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United States · Official source
5,439 records where Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Health Insurance Cost Tax Equity Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the deduction of 100 percent of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disregard certain Native American housing assistance in determining whether a building is federally subsidized for low-income housing credit purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1999
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize and revise provisions for the National Writing Project (NWP). Increases the maximum amount for any one contractor under limits on the Federal share of NWP teacher training programs. Repeals the classroom teacher grants program under NWP. Increases and extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for NWP.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for use by public schools to develop or expand gifted and talented education programs through one or more of the following activities: (1) professional development programs; (2) technical assistance; (3) direct services and materials for gifted and talented students, through revised curricula, acceleration, independent study, dual enrollment or other strategies; (4) innovative approaches and curricula; and (4) emerging technologies, including distance learning. Allows States to use a limited portion of such grant funds for information, education, and support to parents and caregivers for their participation in deciding on educational programs for their gifted and talented children. Sets forth requirements for grant applications, allotment to States, and reporting. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Nursing Home Residential Security Act of 1999 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to establish certain restrictions on transfers or discharges of nursing facility residents in the case of voluntary withdrawal from Medicaid participation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1999
Determined and Full Engagement Against the Threat of Methamphetamine or DEFEAT Meth Act of 1999 - Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal sentencing guidelines with respect to any offense relating to the manufacture, attempt to manufacture, or conspiracy to manufacture amphetamine or methamphetamine in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, by: (1) increasing the base offense level, as specified; and (2) increasing such level even higher if the offense created a substantial risk of danger to the health and safety of another person. Directs the Commission to promulgate amendments pursuant to this Act in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Sentencing Act of 1987, as though the authority of that Act had not expired. (Sec. 3) Directs the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration to implement a comprehensive approach for targeting and investigating methamphetamine production, trafficking, and abuse to combat the trafficking of methamphetamine in areas designated by the Director of National Drug Control Policy as high intensity drug trafficking areas. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director to: (1) combat methamphetamine trafficking in areas designated as high intensity drug trafficking areas, including by hiring new laboratory technicians in rural communities; and (2) engage in specified methamphetamine abuse prevention efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Grants priority to assisting rural and urban areas that are experiencing a high rate or rapid increases in methamphetamine abuse and addiction. Sets forth provisions regarding analyses and evaluation and annual reports. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Amends the CSA to include: (1) among list II chemicals red phosphorus and sodium dichromate; and (2) within the definition of "drug paraphernalia" items primarily intended or designed for use in introducing methamphetamine into the body.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1999
Medicare Rehabilitation Benefit Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide certain Medicare beneficiaries with an exemption to the financial limitations imposed on physical, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study of the specified effects of this Act for a report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1999
Designates March 24, 1999, as National School Violence Victims' Memorial Day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1999
State and Local Investment Opportunities Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the State ceiling on private activity bonds. Provides for inflation adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1999
Federal Home Loan Bank System Modernization Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) to instruct the Federal Housing Finance Board (the FHF Board) to divide the States into not fewer than one Federal Home Loan Bank district (currently 8 to 12 districts). (Sec. 4) Amends Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) membership parameters to make a Federal savings association's membership in the FHLB system voluntary instead of mandatory. (Sec. 5) 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 a bank loan 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 the FHF Board to review certain collateral standards and require an increase in such standards for safety and soundness purposes. Authorizes an FHLB to renew certain advances on its own determination without concurrence by the FHF Board. 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). (Sec. 6) 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. 7) Repeals certain requirements for advances to qualified thrift lenders (QTLs) and to FHLB members that are not QTLs. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to repeal the ineligibility of a non-QTL savings association to obtain new advances from a FHLB bank (thus making such savings associations eligible for such advances). Declares that, beginning three years after a savings association should have become or ceases to be a QTL, the savings association shall not retain any investment (including an investment in any subsidiary) or engage, directly or indirectly, in any activity unless that investment or activity would be permissible for the savings association if it were a national bank, and is also permissible for the savings association as a savings association. (Sec. 8) Amends the FHLBA to establish the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation (Corporation) as a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States to issue and service consolidated debt obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks. Vests management of the Corporation in a board of directors. Prescribes procedural guidelines for Corporation issuance of voting capital stock to each member Bank. Transfers to the Corporation the functions of the Office of Finance of the Federal Home Loan Banks. (Sec. 9) Permits an FHLB to include as part of its capital structure plan provisions establishing a structure for its elective and appointive directors other than the structure prescribed by the FHLBA. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Corporation to issue consolidated bonds. (Sec. 11) Modifies mergers and consolidations guidelines to permit: (1) voluntary mergers, combinations, or consolidations of FHLB banks; and (2) FHLBs to establish, subject to FHF Board approval and supervision, a subsidiary or holding company to perform administrative or operational functions. (Sec. 12) Terminates the Housing Opportunity Hotline program. Repeals the requirement that an FHLB receive prior approval of the FHF Board for the purchase, construction, or leasing of buildings. Specifies the FHF Board's power to issue notices of violations to any FHLB, and to take affirmative action to correct resulting conditions. Repeals: (1) the FHF Board's authority to approve FHLB advances; and (2) the attendant loan limitation restriction. Requires each Federal home loan bank to contribute annually ten percent of the preceding year's net income or the prorated sums required to assure that the aggregate contribution of the banks shall not be less than $100 million for each such year, to support subsidies, including subsidized advances, through the Affordable Housing Program. Declares that no FHLB dividends shall be paid except out of previously retained earnings or current net earnings (currently, net earnings) remaining after certain reductions. Repeals the FHF Board's authority to levy a special one-time assessment upon FHLBs for its estimated transitional expenses. (Sec. 13) 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). (Sec. 14) Revamps FHLB capital structure parameters to direct: (1) the Finance Board to issue uniform capital standards regulations governing FHLB leverage limitation and risk-based capital requirements; and (2) each FHLB board of directors to submit for FHF Board approval a capital structure plan determined to be best suited for the bank's condition and operation as well as for the interests of its shareholders. Prescribes plan contents.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a limited employer tax credit for information technology training program expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1999
Veterans' Equal Access to Medicare Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) (the administering Secretaries) to establish a demonstration project under which the HHS Secretary reimburses the VA Secretary for Medicare health care services furnished to certain veterans at a VA medical facility. Makes eligible for such services a veteran who has attained age 65, is entitled to Medicare benefits, and was enrolled for Medicare benefits on the date of enactment of this Act. Requires voluntary participation of eligible veterans under the demonstration program. Directs the administering Secretaries to establish a data matching program under which there is an exchange of information between HHS and VA to identify those entitled to such benefits. Allows the administering Secretaries to select up to ten demonstration sites in geographically dispersed sites for program participation. Requires at least one site to: (1) be near a base which was closed under a defense base closure law; and (2) serve a predominately rural population area. Requires the demonstration project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 2000. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to waive certain Medicare requirements in connection with the program. Requires the administering Secretaries to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a copy of the demonstration program agreement. Authorizes the VA Secretary to establish and operate up to four managed health care plans at demonstration sites. Requires such Secretary to submit to Congress a plan for the use of appropriate sites and entities. Requires certain certifications from the VA Inspector General before a plan may be implemented. Directs the HHS Secretary to reimburse the VA Secretary for demonstration project services at specified rates. Provides for such payments from Medicare trust funds, with an annual limit of $50 million. Authorizes the reduction of such reimbursement payments for VA failure to maintain its effort level for targeted veterans. Directs the administering Secretaries to closely monitor the expenditures made under the Medicare program for targeted veterans during the period of the demonstration project compared to expenditures that would have been made for such veterans if the demonstration project had not been conducted. Requires: (1) an annual report by the Comptroller General during each year of the demonstration project; (2) the administering Secretaries to take certain steps in the case of increased costs under the demonstration project and arrange for an independent evaluation of the project; (3) annual reports from such independent entity during the demonstration project period; and (4) a report from the administering Secretaries on the possibility of extending the demonstration project, making it permanent, or expanding it to cover additional demonstration sites.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1999
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should issue a proclamation declaring the week that begins on the Sunday before Presidents' Day of each year as United States Presidential History Week. Redesignates the legal public holiday of Washington's Birthday as Presidents' Day in honor of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt and in recognition of the importance of the institution of the Presidency and the contributions that Presidents have made to our nation's development and the principles of freedom and democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1999
Designates the week of March 21 through March 27, 1999, as National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week. Encourages parents to learn about the dangers of inhalant abuse and to discuss those dangers with their children.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1999
Commends Francis L. Burk, Jr. for his service to the U.S. Senate and the Nation, including eight years as the Senate's Legislative Counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend, for five years, the credit for producing energy from wind or a closed-loop biomass.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1999
Designates the week beginning April 30, 1999, as National Youth Fitness Week. Urges parents, families, caregivers, and teachers to encourage and help youth to participate in athletic activities and to teach adolescents to engage in healthy lifestyles.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1999
Urges the President to undertake efforts to end restrictions on the freedoms and human rights of the enclaved people of Cyprus.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1999
Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act of 1999 - Amends the Reigle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to add to title I a new subtitle C, which may be cited as the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act of 1999. Directs the Administrator of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to establish a microenterprise technical assistance and capacity building program to provide Fund grants to qualified non profit 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 matching funds from non-Federal sources. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1999
Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to permit State registration of a Canadian pesticide for distribution and use within such State.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1999
Designates May 1999 as National Military Appreciation Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1999
Expresses: (1) condolences to the family of King Hussein and to all the people of Jordan; (2) admiration for King Hussein's enlightened leadership and gratitude for his support for peace throughout the Middle East; and (3) support and best wishes for the new government of Jordan under King Abdullah. Reaffirms the U.S. commitment to strengthening the vital relationship between our two governments and peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1999
Bond Fairness and Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to tax-exempt bond financing of certain electric facilities, to exclude a permitted open access transaction (as defined by this Act) from the definition of private business use. Permits, as specified, termination of tax-exempt bond financing for certain electric output facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1999 - Establishes the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, in South Dakota, as a unit of the National Park System. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a general management plan for the Site and to consider coordinating or consolidating appropriate administrative, management, and personnel functions of the Site and the Badlands National Park. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of the Air Force to transfer to the Secretary any funds specifically appropriated to the Air Force in FY 1999 for the maintenance, protection, or preservation of the land or interests in lands comprising the Minuteman II ICBM launch control facilities, including areas surrounding the facilities known as Delta 1 and Delta 9.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Amends the Congressional Award Act to change from April 1 to June 1 the deadline for the annual report of the Congressional Award Board. Provides that of the Board's six members appointed by the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, respectively, one shall be a Congressional Award recipient (currently, a member of the Congressional Award Association) and one shall be a local Congressional Award program volunteer (currently, a representative of a local Congressional Award Council). Sets forth the same requirement for the six members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and appointed by the Minority Leader of the House, respectively. Requires the Comptroller General to continue to determine through calendar year 2004 if the Director of the Board is complying or not complying with requirements regarding financial operations of the Congressional Award Program and to submit such results in the annual audit report to Congress. Extends the Board from October 1, 1999, to October 1, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996 to eliminate the Special Reserve of the Savings Association Insurance Fund and the Deposit Insurance Fund, respectively (established to provide emergency funds if the reserve ratio of either fund remains below 50 percent of its designated ratio for one year).
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Declares that: (1) the final political status of the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority can only be determined through negotiations and agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; (2) any attempt to establish Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will invoke the strongest congressional opposition; and (3) the President should unequivocally assert U.S. opposition to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Amends the Animal Welfare Act to eliminate the provision permitting interstate movement of live fighting birds if the fighting venture is to take place in a State allowing such fights.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act - Amends Federal postal law to prohibit the use of any reference to the Postmaster General, a citation to Federal statute, or implication that nonmailable matter is afforded any special protections or status by the Federal Government if such matter constitutes a solicitation by a non-governmental entity for: (1) the purchase of or payment for products or services and containing a seal, insignia, trade or brand name, or any other term or symbol which reasonably could be interpreted or construed as implying Federal Government connection, approval, or endorsement; or (2) information or the contribution of funds or membership fees and containing such terms or symbols which could reasonably be interpreted or construed in the same manner. Allows the mailing of such matter if it does not contain a statement that implies that Federal Government benefits or services will be affected by any purchase, nonpurchase, response, or non-response to such matter. (Sec. 2) Declares that matter otherwise legally acceptable in the mails is nonmailable matter, shall not be carried or delivered by mail, and shall be disposed of as the Postal Service directs if such matter constitutes a solicitation for the purchase of any products that is federally produced, may be obtained without cost from the Federal Government, and does not contain a statement giving notice of such information. Requires the Postal Service to regulate the manner in which such statement should be displayed. (Sec. 3) Prohibits matter otherwise legally acceptable in the mails that relates to a sweepstakes, prize promotion, or award that does not meet specified Postal Service requirements from being carried or delivered by mail. Allows it to be disposed of as the Postal Service directs. Requires persons who: (1) use the mails for any matter that contains sweepstakes entry materials to adopt reasonable practices and procedures to prevent the mailing of such materials to persons who submit written requests that such materials should not be mailed to them; and (2) mail such solicitation materials to maintain or cause to be maintained records of all such requests that permit the suppression of the names of such requesters for a five-year period beginning on the date of the written requests. (Sec. 4) Makes postal law sanctions involving false representations and lotteries applicable to deceptive mailings under this Act. (Sec. 5) Allows the Postal Service to apply for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctions in the preparation for or during the pendency of proceedings concerning deceptive mailings. (Sec. 6) Increases civil penalties for violation of current postal law sanctions and establishes civil penalties for violation of this Act. (Sec. 7) Authorizes the use of administrative subpoenas by the Postmaster General in any investigation involving nonmailable matter.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Taxpayer Oversight of Surplus Property Act - Requires that nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense be made available to a State or a local government upon request before such supplies are made available for humanitarian relief purposes. Permits the President to make such supplies available for humanitarian purposes before they are made available to a State or local government in response to a natural disaster emergency. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, with respect to the transfer of property for environmental protection in foreign countries, to prohibit such transfers unless the Administrator of General Services (GSA Administrator) determines that there are no Federal or State use requirements for the property under any other provision of law. Requires the GSA Administrator to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of surplus personal property donation and disposal programs (except for any program that grants access to personal property by local communities affected by the closure of a military base), along with recommendations for consolidating such programs under a single Federal authority.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Hope for Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the amount allowable for qualified adoption expenses; (2) permanently extend the credit for adoption expenses; and (3) adjust the limitations on such credit for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies Title IV: Technical Amendments Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for expanding State options under Medicaid for workers with disabilities, namely by creating State options to eliminate income, assets, and resource limitations for workers with disabilities who buy into Medicaid and to expand opportunities for such workers to make such a buy. Provides that Federal funds paid to a State for medical assistance provided to certain working disabled individuals must be used to supplement but not supplant the level of State funds expended as of FY 1999 for programs to enable working disabled individuals to work. (Sec. 102) Provides for certain continuation of Medicare coverage for working individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible States to support establishment of State infrastructures to support the working disabled as well as to enable State outreach campaigns on infrastructure existence; and (2) submit a recommendation to specified congressional committees on whether such grant program should be continued after FY 2010. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 104) Authorizes State demonstration projects for certain Medicaid coverage of up to a specified maximum number of workers with a potentially severe disability, coverage equal to that afforded under the State option provided for above for eliminating income, assets, and resource limitations for disabled workers buying into Medicaid. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to direct the Commissioner to establish a Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (TWSSP) under which a disabled beneficiary may use a TWSSP ticket issued by the Commissioner under a described system, designed to ensure quality assurance, to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services, pursuant to an appropriate individual beneficiary work plan that meets specified requirements, at the Commission's expense, from a participating employment network, public or private, which: (1) meets specified qualifications and is under an agreement with the Commissioner who must select a program manager to assist in administering TWSSP; (2) is chosen by the beneficiary, and (3) is willing to accept assignment of the beneficiary's TWSSP ticket. Allows State agencies administering or supervising the administration of the State plan under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to elect to participate as an employment network. Sets forth special requirements applicable to cross-referral to certain State agencies and requirements relating to provision of services. Describes employment network payment systems. Provides that during any period for which an individual is using a TWSSP ticket, the Commissioner and any applicable State agency may not initiate a continuing disability or similar review with regards to whether the individual is or is not disabled. Requires payments to employment networks to be made out of the social security trust funds in the case of ticketed SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) disability beneficiaries who return to work, or from the appropriation made available for making Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments under SSA title XVI, in the case of SSI disability beneficiaries who return to work. Provides for allocation of other costs. (Sec. 202) Establishes within the Social Security Administration the Work Incentives Advisory Panel to advise the Commissioner with respect to TWSSP, and other Federal officials on related issues. Provides that the costs for carrying out this paragraph shall be paid from amounts available for the administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among those amounts as appropriate. Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives - Amends SSA title II to set forth a number of measures designed to eliminate work disincentives, namely prohibiting work activity as a basis for review of an individual's disability status and providing for expedited eligibility determinations for applications for disability benefits of former certain long-term disability beneficiaries that engaged in substantial gainful activity during a certain extended period following the end of a rehabilitation services trial work period. Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach - Amends SSA title XI part A (General Provisions) to direct the Commissioner to establish a community-based work incentives outreach program for disabled beneficiaries that includes the provision of technical assistance to organizations and entities that are designed to encourage disabled beneficiaries to return to work. Provides that the costs of carrying out this subtitle shall be paid from amounts made available for administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among such amounts as appropriate. (Sec. 222) Amends SSA title XI to authorize the Commissioner to make certain minimum payments in each State to the protection and advocacy system established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act for the purpose of providing services to disabled beneficiaries, services which may include advocacy or other services that such a beneficiary may need to secure or regain gainful employment. Provides for funding similar to that in he paragraph above. Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies - Amends the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 to provide for an extension of disability insurance program demonstration project authority to include any group of applicants for benefits under such program with impairments that may reasonably be presumed to be disabling for purposes of such demonstration project. (Sec. 302) Directs the Commissioner to conduct certain demonstration projects designed to provide for specified reductions in disability insurance benefits based on earnings. Requires expenditures for such demonstration projects to come out of the social security and Medicare trust funds to the extent provided in advance in appropriation acts. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should establish additional demonstration projects to assist individuals with disabilities to engage in work. (Sec. 304) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report to the Congress on various described studies concerning existing disability-related employment incentives and coordination of the OASDI disability insurance program and the SSI program as they relate to individuals entering or leaving concurrent entitlement under such programs, as well as on a study concerning the impact of the substantial gainful activity limit on return to work. Title IV: Technical Amendments - Amends the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 with respect to: (1) final adjudication of denied claims by drug addicts and alcoholics for SSA title II disability benefits; and (2) the effective dates of certain requirements concerning representative payees and treatment referrals for such individuals. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title II to: (1) provide for payments to State and local prisons for monthly reports on the identities of inmates whose OASDI benefits are determined by the Commissioner not to be payable as a result of such reports; (2) provide for a 50 percent reduction in such payments under SSA titles II and XVI in cases involving a comparable payment under the other title with respect to the same prisoner; (3) exempt from the Privacy Act of 1974 any agreements with State and local prisons to supply such information; (4) transfer from the OASDI trust funds any sums necessary to enable the Commissioner to make such payments; (5) eliminate the requirement that confinement stem only from a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year (thus denying OASDI benefits to individuals confined for any criminal offense); and (6) provide for continued denial of benefits to sex offenders remaining confined to public institutions upon completion of prison term. (Sec. 403) Provides for a two-year open season for members of the clergy who wish to revoke their exemption from social security coverage. (Sec. 404) Amends SSA title XI to make a miscellaneous technical amendment relating to cooperative research or development projects under SSA titles II and XVI. (Sec. 405) Amends SSA title XI to make miscellaneous technical amendments to provisions concerning the requirements of State income and eligibility verification systems, among other changes allowing a State to permit certain employers that make returns with respect to domestic service employment taxes on a calendar year basis to instead make such reports on an annual basis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
Food and Medicine Sanctions Relief Act of 1999 - Prohibits the President from restricting or prohibiting exports (including financing) of food, other agricultural products (including fertilizer), medicines or medical equipment as part of any policy of existing or future unilateral economic sanctions imposed against a foreign government, with specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a limited exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1999
Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA), during the period ending on December 31, 2000, to: (1) guarantee loans made by eligible lenders to small businesses to address Year 2000 computer problems (Y2K problem), including repair and acquisition, consulting, and related expenses; and (2) provide relief for a substantial economic injury incurred by a small business as a direct result of Y2K problems. Provides loan amounts and administration participation limits. Requires an annual report from the SBA to the congressional small business committees on the loan guarantee program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1999
Selective Agricultural Embargoes Act of 1999 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to direct the President, if he or she takes action to embargo the export under an export sales contract of an agricultural commodity to a country that is not part of an embargo on all exports to the country, to report to the Congress, not later than five days after imposing the embargo, on the reasons for such embargo and its proposed duration. Sets forth congressional procedures for termination of the embargo. Specifies plant nutrient materials among the agricultural commodities whose export the President may not prohibit or curtail if: (1) the export sales contract for such materials is entered into before he or she announces an action that would otherwise prohibit or curtail their export; and (2) the contract terms require delivery of the materials within 270 days after the date of the suspension of trade is imposed.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1999
Designates the week of May 2, 1999, as National Correctional Officers and Employees Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1999 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to repeal the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn (earnings test) without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1999
Safeguarding America's Farms Entering the Year 2000 Act - Amends the Federal Bankruptcy Code to: (1) reenact Chapter 12, Adjustment of Debts of a Family Farmer with Regular Annual Income, (thereby reinstating family farmer bankruptcy relief); (2) cite circumstances under which the claim of a governmental unit that arises as a result of the disposition of a farm asset used in the debtor's farming operation shall be treated as an unsecured claim that is not entitled to priority; and (3) revise the criteria defining family farmer, including the size of the attendant aggregate debt.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Lewis and Clark Rural Water System Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and construction of a water supply system to provide service to specified counties in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Requires the Secretary to make grants and other funds available to the System and other private, State, and Federal entities for the initial development of the environmental enhancement component. Requires the System to establish a water conservation program that ensures that System users use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use. Requires periodic review and revision of such program. Specifies that mitigation for fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result of the construction and operation of the water supply system be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, concurrent with project construction. Requires the Western Area Power Administration to make available the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the water supply system during the period beginning May 1, and ending October 31, of each year from power designated for future irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin program. Provides that this Act shall not: (1) limit the authorization for water projects in South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota; or (2) preempt State water rights. Specifies the Federal and non-Federal share of the cost. Requires the Secretary to provide funds for the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, equal to 50 percent of the incremental cost of its participation in the project. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide project construction oversight to the water supply system and environmental enhancement component. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Satellite Home Viewers Improvements Act - Amends Federal copyright law to cite circumstances under which the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission of a television broadcast station into the station's local market shall be subject to statutory licensing. Requires the carrier: (1) within 90 days after commencing such secondary transmission, to submit to that station a list identifying all subscribers to which the satellite carrier currently makes such transmission; and (2) on the 15th day thereafter, to submit a subsequent list identifying any subscribers who have been added or dropped since submission of the last list. Restricts the use of the subscriber information for purposes other than monitoring compliance by the satellite carrier. Applies the submission requirements to a satellite carrier only if the station to whom the submissions are to be made places on file with the Register of Copyrights a document identifying the name and address of the person to whom such submissions are to be made. Precludes any royalty obligation for such secondary transmission. States that noncompliance with such reporting requirements by a satellite carrier into the local market of a television broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that television broadcast station is actionable as an act of infringement and fully subject to copyright remedies. Applies such infringement and copyright remedies to a satellite carrier, who provides such secondary transmission, if: (1) the content of a particular program in which the performance or display is embodied or any commercial advertising or station announcement transmitted by the primary transmitter during, or immediately before or after, the transmission of such program, is in any way willfully altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions, or additions, or is combined with programming from any other broadcast signal; or (2) such transmission is made to a subscriber who does not reside in that television broadcast station's local market and is not subject to statutory licensing, with exceptions. Sets forth additional remedies for willful and repeated patterns or practices of such violations. Provides that the satellite carrier shall bear the burden of proof in any action brought under this Act. Makes the statutory license created by this Act applicable to secondary transmissions to locations in the United States, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. States that no provisions of copyright law or any other law (other than this Act and provisions relating to secondary transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home viewing) shall be construed to contain any authorization, exemption, or license through which secondary transmissions by satellite carriers of programming contained in a primary transmission made by a television broadcast station may be made without obtaining the consent of the copyright owner. (Sec. 3) Amends the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 to extend until December 31, 2004, the effect of amendments to such Act relating to statutory licenses for satellite carriers. (Sec. 4) Revises the formula used to compute the rate of royalty fees to be deposited with the Register of Copyright by satellite carriers by reducing the rate for retransmission of: (1) superstation signals by 30 percent; and (2) network stations by 45 percent. Provides that for purposes of copyright arbitration royalty panels, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shall be the agent for all public television copyright claimants and all PBS member stations with respect to royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for retransmitting the PBS satellite feed. (Sec. 5) Modifies the definition of "unserved household" to eliminate the 90-day waiting period for satellite subscribers to wait after termination of their cable service until they are eligible for satellite service of network signals. Defines "local network station" as a network station that is secondarily transmitted to subscribers who reside within the local market in which the network station is located. (Sec. 6) Subjects a copyrighted programming carried upon the PBS's national satellite feed to copyright statutory licensing provisions. Conditions such license, after January 1, 2001, or the date on which local transmissions of broadcast signals are offered to the public, whichever is earlier, on the PBS's annual certifications to the Copyright Office that PBS's membership supports the secondary transmission of the PBS satellite feed, and providing notice to the satellite carrier of such certification. Defines "Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed" as the national satellite feed distributed by the PBS consisting of educational and informational programming intended for private home viewing, to which the PBS holds national terrestrial broadcast rights. (Sec. 7) Subjects the copyright statutory license subject to the Federal Communications Commission's rules, regulations, and authorizations. (Sec. 8) Makes this Act and the amendments made by this Act effective on January 1, 1999, with the exception of provisions modifying the formula for computing royalty fees payable by satellite carriers effective on July 1, 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc., for the Federal share of the costs of: (1) planning and construction of the System; and (2) repairs to existing public water distribution systems to ensure conservation of resources and to make such systems functional under the new System. Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until: (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; and (2) a final System engineering report and plan have been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period. Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, and concurrent with project construction. Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year. Provides power use conditions. Provides the Federal share (75 percent) of System costs. Authorizes the Secretary to provide construction oversight to a specified service area within the System, limiting oversight costs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Public School Modernization Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise current incentives for education zones into incentives for qualified public school modernization bonds, including (currently existing) qualified zone academy bonds and (newly established) qualified school construction bonds. (Sec. 3) Allows a limited tax credit, computed according to a specified formula, to taxpayers holding such public school modernization bonds. Raises the national zone academy bond limitation from $400 million to $1.4 billion for each of calendar year 2000 and 2001, and eliminates the limitation after 2001. Prescribes requirements for national qualified school construction bonds, with a national limitation of $9.7 billion each for calendar 2000 and 2001, and no limit after 2001. (Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) sufficient funds should be provided in FY 2000 to begin construction of three new Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) school facilities and to increase funds available for the improvement and repair of existing facilities; and (2) the Congress should consider enacting legislation to establish other funding mechanisms that would leverage Federal investments on behalf of BIA schools to address the serious construction backlog which exists at tribal schools.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Truth in Quality Grading Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to define "beef," "lamb," "imported beef," "imported lamb," "United States beef," and "United States lamb." Deems misbranded imported beef or imported lamb that bears a label indicating a quality grade issued by the Secretary of Agriculture (thereby prohibiting the use of such labels on such imported products).
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Meat Labeling Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to deem misbranded beef, lamb, and pork that does not bear certain country of origin labeling. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations for such labeling. Authorizes the Secretary to require that any person that prepares, stores, handles, or distributes such meat for retail sale maintain a verifiable recordkeeping audit trail in order to verify compliance with such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999 - Title I: Coastal Impact Assistance - Coastal Conservation and Impact Assistance Act of 1998 (sic) - Establishes the Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Fund (OCSIAF) to provide impact assistance to coastal States from a portion (27 percent) of allocable new OCS revenues (payments received by the United States as royalties, net profit share payments, and related late-payment interest from natural gas and oil leases under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act). Sets forth a formula for use by the Secretary of the Interior to determine the portion of the allocable share of new revenues attributable to each coastal State (with an adjustment for oil-, condensate-, or natural gas-producing States) and county eligible to receive impact assistance payments. Mandates that such OCSIA funds be expended by the eligible coastal States and counties for certain environmental projects and activities. Requires: (1) an eligible county to submit for the Governor's approval a plan setting forth the projects and activities for which it proposes to expend OCSIA funds; and (2) the Governor of each recipient State to account to the Congress for all OCSIA monies received for the previous fiscal year, to develop a State plan for the use of such monies, and to certify the plan to the Secretary. Title II: Land and Water Conservation Fund Reform - Land and Water Conservation Fund Reform Act of 1998 (sic) - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (LWCFA) to require an amount equal to 16 percent of specified Outer Continental Shelf revenues to be deposited in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in the Treasury. (Sec. 203) Makes such funds available, without further appropriation, to carry out LWCFA for each fiscal year through FY 2015. Authorizes appropriations to maintain a certain minimum total annual income of the LWCF. Makes certain amounts covered into the LWCF available for expenditure without appropriation. Sets forth formulae for allocation of such funds for: (1) Federal acquisition of certain lands, waters, or interests; (2) financial assistance to the States for land acquisition, urban conservation, and recreation projects; and (3) local governments through the Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Program of the Department of the Interior. Provides for LWCFA allocation of funds to: (1) States for rehabilitation of outdoor recreation facilities; and (2) Indian tribes and Alaska Native Village Corporations. Requires States to make at least 50 percent of the annual State apportionment under LWCFA available as grants to local governments. Replaces, within a five-year period, LWCFA requirements for comprehensive State plans with requirements for State action agendas. Allows each State to define its own priorities and criteria for selection of outdoor recreation and conservation acquisition and development projects eligible for LWCFA grants so long as it provides for public involvement in this process and publishes an accurate and current State Action Agenda for Community Recreation and Conservation. Requires such Agendas to: (1) be strategic, originating in broad-based and long-term needs, but focused on actions that can be funded over the next four years, and be updated every four years; (2) consider all providers of recreation and conservation lands, and correlate with other State, regional and local plans for parks, recreation, open space, and wetlands conservation; (3) address wetlands as important outdoor recreation and conservation resources, and incorporate a State wetlands priority conservation plan consistent with the national plan developed under the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act; and (4) be guided in part by recovery action programs developed by urban localities under the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act. Revises LWCFA conditions for approval of conversions. Sets the maximum Federal cost for LWCFA land acquisition unless acquisition funds are specifically reported and approved by a resolution adopted by certain congressional committees. (Sec. 204) Amends the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act (UPRRA) to provide (in addition to the current types of at-risk recreation grants and recovery action program grants) for matching capital grants to local governments in the form of: (1) development grants for development and construction on existing or new neighborhood recreation sites, including indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, support facilities, and landscaping, but excluding routine maintenance and upkeep activities; and (2) acquisition grants for purchasing new parkland to be permanently dedicated and made accessible for public recreation use. Revises UPRRA requirements for: (1) eligibility; (2) matching grants; (3) coordination; and (4) conversion approval. Repeals the limitation on the use of UPRRA funds for acquisition of land or interests in land. Title III: Wildlife Conservation and Restoration - Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Act of 1998 (sic) - Amends the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (FAWRA) to require an amount equal to seven percent of specified Outer Continental Shelf revenues to be deposited in a new subaccount in the Federal aid to wildlife restoration fund (FAWRF), to be invested and to be made available without further appropriation, for apportionment in FY 2000 and thereafter for State wildlife conservation and restoration programs. (Sec. 306) Sets forth requirements for: (1) allocation of such subaccount receipts; (2) applications for approval of, and development grants for, State wildlife conservation and restoration programs; and (3) coordination. (Sec. 307) Allows certain subaccount funds for such a State wildlife conservation and restoration program to be used for law enforcement and public relations. (Sec. 308) Prohibits a State from receiving FAWRA matching funds if it diverts any funds from wildlife conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages (such FLSA prohibitions are also known as the Equal Pay Act). (Sec. 3) Amends FLSA to provide for enhanced enforcement of equal pay requirements, adding a nonretaliation requirement. Increases penalties for such violations. Provides for the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in such cases. (Sec. 4) Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, including convening a national summit and carrying out other specified activities. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop guidelines for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria, to be used voluntarily by employers to compare wages for different jobs to determine if pay scales adequately and fairly reflect each job's educational and skill requirements, independence, working conditions, and responsibility, in order to eliminate unfair pay disparities between occupations traditionally dominated by men or women; and (2) establish a program to recognize employers who use such guidelines to ensure that women are paid fairly in comparison to men without lowering men's wages. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance for employers to carry out such evaluations. (Sec. 7) Establishes the Robert Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be evidenced by a medal. Sets forth criteria for specified types of entities to receive such an award. (Sec. 8) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should: (1) take appropriate steps to increase the amount of information available with respect to wage disparities; and (2) consider ways to collect such information that maximize its utility, protect individual privacy, and minimize reporting burdens. (Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Establishes in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) the position of Chief Agricultural Negotiator, who shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Chief to conduct trade negotiations and enforce trade agreements relating to U.S. agricultural products and services, as well as perform other functions as the USTR may direct.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 1999 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that any duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order, an antidumping duty order, or a finding under the Antidumping Act of 1921 shall be distributed on an annual basis as continued dumping or subsidy offsets to the affected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures. Limits qualifying expenditures to expenditures incurred since the issuance of the antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing duty order in any or all of the categories of plant, equipment, research and development (R&D), personnel training, acquisition of technology, employer-paid employee health care and pension benefits, environmental equipment, training or technology, acquisition of raw materials and other inputs, and borrowed working capital or other funds needed to maintain production. Directs the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service to prescribe offset disbursement procedures. Sets forth general procedures for notification of eligible parties. Requires the Commissioner to establish a special account in the Treasury to receive all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, for distribution according to this Act, within 14 days after an antidumping or countervailing duty order takes effect.