noise levels in the areas surrounding the four high-density airports after the 100 percent Stage 3 fleet requirements are in place, and compare those levels with the levels in such areas before 1991. (Sec. 509) Declares that it shall be an unfair or deceptive practice for any carrier utilizing electronically transmitted tickets to fail to notify the purchaser of a ticket's expiration date, if any. (Sec. 510) Directs the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on the efficacy of a program of Federal loan guarantees for the purchase of regional jets by commuter air carriers that service underserved markets. (Sec. 511) Directs the General Accounting Office (GAO) to study the current state of the national airport network and its ability to meet the air transportation needs of the United States over the next 15 years. Title VI: National Parks Overflights - Prohibits a commercial air tour operator from conducting commercial air tour operations over a national park or tribal lands, except in accordance with this Act, conditions prescribed for that operator by the Administrator of the FAA, and with any commercial air tour management plan for the park or tribal lands. (Sec. 602) Sets forth specified requirements with respect to: (1) the granting of authority to commercial air tour operators to conduct air tour operations over national parks or tribal lands, with specified exceptions; and (2) establishment of commercial air tour management plans. Exempts from the requirements of this Act: (1) the Grand Canyon National Park, or any Indian country within or abutting such park; or (2) any land or waters located in Alaska. (Sec. 603) Directs the Administrator of the FAA and the Director of the National Park Service (Director) to establish, jointly, an advisory group to provide continuing advice and counsel with respect to the operation of commercial air tours over and near national parks. Directs the Administrator of the FAA and the Director to report jointly to the Congress on the effectiveness of this Act in providing incentives for the development and use of quiet aircraft technology. (Sec. 604) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to the Congress on the effects proposed overflight fees are likely to have on the commercial air tour industry. (Sec. 605) Prohibits any commercial air tour from operating in the airspace over the Rocky Mountain National Park. Title VII: Title 49 Technical Corrections - Sets forth certain technical corrections to specified sections of Title 49 of the United States Code.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Childrens' (sic) Internet Protection Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make an elementary school, secondary school, or library ineligible to receive or retain universal service assistance under such Act unless it certifies to the Federal Communications Commission that it has selected and installed (or will install) a technology for computers with Internet access which filters or blocks material deemed harmful to minors. Requires the determination of what shall be considered inappropriate for minors to be made by the appropriate school, school board, library, or other responsible authority, without Federal interference.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 1999 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that any duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order, an antidumping duty order, or a finding under the Antidumping Act of 1921 shall be distributed on an annual basis as continued dumping or subsidy offsets to the affected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures. Limits qualifying expenditures to expenditures incurred since the issuance of the antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing duty order in any or all of the categories of plant, equipment, research and development (R&D), personnel training, acquisition of technology, employer-paid employee health care and pension benefits, environmental equipment, training or technology, acquisition of raw materials and other inputs, and borrowed working capital or other funds needed to maintain production. Directs the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service to prescribe offset disbursement procedures. Sets forth general procedures for notification of eligible parties. Requires the Commissioner to establish a special account in the Treasury to receive all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, for distribution according to this Act, within 14 days after an antidumping or countervailing duty order takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Insurance Bill of Rights Subtitle A: Access to Care Subtitle B: Quality Assurance Subtitle C: Patient Information Subtitle D: Grievance and Appeals Procedures Subtitle E: Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship Subtitle F: Promoting Good Medical Practice Subtitle G: Definitions Title II: Application of Patient Protection Standards to Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Under Public Health Service Act Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Title IV: Application to Group Health Plans Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 - Title I: Health Insurance Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Access to Care - Requires any group health plan, or health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer, providing emergency services benefits to cover emergency services furnished: (1) without the need for any prior authorization determination; (2) whether or not the health care provider furnishing such services is a participating health care provider; and (3) without regard to any other term or condition of such coverage (other than exclusion or coordination of benefits, or an affiliation or waiting period, permitted under the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), or the Internal Revenue Code, and other than applicable cost-sharing). Requires such coverage in a manner so that, if the emergency services are provided by a nonparticipating health care provider the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee is not liable for amounts exceeding the liability that would be incurred if the services were provided by a participating provider with prior authorization. Prescribes the same coverage for maintenance care or post-stabilization care (subject to certain guidelines) by nonparticipating health care providers. (Sec. 102) Requires a plan or coverage that provides benefits only through participating providers to offer a participant the option to purchase point-of-service coverage for benefits provided by a nonparticipating provider, unless the plan offers the participant a choice of health insurance coverage and one or more coverage options that do not provide benefits only through participating providers. (Sec. 103) Requires any plan and any health insurance issuer to permit each participant, beneficiary, and enrollee to receive: (1) primary care from any participating primary care provider available to accept such individual; and (2) (unless the plan or issuer clearly declares choice limitations) medically necessary or appropriate specialty care, pursuant to appropriate referral procedures, from any qualified participating provider available to accept such individual for such care. (Sec. 104) Requires any plan or issuer that requires or provides for designation of a participating primary care provider to permit a female participant, beneficiary, or enrollee to designate a participating physician who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology as the individual's primary care provider. Prohibits the plan or issuer, in the absence of such a designation, from requiring authorization or a referral by the individual's primary care provider or otherwise for coverage of routine gynecological care (such as preventive women's health examinations) and pregnancy-related services provided by a participating specialist in obstetrics and gynecology to the extent such care is otherwise covered. Permits a plan or issuer to treat the ordering of other gynecological care by such a participating health professional as the primary care provider's authorization of such care. Requires the plan or issuer to refer to an available and accessible specialist any participant, beneficiary, or enrollee with a condition or disease of sufficient seriousness and complexity to require treatment by a specialist, and benefits for such treatment are covered. Requires a plan or issuer to refer an individual to a nonparticipating specialist: (1) only if a participating specialist is not available and accessible; and (2) only at no additional cost to the individual. Requires a plan or issuer to have a procedure by which an individual with an ongoing special condition (life-threatening, degenerative, or disabling) may be referred to a specialist who shall be responsible for and capable of providing and coordinating the individual's primary and specialty care, without referral from the individual's primary care provider. Requires standing referrals to a specialist for any condition requiring ongoing specialist care. (Sec. 105) Prescribes requirements for continuity of care for participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees in the event of a termination of a health care provider or of the contract between a plan and an issuer. (Sec. 106) Prescribes requirements for participation in approved clinical trials of individuals with life-threatening or serious illnesses for which no standard treatment is effective. Prohibits denial of participation in such trials, or discrimination against participants. Limits plan or issuer payments to routine patient costs. (Sec. 107) Requires any plan or issuer that provides prescription drug benefits limited to drugs included in a formulary to: (1) ensure participation of participating physicians and pharmacists in the development of the formulary; (2) disclose to providers, and upon request to participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees, the nature of the formulary restrictions; and (3) consistent with the standards for a utilization review program, provide for exceptions from the formulary limitation when a non-formulary alternative is medically indicated. Prohibits a plan or issuer from denying coverage of such a drug or device on the basis that the use is investigational, if certain labeling requirements are met. (Sec. 108) Requires each plan and issuer to have (in relation to the coverage) a sufficient number, distribution, and variety of qualified participating providers to ensure that all covered health care services, including specialty services, will be available and accessible in a timely manner to all participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees. Permits inclusion among such providers of federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, migrant health centers, and other essential community providers located in the service area. Requires inclusion of such providers if necessary to meet such number, distribution, and variety requirements. (Sec. 109) Prescribes nondiscrimination requirements. Subtitle B: Quality Assurance - Directs each plan and issuer to establish an ongoing, internal quality assurance and continuous quality improvement program meeting specified requirements. (Sec. 112) Requires each plan and issuer to: (1) collect uniform quality data, including a minimum uniform data set specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (2) have a written process for the selection of participating health care professionals, including minimum professional requirements; and (3) establish and maintain, as part of any internal quality assurance and continuous quality improvement program including prescription drug benefits, a drug utilization program which encourages appropriate drug use and takes appropriate action to reduce the incidence of improper drug use and adverse drug reactions and interactions. (Sec. 115) Requires each plan and issuer to conduct (or arrange for qualified outside agents to conduct) benefit utilization review activities only in accordance with a utilization review program that meets certain requirements. Prohibits a program from permitting or providing contingent compensation arrangements with its employees, agents, or contractors in a manner that: (1) provides incentives, direct or indirect, for such persons to make inappropriate review decisions; or (2) is based, directly or indirectly, on the quantity or type of adverse determinations rendered. Requires a utilization review program to make determinations and notifications concerning: (1) prior authorization services within three business days after receiving any necessary information; (2) authorization for continued or extended health care services within one business day after receipt of such information; and (3) retrospective review of services previously provided, within 30 days of such receipt. (Sec. 116) Directs the President to establish an advisory board to provide information to Congress and the administration on issues relating to quality monitoring and improvement in the health care provided under group health plans and health insurance coverage. Subtitle C: Patient Information - Specifies benefits, access, emergency coverage, prior authorization, grievance and appeals, and other pertinent information which plans and issuers shall provide to participants and beneficiaries at the time of initial coverage, annually, within a reasonable period before or after the date of significant changes, and upon request. (Sec. 122) Requires plans and issuers to establish procedures to: (1) safeguard the privacy of any individually identifiable enrollee information; (2) maintain records and information in an accurate and timely manner; and (3) assure individuals timely access to such records and information. (Sec. 123) Provides for grants to States for creation and operation of a Health Insurance Ombudsman. Requires any State receiving such a grant to contract for such an Ombudsman with a not-for-profit organization that operates independent of group health plans and health insurance issuers. Requires the Secretary to provide through such a contract for an Ombudsman in any State that does not provide for one. Makes such an Ombudsman responsible to: (1) assist consumers in choosing among health insurance coverage or among coverage options offered within group health plans; and (2) provide counseling and assistance to enrollees dissatisfied with their treatment by issuers and plans, and with respect to grievances and appeals of coverage or plan determinations. Subtitle D: Grievances and Appeals Procedures - Requires each plan and issuer to establish a system for the presentation and resolution of oral and written grievances brought by participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees, or health care providers or other individuals acting on behalf of an individual and with the individual's consent. Requires the system to include grievances regarding access to and availability of services, quality of care, choice and accessibility of providers, network adequacy, and compliance with the requirements of this title. (Sec. 132) Requires each plan and issuer to establish an internal appeals process, and provide for an external appeals process, which meet certain requirements. Specifies the appeal rights of participants, beneficiaries, and their representatives, as well as the kinds of decisions which are appealable. Subtitle E: Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship - Prohibits any contract or agreement between a plan or issuer and a health care provider from: (1) prohibiting or restricting the provider from engaging in medical communications with the provider's patient; or (2) containing any provision purporting to transfer to the health care provider by indemnification or otherwise any liability relating to activities, actions, or omissions of the plan, issuer, or agent (as opposed to the provider). Declares null and void any such contract or agreement provisions. (Sec. 142) Prohibits any plan or issuer from operating any physician incentive plan that does not meet certain requirements under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. (Sec. 143) Requires any plan or issuer to establish reasonable procedures relating to the participation of health care professionals, including notice of participation rules, written notice of adverse participation decisions, and a process for appealing adverse decisions. (Sec. 144) Prohibits a plan or an issuer from retaliating against a participant, beneficiary, enrollee, or health care provider based on use of, or participation in, a utilization review or a grievance process. Prohibits a plan or an issuer from retaliating or discriminating against a protected health care professional because the professional in good faith: (1) discloses information relating to the care, services, or conditions affecting one or more participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees to an appropriate public regulatory agency, private accreditation body, or management personnel of the plan or issuer; or (2) initiates, cooperates, or otherwise participates in an investigation or proceeding by such an agency with respect to such care, services, or conditions. Defines good faith action. Subtitle F: Promoting Good Medical Practice - Prohibits a plan or issuer from arbitrarily interfering with or altering the decision of the treating physician regarding the manner or setting in which particular covered services are delivered (including the number of days in a hospital) if they are medically necessary or appropriate for treatment or diagnosis. Allows a plan or issuer to limit the delivery of services to one or more providers within a network. (Sec. 152) Requires a plan or issuer that provides medical and surgical benefits to provide inpatient coverage following a mastectomy, lumpectomy, or lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer for a period of time as is determined by the attending physician, in his or her professional judgment consistent with medical standards, to be medically appropriate. Prohibits a plan or issuer from: (1) denying to a woman eligibility to enroll or renew coverage solely for the purpose of avoiding the requirements of this title; (2) providing monetary payments or rebates to encourage women to accept less than the minimum protections available under this title; (3) penalizing or otherwise reducing or limiting reimbursement because an attending provider gave care to a participant or beneficiary in accordance with this title; (4) providing incentives (monetary or otherwise) to induce an attending provider to provide care to a participant or beneficiary in a manner inconsistent with this title; or (5) restricting benefits (other than imposing deductibles, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing) for any portion of a period within a required hospital length of stay in a manner less favorable than the benefits provided for any preceding portion of such stay. Subtitle G: Definitions - Sets forth definitions. Title II: Application of Patient Protection Standards to Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Under Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act. (Sec. 202) Requires each health insurance issuer to comply with such requirements with respect to individual health insurance coverage. Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act. (Sec. 302) Provides that nothing in ERISA shall be construed to invalidate, impair, or supersede any cause of action under State law to recover damages resulting from personal injury or wrongful death against any person (except employers and other plan sponsors): (1) in connection with the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by that person to or for a group health plan; or (2) that arises out of the arrangement by that person for the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by other persons. Allows such an action against an employer or other plan sponsor (or against an employee of such an employer or sponsor acting within the scope of employment) only if it is based on the employer's or sponsor's exercise of discretionary authority to decide a claim for covered benefits, and such exercise resulted in personal injury or wrongful death. Title IV: Application to Group Health Plans Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan to comply with this Act. Deems this Act to be incorporated into the Internal Revenue Code. Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation - Sets forth effective dates for provisions of this Act. (Sec. 502) Amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to provide for coordination in the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Separate Enrollment and Line Item Veto Act of 1999 - Prohibits the Committee on Appropriations of either the House of Representatives or the Senate from reporting an appropriation measure that fails to contain such level of detail on the allocation of an item of appropriation proposed by that House as is set forth in the accompanying committee report. Prohibits a congressional committee from reporting an authorization measure containing new direct spending or new tax benefits unless such measure presents such items separately and the accompanying committee report contains the necessary level of detail. Prohibits the filing of conference reports on appropriations measures that fail to contain such level of detail on the allocation of an item as is set forth in the accompanying statement of managers. (Sec. 3) Allows the waiver or appeal of such prohibitions by a three-fifths vote of the appropriate House. (Sec. 4) Requires separate enrollment of each item of appropriation or authorization in measures passed by both Houses in identical form. Provides for congressional consideration of such bills. (Sec. 6) Provides for expedited judicial review of provisions of this Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and direct appeals to the Supreme Court. (Sec. 7) Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit the inclusion of non-emergency spending proposals in emergency spending legislation. Allows such proposals to contain rescissions of budget authority or provisions that reduce direct spending. (Sec. 8) Requires savings from rescissions bills to be used for deficit reduction. (Sec. 9) Requires the President to submit legislation for the periodic review, reauthorization, and sunset of tax expenditures with the FY 2000 budget. Requires the inclusion in the budget beginning with FY 2002 of a performance plan for measuring the overall effectiveness of tax expenditures, including a schedule for periodically assessing the effects of specific tax expenditures in achieving performance goals. Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to include as a pilot project the periodic analyses of such goals and the relationship between tax expenditures and spending programs. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit consideration in the House and the Senate of legislation that contains a tax expenditure unless the expenditure terminates not later than ten years after the date of its enactment. (Sec. 11) Makes this Act effective until the end of FY 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strengthening Law Enforcement to Reduce Violence Against Women Title II: Strengthening Services to Victims of Violence Title III: Limiting the Effects of Violence on Children Title IV : Strengthening Education and Training to Combat Violence Against Women Title V: Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund Violence Against Women Act II - Title I: Strengthening Law Enforcement to Reduce Violence Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to eligible States, Indian tribal governments, or local governmental units to provide technical assistance and computer and other equipment to police departments, prosecutors, courts, and tribal jurisdictions to facilitate the widespread, including interstate, enforcement of protection orders. Instructs the Attorney General to give priority to grant applicants that: (1) have established cooperative agreements with neighboring jurisdictions to facilitate the enforcement of protection orders from other jurisdictions; and (2) will give priority to using the grant to develop and install data collection and communication systems linking police, prosecutors, courts, and tribal jurisdictions in order to identify and track protection orders and violations of such orders. Directs the Attorney General to compile and disseminate information about successful data collection and communication systems. Amends Federal criminal code provisions governing full faith and credit given to protection orders to provide that: (1) a State or Indian tribe shall not notify the party against whom a protection order has been made that the protection order has been registered or filed in the State or tribal jurisdiction unless requested to do so by the party protected under that order; and (2) nothing in this title may be construed to require prior filing or registration of such orders in the enforcing State as a prerequisite to enforcement by such State. Directs that a protection order that is otherwise consistent with this title shall be accorded full faith and credit and enforced notwithstanding the failure to provide notice to the party against whom the order is made of its registration or filing in the enforcing State or Indian tribe. (Sec. 102) Amends such Act to designate State, local, and Indian tribal courts as eligible grantees in the program to combat violent crimes against women. Revises allocation percentages for police and prosecutors, victim services, and State and local courts (not less than 25 percent, 30 percent, and ten percent, respectively). Amends the Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act to expand training that may be provided under domestic violence training grants to include training with respect to issues concerning individuals with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund through FY 2002. Includes State, local, and tribal courts among the grantees eligible for Federal grants to encourage arrest policies. Earmarks a minimum of five percent of the total amount available for grants each fiscal year for grants to Indian tribal governments. (Sec. 103) Reauthorizes appropriations through FY 2002 for grants to combat violent crimes against women. Directs the Attorney General to make grants to State domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions for coordinating State victim services activities and for coordinating with Federal, State, and local entities engaged in violence against women activities. (Sec. 104) Instructs the Attorney General to transfer flunitrazepam (the "date-rape" drug) from schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act to schedule I (the strictest level of Federal drug penalty and control). (Sec. 105) Reauthorizes appropriations through FY 2002 for grants to encourage arrest policies. (Sec. 106) Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that any person who, while employed by or accompanying the armed forces outside of the United States, engages in conduct that would constitute a domestic violence or sexual assault offense if the conduct had been engaged in within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, shall be subject to prosecution in a U.S. district court. Sets forth provisions regarding concurrent jurisdiction and priority of exercise of jurisdiction. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to designate and authorize any individual serving in a law enforcement position in the Department of Defense to arrest such a person outside of the United States if there is probable cause to believe that such person committed such an offense. Provides for the release of such arrested persons to civilian law enforcement authorities in specified circumstances. Provides for delivery of such persons to the appropriate authorities of a foreign country if: (1) delivery is requested for trial for such conduct as an offense under the laws of that country; and (2) delivery is authorized by a treaty or other international agreement to which the United States is a party. Requires the Secretary of the military department concerned to transmit to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation a copy of records of any penal actions taken, including certain nonjudicial punishments imposed, against a member of the armed forces who is discharged, dismissed, or released from active duty. (Sec. 107) Prohibits and sets penalties for willfully causing bodily injury to any person or attempting, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device, to cause bodily injury to any person, whether or not acting under color of law, because of: (1) the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person; or (2) the actual or perceived religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of any person if, in connection with the offense, the defendant or the victim travels in interstate or foreign commerce, uses a facility or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, or engages in any activity affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or the offense is in or affects such commerce. Authorizes appropriations to the Departments of the Treasury and of Justice through FY 2002 to increase the number of personnel to prevent and respond to such alleged violations. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to study and, if appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide sentencing enhancements for adult defendants who recruit juveniles to assist in the commission of hate crimes. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice to make grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 108) Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to reauthorize through FY 2002: (1) rural domestic violence and child abuse enforcement grants (and allots not less than five percent of the total made available for each fiscal year for grants to Indian tribal governments); and (2) national stalker and domestic violence reduction grants. (Sec. 110) Modifies Federal criminal code provisions regarding interstate domestic violence, interstate stalking, and interstate violation of a protective order to cover situations where persons travel in interstate or foreign commerce or to or from Indian country. Deems a tribal court, for purposes of full faith and credit provisions, to have jurisdiction over any activity occurring in Indian country. Title II: Strengthening Services to Victims of Violence - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to private and nonprofit entities, publicly funded organizations not acting in a governmental capacity, and Indian tribal governments and affiliated organizations, to: (1) implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects between domestic violence and sexual assault victim advocacy organizations and civil legal assistance providers to strengthen a broad range of civil legal assistance for victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault; (2) implement, expand, and establish efforts and projects to strengthen a broad range of civil legal assistance for victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault by organizations with a demonstrated history of providing direct legal or advocacy services on behalf of these victims; and (3) provide training, technical assistance, and data collection to improve the capacity of grantees and other entities to offer civil legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) make a grant to establish, operate, and maintain a national computer database of programs that provide civil legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault; and (2) evaluate the grants funded under this title through contracts or other arrangements with entities expert on domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault and on evaluation research. Authorizes appropriations from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund to carry out this title through FY 2002, with at least five percent of available amounts in each fiscal year used for grants for programs that assist victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault on lands within the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. (Sec. 202) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act with respect to State demonstration grants for programs and projects to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance to victims. Requires grant applicants to provide documentation, including memoranda of understanding, of the specific involvement of the State domestic violence coalition and other knowledgeable individuals and interested organizations, in the development of the application. Earmarks funds to provide emergency assistance directly to victims of family violence, or their dependents, who are in the process of fleeing an abusive situation. Changes from a formula amount to $500,000 the minimum allotment to each State for such grants. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to Indian tribes and organizations from any sums not distributed to them. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to private nonprofit organizations for information, training, and technical assistance initiatives in specified subject areas. Authorizes appropriations under such Act through FY 2002. Revises the formula for the allocation of appropriations for grants for State coalitions. Directs the Secretary to conduct a nationwide needs assessment relating to family violence prevention and services programs. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to up to ten State domestic violence coalitions, and up to ten local entities that carry out domestic violence programs providing shelter or related assistance, to develop and implement model community intervention strategies to address family violence in underserved populations. Prescribes formulae for the redistribution of funds available due to certain limitations. (Sec. 203) Prohibits any insurer from, directly or indirectly, taking any adverse action against: (1) an innocent insured; or (2) an applicant or insured on the basis that the applicant or insured, or any person employed by the applicant or insured or with whom the applicant or insured is known to have a relationship or association is, has been, or may be the subject of abuse. Defines an innocent insured as a subject of abuse insured under the same policy as the abuser, but who is not (in light of all the facts and circumstances) the cause of any claim incurred or that may incur. Requires any insurer taking an adverse action against a known subject of abuse to advise the applicant or insured in writing of the specific reasons for the action. Empowers the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce such prohibitions and policy. Provides for a private action against an insurer by an applicant or insured affected by a violation of this Act. (Sec. 204) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to extend through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for the national domestic violence hotline. (Sec. 205) Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to extend through FY 2002 and increase the authorization of appropriations for Federal victims' counselors. (Sec. 206) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to entitle employees to leave to: (1) address domestic violence and its effects; or (2) care for a child or parent of the employee who is addressing domestic violence and its effects. Authorizes an employer to require an employee to provide documentation or other corroborating evidence. Amends Federal civil service law to entitle Federal employees to take such leave, subject to the same requirements. (Sec. 207) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize unemployment compensation where an individual is separated from employment due to circumstances directly resulting from the individual's experience of domestic violence. Amends the Social Security Act to require State laws to provide for methods of administration that will ensure that claims reviewers and hearing personnel are adequately trained in the nature and dynamics of claims for unemployment compensation based on domestic violence, including methods of ascertaining and keeping information confidential. (Sec. 208) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 with respect to aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty to provide for waiver of certain immigration requirements. (Sec. 209) Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to add a new Subtitle H (Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation, Including Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Against Older Individuals). Directs the Attorney General to: (1) make grants to law school clinical programs for the purposes of funding the inclusion of cases addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual assault, against older individuals; and (2) develop curricula and offer, or provide for the offering of, training programs to assist law enforcement officers and prosecutors in recognizing, addressing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of such abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965 with respect to programs addressing such issues, including related training for health professionals. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for programs and activities for the prevention of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Requires the Secretary to make grants to: (1) support projects in local communities to coordinate activities concerning intervention in and prevention of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual assault, against older individuals; and (2) develop and implement outreach programs directed toward assisting older individuals who are victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including those in senior housing complexes and senior centers. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act (as amended by the Health Professions Education Partnerships Act of 1998) to require the Secretary to give preference in the award of certain grants and contracts to any health professions educational entity that requires, as a condition of receiving a degree or certificate, that each student have had significant training in the identification and referral of victims of elder abuse and neglect. Title III: Limiting the Effects of Violence on Children - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States and Indian tribal governments to enable them to enter into contracts and cooperative agreements to assist public or private nonprofit entities in establishing and operating supervised visitation centers for purposes of facilitating supervised visitation and visitation exchange of children by and between parents. Requires that priority be given to States that consider domestic violence in making a custody decision and require findings on the record. (Sec. 302) Directs the Attorney General to study and report to Congress on Federal and State laws relating to child custody, including the Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act of 1980, and their effect on child custody cases in which domestic violence is a factor. Requires such study to examine the sufficiency of defenses to parental abduction charges available in cases involving domestic violence, and the burdens and risks encountered by victims of domestic violence arising from compliance with the full faith and credit (and judicial jurisdiction) requirements of that Act. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 303) Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to authorize appropriations for grants through FY 2002. Directs the Secretary to compile annually and disseminate, especially to community-based programs (including domestic violence and sexual assault programs), specified information about the use of amounts expended and the projects funded under such Act. (Sec. 304) Amends the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations through FY 2002 for: (1) the court-appointed special advocate program; (2) child abuse training programs for judicial personnel and practitioners; and (3) grants for televised testimony. Directs the Attorney General to compile annually and disseminate, especially to community-based programs (including domestic violence and sexual assault programs), specified information about the use of amounts expended and the projects funded under such Act. Title IV: Strengthening Education and Training to Combat Violence Against Women - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in awarding grants or contracts for health professions and nurse education, to give preference to a relevant health professions entity that requires, as a condition of receiving a degree or certificate, that a student has had significant training in the identification, examination, treatment, and referral of victims of domestic violence. (Sec. 401) Defines relevant health professions entity as a school of medicine, a school of osteopathic medicine, a graduate program in mental health practice, a school of nursing, a program for the training of physician assistants, or a program for the training of allied health professionals. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants for the development and dissemination of model programs to provide education and training in appropriate and effective responses to victims of domestic violence and victims of sexual assault (including, as appropriate, the effects of domestic violence on children) to individuals (other than law enforcement officers and prosecutors) who are likely to come into contact with such victims during the course of their employment. Limits such grants to public and private nonprofit entities that have: (1) nationally recognized expertise in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault; and (2) a record of commitment and quality responses to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 403) Requires States to use certain transferred funds for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers, State sexual assault coalitions, and other public and private nonprofit entities for: (1) educational seminars; (2) hotlines; (3) training programs for professionals; (4) the preparation of informational material; (5) education and training programs for students and campus personnel designed to reduce the incidence of sexual assault at colleges and universities; and (6) other efforts to increase awareness of, or to help prevent, sexual assault, including efforts to increase awareness in underserved communities and awareness among individuals with disabilities. Requires at least 25 percent of grant funds are used for educational programs targeted for middle school, junior high, and high school students. Directs the Secretary, through the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to establish a National Resource Center on Sexual Assault (with a central resource library) to provide resource information, policy, training, and technical assistance to Federal, State, and Indian tribal agencies, as well as to State sexual assault coalitions and local sexual assault programs and to other professionals and interested parties on issues relating to sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide grants to individuals or organizations to carry out educational programs for elementary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher education with respect to information regarding, and prevention of, domestic violence and violence among intimate partners. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 405) Directs the Attorney General to make grants to States and nongovernmental private entities to provide education and technical assistance for the purpose of providing training, consultation, and information on violence, abuse, and sexual assault against women who are individuals with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations for such grants through FY 2002. (Sec. 406) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to make grants to groups that provide services to or advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities eligible for demonstration grants for community initiatives. Authorizes appropriations for such grants through FY 2002. (Sec. 407) Directs the Attorney General to establish a multidisciplinary, multiagency national commission to: (1) evaluate standards of training and practice for licensed health care professionals performing sexual assault forensic examinations, and develop a national recommended training standard; (2) recommend minimum sexual assault forensic examination training for all health care students; (3) review national, State, and local protocols on sexual assault for forensic examinations, and develop a recommended national protocol and a mechanism for nationwide dissemination; and (4) study and evaluate State procedures for payment of forensic examinations for victims of sexual assault, and establish a recommended Federal protocol for such payment. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 408) Authorizes the Attorney General to make a grant to a private, nonprofit entity meeting certain requirements to establish a national clearinghouse and resource center to provide information and assistance to employers and labor organizations on appropriate workplace responses to domestic violence and sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 409) Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to direct the Secretary to make grants to entities, including domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, research organizations, and academic institutions, to: (1) support specified research and evaluation of education, prevention, and intervention programs on violent behavior against women; and (2) address gaps in research and knowledge about violence against women, including violence against women in underserved communities. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to report to Congress on: (1) Federal and State sentences for homicides or assaults in which the victim was a spouse, former spouse, or intimate partner of the offender; (2) the effect of illicit drugs and alcohol on domestic violence and the sentences imposed for offenses involving them in which domestic violence occurred; (3) the extent to which acts of domestic violence committed against the offender, including coercion, may have contributed to the commission of an offense; (4) an analysis delineated by race, gender, type of offense, and any other categories that would be useful for understanding the problem of domestic violence; and (5) recommendations with respect to all such offenses, including any basis for a downward adjustment in any applicable Federal sentencing guidelines determination. Directs the Secretary to make grants to nonprofit entities, including sexual assault organizations, research organizations, and academic institutions, in order to gather qualitative and quantitative data on the experiences of minors and adults who become pregnant as a result of sexual assault within State health care, judicial, and social services systems. Requires the Attorney General to study and report to Congress on the status of the law with respect to rape and sexual assault offenses and the effectiveness of the implementation of laws in addressing such crimes and protecting their victims. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund - Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to authorize appropriations to the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund through FY 2002. Reduces discretionary spending limits for FY 2001 and 2002 in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) by specified offsetting amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 1999 - Authorizes appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board for FY 1999 through 2002. Requires Senate confirmation of the Chairman of the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Social Security Trust Fund Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide that the purpose of pay-as-you-go provisions is to ensure that legislation (currently, legislation enacted before FY 2002) affecting direct spending or receipts that results in a net budget increase (currently, increases the deficit) will trigger an offsetting sequestration, except to the extent that the total budget surplus exceeds the social security surplus. Removes an FY 2006 expiration date for specified pay-as-you-go provisions. Defines "budget increase" and "budget decrease" to mean, for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions, an increase or decrease, respectively, in direct spending outlays or a decrease or increase, respectively, in receipts relative to the baseline. Requires a sequestration to offset the amount of any net budget (currently, deficit) increase caused by all direct spending and receipts legislation. Applies a sequestration for a fiscal year only to the extent that any surplus, before the sequestration in the total budget (which includes both on- and off-budget Government accounts), is less than the combined surplus for that year in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Agricultural Safety Net and Market Competitiveness Act of 1999 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that strategies should be considered to offset extreme income loss by agricultural producers from economic and weather related events. (Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal crop insurance program should be modified to: (1) increase covered commodities; (2) increase access to and affordability of crop insurance products; and (3) protect against multiyear disasters. (Sec. 5) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to include livestock within the crop insurance and revenue insurance pilot programs. (Sec. 6) Amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a livestock market mandatory reporting pilot program. (Sec. 7) Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require country of origin labeling for: (1) imported or U.S. beef, lamb, or pork offered for sale as muscle cuts; and (2) imported ground or processed beef, lamb, or pork. (Sec. 8) Directs the President to establish an interagency task force to investigate: (1) potential anticompetitive practices in the meat packing industry; and (2) effects of concentration in the agricultural industry. (Sec. 9) Directs the President to study the link between credit and concentration among agricultural producers, handlers, and processors, including credit eligibility requirements for beginning and alternative management farmers and ranchers. (Sec. 10) Directs the Comptroller General to study potential packer and stockyard anticompetitive practices. (Sec. 11) Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to require dealers and live poultry dealers, packers, stockyard owners, and market agencies to submit copies of business contracts to the Secretary. (Sec. 12) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should provide opportunities and incentives for agricultural producers to expand value-added enterprise and new market participation. (Sec. 13) United States Agricultural Products Market Access Act of 1998 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the United States Trade Representative to identify countries that deny market access to U.S. agricultural products. (Sec. 14) Sets forth U.S. agricultural trade negotiation goals. (Sec. 15) Directs The United States Trade Representative to consult with the House and Senate agriculture committees prior to initiating agricultural tariff reduction negotiations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improving the Affordability of Child Care Title II: Enhancing the Quality of Child Care and Early Childhood Development Subtitle A: Child Care Subtitle B: Young Child Assistance Activities Subtitle C: Loan Cancellation for Child Care Providers Title III: Expanding the Availability and Quality of School- Age Child Care Title IV: Supporting Family choices in Child Care Title V: Encouraging Private Sector Involvement Title VI: Ensuring the Quality of Federal Child Care Centers Title VI(sic): Child Care in Federal Facilities Child Care ACCESS (Affordable Child Care for Early Success and Security) Act - Title I: Improving the Affordability of Child Care - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to make increased appropriations for State child care assistance grants for FY 1999 through 2003. Title II: Enhancing the Quality of Child Care and Early Childhood Development - Subtitle A: Child Care - Creates under TANF a State grant program for improving the quality of child care and early childhood development. Makes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004. Subtitle B: Young Child Assistance Activities - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make allotments to eligible States to pay for the Federal share of the cost of State grants to local collaboratives for young child assistance activities. (Sec. 212) Requires a State to establish a State Early Learning Coordinating Board to receive the Federal allotment and make the grants. (Sec. 215) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Loan Cancellation for Child Care Providers - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require cancellation of a portion of a student loan for each complete year of full-time employment in a child care facility, for child care providers or educators who earn degrees in early childhood education and obtain such employment. Title III: Expanding the Availability and Quality of School-Age Child Care - Establishes under TANF a State grant program for increasing the availability and quality of school-age child care. Makes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004. (Sec. 301) Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to increase from 13 to 16 the maximum age of an eligible child under the child care and development block grant program. (Sec. 302) Amends the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act to: (1) direct the Secretary of Education to give priority to rural, urban, and low-income communities in awarding grants to public elementary and secondary schools for projects that benefit the educational, health, social services, cultural, and recreational needs of the community; (2) revise grant application requirements; (3) change from four to one the minimum number of specified activities for which community learning center grant funds may be used; (4) change children's day care services to child care services; and (5) authorize increased appropriations for 21st century community learning centers. Title IV: Supporting Family Choices in Child Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise the formula to increase the dependent care income tax credit for certain taxpayers, indexed for inflation, with an even greater credit for employment-related dependent care expenses; (2) allow a minimum dependent care income tax credit for stay-at-home parents; and (3) provide for advance payment by the employer of an employee's dependent care income tax credit. Title V: Encouraging Private Sector Involvement - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an income tax credit for 25 percent of an employer qualified child care expenditures. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a program to award grants to local communities for the purpose of expanding the availability and improving the quality of child care on a community-wide basis. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Ensuring the Quality of Federal Child Care Centers - Requires the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) for the executive branch, the Architect of the Capitol for the legislative branch, and the Administrator of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts for the judicial branch to issue regulations to establish standards and ensure quality child care for Federal employees through accredited child care centers. (Sec. 601) Directs the GSA Administrator to establish an interagency council to facilitate cooperation and sharing of best practices among the three branches, and to develop and coordinate policy, regarding the provision of child care in the Federal Government. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI (sic) Child Care in Federal Facilities - Quality Child Care for Federal Employees Act - Directs the Administrator of General Services to: (1) establish health, safety, and facility standards and compliance requirements for child care in executive branch facilities; (2) issue regulations requiring any entity sponsoring a child care center to comply with certain accreditation standards; and (3) establish an interagency council to facilitate cooperation and sharing of best practices. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 604) (sic) Amends Federal law to revise conditions for the allotment of space for child care services for Federal employees in Federal buildings. Makes available child care and related services to children of Federal employees or on-site Federal contractors, or dependent children who live with such employees or contractors. (Currently space may be allotted for the provision of child care services to children of whom at least 50 percent have one parent or guardian who is a Federal employee.) Declares that the Administrator of General Services must confirm that at least 50 percent of aggregate enrollment in Federal child care centers governmentwide are children of Federal employees or on-site Federal contractors, or dependent children who live with such employees or contractors. States that, if enrollment at a center drops below the goal, the provider shall develop and implement a business plan with the sponsoring Federal agency to achieve the goal within a reasonable time frame. Authorizes an agency without a child care program, or the Administrator upon identifying a need for child care at a Federal agency, to enter into an agreement with an existing non-Federal, licensed, and accredited child care facility, or a planned facility that will become licensed and accredited. Permits an agency, upon the approval of the agency head, to conduct a pilot project for up to two years to test innovative approaches to providing more cost-effective alternative forms of child care assistance for Federal employees. Requires the Administrator to serve as an information clearinghouse for such pilot projects initiated by other agencies. Requires all existing and newly hired workers in any child care center located in federally owned or leased facilities to undergo a criminal history background check. (Sec. 605) (sic) Directs each agency head to require that each child care facility the agency first operates, or contracts for, at least one year after enactment of this Act provide reasonable accommodations for the needs of breast fed infants and their mothers. (Sec. 606) (sic) Directs the Administrator of General Services and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to report jointly to Congress, including information on numbers of children using Federal child care facilities and numbers of families not using such facilities because of cost, as well as recommending quality and cost effectiveness improvements in such care.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 1999 - Title I: Reduction of Special Interest Influence - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) with respect to "soft money" to, among other changes: (1) prohibit a national committee of a political party (including specified related entities) from soliciting or receiving contributions or making expenditures not subject to FECA; (2) require a State, district, or local committee of a political party to make Federal election year expenditures (with exceptions) for specified Federal election activities from funds subject to FECA; (3) prohibit a national, State, district, or local committee from soliciting or donating funds to a tax-exempt organization; and (4) prohibit an incumbent or candidate for Federal office from soliciting or receiving funds not subject to FECA, including funds for any Federal election activity. (Sec. 102) Establishes an individual annual limit of $10,000 for State committee contributions. Increases the aggregate individual contribution limit to $10,000. (Sec. 103) Requires national and State committees to report all receipts and disbursements. Repeals the building fund exception to the definition of contribution. Title II: Independent and Coordinated Expenditures - Subtitle A: Electioneering Communications - Amends FECA to: (1) require every person who makes a disbursement for broadcast electioneering communications, as defined, in an aggregate amount in excess of $10,000 per year to file, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a statement containing specified outlined information; (2) treat payment for any broadcast electioneering communication that is coordinated with a candidate or an authorized committee of such candidate, a Federal, State, or local political party or committee thereof, as a contribution to such candidate and as an expenditure by such candidate; and (3) set forth special operating rules prohibiting corporate and labor disbursements for electioneering communications. Subtitle B: Independent and Coordinated Expenditures - Amends FECA: (1) to define the term "independent expenditure" as an expenditure by a person expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and that is not provided in coordination with a candidate; (2) regarding independent expenditure reporting requirements; (3) to revise the penalty for knowing and willful violations Act involving statements by other than political committees, prohibiting conciliation agreements and authorizing a civil action for relief in such situations; (4) to prohibit a party making both independent and coordinated expenditures with respect to a candidate during the same election cycle; (5) to define the term "coordinated activity" to mean anything of value provided by a person in coordination with a candidate for the purpose of influencing a Federal election in which such candidate seeks nomination or election to Federal office (with specific listed examples); and (6) to consider such a coordinated activity to be a contribution to the candidate, and in the case of a limitation on expenditures, treats such activity as an expenditure by the candidate. Title III: Disclosure - Amends FECA with regard to the use of computers and fax machines in filing FEC reports to require filing in an electronic form accessible by computers if there are, or there is a reason to expect to have, aggregate contributions or expenditures in excess of a FEC- determined threshold amount. Directs the FEC to make such a report publicly accessible on the Internet within 24 hours of its receipt. Requires designations, statements, and reports filed by Senate candidates to be filed directly with the FEC. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the treasurer of a candidate's authorized committee from depositing, except in an escrow account, or otherwise negotiating a contribution from a person who makes an aggregate amount of contributions in excess of $200 during a calendar year unless the treasurer verifies specified contributor information. (Sec. 303) Amends audit provisions, authorizing FEC random audits and investigations to ensure voluntary FECA compliance. (Sec. 304) Modifies reporting requirements for contributions of $50 or more. (Sec. 305) Requires the name of each authorized committee to include the name of the candidate who authorized the committee and prohibits a political committee that is not an authorized committee (except in the case of a national, State, or local party committee) from using the name of any candidate in any activity on behalf of the committee in such a context as to suggest that the committee is an authorized committee of the candidate or that the use of the candidate's name has been authorized by the candidate. (Sec. 306) Prohibits any person from soliciting contributions by falsely representing himself or herself as a candidate or as a representative of a candidate, a political committee, or a political party. (Sec. 307) Sets forth provisions governing soft money disbursements of persons other than political parties. Defines the term "generic campaign activity" as an activity that promotes a political party and does not promote a candidate or non- Federal candidate. (Sec. 308) Revises campaign advertising provisions, establishing specified requirements for printed communications, and adding additional provisions governing broadcast and cablecast communications. Title IV: Personal Wealth Option - Amends FECA to establish a voluntary personal funds expenditure limit for eligible Senate candidates in primary and general elections, provided the candidate files with FEC a declaration that the candidate and the candidate's authorized committees will not exceed such limit. Sets the voluntary personal funds expenditure limit at $50,000. Gives the FEC authority to certify such a declaration. (Sec. 402) Exempts such certified candidates from specified FECA requirements. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare it to be an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to receive payments from an employee pursuant to an agreement requiring such non-member employee to make payments in lieu of organization dues or fees without establishing a specified objection procedure under which the non-member's fees are reduced by the percent that would be used to support political activities (thus codifying the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Communications Workers of America et al. v. Beck et al). (Sec. 502) Amends FECA to revise provisions on permitted and prohibited uses of contributed amounts by candidates and incumbents for certain purposes. Specifies prohibited kinds of conversion of such funds to personal use. (Sec. 503) Revises Federal law concerning permitted time frames for mailing franked mail to prohibit any mass mailing as franked mail during a year in which there will be an election for the seat held by the Member of Congress during the period between January 1 of that year and the date of the general election for that Office, unless the Member has made a public announcement that the Member will not be a candidate for reelection to that year or for election to any other Federal office. (Sec. 504) Amends the Federal criminal code to revise the prohibition against fundraising on Federal property. Prohibits an officer or employee of the Federal Government, including the President, Vice President, and Members, from soliciting a donation of money or other thing of value in connection with a Federal, State, or local election from any person while in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal officer or employee. Imposes on violators a monetary penalty, imprisonment, or both. Excepts from the prohibition contributions received by the staff of the Executive Office of the President. (Sec. 505) Amends FECA to double the penalties for knowing and willful violations of FECA, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act (PECFA), and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act (such Acts). Permits conciliation agreements to correct or prevent such violations to include equitable remedies or penalties, including disgorgement of funds to the Treasury, or community service requirements (including requirements to participate in public education programs). Sets forth requirements for late filing of FECA reports, including requiring establishment of mandatory monetary penalties. (Sec. 506) Revises the ban on contributions by foreign nationals to, among other things, include a prohibition on donations by foreign nationals. (Sec. 507) Prohibits minors (age 17 or younger) from making contributions to candidates or contributions or donations to committees of political parties. (Sec. 508) Permits FEC to: (1) order expedited proceedings for certain complaints; and (2) refer, at any time, to the Attorney General possible violations of such Acts. (Sec. 509) Modifies the basis for mandatory FEC initiation of enforcement proceedings upon receipt of a complaint alleging a violation of such Acts by replacing "has reason to believe" a violation has been or is about to be committed with "has reason to investigate whether" such a violation has been or is about to be committed. Title VI: Severability; Constitutionality; Effective Date; Regulations - Sets forth provisions regarding severability, review of constitutional issues, effective date, and FEC regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Constitutional Amendment - Grants authority to Congress to set reasonable limits on contributions and expenditures made by, in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate for nomination or election to Federal office as well as to a State to set similar reasonable limits with regard to nomination or election to State or local office.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1998
Trade Fairness Act of 1998 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise certain factors the International Trade Commission (ITC) must consider when investigating to determine whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Repeals the requirement that such injury be substantial. Prohibits the ITC, when making such determinations, from attributing to imports injury caused by other factors.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1998
Amends Federal transportation law to increase the authorization of appropriations for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's motor vehicle safety and information programs for FY 1999 through 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1998
Calls upon the President to: (1) pursue enhanced enforcement of U.S. trade laws with respect to the increase in steel imports into the United States, including imposition of offsetting duties, quantitative restrictions, and other appropriate remedial measures; (2) pursue with all methods at the President's disposal to achieve a more equitable sharing of the burden of accepting imports of finished steel products from Asia and the independent states of the former Soviet Union; (3) establish a task force that has responsibility for closely monitoring U.S. imports of steel; and (4) report to the Congress by January 5, 1999, with a comprehensive plan for responding to the increase in steel imports, including ways of limiting the deleterious effects on employment, prices, and investment in the U.S. steel industry.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1998
Mandates corrections to a specified Coastal Barrier Resources System map relating to the State of South Carolina as necessary to ensure that depictions of areas on that map are consistent with the depictions of areas appearing on a specified map.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1998
Declares that: (1) it is in the national interest of the United States to remain actively engaged in the South Pacific region as a means of supporting important U.S. commercial and strategic interests, and to encourage the consolidation of democratic values; (2) a Pacific island summit, hosted by the President with the Pacific island heads of government, would be an excellent opportunity for the United States to foster and improve diplomatic relations with the Pacific island nations; and (3) the United States should fulfill its longstanding commitment to the democratization and economic prosperity of the Pacific island nations by promoting their earliest integration in the mainstream of bilateral, regional, and global commerce and trade.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1998
Mandates corrections to specified Coastal Barrier Resources System maps as necessary to: (1) ensure that depictions on those maps are consistent with the depictions of areas on other specified maps; and (2) exclude Pumpkin Key from the System.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Louisville Festival of Faiths should be commended for its concept and its achievements to date, and should serve as a model for similar festivals in other communities throughout the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 September 1998
Requests the President to advance: (1) the late Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel to the grade of admiral on the retired list of the Navy; and (2) the late Major General Walter C. Short to the grade of lieutenant general on the retired list of the Army. Prohibits any change in compensation or benefits based on the military service of such officers as a result of such advancements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that such officers performed their duties competently and professionally and that losses incurred by the United States in attacks on military targets on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, were not a result of their dereliction of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: International Visitor Initiatives Title II: International Marketing Program Value in Supporting International Tourism in the United States Act of 1998 (or the Visit USA Act) - Title I: International Visitor Initiatives - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an Intergovernmental Task Force for International Visitor Assistance. Requires the Task Force to: (1) examine, and report to the President and the Congress its recommendation on, signage at U.S. facilities (including airports, seaports, land border crossings, highways, and bus, train, and other public transit stations); and (2) identify and suggest solutions to existing inadequacies, such as the adoption of uniform standards on international signage for use throughout the United States in order to facilitate international visitors' travel here. Requires the Task Force also to examine and report on: (1) the availability of multilingual travel and tourism information and means of disseminating such information; and (2) establishment of a toll- free, private-sector operated telephone number, staffed by multilingual operators, to provide assistance to international tourists coping with an emergency. Directs the Secretary to complete, as soon as may be practicable, a satellite system of accounting for the travel and tourism industry. Title II: International Marketing Program - Authorizes appropriations for U.S. National Tourism Organization international promotional activities. Prohibits the use of such funds for any purpose other than marketing, research, outreach, or any other activity designed to promote the United States as the premiere travel and tourism destination in the world. States that the Organization's general and administrative expenses shall be borne by the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Children's Health Assurance through the Medicaid Program (CHAMP) Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to allow certain additional community-based entities to determine the presumptive Medicaid eligibility for low-income children. Includes among such entities: (1) elementary and secondary schools (including those operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs); (2) State child support enforcement agencies; (3) child care resource and referral agencies; and (4) State offices and private contractors that accept applications for or administer programs funded under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF), or that determine assistance or benefit eligibility for any federally-funded program of public or assisted housing under the United States Housing Act of 1937.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1998
Economic Development Administration Reform Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (the Act) to replace titles I through VI of such Act with the provisions of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to cooperate with States and other entities to ensure that Federal economic development programs are compatible with and further the objectives of State, regional, and local economic development plans and comprehensive economic development strategies. Authorizes the Secretary to provide appropriate technical assistance to such entities in order to alleviate economic distress, encourage partnerships for economic development strategies, and promote investment in infrastructure and technological capacity to keep pace with the changing global economy. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for intergovernmental review of proposed economic development projects. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into economic development cooperation agreements with two or more adjoining States. Defines an "eligible recipient," for purposes of this Act, as: (1) an area with a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average or an unemployment rate at least one percent greater than the national average or one which has experienced or is about to experience actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment problems; (2) an economic development district; (3) an Indian tribe; (4) a State; (5) a political subdivision; (6) an institution of higher education; or (7) a nonprofit organization acting in cooperation with local officials. Sets forth provisions similar to existing provisions of law authorizing grants to eligible recipients for acquisition or development of public works and development facilities. Retains a limitation that prohibits more than 15 percent of the amounts made available for such assistance from being expended in any one State. Authorizes assistance for public works and economic development to be available for a project to be carried out on a military or Department of Energy installation that is closed or scheduled for closure or realignment without requiring an eligible recipient to have title to the property or a leasehold interest for any specified term. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law authorizing grants for economic planning. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for related administrative expenses as well. Provides a Federal cost-share limit of 50 percent of project costs. Authorizes the Secretary to make supplementary grants for a project for which the recipient is eligible but for which the recipient cannot provide the required non-Federal share. Provides supplementary grant conditions and requirements, authorizing the Secretary to reduce or waive the required non-Federal share in certain cases. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law that authorize technical assistance useful in alleviating or preventing conditions of excessive unemployment or underemployment. Authorizes grants for training and research for such purposes as well. Permits the Secretary to reduce or waive the non-Federal share of a project so assisted if the project is not feasible without, and merits, such a reduction or waiver. Retains an existing provision of law regarding the prevention of unfair competition. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law which authorize grants for economic adjustment to alleviate long-term economic deterioration and sudden economic dislocation. Revises criteria for such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) approve the use of grant funds for projects the scope or purpose for which has been modified after the grant has been made; and (2) use funds for projects constructed for less than the projected costs to improve such projects. Bars assistance for public works and economic development from being used for attorney's or consultants' fees incurred in connection with obtaining grants and contracts. Requires areas to have per capita incomes of 80 percent or less of the national average or unemployment rates at least one percent greater than the national average or to have experienced or be about to experience actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment problems in order to be eligible for grants for public works and economic development or economic adjustment. Requires from such applicants: (1) documentation of meeting such criteria; and (2) evidence of a comprehensive economic development strategy which identifies the economic problems to be addressed through such assistance, as well as related information. Revises conditions under which areas may be designated as economic development districts by the Secretary. Retains: (1) existing incentives for increasing grant assistance in districts where participants are actively participating in economic development activities and the project is consistent with the district's comprehensive economic development strategy; and (2) provisions authorizing assistance to parts of districts not in eligible areas. Directs the Secretary to carry out this Act through an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development who shall serve as the Administrator of the Economic Development Administration. Directs the Secretary to maintain an information clearinghouse on all matters relating to economic development and adjustment, disaster recovery, defense conversion, and trade adjustment programs and activities of Federal and State governments and to assist applicants for such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to furnish procurement divisions of the Federal Government with a list of business firms located in distressed areas that desire Federal contracts. Requires the Secretary to conduct reviews of university centers that receive grant assistance under this Act to assess their performance and contribution toward retention and creation of employment. Provides for penalty, administrative, and recordkeeping provisions similar to those under existing law. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003. Authorizes additional appropriations for defense conversion activities and disaster economic recovery activities. Repeals provisions of the Act regarding economic recovery for disaster areas, special economic development and adjustment assistance, and the job opportunities program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1998
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend, through December 31, 2001, the suspension of duty on rolled glass in sheets, yellow-green in color, not finished or edged-worked, textured on one surface, and suitable for incorporation in cooking stoves, ranges, or ovens.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Declares that the Congress honors the memory of Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police for the selfless acts of heroism they displayed on July 24, 1998, in sacrificing their lives in the line of duty so that others might live. Provides that, when the Senate and the House of Representatives adjourn on this date, they shall do so out of respect for the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Authorizes the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a memorial service for Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police. Directs the Architect of the Capitol to place a plaque in honor of the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut at an appropriate site in the U.S. Capitol, with the approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Directs the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives to make arrangements for funeral services for Officers Gibson and Chestnut, including payments for travel expenses of immediate family members, and for expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives in attending such services. Directs the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to pay survivor's gratuities to the widows of Officers Gibson and Chestnut. Expresses the sense of the Congress that there should be established under law a U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund for the surviving spouses and children of members of the U.S. Capitol Police who are slain in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1998
Medicare Home Health Beneficiary Protection Act of 1998 - Amends part D (Miscellaneous Provisions) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA '97), to revise reasonable cost requirements with regard to the interim system of limited payments for services provided by home health agencies. Establishes a moratorium on implementation of per beneficiary limits and a three-year freeze on cost limits. Amends BBA '97 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish a process for eliminating inappropriate utilization of Medicare home health services by reviewing claims in which the number of home health visits provided to a beneficiary in a year exceeds the regional average of per beneficiary annual visits; (2) if appropriate, issue a determination denying payment for such a claim, and refer the name of the claimant-provider to the HHS Inspector General for investigation; and (3) include in the annual reports to the Congress on home health cost containment any recommendations for changes to the method of payment, claims review, and scope of benefits that the Secretary determines is necessary to achieve actual outlays equal to estimated outlays under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for such services during the following fiscal year. (Sec. 4) Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for: (1) establishment of limits for calculating prospective payment rates for home health services under the payment system for such services; and (2) temporary restoration of periodic interim payment for such services.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Medicare Waste Tax Reduction Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) establish new minimum levels increasing the number of annual medical, utilization, and fraud reviews and provider cost report audits under the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), particularly with regard to providers, individuals, and areas that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines are subject to abuse and most likely to result in mispayment and overpayment recoveries; and (2) provide for an increase in appropriated amounts to MIP's Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account, with certain additional amounts to be used for review and audit costs. (Sec. 3) Authorizes appropriations for carrying out, and expanding nationwide, the Administration on Aging's Health Care Anti-Fraud, Waste and Abuse Community Volunteer Demonstration Projects. (Sec. 4) Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and SSA title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to eliminate the general 15 percent limitation on the amount of reductions that may be made in payment rates (except those for physician services) that are grossly excessive or grossly deficient and therefore not inherently reasonable. (Sec. 5) Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) give the Secretary certain oversight responsibility with regard to home health agencies through validation surveys of agencies previously surveyed by the State; (2) restructure the payment rate for prescription drugs and biologicals, setting the payment amount, generally, at the lowest of either the actual acquisition cost or 95 percent of the average wholesale cost; and (3) make certain changes regarding the provision of information by group health plans in order to ensure that Medicare does not reimburse claims owed by other payers. (Sec. 8) Amends SSA title XI and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 with regard to criminal penalties for acts involving Federal health care programs to repeal the expanded exception to anti-kickback penalties for eligible organizations and risk-sharing contracts. (Sec. 9) Amends SSA title XI to apply certain criminal penalties for kickbacks to all health care benefit programs. (Sec. 10) Provides for: (1) the extension of subpoena and injunction authority with respect to the exclusion of certain individuals and entities from participation in Medicare and State health care programs; (2) civil monetary penalties for services ordered or prescribed by a person excluded from the program under which the claim was made, and the person furnishing the ordered or prescribed item or service knows or should know of such exclusion; and (3) civil monetary penalties for false certification of eligibility to receive partial hospitalization and hospice services. (Sec. 13) Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to provide that Medicare- and Medicaid-related disciplinary actions are not stayed by bankruptcy proceedings, and Medicare- and Medicaid-related debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for the use of Medicare standards and procedures in bankruptcy proceedings. (Sec. 14) Amends part B (Peer Review) of SSA title XI, in order to improve private sector coordination in combatting health care fraud, to shield health plans, plan issuers, and their employees from liability in any civil action for providing information to applicable Federal, State, or local law enforcement officials regarding suspected health care fraud, as long as such information is not false, and the person providing the information had no reason to believe the information was false. (Sec. 15) Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to agreements with service providers to allow the Secretary to: (1) establish a procedure for enrollment of individuals or entities that are not service providers subject to such provisions, but that furnish health care items or services under Medicare; and (2) impose fees for initiation and renewal of provider agreements and for enrollment and periodic reenrollment of other individuals and entities furnishing health care items or services under Medicare. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement a comprehensive plan of activities to improve compliance among health care providers with rules and regulations under the Medicare program; and (2) contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to establish a committee to study and report to the Secretary and appropriate congressional committees on Medicare program administrative requirements applicable to Medicare health care providers, including any recommendations for minimizing such requirements. Provides for funding for such plan and authorizes appropriations for such study. (Sec. 18) Amends SSA title XI with regard to the exclusion of certain individuals and entities from participation in Federal health care programs (which includes certain State health care programs), to apply such exclusion to employment under such programs as well. Restricts certain notice requirements to Federal health care programs (currently, State health care programs). Includes the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program among Federal health care programs. (Sec. 19) Amends SSA title XVIII to modify the special payment rules for items of durable medical equipment to add as alternative payment bases the least expensive amount that the supplier of the item is paid by a Medicare+Choice organization or by any Federal health care program for such item. Requires the Secretary to adjust the payment rate for an item based on either such alternative basis to reflect any excess of administrative costs (of billing and receiving reimbursement) over the administrative costs associated with providing such item to a Medicare+Choice organization or by any Federal health care program. (Sec. 20) Directs the Secretary to require Medicare carriers to use commercial claims auditing systems, as a supplement to any other information technology currently used in processing claims, to process Medicare part B claims for the purpose of identifying billing errors and abuses. (Sec. 21) Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to partial hospitalization services to: (1) exclude services provided in a skilled nursing facility or in an individual's personal residence; (2) authorize the Secretary to establish additional conditions for community mental health centers; and (3) authorize the Secretary to establish by regulation a prospective payment system for such services provided by such a center or by a hospital to its outpatients.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1998
Home Health Access Preservation Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, with respect to the computation formula of the interim system of limited payments for services provided by home health agencies, in order to mandate a new interim system, as of October 1, 1998, with a revised formula and specific amounts for the agency-specific per beneficiary annual limitation, according to the census division in which an agency is located. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) estimate the amount of savings (if any) to Medicare resulting from this Act for each fiscal year beginning after FY 1998 and before the first fiscal year in which the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health agencies applies; (2) prescribe rules for increased payments to such an agency, if there will be estimated savings; and (3) establish procedures to provide heightened scrutiny of claims for reimbursement under Medicare for items and services provided to certain agency beneficiaries. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for a three percent increase in per visit cost limits for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997. Directs the Secretary to meet every 90 days with appropriate congressional committee staff to provide informal updates of progress in implementing the PPS above.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1998
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide that an individual account plan shall not be treated as requiring investment in employer securities if an employee can withdraw an equivalent amount from the plan.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1998
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit transfers or discharges of residents of nursing facilities as a result of a facility's voluntary withdrawal from participation in the Medicaid program as long as such residents resided in the facility before the withdrawal. Requires a withdrawn facility to provide appropriate notice to new residents who begin residence after the withdrawal that the facility: (1) is not participating in the Medicaid program with respect to that resident; and (2) may transfer or discharge the resident from the facility at such time as the resident is unable to pay facility charges, even though the resident may have become eligible for Medicaid's nursing facility services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1998
Defense Jobs and Trade Promotion Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the limitation on the amount of receipts attributable to military property which may be treated as exempt foreign trade income.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1998
Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to extend through FY 2001 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the Federal Council on the Aging; (2) administration; (3) grants for State and community programs on aging; (4) the availability of surplus commodities; (5) training, research, and discretionary projects and programs; (6) community service employment for older Americans; (7) grants for Native Americans; (8) allotments for Vulnerable Elder Rights Protection activities; and (9) the Native American program.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1998
Continued Dumping or Subsidy Offset Act of 1998 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that, whenever continued dumping or subsidization is found to exist by the administering authority or by operation of law, any duties assessed shall be distributed as continued dumping or subsidy offsets to the affected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures on an annual basis. Limits qualifying expenditures to expenditures incurred since the issuance of the antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing duty order in any or all of the categories of plant, equipment, research and development (R&D), personnel training, acquisition of technology, employer-paid employee health care and pension benefits, and environmental equipment, training or technology. Directs the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service to prescribe offset disbursement procedures. Sets forth general procedures for notification of eligible parties. Requires the Commissioner to establish a special account in the Treasury to receive all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, for distribution according to this Act, within 14 days after an antidumping or countervailing duty order takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1998
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps Continuation Act - Amends the Coast and Geodetic Survey Commissioned Officers' Act of 1948 to: (1) authorize between 264 and 299 commissioned officers on the active list of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and (2) create the position of director of the commissioned officers, responsible for administration of such officers and oversight of vessel and aircraft operations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to relieve immediately the moratorium on new appointments of commissioned officers to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1998
Reinstatement of the Medicare Rehabilitation Benefit Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the financial limitation on rehabilitation services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program. Provides that for outpatient physical therapy services, outpatient occupational therapy services, and outpatient speech-language pathology services covered under Medicare and furnished on or after January 1, 2000, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall implement a new payment methodology based on the classification of individuals by diagnostic category, functional status, and prior use of services in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Requires that such payment methodology be designed so that, taking into account the increased expenditures resulting from this Act, it does not result in any increase or decrease in the expenditures under Medicare on a fiscal year basis.
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