United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1999
Farmer Owned Reserve Restoration Act of 1999 - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to restore the wheat and feed grain farmer owned reserve program. (Eliminates the provision suspending the program for such producers through crop or calendar year 2002.) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 with respect to the program to: (1) revise extended price support loan interest charge provisions; (2) permit advance storage payments and revise storage loan termination provisions; (3) reduce maximum commodity amounts; and (4) set forth prices (compared to loan rates) at which, and conditions under which, a producer may withdraw stored commodities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Federal Employees Child Care 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 facility to comply with standards of a child care accreditation entity; and (3) establish an interagency council to facilitate cooperation and sharing of best practices. Directs the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, the Librarian of Congress, and the head of a designated entity in the Senate to ensure that the corresponding child care facility obtains accreditation by a child care accreditation entity in accordance with such entity's accreditation standards, and if it does not maintain accreditation status with a child care accreditation entity, to issue regulations governing its operation to ensure the safety and quality of care of children placed in it. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to issue regulations for child care facilities, and entities sponsoring child care facilities, in judicial facilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Directs the Administrator and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to jointly submit to Congress a report that evaluates child care provided by entities sponsoring child care facilities in executive, legislative, or judicial facilities. (Sec. 5) Permits an executive agency to use agency funds to provide child care services, in a facility owned or leased by an executive agency, or through a contractor, for its civilian employees. Requires funds so used to be applied to improve the affordability of child care for lower income employees. (Sec. 6) 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.) Requires the Administrator to confirm that at least 50 percent of aggregate enrollment in Federal child care centers Government-wide 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 does not meet the percentage 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 a Federal 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 a non-Federal, licensed, and accredited child care facility, or a planned facility that will become licensed and accredited. Permits a Federal agency, upon the approval of the agency head, to conduct a pilot project for no more than 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 Federal agencies. Requires each Federal child care center located in a Federal space to ensure that each employee undergoes a criminal history background check consistent with the Crime Control Act of 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Tax Relief for Families With Children Act - Title I: Tax Benefits for Families With Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the dependent care tax credit to: (1) increase the dollar limit on creditable employment-related expenses; (2) increase the percentage of employment-related expenses; and (3) include transportation costs and costs of educational programs. (Sec. 102) Increases the child care credit from $400 to $900. (Sec. 103) Increases the dollar limit for dependent care services, and allows payments for infant care, including stay-at-home care. Allows carryovers of certain unused dependent care assistance to later taxable years. Allows payments to certain related individuals for routine care. Amends Federal civil service law to direct the Office of Personnel Management to establish a dependent care assistance program for Federal employees. (Sec. 104) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to elect either the dependent care tax credit, the child tax credit, or the dependent care assistance program exclusion for each dependent, but only one of such tax benefits. (Sec. 105) Revises the home office deduction to include the use of the office for dependent care. (Sec. 106) Amends title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act to require child support orders to include an equitable division between the custodial and noncustodial parents of any costs of providing child care services in any case where the custodial parent is employed or is actively seeking employment. Title II: Activities to Improve the Quality of Child Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer-provided child care credit equal to 40 percent of an employer's qualified child care expenditures to: (1) acquire, construct, rehabilitate, or expand property for, or operate a qualified child care facility for employees; or (2) contract with a qualified child care facility to provide child care services to employees. (Sec. 202) Revises the business charitable deduction for contributions of scientific property used for research to include contributions of scientific equipment, computer technology and equipment, and other services to child care providers and to elementary and secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
After School Education and Anti-Crime Act of 1999 - Revises the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the support of public elementary or secondary schools, including middle schools, that serve communities with substantial needs for expanded learning opportunities for children and youth in the communities, to enable the schools to establish or expand projects that benefit specified community needs; (2) direct the Secretary, in awarding grants, to assure an equitable distribution of assistance among the States and among urban and rural areas of the United States; and (3) direct the Secretary to award such grants for a period not to exceed five years. (Sec. 6) Requires an LEA, to be eligible to receive a grant, to submit an application as specified. Requires that such application include: (1) information demonstrating that the LEA will provide not less than 35 percent of the annual cost of the activities assisted under the project from sources other than funds provided under the Act, which may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, and provide not more than 25 percent of the annual cost of the activities assisted under the project from funds provided by the Secretary under other Federal programs that permit the use of those other funds for activities assisted under the project; and (2) an assurance that the LEA, in each year of the project, will maintain the agency's fiscal effort, from non-Federal sources, from the preceding fiscal year for the activities that the LEA provides with funds made available under the Act. (Sec. 7) Allows the use of grant funds to establish or expand community learning centers. Allows such centers to provide one or more of specified listed activities, including after school programs that: (1) include at least two of the following: mentoring programs, academic assistance, recreational activities, or technology training; and (2) may include drug, alcohol, and gang prevention activities, health and nutrition counseling, and job skills preparation activities. Limits the amount of appropriated funds that may be used for after school programs. (Sec. 8) Directs an LEA to: (1) request volunteers from business and academic communities, and law enforcement organizations, to serve as mentors or to assist in other ways; (2) ensure that youth in the local community participate in designing the after school activities; (3) develop creative methods of conducting outreach to youth in the community; (4) request donations of computer equipment and other materials and equipment; and (5) work with State and local park and recreation agencies so that activities carried out by the agencies prior to this Act's enactment are not duplicated. (Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Children's Asthma Relief Act of 1999 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish an asthma treatment grants program providing comprehensive asthma services for children and other individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to encourage States to implement plans to carry out activities to assist children with respect to asthma in accordance with the guidelines of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Institute). Provides that if a State CHIP plan under SSA title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) provides for such activities to the Secretary's satisfaction, the Secretary shall make a grant to assist the State in carrying them out. Sets forth certain matching funds requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to include, within the preventive health and health services block grant, any systems for reducing asthma and asthma-related illnesses, especially with regard to children, through urban cockroach pest management in public facilities that minimizes or avoids chemical pesticides through a combination of appropriate practices involving the maintenance, cleaning, and monitoring of such sites. Directs the Institute Director to: (1) identify all Federal programs carrying out asthma-related activities; (2) develop a Federal plan for responding to asthma; and (3) submit recommendations to Congress on ways to strengthen and to improve the coordination of such activities. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to: (1) conduct local asthma surveillance activities to collect data on the prevalence and severity of asthma and the quality of asthma management; and (2) compile and publish annually data on the prevalence of children suffering from asthma in each State, and the childhood mortality rate associated with asthma nationally and in each State.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Activities to Improve the Quality of Child Care Subtitle A: Child Care Quality Improvement Incentive Program Subtitle B: Increased Enforcement of State Health and Safety Standards Subtitle C: Distribution of Information about Quality Child Care Title II: Expanding Professional Development Opportunities Title III: Expanding Youth Development Opportunities During Non-School Hours Title IV: Expanding Child Care Subsidy for Low-Income Families Creating Healthy Opportunities and Improving Child Education and Support Act - CHOICES Act - Title I: Activities to Improve the Quality of Child Care - Subtitle A: Child Care Quality Improvement Incentive Program - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary) to establish a program to award grants to States to help fund activities to improve the quality of child care. (Sec. 103) Allocates funds to the States (tribal organizations, and U.S. territories and possessions) based on a specified formula, and a minimum allocation for small States. (Sec. 104) Requires States, as a condition of receiving such grant funds, to: (1) certify that, since 1995, they have not reduced the scope of State child care standards requirements, or further limited State licensing requirements with respect to the types of child care providers required to be licensed, or otherwise restricted the application of such licensing requirements; (2) comply with the provisions of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA); (3) expend at least 80 percent of the funds allocated to the State for child care matching funds under the Social Security Act program of temporary assistance to needy families (TANF); and (4) make a ten percent non-Federal matching fund contribution from State or local public sources or private donations. (Sec. 105) Sets forth various authorized uses of grant funds to improve the quality of child care within a State, including supplementing child care provider salaries, assistance to small businesses desiring to provide child care assistance to employees, expansion of resource and referral services, educational and training scholarship for child care providers, increasing subsidies for recipients under CCDBGA, subsidizing child care for special needs children, conducting background checks, and increasing the monitoring of child care providers. (Sec. 107) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Increased Enforcement of State Health and Safety Standards - Amends CCDBGA to: (1) provide a bonus for States that effectively enforce existing State laws and regulations regarding the inspection of child care facilities; and (2) decrease administrative funds for States that do not adequately enforce such State child care inspection requirements. Subtitle C: Distribution of Information About Quality Child Care - Directs the Secretary to: (1) award competitive contracts to qualified entities to collect and disseminate information on the importance of high quality child care, conduct a public awareness campaign promoting such care, and provide technical assistance to States, local governments, private nonprofit child care organizations, child care credentialing or accreditation entities, child care providers, and parents; (2) develop a mechanism for the collection and dissemination of statistical data on the supply and demand for child care services; and (3) award competitive grants to improve their procedures and methods to child care credentialing and accreditation entities that have been providing such services to child care providers for not more than ten years. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Expanding Professional Development Opportunities - Directs the Secretary to establish a child care training infrastructure using the Internet and existing distance learning resources to provide high quality, interactive skills training for child care providers. (Sec. 201) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 202) Reserves at least ten percent of the authorized funds, within the child care training infrastructure, to establish and operate a revolving loan fund to enable child care providers to purchase computers and other equipment to access the child care training infrastructure through no-interest loans. Title III: Expanding Youth Development Opportunities During Non-School Hours - Establishes various programs that provide care for school-aged children during the non-school hours, and that focus on youth development. (Sec. 303) Directs the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of HHS to award grants to eligible States for quality non-school hours programs for school-aged children and youth. (Sec. 304) Allocates funds to States (and certain U.S. territories and possessions) based on the numbers of youth aged five through 17 and of children qualifying for free or reduced-price school lunches, with a minimum allocation for small States. (Sec. 305) Requires an applicant State to designate the regions (administrative regions or political subdivisions) to which it will allocate grant funds. (Sec. 306) Requires State allocation of funds to such regions based on numbers of five to 17-year-olds and of children qualifying for free or reduced-price school lunches. Directs the State to use the funds allocated to each region to award competitive grants to local entities in that region. Requires grant preference to be given to entities that assure such funds will be used for a non-school hours program with: (1) activities designed to remove barriers to availability of non-school hours child care; and (2) a variety of youth activities in a cohesive network that coordinates public and private resources. (Sec. 307) Sets forth grant application requirements for local entities. (Sec. 308) Requires local entities to use grant funds for activities that: (1) meet the child care needs of working parents during the non-school hours including before- and after-school, weekends, school holidays, vacation periods and other non-school hours; (2) activities that will promote at least two youth development competencies (social, physical, emotional, moral or cognitive); and (3) designed to reduce risk factors, increase youth protective factors, and assis-- in youth acquistion of skills and competencies for transition from childhood to adulthood. Authorizes local entities to use grant funds for activities for youth, including various specified types of programs and other locally determined programs. Requires local entities to use at least 50 percent of grant funds to subsidize the cost of participation in the non-school hours program for low-income youth. (Sec. 309) Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of funded activities; (2) coordinate the grant program with similar activities in other Federal agencies; (3) provide appropriate training and technical assistance to States and local entities; and (4) terminate funding for States or entities upon determining that they fail to comply with the requirements of this title. (Sec. 310) Requires grantee State Governors to designate an entity to administer the State grant activities under this title. Requires grantee States to: (1) establish mechanisms for receiving program advice and input from service providers and recipients; (2) review, monitor, assist, and enforce program compliance; and (3) provide technical assistance. (Sec. 311) Requires activities funded under this title to be coordinated with activities receiving funds from the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act. (Sec. 312) Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Expanding Child Care Subsidy for Low-Income Families - Amends CCDBGA to double the amount of an authorization of appropriations for CCDBGA programs. (Sec. 402) Requires assurances that specified uses of automated payment systems under CCDBGA: (1) not limit parental choice; and (2) facilitate the prompt, accurate payment of child care providers. Revises the portion of CCDBGA funds which may be used for low-income families who are not TANF qualified recipients of child care subsidies. Establishes separate State subsidy rates dependent upon the age of the child, the setting of the child care services (home, center, group), special needs, and geographic location. Requires States to reduce any State-required parental co-payment by the amount of the difference between the child care subsidy provided and 85 percent of the State-established market rate for that child. (Sec. 403) Authorizes States receiving CCDBGA funds to use automated systems, including electronic benefit transfer systems for: (1) monitoring or tracking child care attendance or otherwise conducting data collection under CCDBGA; (2) ensuring prompt and accurate payment for child care services under CCDBGA; or (3) other purposes that increase State efficiency in administering such funds.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Caring for America's Children Act - Title I: Tax Benefits for Families with Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the Dependent Care Tax Credit (DCTC) by: (1) increasing the amount of allowable expenses from $2,400 to $3,600 for one dependent, and from $4,800 to $6,000 for two or more; (2) increasing the maximum percentage of the allowable employment-related expenses to 40 percent; (3) raising the adjusted gross income level receiving the maximum percentage to $50,000; and (4) permitting educational programs and third party transportation costs to be counted as allowable expenses. (Sec. 102) Increases the Child Tax Credit from $500 per year to $900 per year. (Sec. 103) Increases the dollar contribution limit in the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) to $7,000 a year for two or more dependents. Permits contributions to DCAP accounts during pregnancy, usable for one year after the birth of a child. Permits the use of DCAP funds to pay a spouse or grandparent to care for a pre-school aged child at home. Establishes a DCAP for Federal employees. (Sec. 104) Permits parents to choose between the DCTC, Child Tax Credit, and the DCAP for each dependent child (each tax benefit mutually exclusive for each child). (Sec. 105) Revises the Home Office tax deduction to permit parents to care for a dependent child within the home office space and maintain the "exclusive use" designation for the home office tax deduction. (Sec. 106) Amends title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) the Social Security Act to require States to include the cost of child care in the calculation of child support orders. Title II: Activities to Improve the Quality of Child Care - Subtitle A: Encouraging Business Involvement in Child Care - Establishes a child care tax credit for employers up to $150,000 a year ($250,000 a year with respect to three or more company child care facilities in different locations) in allowable employee-related child care expenses such as the construction or renovation of facilities and employee subsidies. (Sec. 202) Extends the charitable tax deduction for contributions of scientific property used for research to include the contribution of scientific and computer equipment, transportation services, qualified employee volunteer time, and the use of facilities and equipment to public schools and child care providers. Subtitle B: Child Care Quality Improvement Incentive Program - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a State grant program to fund activities designed to improve the quality of child care. (Sec. 213) Allocates funds to the States (based on the Child Care and Development formula). (Sec. 214) Requires States, in order to receive grant funds, to: (1) certify that the State has not reduced the scope of State child care requirements since 1995; (2) be in compliance with the Child Care and Development Block Grant; and (3) have expended at least 80 percent of the funds allocated to the State for child care matching funds under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) (TANF). Sets the Federal share of the cost of State activities at 90 percent. (Sec. 215) Authorizes a State to use grant funds for specified activities designed to improve the quality of child care, including: (1) supplements to child care provider salaries; (2) assistance to small businesses desiring to provide child care assistance to employees; (3) expansion of resource and referral services, educational and training scholarship for child care providers; (4) increased subsidies for Child Care and Development Block Grant recipients; (5) subsidies for child care for special needs children; and (6) background checks and increasing the monitoring of child care providers. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Increased Enforcement of State Health and Safety Standards - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA) to provide for: (1) a bonus for States which effectively enforce existing state law and regulations regarding the inspection of child care facilities; and (2) a decrease in CCDBG administrative funds for States which do not adequately enforce State child care inspection requirements. Subtitle D: Distribution of Information About Quality Child Care - Directs the Secretary, through the award of competitive contracts, to: (1) provide technical assistance and disseminate information on high quality child care to parents, local governments, child care organizations, and child care providers; and (2) conduct a public awareness campaign promoting quality child care. (Sec. 231) Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop a mechanism for the collection and dissemination of information on the supply and demand for child care services; and (4) award competitive grants to existing child care credentialing or accreditation entities to assist them in improving their procedures and methods. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Expanding Professional Development Opportunities - Directs the Secretary to make grants to eligible organizations to develop and operate technology-based child care training infrastructures utilizing the Internet and existing distance learning resources to provide high quality, interactive skills training for child care providers. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Directs the Chief Executive Project Officer to use at least ten percent of the authorized funds, within the child care training infrastructure, to establish and operate a revolving fund to make no-interest loans to enable child care providers to purchase computers and other equipment to access the child care training infrastructure. Title IV: Expanding Youth Development Opportunities During the Non-School Hours - Directs the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of HHS to award grants to States for the Federal share (80 percent) of the cost of establishing programs that provide care for school-aged children during the non-school hours. (Sec. 408) Requires the use of grant funds for activities that: (1) meet the child care needs of working parents during the non-school hours, including before- and after-school, weekends, school holidays, and vacation periods; (2) will promote at least two youth development competencies (social, physical, emotional, moral or cognitive); (3) are designed to increase youth protective factors and reduce risk factors; and (4) include leadership development, delinquency prevention, sports and recreation, arts and cultural activities, character development, tutoring and academic enrichment, mentoring, and other locally determined programs. Requires that at least 50 percent of the funds made available to an entity be used to subsidize the cost of participation in the non-school hours program for low-income youth. (Sec. 409) Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of funded activities; (2) coordinate the grant program with similar activities in other Federal agencies; (3) provide appropriate training and technical assistance to States and local entities; and (4) terminate funding for States or entities which fail to comply with the requirements of this Act. (Sec. 410) Requires the Governor of each State to designate an entity to administer the grant activities. (Sec. 412) Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Child Care in Federal Facilities - Federal Employees Child Care Act - Requires any Federal agency operating, or entity contracting with a Federal agency to operate, a child care facility primarily for the use of Federal employees (including executive and judicial branch employees) to comply with child care standards no less stringent than those required of other child care facilities in the same geographical area within six months, and within three years with those established by a child care accreditation entity. (Sec. 503) Requires the Administrator of General Services to establish an interagency council to facilitate cooperation and sharing of best practices, and develop and coordinate policy, regarding the provision of child care, including the provision of areas for nursing mothers and other lactation support facilities and services, in the Federal Government. (Sec. 504) Directs the Administrator and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to evaluate jointly for Congress of child care services in executive, legislative, or judicial facilities. (Sec. 505) Authorizes Federal agencies to use appropriated funds to subsidize or otherwise assist lower income Federal employees meet the costs of child care provided through contract or on-site. (Sec. 506) Amends Federal law to re-authorize the Trible Amendment which permits federal facilities to provide on-site child care services. Authorizes Federal agencies to conduct pilot projects on innovative approaches to providing employee child care services. Requires criminal background checks for employees of child care facilities located in Federal facilities. Title VI: Expanding Child Care Subsidy for Low-Income Families - Amends the CCDBGA to increase the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 602) Requires a State CCDBG plan to assure that the use of automated payment systems will not limit parental choice and will facilitate the prompt, accurate payment of child care providers. Requires a State to ensure that 70 percent (currently, a substantial portion) of CCDBG funds are used for low-income families who are not TANF-qualified recipients of child care subsidies. Requires States to ensure maximum parental choice of child care providers by establishing separate subsidy rates dependent upon the age of the child, the setting of the child care services (home, center, group), special needs, and geographic location. Requires States to reduce any required parental co-payment by the amount of the difference between the market rate and any State child care subsidy that is less than 85 percent of such market rate. Title VII: Construction and Renovation of Child Care Facilities - Subtitle A: Community Development Block Grants - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the use of Community Development Block Grant funds to renovate or construct child care facilities. Subtitle B: Mortgage Insurance For Child Care Facilities - Amends title II of the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to insure mortgages on new and rehabilitated child care facilities, as well as fire safety equipment loans to such facilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 712) Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to insure mortgages for the purchase or refinancing of existing child care facilities. (Sec. 713) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to Congress on the secondary mortgage markets to determine: (1) whether markets exist for purchase of mortgages eligible for insurance under the National Housing Act; (2) whether the market will affect the availability of credit for development of child care facilities; and (3) the extent to which the market will provide credit enhancement for loans for such facilities. (Sec. 714) Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to award competitive grants to eligible private, nonprofit intermediary organizations to provide technical and financial assistance to child care providers for the renovation, construction, and purchase of child care facilities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Child Care Construction and Renovation Act - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the use of community development block grants to construct and renovate child care facilities. Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to insure mortgages for: (1) new or rehabilitated child care and development facilities, including for fire safety equipment loans (authorizes specified appropriations); and (2) purchase or refinance of existing child care facilities. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a study of the availability of child care facility secondary mortgage markets. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for technical and financial assistance to assist eligible child care providers in acquiring or improving facilities or equipment. Authorizes specified appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 1999 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain employee group health plans or related insurance coverages providing both medical-surgical and health benefits from imposing, in the absence of comparable medical-surgical limits: (1) mental health inpatient and outpatient benefit limits; and (2) limits on benefits for severe biologically based mental illnesses.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a specified sum, out of money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to a named individual in compensation for the erroneous underpayment to her husband of compensation and other benefits relating to a service-connected disability incurred by him during military service in World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Freedom to E-File Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish in the Department of Agriculture a public use electronic filing and information retrieval system.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Medicare Cancer Clinical Trial Coverage Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration project which provides for payment under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act of routine patient care costs for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are enrolled in an approved clinical trial program, while still applying the beneficiary cost sharing provisions of such program to project participants. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on the impact on Medicare of covering such costs as well as the cost of extending routine patient care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis other than cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1999
Uniformed Services Filing Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a two-month extension for the due date for filing a tax return for any member of a uniformed service on a tour of duty outside the United States for a period which includes the normal due date for such filing.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strategies for Preventing Crimes Against Seniors Title II: Combating Crimes Against Seniors Title III: Preventing Telemarketing Fraud Title IV: Preventing Health Care Fraud Title V: Protecting Residents of Nursing Homes Title VI: Protecting the Rights of Elderly Crime Victims Seniors Safety Act of 1999 - Title I: Strategies for Preventing Crimes Against Seniors - Directs the Attorney General (AG) to study and report to the congressional judiciary committees on crimes against seniors (over 55 years of age) in order to prevent and otherwise reduce the incidence of those crimes, which include telemarketing fraud, elder abuse, and health care fraud. (Sec. 102) Requires certain statistics concerning crimes against seniors to be included by the AG within each annual National Crime Victimization Survey. Title II: Combating Crimes Against Seniors - Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend Federal sentencing guidelines to include the age of a crime victim as one of the criteria for determining whether a sentencing enhancement is appropriate. Requires a Commission report to Congress on issues relating to the age of crime victims. (Sec. 202) Directs the Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend sentencing guidelines and Commission policy statements to include persons convicted of offenses involving fraud in connection with a health care benefit program. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal criminal code to provide increased penalties for fraud which results in serious injury or death. (Sec. 204) Provides civil and criminal penalties for any person who executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice to: (1) defraud any retirement arrangement or any person in connection with the establishment or maintenance of such an arrangement; or (2) falsely or fraudulently obtain any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any retirement arrangement or other person in connection with such an arrangement. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the AG to bring a civil action to enforce penalties for defrauding pension plans. (Sec. 206) Revises criminal code provisions concerning the illegal influencing of operations of employee benefit plans to: (1) add certain definitions; and (2) include under such provisions bribery and graft committed by an applicable person (an employee benefit plan administrator, officer, counsel, agent, employee, or other person having influence with respect to such plan). Title III: Preventing Telemarketing Fraud - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish procedures to: (1) log and acknowledge the receipt of complaints by individuals who reasonably believe that they have been the victim of fraud in connection with telemarketing; (2) provide to such individuals and any others information on telemarketing fraud; and (3) refer such complaints to appropriate entities, including State consumer protection and law enforcement agencies, for potential law enforcement action. Requires the AG to establish and maintain a computer database containing information on corporations and companies convicted of Federal or State telemarketing fraud. Requires such database to be made available to the FTC. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Includes a wire communications facility (facility) utilizing a telephone service within the scope of telemarketing fraud subject to enhanced criminal penalties under the criminal code. Provides that if a common carrier is notified by the AG that a facility furnished by such carrier is being or will be used by a subscriber to transmit or receive a wire communication in interstate or foreign commerce to execute any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent representations, in connection with telemarketing, then the carrier shall discontinue or refuse to lease, furnish, or maintain the facility to such subscriber after reasonable notice to the subscriber. Title IV: Preventing Health Care Fraud - Includes within Federal injunctive authority against fraudulent actions certain offenses under the Social Security Act relating to false claims and illegal kickback schemes involving Federal health care programs. Amends the Social Security Act to authorize the AG to bring an action to enforce such authority. (Sec. 402) Includes within the AG's authority to subpoena information involving a Federal health care offense any allegation of fraud or false claims (whether criminal or civil) in connection with a Federal health care program as defined under the Social Security Act. Prohibits, during the production of such information, any record that contains personally identifiable information from being disclosed to any person, with exceptions for certain attorneys and government personnel as part of their official functions. Requires court ordered disclosures to be undertaken so as to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of individuals, unless such disclosure is required by the nature of such proceedings. Requires such records to be destroyed within 90 days after their production. (Sec. 403) Amends the Social Security Act to extend certain antifraud safeguards to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. (Sec. 404) Authorizes grand jury disclosure of matters occurring during an investigation of a Federal health care offense for use in any investigation or civil proceeding relating to fraud or false claims in connection with a Federal health care program. (Sec. 405) Delegates to the Deputy or an Assistant Attorney General the AG authority to issue civil investigative demands for the production of information relevant to a false claims law investigation. Allows disclosure of such information only upon a showing that such disclosure would assist the Department of Justice in carrying out its statutory responsibilities. Title V: Protecting Residents of Nursing Homes - Nursing Home Resident Protection Act of 1999 - Provides civil penalties against anyone who knowingly and willfully engages in a pattern of violations that affects the health, safety, or care of individuals in a residential health care facility, and results in significant physical or mental harm to one or more of such individuals, except that any organization shall be fined not more than $2 million per facility. Authorizes the AG to bring an enforcement action. Lists maximum penalty amounts. Authorizes other relief, including equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate a pattern of violations. Prohibits retaliation against any person reporting a condition that may constitute grounds for civil action. Includes information as to such violations within Federal investigative demand procedures. Title VI: Protecting the Rights of Elderly Crime Victims - Amends Federal civil forfeiture provisions to authorize the AG to retain or transfer forfeited property as restoration to any victim of the offense giving rise to the forfeiture, including a money laundering offense or any offense constituting the underlying specified unlawful activity. (Sec. 602) Amends provisions of the Controlled Substances Act relating to criminal forfeitures to state that a defendant may not use property subject to forfeiture to satisfy an order of restitution, except when the defendant has no assets other than the property subject to forfeiture. Directs the Government to restore the forfeited property to the victims. (Sec. 603) Prohibits the use of bankruptcy proceedings to shield illegal gains from false claims brought against the Government. Prohibits the debt arising from such illegal gains from being discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. (Sec. 604) Authorizes a criminal or civil court, in imposing a sentence on a person convicted of a retirement offense (an offense involving fraudulent gains from another's retirement arrangement), to order such person to forfeit property that constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the commission of such offense.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education Title VI: Reducing Red Tape Title VII: Plan Amendments Pension Coverage and Portability Act - Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise requirements relating to pension plan loans for Subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 102) Allows an employer to establish payroll deductions for contributions to employee individual retirement plans without incurring ERISA liability. (Sec. 103) Amends the IRC to allow an eligible employer to establish and maintain a SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan), both to be funded by the employer. Makes the employer contributions deductible without limitation and otherwise provides for the treatment of contributions and distributions. Mandates a penalty for early withdrawals. Requires simplified employer reports for SAFE annuities and simplified actuarial reports for SAFE trusts. Amends the ERISA to exempt SAFE trusts from coverage requirements and SAFE annuities from certain employer reporting requirements. (Sec. 104) Amends the IRC to modify definitions applicable to special rules for top-heavy plans. Requires consideration of employer matching contributions in determining whether a defined contribution plan meets minimum contribution requirements. Exempts frozen plans from a minimum benefit requirement. Provides an alternative test for top-heavy plans. (Sec. 105) Allows employers to elect salary reduction only arrangements under IRC requirements for simple plans. (Sec. 106) Establishes a small employer pension plan credit. (Sec. 107) Increases (from $6,000 to $8,000) limits for deferrals to simple plans. (Sec. 108) Amends ERISA to provide for a phase-in of an additional premium for new plans to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 109) Provides for a reduced PBGC premium for new plans of small employers. (Sec. 110) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the status of pension plans. (Sec. 111) Declares the $150,000 compensation limit inapplicable to simple 401(k) arrangements. (Sec. 112) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 113) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the IRC for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women - Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Requires that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. Sets forth special rules for annuity contracts and simplified pensions. (Sec. 202) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under IRC and ERISA. (Sec. 203) Amends Federal civil service law to revise requirements for deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal employees under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 204) Revises IRC requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. (Sec. 205) Amends the IRC and ERISA to provide for the spouse's right to know specified distribution information relating to survivor annuities. (Sec. 206) Revises minimum distribution rules under IRC. Revises requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefit under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. (Sec. 207) Directs the Secretary to revise regulations relating to safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from cash or deferred arrangements. Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the IRC. (Sec. 302) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers into workplace retirement plans only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. (Sec. 304) Revises restrictions on distributions from defined contribution plans, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 305) Provides that a transferee defined contribution plan shall not be treated as having failed to meet certain requirements because it does not provide for some or all of the distribution forms previously available under a transferor defined contribution plan. (Sec. 306) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 307) Authorizes employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of employee cash-out amounts under the IRC and ERISA. Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise the percentage of current liability funding limit. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules and applies them to all defined benefit plan under the IRC. (Sec. 402) Increases dollar limits for employer-sponsored retirement plans. (Sec. 403) Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. (Sec. 404) Amends ERISA to direct the PBGC to prescribe rules relating to missing participants for multiemployer plans covered by the PBGC that terminate. (Sec. 405) Amends ERISA to make discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility. Revises requirements for the applicable recovery amount and related rules. (Sec. 406) Amends the IRC to allow an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 407) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. (Sec. 408) Bars the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury from litigating any claim against a person under specified ERISA provisions if: (1) an action against that person with respect to the same plan is resolved by a court-approved settlement; (2) such proposed settlement is served upon the Secretaries at least 90 days before entry of final judgment approving the settlement; and (3) such claim was or could have been brought in such action. Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education - Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Allows written or electronic statements. Requires multiemployer plans to furnish a statement (written or electronic) on request. (Sec. 502) Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to prepare a plan to: (1) increase awareness of retirement benefits;(2) update small business owners concerning such benefits; and (3) post information on the Internet on types of retirement benefit plans and other options. (Sec. 503) Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Prohibits including an amount in an employee's gross income solely because the employee may choose between any retirement planning fringe and compensation otherwise includible in gross income, providing such choices are available in a way that does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. Title VI: Reducing Red Tape - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 602) Amends ERISA rules for substantial owners relating to plan terminations to revise: (1) the phase-in of the guarantee; and (2) the allocation of assets. (Sec. 603) Amends IRC requirements for applicable dividends to allow dividends of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the regulations regarding the exclusion allowance to render void the requirement that contributions to a defined benefit pension plan be treated as previously excluded amounts. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy specified requirements of the IRC if it satisfies a certain facts and circumstances test, under specified conditions. (Sec. 606) Grants the Secretary discretion in applying a specified coverage test to a plan. (Sec. 607) Makes inapplicable to certain mirror plans specified IRC requirements relating to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 608) Revises the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations under the IRC to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 609) Sets forth conforming amendments relating to election to receive taxable cash compensation in lieu of nontaxable transportation fringe benefits. (Sec. 610) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 611) Extends to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans. (Sec. 612) Revises ERISA requirements for annual report dissemination. (Sec. 613) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the IRC. (Sec. 614) Repeals a multiple use test. Directs the Secretary prescribe regulations permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. Title VII: Plan Amendments - Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the IRC and ERISA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Sanctions Policy Reform Act - Declares that it is the purpose of this Act to establish an effective framework for consideration by the legislative and executive branches of unilateral economic sanctions in order to ensure coordination of U.S. policy with respect to trade, security, and human rights. (Sec. 3) Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) pursue U.S. interests through vigorous and effective diplomatic, political, commercial, charitable, educational, cultural, and strategic engagement with other countries, while recognizing that U.S. national security interests may sometimes require the imposition of economic sanctions on other countries; (2) foster multilateral cooperation on vital matters of U.S. foreign policy, including promoting human rights and democracy, combating international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and international narcotics trafficking, and ensuring adequate environmental protection; (3) promote U.S. economic growth and job creation by expanding exports of goods, services, and agricultural commodities, and by encouraging investment that supports the sale abroad of U.S. products and services; (4) maintain the reputation of U.S. businesses and farmers as reliable suppliers to international customers of quality products and services; (5) avoid the use of restrictions on exports of agricultural commodities as a foreign policy weapon; and (6) oppose policies of other countries designed to discourage economic interaction with countries friendly to the United States or with any U.S. national, and to avoid use of such measures as instruments of U.S. foreign policy. States that when economic sanctions are necessary, it is U.S. policy to: (1) target them as narrowly as possible on those foreign governments, entities, and officials that are responsible for the conduct being targeted, thereby minimizing unnecessary or disproportionate harm to individuals who are not responsible for such conduct; and (2) to the extent feasible, avoid any adverse impact of economic sanctions on the humanitarian activities of the United States and foreign nongovernmental organizations in a country against which sanctions are imposed. (Sec. 5) Expresses the sense of Congress that any unilateral economic sanction legislation introduced in or reported to a House of Congress should: (1) state the U.S. foreign policy or national security objective; (2) terminate after two years unless specifically reauthorized; (3) provide for contract sanctity, with specified exceptions; (4) provide presidential authority to adjust or waive the sanction in the national interest; (5) target the sanction as narrowly as possible against the parties responsible for the conduct being targeted; and (6) provide for expanded export promotion programs if sanctions are likely to target an export market for American farmers. (Sec. 6) Sets forth a procedure for congressional consideration of any unilateral economic sanction legislation. Requires specified reports: (1) from the President assessing the likelihood that the proposed unilateral economic sanction will achieve its stated objective within a reasonable period of time, as well as the impact of the proposed unilateral economic sanction on U.S. foreign policy, national security, and humanitarian activities; and (2) from the Secretary of Agriculture assessing the extent to which any country or countries proposed or likely to be sanctioned are markets that accounted for more than three percent of all U.S. agricultural export sales in the preceding calendar year, as well as the likelihood that U.S. agricultural exports will be affected by the proposed sanction or by retaliation by any country proposed or likely to be sanctioned, and specific commodities which are most likely to be affected. Requires that any bill or joint resolution that imposes any unilateral economic sanction be treated as including a Federal private sector mandate for purposes of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. Requires the Congressional Budget Office, in its report pursuant to such Act, to assess the likely short- and long-term costs of the proposed sanction to the U.S. economy. (Sec. 7) Requires the President to: (1) publish notice in the Federal Register at least 45 days in advance of the President's intention to impose any new unilateral economic sanction with respect to a foreign country or foreign entity; and (2) consult with the appropriate congressional committees regarding such proposed sanction. Requires any executive sanction to include an assessment of whether the sanction is likely to achieve a specific U.S. foreign policy or national security objective within a reasonable and specified period of time. Requires, before imposition of a new unilateral economic sanction, that the President and the Secretary of Agriculture report to appropriate congressional committees the same assessments required in connection with any bill or joint resolution imposing or authorizing the imposition of a unilateral economic sanction by the executive branch. Requires the President to request a report by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on the likely short- and long-term costs of the proposed sanction to the U.S. economy, including the potential impact on U.S. competitiveness. Provides, in the event that it is in the national interest, for allowing the President temporarily to waive most of the requirements for executive action in order to act immediately, generally requiring the waived requirements to be met within 60 days after imposition of the sanction (which shall terminate after 90 days if such requirements are not met). Establishes an interagency Sanctions Review Committee to coordinate U.S. policy regarding unilateral economic sanctions and provide appropriate recommendations to the President. (Sec. 8) Requires the President and the ITC to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to each unilateral economic sanction imposed under this Act or under any other U.S. law, regulation, or Executive order.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 1999 - Requires each participating manufacturer of a covered outpatient drug to make available for purchase by each pharmacy such covered outpatient drug in the described amount (an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the covered outpatient drug sold or distributed by the pharmacy to Medicare beneficiaries) and at the described price (the price equal to the lower of either the lowest price paid for the drug by the Federal Government or the manufacturer's best price for the drug). Sets forth special provisions with respect to hospice programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Financial Services Act of 1999 - Title I: Facilitating Affiliation Among Securities Firms, Insurance Companies, and Depository Institutions - Subtitle A: Affiliations - Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to repeal the prohibitions: (1) against affiliation of any Federal Reserve member bank with an entity engaged principally in securities activities (securities affiliate); and (2) against simultaneous service by any officer, director, or employee of a securities firm as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank (interlocking directorates). (Sec. 102) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to exempt from its prohibition against interests in nonbanking organizations the shares of any company whose activities had been determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act, to be so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto. (Sec. 103) Creates a statutory mechanism for the establishment of financial holding companies (FHCs) whose subsidiary depository institutions are well-capitalized, are well-managed, and have achieved a rating of at least a "satisfactory record of meeting community credit needs" at the most recent examination under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Sets forth limited exclusions from community needs requirements for newly acquired depository institutions. Instructs the Board to establish and apply comparable capital standards to a foreign bank with a subsidiary bank or commercial lending company in the United States. Permits an FHC and a wholesale financial holding company (WFHC) to engage in any activity and acquire the shares of any company whose activities have been determined jointly by the Board and the Secretary of the Treasury to be either financial in nature, or incidental to financial activities. Includes among such activities any investments, lending, insurance, securities transactions, and ownership or control of banking interests. Requires an FHC to make assurances that risk management procedures adequately protect insured depository institution subsidiaries, including reasonable measures to preserve separate corporate identity and limited liability. Mandates notification to the Board of certain large business combinations with FHCs or wholesale FHCs. Cites circumstances under which an FHC (and its foreign counterpart) may engage in nonfinancial activities. Permits FHCs which were not BHCs or foreign banks before becoming FHCs to retain limited non-financial activities and affiliations. Sets forth cross-marketing restrictions for FHC-controlled depository institutions. (Sec. 104) Preempts State anti-affiliation laws restricting transactions among insured depository institutions, wholesale financial institutions, insurance concerns, and national banks. Cites exceptions to such preemption, including State regulation of the business of insurance, retention of State capitalization requirements for an insurance entity acquired by another, and specified consumer protections. Prohibits State regulation of the insurance activities of an insured depository institution or wholesale financial institution that discriminates adversely between insured depository institutions or wholesale financial institutions and other entities engaged in insurance activities. Declares that nothing in this Act preempts State antitrust and general corporate laws, or laws or regulations with respect to non-insurance financial activities. (Sec. 105) Mandates that mutual bank holding companies be regulated on the same terms as bank holding companies. (Sec. 106) Amends the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (RNIBBEA) to apply its prohibition against deposit production offices to interstate branches acquired or established under this Act, including all branches of a bank owned by an out-of-State BHC. (Sec. 107) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to apply to any branch of a bank controlled by an out-of-State BHC certain requirements for branch closures by an interstate bank. (Sec. 108) Authorizes well-capitalized and well-managed limited purpose banks to engage in any banking activity. (Maintains the restriction that such banks may accept demand deposits or make commercial loans, but not both.) Prohibits such banks from permitting any overdraft (including intraday overdrafts), or incurring overdrafts in their accounts at a Federal Reserve Bank, on behalf of an affiliate, with certain exceptions. Permits such banks to: (1) issue corporate credit cards; (2) cross market affiliates; and (3) avoid divestiture by correcting violations within six months of receiving notice from the Board. (Sec. 109) Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to present interim reports to the Congress regarding an ongoing multistage study of consumer privacy issues. (Sec. 110) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the projected impact that the enactment of this Act will have on financial institutions with total assets of $100 million or less. Subtitle B: Streamlining Supervision of Financial Holding Companies - Prohibits the Board from imposing any capital or capital adequacy criteria upon a non-depository institution FHC subsidiary that is in compliance with State or Federal capitalization rules, or is registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Prohibits the Board, in developing capital adequacy requirements, from taking into consideration any affiliated investment company which is not a bank holding company nor controlled by one holding 25 percent or more shares of the investment company worth more than $1 million. (Sec. 111) Authorizes the Board to transfer its BHC oversight authority to the appropriate Federal banking agency if a BHC is not significantly engaged in non-banking activities. Mandates Board deference to the SEC and relevant State securities and insurance authorities with respect to interpretations and enforcement of activities (functional regulation) within their respective jurisdictions. (Sec. 112) Provides that a declaration filed by a company seeking to be an FHC shall satisfy BHC registration requirements but not any requirement to file an application to acquire a bank. Revises BHCA divestiture procedures to permit a BHC to elect divestiture of either a nonbanking subsidiary or an insured depository institution. (Sec. 113) Declares ineffective and non-enforceable any Board actions requiring an insurance company BHC or a registered securities broker-dealer BHC to provide assets to a subsidiary insured depository institution if the State insurance authority, or the SEC, determines in writing that such actions would have a material adverse effect on the BHC's financial condition. Permits the Board to order divestiture of the subsidiary in lieu of other action. (Sec. 114) Authorizes the Board to restrict relationships or transactions between: (1) a BHC depository institution subsidiary and its affiliates (other than a subsidiary of the institution); and (2) a foreign bank and its U.S. affiliates. (Sec. 115) Grants the SEC exclusive authority to examine and inspect any non-BHC registered investment company. Prohibits a Federal banking agency from inspecting or examining such a non-BHC company. Permits the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to examine an insured depository institution and its affiliate in order to disclose fully the impact of the relationship upon such institution. (Sec. 116) Prohibits the Board from taking any action under the BHCA or the FDIA against a BHC-regulated subsidiary unless it is necessary to prevent or redress an unsafe or unsound practice or breach of fiduciary duty by the subsidiary that poses a material risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of an affiliated depository institution or to the domestic or international payment systems. (Sec. 117) Declares it is the intent of the Congress that the Board and State insurance regulators should: (1) coordinate their respective supervision of companies that control a depository institution and a company engaged in insurance activities; and (2) share relevant information on a confidential basis (including information regarding the financial health of the consolidated organization, and transactions and relationships between insurance companies and affiliated depository institutions). States that Federal banking agencies for depository institutions should also share information with State insurance regulators on a confidential basis regarding transactions and relationships between depository institutions and affiliated companies engaged in insurance activities. Sets forth guidelines for such information exchange and confidentiality. (Sec. 118) States that BHCA restrictions placed upon Board authority over bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries also limit FDIC authority over such companies and their nonbank subsidiaries. Permits the FDIC to examine an insured depository institution and its affiliate in order to disclose fully the impact of the relationship upon such institution. (Sec. 119) Amends the FDIA to prohibit the use of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) to benefit any affiliates or subsidiaries of certain insured depository institutions in receivership, in default, or in danger of default, or of any insured depository institution in such circumstances that is acquiring another insured depository institution. Subtitle C: Subsidiaries of National Banks - Amends Federal law governing national banks to permit a national bank subsidiary to engage in activity that: (1) is permissible for the parent national bank; (2) is authorized under specified Federal statutes that expressly authorize national banks to own or control subsidiaries; and (3) is permissible for a BHCA bank holding company other than engaging as principal in traditional insurance activities (including providing annuities, or engaging in insurance company investments. Prohibits a national bank subsidiary from engaging in real estate investment or development activities (unless Federal statute expressly authorizes a national bank to engage in such activity). Precludes certain large-sized national banks ($10 billion total assets) from controlling a subsidiary unless such bank is itself a subsidiary of a bank holding company. Cites prerequisites for national banks with financial subsidiaries. (Sec.122) Amends the FDIA to prescribe guidelines authorizing State bank subsidiaries to engage in financial activities. (Sec. 123) Mandates safety and soundness firewalls between insured banks and their financial subsidiaries, including: (1) limits on the equity investment of a bank in such subsidiary; (2) mandatory bank procedures for identifying and managing financial operational risks posed by its financial subsidiary; (3) maintenance of separate corporate and legal status; and (4) limits on the credit exposure of a bank to its financial subsidiary. (Sec.124) Subjects securities and insurance agency activities of insured depository institution subsidiaries to functional regulation under the Securities Exchange Commission, and the State insurance regulator, respectively. (Sec. 125) Amends Federal criminal law to proscribe misrepresentations regarding depository institution liability for obligations of affiliates. (Sec. 126) Amends the Federal Reserve Act to repeal: (1) the Board's power to restrict the percentage of individual bank capital and surplus represented by loans secured by stock or bond collateral; and (2) the Board's duty to establish such restrictions with a view to preventing the undue use of bank loans for the speculative carrying of securities. Subtitle D: Wholesale Financial Holding Companies; Wholesale Financial Institutions - Chapter 1: Wholesale Financial Holding Companies - Sets forth a statutory mechanism for regulation of wholesale financial holding companies that do not control a bank other than a wholesale financial institution (WFI) or specified, limited-purpose institutions. Requires such a company to be a registered bank holding company predominantly engaged in certain financial activities, and in control of one or more WFIs. Specifies the limits of Board examinations of such companies. (Sec. 131) Prohibits the Board, in developing capital adequacy requirements, from taking into consideration any affiliated investment company which is not a bank holding company nor controlled by one holding 25 percent or more shares of the investment company worth more than $1 million. Specifies the kinds of nonfinancial activities in which Board-supervised companies may engage. Sets forth guidelines for the treatment of foreign banks operating within the United States as Board-supervised wholesale financial holding companies. Chapter 2: Wholesale Financial Institutions - Amends the Revised Statutes to permit a national bank to operate as a noninsured national WFI subject to FRA and the regulatory authority of the Comptroller of the Currency. Amends FRA to prescribe procedural guidelines for State bank membership as a noninsured WFI in the Federal Reserve System, subject to FDIA enforcement authority and prompt corrective action requirements. Subjects such institutions to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 only if the WFI has an affiliate that is an insured depository institution or that operates an insured branch. (Sec. 136) Prohibits a WFI from receiving initial deposits of $100,000 or less except on an incidental and occasional basis. Limits incidental deposits of $100,000 or less to a maximum five percent of a WFI's total deposits. Sets forth capital and managerial requirements for certain WFIs controlled by companies under the jurisdiction of either the SEC or the BHCA. Empowers the Comptroller of the Currency (in the case of a national WFI), and the Board to direct a WFI conservator or receiver to file a petition under title II of the Federal bankruptcy code. Amends FDIA to prescribe procedures whereby an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a WFI in order to accept any deposits. Amends Federal bankruptcy law to prescribe WFI liquidation guidelines. Subtitle E: Preservation of FTC Authority - Amends the BHCA to require the Board to notify the FTC of its approval of a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation which involves acquisition of nonbanking interests. (Sec. 142) Directs certain Federal banking agencies to make data available to the Attorney General and the FTC that they deem necessary for antitrust review under specified statutes. (Sec. 143) Excludes from FTC jurisdiction any nondepository institution subsidiary or affiliate of a bank or savings association. Amends the Clayton Act to apply its premerger notification and waiting period requirements to any portion of a merger or acquisition transaction that does require notice under BHCA but does not require approval. (Sec. 144) Instructs the Comptroller General to report annually to the Congress on market concentration in the financial services industry and its impact on consumers. Subtitle F: Applying the Principles of National Treatment and Equality of Competitive Opportunity to Foreign Banks and Foreign Financial Institutions - Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 (IBA) to terminate the grandfathered authority of a foreign bank or company under the IBA to engage in any financial activity, if it files a BHCA declaration to function as a qualified BHC (QBHC). (Consequently, foreign banks with grandfathered affiliates would be permitted to keep them on the same terms and conditions that govern domestic banking organizations.) (Sec. 152) Amends the FDIA to allow insured foreign banks and foreign wholesale financial institutions (WFIs) to terminate deposit insurance voluntarily in the same manner and to the same extent as insured State or national banks. (Sec. 153) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to authorize the Board to examine any affiliate of a foreign bank conducting business in any State in which the Board deems it necessary to determine and enforce compliance with Federal banking law. Subtitle G: Federal Home Loan Bank System Modernization - Federal Home Loan Bank System Modernization Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) to expand Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) membership parameters to make a Federal savings association's membership in the FHLB system voluntary instead of mandatory. Permits such an association to withdraw its membership (currently such withdrawal is prohibited). (Sec. 164) Modifies guidelines governing long-term advances to: (1) allow advances to any community financial institution for small businesses, agricultural, rural development, or low-income community development lending; (2) make the cash (as well as the deposits) of an FHLB eligible collateral for securing a bank's interest in a loan or advance; and (3) repeal the 30 percent of capital cap on the aggregate amount of outstanding advances secured by real estate related collateral. Includes within the categories of collateral eligible for bank loans secured loans for small business, agriculture, rural development, or low-income community development, or securities representing a whole interest in such secured loans, in the case of any community financial institution. Authorizes an FHLB to renew certain advances on its own determination without concurrence by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). Requires an FHLB member with an advance secured by insufficient eligible collateral to reduce its level of outstanding advances according to a schedule determined by the FHLB (currently, by the FHF Board). Authorizes such Board to: (1) review the collateral standards applicable to each Federal home loan bank for designated classes of collateral; and (2) require an increase in such standards for safety and soundness purposes. (Sec. 165) Revises eligibility criteria to permit certain community financial institutions to gain FHLB membership regardless of the percentage of total assets represented by residential mortgage loans. (Sec. 166) Amends the FHLBA to increase from two years to four years the term of an elective director of a Federal home loan bank. Repeals the mandates for: (1) a procedure for informal review of certain supervisory decisions; and (2) the Housing Opportunity Hotline program. Repeals: (1) the prohibition against an FHLB's acquisition of a bank building by purchase or over ten-year lease; (2) the requirement for FHFB approval of personnel decisions as well as the exercise of corporate powers by any FHLB; and (3) authorization for an FHLB president to be a member of the FHLB board. Grants the FHFB power to: (1) issue charges upon an FHLB or any executive officer or director for violation of law or regulation in connection with the granting of any application or other request by the bank, or any written agreement between the bank and the FHFB, and take affirmative action to correct conditions resulting from violations or practices, or to limit FHLB activities; (2) address insufficiencies in capital levels resulting from automatic membership of a Federal savings association in the local FHLB; and (3) sue and be sued. Repeals FHFB jurisdiction to approve the granting by an FHLB of a member's application to secure an advance. Expands the mandate of FHLB Affordable Housing Programs to include providing subsidies (in addition to subsidized interest rates) on advances for member lending for low- and moderate-income housing. Authorizes each FHLB board of directors to approve member requests for Affordable Housing Program subsidies. Revises guidelines governing reserves and dividends to permit dividend payments out of previously retained earnings or current net earnings (currently, only out of net earnings). Repeals the requirement for: (1) FHFB approval for such dividend payments; and (2) investment of FHLB reserves exclusively in U.S. obligations or certain other Federal Government-related securities. (Sec. 167) States that FHLB payments to the Resolution Funding Corporation to cover interest payments on obligations shall be a specified percentage of net earnings (currently an aggregate sum certain). Subtitle H: Direct Activities of Banks - Amends Federal banking law to provide that limitations placed on securities transactions by a national banking association for its own account do not apply to State, local, or municipal bond transactions by a well-capitalized national banking association. Subtitle I: Deposit Insurance Funds - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study and report to the Congress on specified issues regarding the BIF and the SAIF, including their safety and soundness, and the adequacy of their reserve requirements in light of mergers and consolidations within the industry. (Sec. 187) Amends the FDIA to eliminate the SAIF and Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) special reserves. Subtitle J: Effective Date of Title - Sets forth the effective date of title I of this Act. Title II: Functional Regulation - Subtitle A: Brokers and Dealers - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) to include certain bank activities within the definition of "broker" and "dealer" (thus subjecting them to registration requirements and regulation under the Exchange Act). (Sec. 203) Requires a registered securities association to create a limited qualification category, without a testing requirement, for certain bank employees effecting sales as part of a non-public primary securities offering (private placement sales). (Sec. 204) Amends the FDIA to direct the appropriate Federal banking agencies to: (1) promulgate regulations and complaint procedures applicable to retail transactions, solicitations, advertising, or offers of any security by any insured depository institution or affiliate other than a registered broker or dealer; (2) jointly establish a grievance process for customer complaints against banks or bank employees arising in connection with securities sales or purchases; and (3) establish recordkeeping requirements for banks relying on exceptions and exemptions from the definitions of broker and dealer under the Exchange Act. (Sec. 206) Defines traditional banking product, and amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define a new banking product as a security that: (1) was not subject to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation as a security before enactment of this subtitle; and (2) is not a traditional banking product. Authorizes the SEC to determine, by regulation published in the Federal Register, that a bank that effects transactions in, or buys or sells, a new (hybrid) product (which is a security) should be subject to broker and dealer registration requirements, but only if it is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors. Prescribes procedural guidelines under which the Federal Reserve Board, or any aggrieved party, may obtain judicial review of such regulation. Requires the court to determine whether the subject product or instrument would be more appropriately regulated under either Federal banking laws or Federal securities laws. (Sec. 207) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define: (1) derivative instrument so as to exclude a traditional banking product; (2) qualified investor; and (3) government security, so as to include a qualified Canadian government obligation. Subtitle B: Bank Investment Company Activities - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to authorize the SEC to prescribe conditions under which a bank or its affiliate serving as promoter, organizer, or principal underwriter for a registered management company or a registered unit investment trust may also serve as custodian of such company or trust. Permits the SEC to bring a civil action against a custodian for a registered investment company for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct. (Sec. 212) Declares it is unlawful for an affiliate, promoter, or principal underwriter for a registered investment company to lend to it or its subsidiaries in contravention of SEC prescriptions. (Sec. 213) Modifies the definition of "interested person" to identify transactions, services, and loans taking place during the six months preceding determination of an interested person which would make a person an affiliated person of a broker or dealer. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of the subsidiaries of any one bank, or of any single BHC, its affiliates and subsidiaries. (Sec. 214) Modifies guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 215) Modifies the definition of "broker" to exclude any person who would be deemed a broker solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 216) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 217) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definition of investment adviser to remove the exclusion for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 220) Mandates interagency sharing between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC of examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of a registered BHC and its separately identifiable departments or divisions. (Sec. 221) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 222) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another non-affiliated fiduciary. Exempts a church plan organization that is also an investment adviser (including its affiliate) from the proscription against ownership of controlling interests in an investment company. Subtitle C: SEC Supervision of Investment Bank Holding Companies - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to permit certain investment bank holding companies that do not have a bank or savings association affiliate to elect SEC supervision. (Sec. 231) Provides for voluntary withdrawal from SEC supervision by specified investment bank holding companies. Sets forth the parameters of SEC supervision of investment bank holding companies, including authority to set capital adequacy standards. Instructs the SEC, in developing its rules, to consider use of debt and other liabilities (double leverage) by the supervised investment BHC in order to fund capital investments in affiliates. Prohibits the SEC from imposing capital adequacy requirements on regulated nonbanking entities (other than a broker or a dealer) that are in compliance with the capital requirements of another Federal regulatory body or State insurance authority. Mandates SEC deference to appropriate regulatory banking agencies and State insurance regulators with respect to the banking and insurance laws under their purviews. Grants the SEC backup inspection authority for certain wholesale financial holding companies for monitoring and compliance enforcement purposes. Subtitle D: Studies - Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the efficacy, costs, and benefits of requiring a federally-insured depository institution to disclose to its retail consumers through the use of a logo or seal that its investment or insurance products are not FDIC-insured. (Sec. 242) Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress regarding the efficacy and benefits of uniformly limiting commissions and costs incurred by customers in the acquisition of financial products. Title III: Insurance - Subtitle A: State Regulation of Insurance - States that the McCarran-Ferguson Act remains the law of the United States. (Sec. 302) Mandates: (1) State licensure of any entity providing insurance in a State as principal or agent; and (2) State functional regulation of insurance sales activity. (Sec. 304) Prohibits a national bank and its subsidiaries from providing insurance as principal in a State, except for certain authorized products (which may not include title insurance or taxable annuity contracts). (Sec. 305) Prohibits national banks and subsidiaries from selling or underwriting title insurance, except for certain grandfathered banks and subsidiaries already doing so. (Sec. 306) Establishes expedited dispute resolution for regulatory conflicts between State insurance regulators and Federal financial regulators. (Sec. 307) Requires each Federal banking agency to: (1) issue consumer protection regulations (including physical segregation of banking activities from insurance product activities); and (2) prohibit discrimination against victims of domestic violence. Expresses the sense of Congress that the States should adopt regulations prohibiting such discrimination regarding insurance products that are at least as strict as those under this Act. Mandates that the Federal banking agencies jointly establish a consumer complaint mechanism to address violations of this Act expeditiously. (Sec. 308) Preempts State law restricting: (1) insurance companies or insurance affiliates from becoming a financial holding company or acquiring control of a bank; and (2) the amount of an insurer's assets that can be invested in a bank (except that the insurer's State of domicile may limit such investments to five percent (or any higher threshold) of the insurer's admitted assets). Preempts State laws that restrict reorganization by an insurer from mutual form to stock form. (Sec. 309) Amends the Revised Statutes to apply to Federal banking agencies the same notice and publication requirements for preemption of State law with respect to Federal savings associations as pertain with respect to national banks. Subtitle B: National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers - Sets forth a regulatory framework for uniform multistate licensing for insurance sales practices, to take effect only if a majority of the States have not enacted uniform laws and regulations governing the licensure of insurance sales by individuals and entities within three years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 322) Establishes the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (the Association) as a non-profit, non-Federal agency, to provide a mechanism for uniform licensing, appointment, continuing education, and other insurance producer sales qualification requirements which can be adopted and applied on a multistate basis, while preserving the right of States to regulate insurance producers and insurance-related consumer protection and unfair trade practices. (Sec. 324) Subjects the Association (which shall not be considered a Federal agency or instrumentality) to regulation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Requires the Association to establish an office of consumer complaints. Vests management of the Association in a board of directors. Cites circumstances under which Association rules preempt State regulation of insurance producers. Requires the Association to coordinate with the National Association of Securities Dealers in order to mitigate administrative burdens that may result from dual membership. Title IV: Unitary Savings and Loan Holding Companies - Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to prohibit new affiliations between savings and loan holding companies and certain commercial firms, except in specified circumstances, including a family trust that becomes a savings and loan holding company with respect to a savings association. (Sec. 402) Permits Federal savings associations to convert into national banks if the resulting bank meets all applicable financial, management, and capital requirements. (Sec. 403) Amends specified Federal law to declare that any depository institution whose charter is converted from that of a Federal savings association to a national bank or a State bank after enactment of this Act may retain the term "Federal" in its name so long as it remains an insured depository institution. Title V: Financial Information Anti-Fraud - Financial Information Anti-Fraud Act of 1999 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to: (1) specify the types of enterprises constituting a financial institution within its purview; and (2) authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe regulations clarifying or describing the types of institutions which shall be treated as financial institutions for purposes of this Act. (Sec. 501) Declares it a violation of this Act to obtain or solicit customer information of a financial institution relating to another person under false pretenses with intent to deceive. Exempts from such proscription: (1) law enforcement agencies; (2) financial institutions engaged in testing security procedures, investigating misconduct or negligence, or recovering customer information obtained or received under false pretenses; as well as (3) customer information of financial institutions available as a public record under Federal securities laws. Grants the FTC, certain banking regulatory agencies, and the States enforcement powers under this Act. Subjects violations of this Act to Federal civil and criminal penalties. Requires each Federal banking agency to issue advisories to the depository institutions under its jurisdiction relating to the deterrence and detection of the activities proscribed by this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress: (1) on the efficacy and adequacy of the remedies provided in this Act addressing attempts to obtain financial information by fraudulent means or by false pretenses; and (2) any recommendations for additional action to address threats to the privacy of financial information created by such attempts. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Amends Federal criminal law to cite circumstances under which a court may direct disclosure of grand jury information concerning a banking law violation to certain personnel of a Federal or State financial institution. (Sec. 602) Expresses the sense of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs that: (1) the small business tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code should be more widely available to community banks; and (2) in conjunction with any financial modernization legislation the Congress should amend the Code for certain purposes. Urges such legislation to: (1) increase the number of S corporation shareholders; (2) permit S corporation stock to be held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs); (3) clarify that interest on investments held for safety, soundness, and liquidity purposes should not be considered passive income; (4) provide that bank director stock is not treated as a disqualifying second class of stock for S corporations; and (5) improve the tax treatment of bad debt and interest deductions. (Sec. 603) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to specify circumstances under which the Secretary of the Treasury may: (1) approve an affiliation between a depository institution and the Student Loan Marketing Association (SALLIE MAE) solely in its reorganized, privatized status as "the Holding Company," not in its status as a government sponsored enterprise (GSE); and (2) impose affiliation terms and conditions, including restrictions upon either the issuance of debt obligations by SALLIE MAE in its GSE status, or upon the use of proceeds from such obligations. (Current law prohibits affiliations between depository institutions and GSEs.) Limits the value of the investment portfolio of SALLIE MAE in its GSE status in the event such affiliation should occur to the lesser of: (1) its value upon enactment of this Act; or (2) its value on the date such an affiliation is consummated. Grants the Secretary enforcement powers under the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Sec. 604) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to repeal certain authority, requirements, and restrictions relating to insurance activities of savings bank subsidiaries of bank holding companies. (Sec. 605) Declares that the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board may serve as a member of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority. (Sec. 606) Amends the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to add to title I a new subtitle C, the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act of 199, or the PRIME Act. Directs the Administrator of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (Administrator) to establish a microenterprise technical assistance and capacity building program to provide Fund grants to qualified nonprofit organizations to: (1) provide training and technical assistance to disadvantaged entrepreneurs; (2) provide training and capacity building services to help microenterprise development organizations and programs develop microenterprise training and services; and (3) aid in researching and developing the best practices in the field of microenterprise and technical assistance programs for disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Sets forth an allocation formula for such assistance and for grants benefitting very low-income persons, including those residing on Indian reservations. Authorizes a qualified organization to provide subgrants to small and emerging microenterprise entities. Mandates 50 percent matching funds from non-Federal sources. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Government Pension Offset Reform Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to modify the formula for determining the amount of reduced monthly OASDI benefits payable to a spouse, surviving spouse, or parent receiving monthly payments from a Federal or State pension plan. Declares that such benefit reductions shall be equal to the amount by which two-thirds of the total amount of the combined monthly benefit (before reduction) and monthly pension exceeds $1,200, adjusted for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Rural and Remote Community Development Block Grants Title II: Rural and Remote Community Electrification Grants The Rural and Remote Community Fairness Act - Title I: Rural and Remote Community Development Block Grants - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize (including appropriations) a rural and remote community development block grant program. Sets forth eligible program activities, including housing, water and waste water, and fuel and energy enhancements. Title II: Rural and Remote Community Electrification Grants - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to authorize (including appropriations) rural and remote community electrification grants. Title III: Rural Recovery Community Development Block Grants - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize (including appropriations) rural housing and community development assistance through rural recovery community development block grants for eligible local governments and Indian tribes in areas with high rates of outmigration and low per capita income.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to assess and collect a fee for health care services provided in connection with each health care visit requested by a prisoner, except for preventative health care services. Requires that each fee assessed be collected by the Director: (1) from the account of the prisoner receiving health care services; or (2) where such services are provided because of an injury inflicted by another prisoner, from the account of the prisoner who inflicted the injury. Sets a minimum fee of two dollars. Specifies that the prisoner's consent shall not be required for the collection of the fee. Specifies that nothing herein may be construed to permit refusal of treatment to a prisoner on the basis that: (1) the prisoner's account is insolvent; or (2) the prisoner is otherwise unable to pay. Requires that sums collected under this Act: (1) be used for restitution of the victims where the prisoner is subject to a restitution order; and (2) be deposited in the Crime Victims Fund (75 percent) and be available to the Attorney General for administrative expenses incurred in carrying out this Act (25 percent) where the prisoner is not subject to such an order. Sets forth reporting requirements by the Director. (Sec. 3) Amends the code to authorize a State or local government to assess and collect a reasonable fee from a Federal prisoner's trust fund account (or institutional equivalent) for health care services if the prisoner is confined in a non-Federal institution under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Strengthening Abuse and Neglect Courts Act of 1999 - Directs the Attorney General to award grants to State and local courts to: (1) enable such courts to develop and implement automated data collection and case-tracking systems for proceedings conducted by, or under the supervision of, an abuse and neglect court; (2) encourage the replication of such systems in abuse and neglect courts in other jurisdictions; and (3) require the use of such systems to evaluate a court's performance in complying with requirements of part B (child and family services) and part E (Federal payments for foster care and adoption assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Sets forth provisions regarding limits on the number and use of grants, application and matching requirements, considerations in evaluating grant applications, length of awards, fund availability, and reporting requirements for grantees and the Attorney General. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 5) Amends the Social Security Act (the Act) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants, subject to appropriations, to State or local courts for purposes of: (1) promoting the permanency goals established in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA); and (2) enabling such courts to reduce existing backlogs of cases pending in abuse and neglect courts, especially regarding cases to terminate parental rights and cases in which parental rights to a child have been terminated but an adoption of the child has not yet been finalized. Sets forth provisions regarding application requirements, use of funds, number of grants, funds availability, and a report on the use of funds. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Amends the Act to include as a component of the quarterly Federal payments to States for foster care and adoption assistance programs an amount equal to 75 percent of State program expenditures during the quarter for training of judges, judicial personnel, law enforcement personal, agency attorneys, attorneys representing parents in proceedings conducted by or under the supervision of an abuse and neglect court, attorneys representing children in such proceedings, guardians ad litem, and volunteers who participate in court-appointed special advocate programs to the extent such training is related to provisions of and amendments made by ASFA, provided that any such training that is offered to judges or other judicial personnel shall be offered by or under contract with the State or local agency in collaboration with the judicial conference or other appropriate judicial governing body operating in the State. (Sec. 7) Amends the Act to require the State plan, in order for a State to be eligible for such payments, to provide that the State (by January 1, 2001) develop and encourage the implementation of guidelines for all agency attorneys, including legal education requirements for such attorneys regarding the handling of abuse, neglect, and dependency proceedings. (Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance, training, and evaluations authorized under this section through grants, contracts, or cooperative arrangements with other entities, and ensure that entities that have not had a previous contractual relationship with a Federal agency can compete for such grants. Provides that technical assistance shall be provided for the purpose of supporting and assisting State and local courts that handle child abuse, neglect, and dependency matters to effectively carry out new responsibilities enacted as part of ASFA and to speed the process of adoption of children and legal finalization of permanent families for children in foster care by improving practices of the courts involved in that process. Sets forth provisions regarding permissible activities under this section, including specialized training on child development that is appropriate for court-related personnel and the development of standards of practice for agency attorneys. Requires that any training offered to judicial personnel be offered in collaboration with the judicial conference or other appropriate judicial governing body. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 9) Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to make a grant to the National Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association for purposes of: (1) expanding the recruitment of, and building the capacity of, court- appointed special advocate programs located in the 15 largest urban areas; (2) developing regional, multijurisdictional special advocate programs serving rural areas; and (3) providing training and supervision of volunteers in special advocate programs. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) limits on administrative expenditures; and (2) determination of what constitutes urban and rural areas. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Expresses support for the U.S. military personnel who are engaged in military operations against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and recognizes their professionalism, dedication, patriotism, and courage.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Veterans Expedited Military Medals Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to make available to specified military organizations necessary funds for eliminating the backlog of unsatisfied requests made to the Department of Defense for the issuance or replacement of military decorations for former military personnel. Requires a report from the Secretary to Congress on the status of such backlog.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: United States Central Authority Title II: Accreditation of Persons Providing Intercountry Adoption Services Title III: Recognition of Convention Adoptions in the United States Title IV: Administration and Enforcement Title V: General Provisions Intercountry Adoption Convention Implementation Act of 1999 - Title I: United States Central Authority - Requires all central authority functions of the United States with respect to implementation of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption done at the Hague on May 29, 1993, to be carried out by the Department of State through the Secretary of State. Requires all State Department personnel performing central authority functions to have three to five years experience in international adoptions. Outlines responsibilities of the Secretary, including liaison, information exchange, and other coordination activities relating to the Convention. (Sec. 104) Requires the Attorney General to be responsible for the filing of applications by prospective adoptive parents to the central authority of their country of residence. (Sec. 105) Requires annual reports from the Secretary to Congress describing activities of the U.S. central authority during the previous year. Title II: Accreditation of Persons Providing Intercountry Adoption Services - Prohibits any person from providing adoption services in connection with a Convention adoption unless that person is: (1) accredited by an accrediting authority under this title; or (2) providing such services through or under the supervision and responsibility of an accredited person. Provides exceptions for: (1) social work professionals or organizations performing background studies and related activities; (2) entities providing child welfare services, but not arranging the adoption; (3) attorneys providing legal services; and (4) prospective adoptive parents acting on their own behalf. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary to designate as accrediting entities, and enter into agreements with, no more than five nonprofit private entities that have experience and expertise in developing and administering international adoption services and standards for entities providing child welfare services. Requires such entities to accredit persons for the performance of functions under the Convention, and to undertake related oversight and enforcement activities. Provides administrative procedures for denial, suspension, or cancellation of accreditation, mandated corrective action, or other adverse action against a person. Allows fees to be charged for persons seeking accreditation for Convention intercountry adoptions. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to establish standards and procedures to be used by entities for the accreditation of persons arranging Convention adoptions. Outlines accreditation standards, requirements, and conditions. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary to: (1) monitor each entity's performance of accrediting functions and compliance with appropriate regulations; and (2) suspend or cancel the accreditation of an entity found to be substantially out of compliance with the Convention, this Act, or other appropriate laws or regulations. Authorizes the Secretary to debar an entity from accreditation activities, under certain conditions. Provides judicial review of the Secretary's decisions under this section. Title III: Recognition of Convention Adoptions in the United States - Directs the Secretary, with respect to each Convention adoption, to issue a certificate to the adoptive citizen parent domiciled in the United States recognizing the legal effect, for purposes of emigration and adoption, of a Convention adoption, as long as the Secretary has received appropriate documentation from the central authority of the child's country of origin and has verified that other requirements of this Act have been met. Provides for U.S. recognition of adoptions finalized in other Convention countries. (Sec. 302) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include: (1) under its definition of "child" a child adopted through the Convention; (2) under its immigration approval procedures a child for whom the Secretary has certified that a U.S. citizen has effected final adoption under the Convention. (Sec. 303) Outlines procedures for the adoption in any other Convention country of a child residing in the United States, requiring certain written documentation by the accredited person or the prospective parents acting on their own behalf (if so permitted in such country). States that an order by a State court certifying such an adoption as final or granting custody for adoption shall not be recognized by the Secretary or the Attorney General unless such court: (1) has received and verified the above information and documentation, as well as evidence that other Convention requirements have been met; and (2) has determined that the adoptive placement is in the child's best interests. Provides special rules for unusual adoptions and harmless violations of Convention requirements. (Sec. 305) Authorizes a State court to void a Convention adoption if: (1) the adoption decree was granted by a State court; (2) the court finds clear and convincing evidence that adoptive consent was obtained through fraud, duress, or improper inducement; (3) voiding such adoption is in the best interests of the child; (4) less than two years have passed since the adoptive parents obtained custody; and (5) the adoptive parents are afforded an opportunity to be heard in such proceedings. Recognizes another country's proceedings vacating such adoptions. States that the voiding of such an adoption does not void or prohibit the naturalization of such child as a U.S. citizen. (Sec. 306) Recognizes adoptions between two Convention countries that occur before Convention recognition within the United States. Title IV: Administration and Enforcement - Provides for: (1) the retention and identification of Convention adoption records; (2) the nondisclosure of identifying information contained in such records (with exceptions under the Freedom of Information Act and for Convention administration); and (3) recognition of Convention documents of other countries. (Sec. 403) Authorizes appropriations for Convention implementation. (Sec. 404) Provides civil penalties and other enforcement procedures for violations of this Act. Title V: General Provisions - States that the Convention and this Act shall have no effect on: (1) Federal, State, or local law; (2) provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act; or (3) State adoption licensing laws.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person engaged in a gambling business to use the Internet or any other interactive computer service (service) to: (1) place, receive, or otherwise make a bet or wager; or (2) send, receive, or invite information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager. Prescribes penalties. Lists exceptions to such prohibition, including certain State and multi-State lotteries and authorized horse racing. Grants the district courts original and exclusive jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of this Act. Authorizes the United States or a State attorney general to institute such proceedings. Exempts from liability under this Act any service provider who, after being properly notified by a Federal or State law enforcement agency that a particular online site of such provider is being used to violate this Act, removes or disables access to such site. Authorizes alternative injunctive relief against such a provider, under certain limitations and considerations. Preempts applicable State law. Directs the Attorney General to submit to Congress: (1) an analysis of the problems associated with enforcing this Act; (2) recommendations for the best use of Department of Justice resources for enforcement; and (3) an estimate of the amount of activity and money being used to gamble on the Internet.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permanently extend the credit for increasing research activities; and (2) increase the incremental rates for the alternative research credit.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1999
Agriculture Market Transparency Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot program requiring certain packers to report to the Secretary with respect to prices, volume, and terms of sale for domestic and imported livestock and livestock products. Directs the Secretary to encourage voluntary reporting by other packers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of making medical assistance for breast and cervical cancer-related treatment services available during a presumptive eligibility period to certain low-income women without creditable coverage who have already been screened for such cancers under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breast and cervical cancer early detection program and need treatment. Provides for an enhanced match with regard to such Medicaid treatment services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Pension Right to Know Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to set forth notice requirements for large pension plans which significantly reduce future benefit accruals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Historic Homeownership Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 20 percent of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures made by a taxpayer with respect to a qualified historic home which has been substantially rehabilitated and which is owned by the taxpayer and used as his or her principal residence. Allows the credit for such expenditures to be taken by a purchaser of the rehabilitated home. Permits, in lieu of the credit, a historic rehabilitation mortgage credit certificate, which may be transferred to a lender in exchange for a reduction in the rate of interest on the loan secured by the building.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Needs-Based Bankruptcy Title II: Enhanced Consumer Protection Subtitle A: Penalties for Abusive Creditor Practices Subtitle B: Priority Child Support Subtitle C: Other Consumer Protections Title III: Discouraging Bankruptcy Abuse Title IV: General and Small Business Bankruptcy Provisions Subtitle A: General Business Bankruptcy Provisions Subtitle B: Small Business Bankruptcy Provisions Title V: Municipal Bankruptcy Provisions Title VI: Improved Bankruptcy Statistics and Data Title VII: Bankruptcy Tax Provisions Title VIII: Ancillary and Other Cross-Border Cases Title IX: Financial Contract Provisions Title X: Protection of Family Farmers Title XI: Health Care and Employee Benefits Title XII: Technical Amendments Title XIII: General Effective Date; Application of Amendments Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999- Title I: Needs Based Bankruptcy - Amends Federal bankruptcy law to revamp guidelines governing dismissal or conversion of a Chapter 7 liquidation petition (complete relief in bankruptcy), to one under Chapter 13 (Adjustment of Debts of an Individual with Regular Income). Allows a bankruptcy panel trustee and any party in interest to move for such dismissal or conversion (current law prohibits such party in interest from such motions). Lowers the "substantial abuse" standard for dismissal or conversion to one of simple abuse. Replaces the presumption in favor of granting the relief sought by the debtor with a presumption that abuse exists if the debtor's current monthly income exceeds specified formulae. Provides that the presumption of abuse may be rebutted only with detailed documentation of special circumstances requiring additional expenses or adjustment of currently monthly total income. Requires the debtor's counsel to: (1) reimburse the bankruptcy trustee for legal fees in prosecuting a dismissal or conversion motion if the court finds that counsel's filing under chapter 7 was not substantially justified; and (2) pay a civil penalty for the violation of certain bankruptcy rules. (Sec. 103) Revises procedural guidelines to mandate written notice to the individual consumer debtor before commencement of a case that credit counseling services approved by the United States Trustee are available. (Sec. 104) Instructs the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees to: (1) develop a financial management training curriculum and materials to educate individual debtors on how to better manage their finances; and (2) evaluate and report to the Congress on the curriculum's efficacy. (Sec. 105) Precludes an individual debtor from filing under Federal bankruptcy law unless the individual has received a briefing from an approved nonprofit credit counseling service prior to filing a bankruptcy petition. Predicates a chapter 7 or chapter 13 discharge in bankruptcy upon the debtor's completion of an approved instructional course concerning personal financial management. Title II: Enhanced Consumer Protection - Subtitle A: Penalties for Abusive Creditor Practices - Cites circumstances under which the court may reduce by up to 20 percent a claim based upon unsecured consumer debts if the debtor can show by clear and convincing evidence that the claim was filed by a creditor who unreasonably refused to negotiate a reasonable alternative repayment schedule proposed by an approved credit counseling agency acting on the debtor's behalf. (Sec. 202) Modifies guidelines governing the discharge of a debtor's liability, as well as the automatic stay, to entitle an individual who is injured by the willful failure of a creditor to credit payments received to bring an action for actual damages and legal fees. (Sec. 203) Includes as a violation of automatic stay proscriptions any communication threatening a debtor for the purpose of coercing an agreement for a debt reaffirmation. (Sec. 204) Modifies debt reaffirmation guidelines governing wholly unsecured consumer debts to mandate additional disclosures for dischargable debt agreements. Instructs the Attorney General to designate United States attorneys and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to implement enforcement activities in addressing abusive reaffirmations of debt. Subtitle B: Priority Child Support - Revises chapter 7 priority payment guidelines to place within the first priority claim category certain claims for domestic support obligations, on the condition that funds received by a governmental unit be applied in a prescribed order. (Sec. 212) Conditions court confirmation of a chapter 11 or chapter 13 plan (and its consequent discharge of debts) upon certification of debtor's payment of domestic support obligations that are due after the petition filing date. (Sec. 213) Excepts from an automatic stay specified choses-in-action pertaining to domestic support obligations, including: (1) establishment of paternity; (2) suspension of drivers' licenses and professional licenses; (3) interception of tax refunds; and (4) enforcement of medical obligations under title IV, part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act. (Sec. 215) Modifies guidelines governing property exempt from the bankruptcy estate to declare such property liable for domestic support obligations. (Sec. 216) Precludes the bankruptcy trustee from avoiding a transfer that is a bona fide payment of a debt for a domestic support obligation. (Sec. 217) Sets forth the duties of the bankruptcy trustee under chapters 7 and 13 regarding a claim against an individual debtor for the collection of child support, including notifying the claim holder and the appropriate State child support agency of the debtor's location. Subtitle C: Other Consumer Protections - Mandates specified notices and disclosures to a debtor by a debt relief counseling agency. (Sec. 223) Sets forth a debtor's bill of rights which such agency must observe. (Sec. 224) Declares invalid any waiver of debtor protections by the assisted person. Prescribes enforcement guidelines. (Sec. 225) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should develop curricula relating to the subject of personal finance, designed for use in elementary and secondary schools. (Sec. 226) Places in the tenth order of prioritized claims against the bankrupt estate any death or personal injury claims resulting from the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle or vessel because the debtor was drug or alcohol-impaired. Title III: Discouraging Bankruptcy Abuse - Modifies exceptions to a discharge in bankruptcy to prohibit discharge of a filing fee imposed by any court upon a prisoner. (Sec. 302) Terminates the automatic stay 30 days after filing of a petition if a chapter 7, 11, or 13 petition was pending and dismissed the previous year, unless the subsequent filing is in good faith. Delineates conditions under which a history of previous petitions in bankruptcy give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the case is not filed in good faith. (Sec. 303) Directs the court to grant relief from the automatic stay upon request of a party in interest with respect to certain real property actions if the court finds that filing the bankruptcy petition was part of a scheme to delay, hinder, and defraud creditors. Denies automatic stay protections regarding certain creditors' enforcement actions against real property for a specified period following a prior order in bankruptcy which forbade the debtor from being a debtor in another bankruptcy case. (Sec. 304) Modifies debtor's duties to mandate specified affirmative actions to be taken by a chapter 7 debtor, including reaffirmation of the debt, or redemption of the property within 45 days, in order to retain possession of personal property. Allows a creditor to take action with respect to such property under nonbankruptcy law if the debtor fails to act within 45 days, unless the court determines upon trustee motion that such property is consequential value or benefit to the estate. (Sec. 305) Declares that the automatic stay is terminated regarding property of the debtor's estate securing a claim or subject to an unexpired lease, if the debtor fails to complete an intended surrender of consumer debt collateral within a revised, accelerated time frame (unless the court determines upon trustee motion that such property is of consequential value or benefit to the estate). (Sec. 306) Instructs the bankruptcy court to confirm a chapter 13 plan if it provides that the holder of a secured allowed claim shall retain the attendant lien until payment or discharge of all debts. Provides that if a chapter 13 proceeding is dismissed or converted without completion of the plan, the holder shall retain such lien to the extent recognized by applicable nonbankruptcy law. Provides that statutory guidelines to determine the secured status of a creditor's claim do not apply if the underlying debt was incurred within the five-year period preceding the filing of the bankruptcy petition and the collateral for that debt consists of a motor vehicle acquired for the debtor's personal use (or if the collateral consists of any other thing of value if the debt was incurred during the six- month period preceding such filing). (Sec. 307)Increases from 180 to 730 days the length of a debtor's location of domicile for purposes of determining which State law governs the debtor's selection of property exempt from the bankrupt estate. (Sec. 308) Reduces the value of homestead exemption and debtor's burial plot to the extent it is attributable to any portion of any property that is disposed by the debtor within the 730-day period ending on the bankruptcy petition filing date with the intent to obstruct or defraud a creditor, and that the debtor could not exempt. (Sec. 309) Revamps prescriptions governing the effects of conversion from chapter 13 to another chapter. Declares that: (1) valuations of property and of allowed secured claims in a chapter 13 case shall not apply in a case converted to chapter 7; and (2) with respect to cases converted from chapter 13, the claim of any creditor holding security as of the date of the petition shall continue to be secured by that security unless the full amount of that claim, as determined under applicable nonbankruptcy law, has been paid in full as of the date of conversion. States that a prebankruptcy default shall have the effect given under applicable nonbankruptcy law unless it has been fully cured pursuant to the plan at the time of conversion. Provides for a chapter 7 debtor's assumption of executory contracts and unexpired leases of personal property. Declares that in a chapter 11 case in which the debtor is an individual, and in a chapter 13 case, if the lease is not assumed in the plan, it is rejected (and no longer subject to an automatic stay) as of the plan's confirmation date. Delineates a cash payment plan for chapter 13 debtors for payments to any lessor of personal property and to any creditor holding a claim secured by personal property to the extent such claim is attributable to the debtor's purchase of such property. (Sec. 310) Reduces from the threshold amounts of luxury goods and consumer credit cash advances presumed nondischargeable in bankruptcy, if acquired within 90 days and 70 days, respectively (currently 60 days) before an order for relief is issued. (Sec. 311) Precludes an automatic stay of any eviction, unlawful detainer action, or similar proceeding by a lessor against a debtor involving residential real property in which: (1) the debtor resides and has not paid rent after the commencement and during the course of the case; (2) the rental agreement has terminated; (3) the debtor has previously filed within the last year and failed to pay post-petition rent during the course of that case; or (4) eviction actions are based upon endangerment to property or person or the use of illegal drugs. (Sec. 312) Extends the period between chapter 7 discharges to eight years, and between chapter 13 discharges to five years. (Sec. 314) Declares nondischargeable in bankruptcy: (1) debts intentionally incurred to pay a nondischargeable debt with the intent to discharge the newly-created debt; and (2) all debts incurred to pay nondischargeable debts, without regard to intent, if incurred within 70 days of the filing of the petition. Treats a debt incurred to pay child or spousal support as a dischargable debt (in order to preclude such support from having to compete with the nondischargeable debt). Revamps Chapter 13 debt discharge guidelines. Prohibits discharge from a debt for restitution or damages awarded in a civil action against the debtor for willful or malicious injury that caused personal injury or death of an individual. (Sec. 315) Prescribes notice procedures for chapter 7 and chapter 13 creditors. Expands debtor's duties to require filing with the bankruptcy court: (1) all tax returns; (2) evidence of payments received; (3) monthly net income projections; and (4) anticipated debt or expenditure increases. Permits a chapter 7 or chapter 13 creditor to request the debtor's petition, schedules and statement of affairs, including the debt adjustment plan filed by the debtor. Mandates debtor compliance within five days of such request. Mandates that, at the time of filing with the taxing authority, a chapter 7 or 13 debtor file with the bankruptcy court specified tax documentation pertaining to the period from case commencement until case termination. Requires a chapter 13 debtor to file with the court a statement of income and expenditures in the preceding tax year, and monthly net income, showing how calculated. Makes debtor's mandatory documentation available for inspection and copying to certain bankruptcy officers and any party in interest. Requires debtors to furnish driver's license, passport or other photograph-containing documentation establishing debtor identification. (Sec. 316) Provides for automatic dismissal if a chapter 7 debtor fails to furnish all mandatory information, or fails to timely file the requisite schedules. Requires the court to order dismissal within five days of a request by a party in interest for the debtor's failure to timely submit requisite documentation. (Sec. 317) Requires a Chapter 13 confirmation hearing to be held not later than 45 days after the first meeting of creditors. Mandates filing of a Chapter 13 debt readjustment plan within 90 days of the order for relief. Prohibits such plan (with certain exceptions) from providing for payments over a period that is longer than three years. (Sec. 319) Expresses the sense of the Congress that rule 9011 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure should include a requirement that all debtors' documents be submitted to the court only after debtors have made reasonable inquiry to verify that all information therein is well grounded in fact, and warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for extension, modification or reversal of existing law. (Sec. 320) Revises automatic stay guidelines to provide that in the case of an individual filing under chapters 7, 11, or 13, the automatic stay shall terminate 60 days after a request for its release by a party in interest, unless the court orders or the parties agree to a longer time. Title IV: General and Small Business Bankruptcy Provisions - Subtitle A: General Business Bankruptcy Provisions - Revises circumstances under which enforcement of rights and remedies of a secured party in either rolling stock equipment, or aircraft equipment and vessels, is subject to the automatic stay. (Sec. 402) Denies a debtor an automatic stay of the commencement of an investigation or action by a securities self-regulatory organization to enforce compliance with its regulations, or of the enforcement of any order or decision obtained by such an organization, other than for monetary sanctions. (Sec. 403) Authorizes the bankruptcy court, upon request of a party in interest, to order that the U.S. trustee not convene a meeting of creditors or equity security holders if the debtor has filed a plan for which acceptances have been solicited before commencement of the case. (Sec. 405) Amends guidelines for rejection and surrender of executory contracts and unexpired leases. (Sec. 407) Prohibits the bankruptcy trustee from avoiding a warehouseman's lien for costs incidental to the storage and handling of certain goods. (Sec. 409) Directs the bankruptcy court to treat the compensation awarded a trustee as a commission based on the results achieved. (Sec. 410) States that acceptance or rejection of a chapter 11 plan may be solicited from a holder of a claim or interest if: (1) the solicitation complies with applicable nonbankruptcy law; and (2) it was made before commencement of the case in a manner complying with applicable nonbankruptcy law. (Sec. 411) Prohibits the bankruptcy trustee from avoiding a transfer if, in a case filed by a debtor whose debts are not primarily consumer debts, the aggregate value of all property that constitutes or is affected by such transfer is less than $5,000. (Sec. 413) Limits the extensions of time permitted for filing a chapter 11 reorganization plan. (Sec. 414) Denies a discharge in bankruptcy for a debt for a fee or assessment arising from a debtor's interest in a lot in a homeowners association for as long as the debtor retains specified interests in such lot. (Sec. 415) Authorizes a creditor holding a consumer debt to participate in a meeting of creditors in a chapter 7 or 13 case, either alone or in conjunction with an attorney. (Sec. 416) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the requirement that a chapter 11 debtor pay quarterly fees to the U.S. Trustee for disbursements made during a quarter. Requires debtors with disbursements of less than $300,000 to pay such fee only until the case is converted or plan confirmation is obtained, whichever occurs first. (Sec. 417) Removes investment bankers from the definition of "disinterested person." Subtitle B: Small Business Bankruptcy Provisions - Sets forth mandatory factors for court consideration in determining whether the disclosure statement regarding a small business reorganization plan provides adequate information. (Sec. 422) Defines a small business debtor, generally, as a person (including a debtor affiliate) with not more than $4 million in aggregate non-contingent, liquidated secured and unsecured debts as of the date of the petition or the order for relief (excluding debts owed to one or more affiliates or insiders). (Sec. 423) Directs the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference (Advisory Committee) to propose for adoption standardized disclosure statements and plans of reorganization for small business debtors. (Sec. 424) Sets forth uniform national reporting requirements for small business debtors. (Sec. 425) Directs the Advisory Committee to propose for adoption revisions to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and Official Bankruptcy Forms enabling small business debtors to comply with such uniform national reporting requirements. (Sec. 426) Sets forth duties and administrative procedures in small business reorganization cases, including serial filer provisions and expanded grounds for dismissal or conversion and appointment of a trustee. (Sec. 434) Directs the Small Business Administration to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the factors that cause small businesses to become debtors in bankruptcy; and (2) how Federal bankruptcy laws can be made more efficient in assisting small businesses to retain their viability. (Sec. 435) Revises the circumstance where a debtor has commenced monthly payments to each secured interest creditor to allow the debtor, in the debtor's sole discretion, to make such payments from rents or other income generated before or after the commencement of the case by or from the property. Requires such payments in an amount equal to the interest on the value of the creditor's interest in the real estate, determined at the then-applicable contract rate of interest (currently, at the fair market rate). Title V: Municipal Bankruptcy Provisions - Makes technical amendments to requirements for a municipal bankruptcy petition. Title VI: Improved Bankruptcy Statistics and Data - Requires each U.S. trustee to report to the Attorney General on audit results. Requires the Attorney General to establish random audits of individual cases. (Sec. 601) Amends the Federal judicial code to require the clerk of each district to compile bankruptcy statistics for individual debtors with primarily consumer debts seeking relief under chapters 7, 11, and 13. Directs the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (Administrative Office) to make such statistics public and to report them annually to the Congress. (Sec. 603) Instructs the Attorney General to promulgate requirements for uniform forms for: (1) final reports by trustees in cases under chapters 7, 12, and 13; and (2) periodic reports by chapter 11 debtors or trustees in possession. Prescribes report contents. (Sec. 604) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national policy should be that: (1) all public record data held in electronic form by bankruptcy clerks should be released in electronic form in bulk to the public subject to appropriate privacy concerns and safeguards as the Judicial Conference of the United States may determine; and (2) a bankruptcy data system should be established in which a single set of data definitions are used to collect data nationwide, and in which all data for any particular bankruptcy case are aggregated in the same electronic record. Title VII: Bankruptcy Tax Provisions - Amends the bankruptcy code to modify the treatment of certain tax liens. (Sec. 702) Requires a debtor indebted to a governmental unit to furnish specified information concerning such debt, including the underlying basis for the governmental unit's claim. Requires the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference to propose for adoption enhanced rules for providing notice to Federal, State, and local government units that have regulatory authority over the debtor or which may be creditors in the debtor's case. (Sec. 704) Prescribes the rate of interest to be paid on mandatory interest payments on tax claims. (Sec. 705) Revises the specifications for income tax claims receiving eighth priority (allowed unsecured claims of governmental units). Provides for tolling of the time periods covering such tax claims for stays of proceedings in a prior bankruptcy case, and the pendency or effect of offers in compromise or installment agreements. (Sec. 708) States that confirmation of a bankruptcy plan does not discharge a corporate debtor from any debt for a tax or customs duty with respect to which the debtor made a fraudulent return or willfully attempted to evade or defeat such tax. (Sec. 709) Amends the automatic stay of U.S. Tax Court proceedings concerning the debtor to restrict such stay to tax liability for a taxable period ending before the order for relief. States that the filing of a bankruptcy petition does not operate as a stay of an appeal from a judicial or administrative determination of the debtor's tax liability without regard to whether such determination was made prepetition or postpetition. (Sec. 710) Includes among the requirements for court confirmation of a chapter 11 bankruptcy plan which includes tax claims, that the debtor, at the minimum, make regular cash installment payments, but in no case with a balloon provision, and no more than three months apart, beginning no later than the effective date of the plan and ending on the earlier of five years after the petition date or the last date payments are to be made under the plan to unsecured creditors. (Sec. 711) Prohibits the avoidance of statutory tax liens by certain purchasers. (Sec. 712) Amends the Federal judicial code to require officers and agents conducting any business under court authority to pay all Federal, State and local taxes when due in the course of the business, unless it is a property tax secured by a lien against estate property which is abandoned by the bankruptcy trustee, or payment of the tax is excused under a specific bankruptcy law. Cites circumstances in which payment of such taxes may be deferred in a case pending under chapter 7 until final distribution is made. Entitles to administrative expense priority payment certain secured and postpetition unsecured taxes incurred by the bankruptcy estate, including ad valorem property taxes. Declares that a governmental unit shall not be required to file a request for the payment of administrative expenses relating to a tax liability or tax penalty. Allows a trustee to recover from property securing a claim for the payment of all ad valorem property taxes relating to such property. (Sec. 713) Requires as a condition for payment of tardily filed priority tax claims that they be filed either before the trustee commences distribution or ten days following the mailing to creditors of the summary of the trustee's final report, whichever is earlier (currently, before the trustee commences distribution of the estate). (Sec. 714) Makes nondischargeable any obligations based on income tax returns prepared by tax authorities. (Sec. 715) Declares that an estate's liability for unpaid tax is discharged upon payment of such tax according to certain requirements. (Sec. 716) Conditions court confirmation of a chapter 13 bankruptcy plan upon filing by the debtor: (1) of all prepetition tax returns; and (2) before the day on which the first meeting of thecreditors is convened, of all tax returns for taxable periods endingin the three-year period that ends on the date of the filing of thepetition. Authorizes the court to dismiss a plan, if a chapter 13debtor fails to comply with such time frame. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Advisory Committee onBankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference should propose foradoption amended Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure pertaining toobjections to tax claims and to plan confirmation. (Sec. 717) Redefines "adequate disclosure," for postpetition disclosure and solicitation purposes, to include full discussion ofthe potential material Federal and State tax consequences of the plan to the debtor and to a hypothetical investor domiciled in the State in which the debtor resides or has its principal place of business typical of the holders of claims or interests in the case. (Sec. 718) Denies an automatic stay, unless specified conditions are met, to the setoff of an income tax refund for a taxable periodwhich ended before the order for relief against an income tax liability for a taxable period which also ended before the order forrelief. Title VIII: Ancillary and Other Cross-Border Cases - Expands thescope of bankruptcy law to incorporate the Model Law on Cross-BorderInsolvency, and to establish a statutory mechanism for: (1) dealingwith cases of cross-border insolvency; and (2) cooperation betweenU.S. courts, trustees, and debtors and their foreign counterparts. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) access by foreign representatives and creditors to Federal and Statecourts; (2) recognition of a foreign proceeding and relief; (3) cooperation and direct communication with foreign courts and representatives; and (4) concurrent proceedings and the coordination of foreign and domestic proceedings. Title IX: Financial Contract Provisions - Amends Federal bankruptcy provisions to: (1) deny an automatic stay to set-offs under certain swap agreements and netting agreements; and (2) restrict the avoidance power of the bankruptcy trustee regarding certain master netting agreement transfers to those transfers that are fraudulent in nature. Sets forth statutory guidelines for: (1) the termination or acceleration of designated contracts and agreements; and (2) commodity broker and stockbroker liquidation with respect to the priority of unsecured claims, or customer property or distributions. (Sec. 902) Specifies the date for the measure of damages in connection with: (1) rejection by the bankruptcy trustee of designated contracts and agreements relating to executory contracts and unexpired leases; or (2) the liquidation, acceleration, or termination of such contracts and agreements. (Sec. 903) Declares that property of the bankrupt estate does not include any eligible asset (or its proceeds) to the extent that it was transferred by the debtor before commencement of the case to an eligible entity in connection with an asset-backed securitization (except to the extent that such asset, or its proceeds or value, may be recovered through avoidance by the bankruptcy trustee). Title X: Protection of Family Farmers - Amends the Federal bankruptcy provisions to: (1) reenact Chapter 12, Adjustment of Debts of a Family Farmer with Regular Annual Income, (thereby reinstating family farmer bankruptcy relief); (2) define a family farmer as one whose gross income of more than 50 percent from a farming operation was received during at least one of the three taxable years preceding the taxable year in which the bankruptcy petition was filed (thus relaxing eligibility criteria from one year to three years); and (3) cite circumstances under which the claim of a governmental unit that arises as a result of the disposition of a farm asset used in thedebtor's farming operation shall be treated as an unsecured claim that is not entitled to priority. Title XI: Health Care and Employee Benefits - Amends bankruptcy provisions to prescribe guidelines for disposal of the patient records of a health care business (including a hospital, a health maintenance organization, or a nursing home) that commences a proceeding for debtor relief. Provides for disposal with a State or Federal agency, the patient or an insurance provider, or by destruction. (Sec. 1103) Allows an administrative expense claim for the costs of closing a health care business, including disposal of patient records and transfer of patients to another health care business. (Sec. 1104) Requires the bankruptcy court to appoint an ombudsman to represent the interests of the patients of a health care business within 30 days after commencement of a case under chapter 7 (Liquidation), 9 (Adjustment of Debts of a Municipality), or 11 (Reorganization). (Sec. 1105) Requires the bankruptcy trustee to use all reasonable and best efforts to transfer patients from the health care business in the process of being closed to an appropriate substitute. Title XII: Technical Amendments - Makes technical corrections to Federal bankruptcy, judicial, and criminal law. Redefines single asset real estate to exclude family farms and to repeal the $4 million ceiling on the amount of noncontingent, liquidated secured debts on such property. Defines the term "transfer" to include: (1) creation of a lien; (2) retention of title as a security interest; (3) foreclosure of the debtor's equity of redemption; and (4) every mode of disposing of property or parting with an interest in property. (Sec. 1202) Requires triennial adjustment of: (1) the $5,000 value of certain implements, professional books, tools of the trade, farm animals, and crops which a debtor may exempt from the property of the estate (protecting them from creditors' liens); and (2) the national median household income calculated monthly. (Sec. 1206) Provides that a trustee or a creditors' and equity security holders' committee may pay a professional person they employ on a fixed or percentage fee basis, as well as on other bases already permitted. (Sec. 1211) Excludes from compensable professional services any expenses incurred by an individual member of a creditors' and equity security holders' committee. (Sec. 1213) Revises the prohibition against debtor avoidance of certain judicial liens in connection with a liability designated as, and actually in the nature of, alimony, maintenance, or support. (Sec. 1214) Declares nondischargeable in bankruptcy a debt for death or personal injury caused by the debtor's operation of a watercraft or aircraft while intoxicated from alcohol, a drug, or other substance. Limits the nondischargeability of fees imposed by a court to fees so imposed on a prisoner. (Sec. 1219) Revises guidelines governing preferences to provide that, if the trustee avoids a security interest given between 90 days and one year before the date of the filing of the petition, by the debtor to a non-insider for the benefit of a creditor that is an insider, then such security interest shall be considered to be avoided only with respect to the insider creditor. (Sec. 1225) Permits the bankruptcy trustee to sell, use, or lease property in accordance with nonbankruptcy law governing the transfer of property by nonprofit charitable corporations, if doing so is not inconsistent with certain relief granted under the automatic stay. (Sec. 1226) Extends from 20 to 30 days the length of time after a debtor receives possession of property for perfection of a security interest in such property created by a transfer which the trustee may not avoid. (Sec. 1228) Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal judicial code to mandate appointments for additional temporary bankruptcy judgeships in California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. Provides that the first vacancy occurring in such agdistrict five years or more after a judge is appointed under this Act shall not be filled. Extends temporary bankruptcy judgeship positions authorized for the northern district of Alabama, the eastern district of Tennessee, and the districts of Delaware, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina. Directs each chief bankruptcy judge to report annually to the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on the travel expenses of each bankruptcy judge assigned to the applicable district. Title XIII: General Effective Date; Application of Amendments - Sets forth the effective date of this Act and the application of its amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for persons who, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully cause bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device, attempt to cause such injury, because of the actual or perceived: (1) race, color, religion, or national origin of any person; or (2) religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of any person, where 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 where the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce. (Sec. 5) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to study the issue of, 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. (Sec. 6) Requires the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. Authorizes appropriations, including programs to train local law enforcement officers in investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes. (Sec. 7) Authorizes appropriations to the Department of the Treasury and to DOJ to increase the number of personnel to prevent and respond to alleged violations of provisions regarding interference with specified federally protected activities, such as voting.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Printed Circuit Investment Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify as three-year depreciable property any printed wiring board or printed wiring assembly equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Immunosuppressive Drugs Coverage Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the time limitation on Medicare benefits for immunosuppressive drugs under the Medicare program; (2) continue the entitlement of certain individuals to payments for such drugs after Medicare benefits end; and (3) extend without time limitation certain Medicare secondary payer requirements with regard to such drugs for individuals with end stage renal disease.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Recognizes and honors Joe DiMaggio for his storied baseball career, for his many contributions to the nation, and for transcending baseball and becoming a symbol of talent, commitment, and achievement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Commends U.S. Senator J. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska, on the 30th anniversary of the events giving rise to his receiving the Medal of Honor, for service to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1999
Medical Information Privacy and Security Act - Title I: Individuals' Rights - Subtitle A: Access to Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information - Requires specified parties to permit an individual who is the subject of protected health information to inspect and copy the information. (The list of specified parties varies throughout this Act and includes such individuals and entities as health care providers, health plans, health oversight agencies, public health authorities, employers, health researchers, law enforcement officials, health or life insurers, schools, universities, emergency medical personnel, and their agents.) Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) supplements to protected information; and (2) the provision of notice of privacy practices. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires specified parties to establish safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, security, accuracy, and integrity of protected health information. Mandates development of model safeguard guidelines. Requires specified parties to establish a record of disclosures not related to payment or treatment. Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure - Prohibits specified parties from disclosing protected health information, except as authorized under this title. Allows disclosure if authorized by the information subject. Mandates model written authorizations and model limitations. Provides for segregation of files on request, authorization revocation, and records of authorizations and revocations. (Sec. 203) Sets forth rules governing authorizations for disclosure of protected information for purposes other than for treatment or payment. Mandates model authorizations. (Sec. 204) Allows any person to disclose protected health information: (1) in order to allay or remedy a threat of imminent physical or mental harm to an information subject; and (2) if there is an identifiable threat of serious injury or death to an identifiable individual or group and other requirements are met. (Sec. 205) Authorizes disclosure to: (1) a public health authority; (2) certain protection and advocacy agencies if an individual is vulnerable to abuse or neglect by an agency providing health or social services; (3) a health oversight agency, under specified circumstances; and (4) on court order, a law enforcement authority. (Sec. 209) Regulates disclosure: (1) to next of kin; and (2) in directories of individuals admitted to a facility. (Sec. 210) Applies the requirements and protections of specified parts of the Code of Federal Regulations to research conducted by all research facilities using personally identifiable health information. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the Congress whether written informed consent should be required and, if so, under what circumstances, before personally identifiable data can be used for medical research. (Sec. 211) Allows specified parties to disclose for certain judicial and administrative purposes. (Sec. 212) Sets forth a sequence regulating who may exercise an individual's rights under this Act when the individual cannot knowingly or effectively do so, designating first a person named in a health care power of attorney, then an individual authorized by law or by an instrument recognized under law to act as the individual's representative, then next of kin, and last the health care provider, in each case moving to the next level if the person cannot be contacted after a reasonable effort. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) the rights of minors; and (2) deceased individuals. (Sec. 213) Prohibits retaliation for the exercise of rights under this Act or disclosure of information regarding a possible violation of this Act. Title III: Office of Health Information Privacy of the Department of Health and Human Services - Subtitle A: Designation - Establishes the Office of Health Information Privacy, including in its duties receiving and investigating violation complaints and providing for the conduct of audits. Subtitle B: Enforcement - Chapter 1: Criminal Provisions - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties for knowingly and intentionally obtaining or disclosing protected health information in violation of title II of this Act. (Sec. 312) Mandates regulations and procedures to permit the debarment of specified parties from receiving benefits under any Federal health programs if the managers or officers are found guilty of such obtaining or disclosing. Authorizes the Attorney General to provide advice, technical assistance, and guidance to reduce improper disclosure. Chapter 2: Civil Sanctions - Imposes civil monetary penalties on specified parties if the Office determines a party has substantially and materially failed to comply with this Act. (Sec. 323) Allows any individual whose rights under this Act have been knowingly or negligently violated to bring a civil action to recover preliminary and equitable relief, compensatory (or specified liquidated) damages, punitive damages (for knowing violations), and attorney's fees. Sets a time limit for the commencement of actions. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to require an agency that receives protected health information to promulgate rules to exempt a system of records within the agency from all but specified provisions of that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1999
Farm Independence Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to exclude net earnings from a lease agreement (currently, an arrangement) from income with respect to farmland.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1999
Agricultural Trade Freedom Act - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to exempt, with specified exceptions, commercial sales of agricultural commodities from unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States upon another country. States that the President: (1) may determine that for reasons of foreign policy or national security such exemption shall not apply; and (2) shall determine whether such exemption shall apply to each existing sanction. Sets forth related reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to: (1) U.S. agricultural trade negotiation objectives; (2) sale or barter of food assistance; and (3) relief from foreign trade practices restricting U.S. agricultural commodities, including the use of specified agricultural authorities in instances of undue delay in resolving disputes. Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to repeal the micronutrient fortification pilot program. Makes specified amendments to the: (1) Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996; (2) Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990; and (3) Agricultural Trade Act of 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1999
Comprehensive Methamphetamine Abuse Reduction Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act (the Act) to authorize the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public and non-profit private entities to carry out: (1) school-based programs concerning the dangers of methamphetamine abuse and addiction, including initiatives that give students the responsibility to create their own anti-drug abuse education programs for their schools; and (2) community based methamphetamine abuse and addiction prevention programs. Requires that: (1) sums made available be used for planning, establishing, or administering methamphetamine prevention programs; and (2) the Director give priority in making grants to rural and urban areas that are experiencing a high rate or rapid increases in methamphetamine abuse and addiction. Sets forth: (1) provisions regarding allotment of specified sums available for analyses and evaluations of effective prevention programs and the development of strategies for disseminating information about, and implementing, such programs; and (2) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 3) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend existing Federal sentencing guidelines to increase the base offense levels for offenses relating to the manufacture, attempt to manufacture, or conspiracy to manufacture amphetamine or methamphetamine. Authorizes appropriations to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to combat the trafficking of methamphetamine in areas designated by the Director of National Drug Control Policy as high intensity drug trafficking areas. Earmarks specified sums to assist drug analysis laboratories in areas with a high rate of methamphetamine abuse or addiction. (Sec. 4) Amends the Act to authorize the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public and non-profit private entities for the purpose of expanding activities for the treatment of methamphetamine abuse and addiction, and for the treatment of methamphetamine addicts who also abuse other illegal drugs. Sets forth analogous provisions regarding the use of funds, permissible treatment programs and activities, priority in making grants, analyses and evaluation, reporting requirements, and authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 5) Amends the Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to make grants to expand interdisciplinary research relating to methamphetamine abuse and addiction and other biomedical, behavioral, and social issues related to methamphetamine abuse and addiction. Requires the Director to promptly disseminate research results to Federal, State, and local entities involved in combating methamphetamine abuse and addiction. Authorizes appropriations. appropriations. (Sec. 6) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States, State and local courts, local governments, and Indian tribal governments for programs that involve: (1) continuing judicial supervision over offenders with substance abuse problems who are not violent offenders; and (2) the integrated administration of specified other sanctions and services, including mandatory periodic drug testing during any period of supervised release or probation for each participant, referral to a community-based treatment facility, and aftercare services. Directs the Attorney General to suspend funding for any grant upon finding that violent offenders are participating. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Directs: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a National Conference on Methamphetamine Abuse and Treatment; and (2) the Attorney General, jointly with the Secretaries of Education and HHS and the Director of ONDCP, to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to combat the methamphetamine problem in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
New Millennium Classrooms Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase from two to three years the age of computer equipment that corporations may donate to tax-exempt schools and for which they may receive a tax deduction; and (2) allow a business tax credit of 30 percent of the value of computer equipment donated to tax-exempt schools. Increases the amount of such credit to 50 percent for contributions to schools in empowerment zones, enterprise communities, and Indian reservations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Crop Insurance Coverage Title II: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Risk Management Agency Crop Insurance for the 21st Century Act - Title I: Crop Insurance Coverage - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to specify expected market price criteria for revenue or production-based insurance. Provides for 75 percent additional coverage. Revises Federal Crop Insurance Corporation premium subsidy provisions, including making provision for certain mandatory and discretionary payments. (Sec. 102) Provides average production history adjustments for: (1) new producers; (2) producers who are working new land or rotating crops; or (3) producers suffering from multiyear disaster losses. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the Corporation to pay a part of the premiums for specified additional coverage. (Sec. 105) Directs the Office of Risk Management to contract for a rating methodologies development pilot program. (Sec. 106) Includes livestock within crop insurance coverage. Title II: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Risk Management Agency - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to revise the membership of the Corporation's Board of Directors. (Sec. 202) Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to place the Office of Risk Management under the direction of the Board. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Office of Private Sector Partnership to provide specified Board-private sector liaison functions (Sec. 204) Directs the Board to review approved providers' insurance plans for commodity coverage adequacy, including development of insurance plans where appropriate. (Sec. 205) Authorizes specified insurance plan fees. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to carry out a flexible subsidy pilot program to encourage private sector innovation through exclusive marketing rights and premium rate competition.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Graduate Medical Education Technical Amendments of 1999 - Amends part D (Miscellaneous) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA '97), with respect to the ceiling on the total number of full-time equivalent interns and residences in allopathic and osteopathic medicine in either a hospital or nonhospital setting for purposes of indirect and direct graduate medical education (GME) payments. Repeals the current limitation on program residents in a hospital with respect to the hospital's most recent cost reporting period ending on or before December 31, 1996. Replaces such limitation with one based on the number of residents who were appointed by a hospital's approved medical residency training program for such reporting period. Provides that beginning on or after January 1, 1997, in the case of a hospital that sponsors only one allopathic or osteopathic residency program, the new limit determined above for such hospital may, at the hospital's discretion, be increased by one for each calendar year but shall not exceed a total of three more than such limit. Limits to programs established between January 1, 1995, and September 30, 1999, (currently, programs established on or after January 1, 1995) the mandate for special rules applying limitations on interns and residents in any kind of medical residence training program. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in promulgating such rules, to include in the special consideration for facilities meeting the needs of underserved rural areas any facility not located in an underserved rural area which has established a separately accredited rural training track. Makes this Act's amendments effective as if included in the enactment of BBA '97.
![Official portrait of Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c5d339296979dfed1ac5405574a1d7a5_200.jpg)