United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2001
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President and Congress should save Social Security as soon as possible; (2) Social Security surpluses must be vigorously safeguarded and used only for purposes of saving Social Security or reducing the publicly held debt; and (3) the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, recognizing the immense financial commitment of every American worker in the Social Security system, should present in its recommendations innovative ways to protect that commitment without benefit cuts or payroll tax increases.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2001
Medicare Improvements for Special Needs Beneficiaries Act of 2001 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for specialized Medicare+Choice plans for special needs beneficiaries and the treatment of such plans as coordinated care plans under Medicare part C. Permits: (1) restriction on the enrollment of individuals in a specialized Medicare+Choice plan to special needs beneficiaries; and (2) continuous open enrollment for such beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2001
Prosecution Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison Act of 2001 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State or local prosecutors for the purpose of developing, implementing, or expanding drug treatment alternative to prison programs under which eligible offenders, as an alternative to incarceration, shall be sentenced to or placed with a licensed residential substance abuse treatment provider. Requires: (1) each eligible offender who participates in such a program but does not successfully complete treatment to serve a sentence of imprisonment for the underlying crime; and (2) each program to have an enforcement unit comprised of law enforcement officers under the supervision of a State or local prosecutor.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2001
Subchapter S Modernization Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions concerning S corporations to, among other things: (1) allow certain members of a family to be treated as one shareholder of an S corporation; (2) prohibit treating qualified preferred stock as a second class of stock and treating a person as a shareholder by reason of holding such stock; (3) permit financial institutions to hold convertible (safe harbor) debt; (4) repeal the characterization of excessive passive investment income as a termination event; (5) permit certain losses on liquidation not exceeding ordinary income basis to be treated as ordinary losses; (6) permit the deductibility of interest expense incurred by an electing small business trust to acquire S corporation stock; (7) provide that shareholder basis is not increased by income derived from cancellation of S corporation's debt; (8) provide for the exclusion of investment securities income from the passive income test for bank S corporations; (9) provide relief from inadvertently invalid qualified subchapter S subsidiary elections and terminations on the same basis as is provided to invalid or terminated S corporation elections; and (10) provide for the elimination of all earnings and profits attributable to pre-1983 years.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2001
Campaign Reform and Citizen Participation Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) establish specified restrictions on soft money of national political parties, including a $75,000 per donor annual limit; (2) increase specified contribution limits and related indexing; (3) extend to national committees of a political party the current exemption of State and local political party committee costs of volunteer campaign materials from treatment as contributions and expenditures; and (4) require disclosure of information on certain communications broadcast prior to election, and on targeted mass communications.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2001
Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 2001 - Sets forth provisions concerning group health plans and health insurers and the provision of certain advice and care, including: (1) emergency care; (2) obstetric and gynecological care; (3) specialists care; (4) prescription drugs; (5) participation in approved clinical trials; and (6) health plan information. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) provide for review and appeal of health plan decisions; (2) provide penalties for health plans failing to provide benefits; (3) provide for patient protection standards; (4) repeal the limitation on the number of Archer Medical Savings Accounts and increase the deduction for contributions to such accounts; and (5) set forth rules governing association health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2001
Amends the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Drug-free Communities Support Program and the Advisory Commission on Drug-free Communities through FY 2007. Authorizes additional grants and renewal grants to eligible coalitions and grant recipients. Authorizes supplemental grants for coalition mentoring activities. Authorizes the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to make a grant to an eligible organization to provide for establishment of a National Community Antidrug Coalition Institute to: (1) provide education, training, and technical assistance for coalition leaders and community teams; (2) develop and disseminate evaluation tools, mechanisms, and measures to better assess and document coalition performance measures and outcomes; and (3) bridge the gap between research and practice by translating knowledge from research into practical information.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2001
Coral Reef and Coastal Marine Conservation Act of 2001 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish in the Department of Treasury the Coral Reef and Other Coastal Marine Resources Facility. Authorizes the President, through the exchange by the Facility of new obligations for outstanding obligations of an eligible Latin American or Caribbean country with a coral reef or other coastal marine resource meeting specified requirements, to reduce the amount owed by the country to the United States that is outstanding as of January 1, 1999, as a result of concessional loans. Authorizes the President to sell, reduce, or cancel such loans in order to facilitate a debt-for-nature swap or a debt buyback with an eligible purchaser or eligible country to support activities to conserve, maintain, and restore the country's coral reefs and other coastal marine resources. Requires each beneficiary country that has entered into a Coral Reef and Other Coastal Marine Resources Agreement with the Secretary of State to establish a Coral Reef and Other Coastal Maine Resources Fund to receive payments of interest on new obligations undertaken by the country to provide grants to certain entities in such country to conserve, maintain, and restore its coral reefs and other coastal marine resources. Requires the Enterprise for the Americas Board to carry out certain duties with respect to implementing this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2001
Conservation Tax Incentives Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income 50 percent of any gain from the sale of land or an interest in land or water to an eligible entity if: (1) such land or interest in land or water was owned by the taxpayer or a member of the taxpayer's family at all times during the 3-year period ending on the date of the sale; and (2) such land or interest in land or water is being acquired by an eligible conservation entity which provides the taxpayer, at the time of acquisition, a written letter of intent stating that the purchaser's intent in making the acquisition is to serve specified conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2001
Retirement Security Advice Act of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to allow prohibited transaction exemptions under specified conditions to: (1) a fiduciary adviser's providing certain investment advice to an employee benefit plan or to a participant or beneficiary of such plan; (2) sale, acquisition, or holding of securities or other property (including any lending of money or other extension of credit associated with these) pursuant to such advice; and (3) direct or indirect receipt of fees or other compensation by the fiduciary adviser or an affiliate in connection with providing such advice.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2001
Medicare Dialysis Benefit Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) payment under the Medicare Program for four hemodialysis treatments per week for specified patients; and (2) an increased update in the composite payment rate for renal dialysis treatments for FY 2002. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to restore a specified exception to renal dialysis composite rate under rate update provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2001
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2001 - Directs that in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various U.S. administrative bureaus and agencies, the words "person," "human being," "child," and "individual" shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive (as defined in this Act) at any stage of development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2001
Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2001 - Sets forth the overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States for trade agreements (generally similar to the objectives of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (OTCA)), including to: (1) further strengthen the system of international trading disciplines and procedures, including dispute settlement; and (2) foster economic growth, raise living standards, and promote full employment in the United States and to enhance the global economy. Sets forth the principal U.S. negotiating objectives (generally similar to the principal OTCA negotiating objectives) regarding trade barriers and other trade distortions, trade in services, foreign investment, intellectual property, transparency, improvement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other multilateral and bilateral trade agreements, foreign regulatory practices, electronic commerce, reciprocal trade in agriculture, and WTO extended negotiations. Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to consult closely with Congress during trade negotiations. Sets forth the authority of the President (generally similar to the authority under OTCA) to enter into trade agreements with foreign countries regarding tariff and non-tariff barriers. States that a trade agreement may be entered into (before June 1, 2005; or June 1, 2007, if trade authorities procedures (or fast-track procedures) are extended under this Act) only if it makes progress in meeting the overall and principal trade negotiating objectives, and the President satisfies certain notification and consultation requirements set forth in this Act, including submission of the agreement for assessment by the International Trade Commission. Applies trade authorities procedures to bills implementing trade agreements if they consist of: (1) a provision approving a trade agreement entered into under this Act, and approving any statement of administrative action; and (2) if changes in existing laws or new statutory authority are required to implement such agreements, provisions necessary to implement them, either repealing or amending existing laws or providing new statutory law. Authorizes both Houses of Congress to adopt, within 60 days of each other, a procedural disapproval resolution denying trade authorities procedures to any trade agreement if the President has failed or refused to notify or consult with Congress about it. Exempts from the notice and consultation requirements of this Act any tariff or nontariff agreement which results from negotiations commenced before enactment of this Act, and which: (1) is entered into under the auspices of the WTO regarding the rules of origin work program; (2) is entered into with Chile or Singapore; or (3) establishes a Free Trade Area for the Americas. Requires the appointment of a Congressional Oversight Group to serve as advisor to the U.S. delegation after the President notifies Congress of his intention to enter into the negotiation of any tariff or nontariff trade agreement. Requires the President to submit an implementation and enforcement plan at the same time a final text of any tariff or nontariff trade agreement is submitted to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2001
Amends the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations through FY 2004 for the cost for the reduction of debt owed by a developing country with a tropical forest to the United States as a result of concessional loans made or credits extended to such country under specified laws.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2001
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Amendment Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000, to provide coverage of medical nutrition therapy services for certain Medicare beneficiaries with cardiovascular diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2001
Sugar Program Reform Act - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act with respect to the sugar program to: (1) reduce sugarcane loan rates through crop year 2004; (2) revise the sugar beet loan rate; (3) eliminate nonrecourse loans; and (4) eliminate sugar price supports after crop year 2002. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal sugar and crystalline fructose marketing quota and allotment provisions. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the President, beginning after the 2000-2001 quota year, to use all available authority to ensure that U.S. market raw sugar shall be available at not more than the higher of the world sugar price or the U.S. loan rate.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2001
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act - Amends the Organic Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish and maintain a list of each person that notifies the Secretary that it is a manufacturer or seller that is: (1) licensed to engage in interstate or foreign commerce of a firearm or ammunition product; or (2) is a trade association representing such manufacturers or sellers. Declares that any lawful conduct carried out by a manufacturer or seller in interstate or foreign commerce of a firearm or ammunition product, or lawful conduct carried out by a trade association in the course of representing such manufacturers or sellers, shall not be the basis for imposing a restriction on such commerce (the award of civil damages, equitable relief, or any other specified limitation) as a result of harm caused by the criminal or other unlawful misuse of such firearm or ammunition product by any other person.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2001
Safe Havens Support Act of 2001 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to allow a State to use a TANF grant to support an infant safe haven program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2001
Amends Federal aviation law with respect to the air traffic control contract program to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to an airport sponsor for: (1) the construction or improvement of a nonapproach control tower (effectively eliminating eligibility of Level I air traffic control towers for such grants); and (2) the acquisition and installation of air traffic control equipment to be used in a nonapproach control tower to assist in sustaining or improving the safe and efficient movement of air traffic. Revises eligibility requirements with respect to such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2001
Korea Defense Service Medal Act - Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to issue a campaign medal, to be known as the Korea Defense Service Medal, to each member who served in the Republic of Korea or its adjacent waters after July 27, 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2001
YMCA Teen Action Agenda Enhancement of 2001 - Directs the Attorney General to award a grant to the YMCA of the USA to make subgrants to local YMCAs for programs for at-risk teens which include specified types of activities.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2001
Congratulates Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the tenth anniversary of the restoration of their full independence. Calls on the President to continue to build the close and mutually beneficial relations the United States has enjoyed with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since the restoration of their full independence.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2001
Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prescribe guidelines for rental-purchase transactions, including: (1) the determination of rental-purchase cost; (2) disclosure requirements; (3) proscriptions against confessions of judgment, wage assignments, and waiver of consumer claims or defenses; (4) furnishing of statements of account; (5) point-of-rental disclosures; and (6) rental-purchase advertising disclosures. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate implementing regulations. Provides for Federal and State enforcement of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2001
Fallen Hero Survivor Benefit Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to extend to survivors of public safety officers killed in the line of duty before December 31, 1996, the same tax benefits available to the survivors of such officers killed after such date (the exclusion from gross income of any survivor annuity received on account of the death of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty).
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2001
National Museum of African American History and Culture Act of 2001 - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution the National Museum of African American History and Culture to be operated as a center for scholarship and a location for museum training, public education, exhibits, and collection and study of items and materials relating to the life, art, history, and culture of African Americans form slavery and the era of reconstruction to the Harlem renaissance, the civil rights movement, and beyond. Establishes the National Museum of African American History and Culture Council. Requires the Council to appoint a Director to manage the Museum. Authorizes the Council to plan, design, reconstruct, renovate, and expand the Arts and Industries Building to house the Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Access to Cancer Therapies Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to extend Medicare coverage to all oral drugs prescribed for use as an anticancer agent for a medically accepted indication.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are to be commended for their progress toward political and economic liberty and meeting the guidelines for prospective members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); (2) such countries would make an outstanding contribution toward furthering NATO goals should they become members; (3) extension of full NATO membership to the Baltic states would contribute to stability, freedom, and peace in the Baltic region and Europe as a whole; and (4) with complete satisfaction of NATO guidelines and criteria for membership, such countries should be invited to become full NATO members.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require coverage of colorectal cancer screening according to certain guidelines by a group health plan, a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, and a health insurance issuer in the individual market. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services to ensure coordination in the implementation and enforcement of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning designated settlement funds to exempt from tax any designated settlement fund established for the principal purpose of resolving and satisfying present and future claims relating to asbestos. Sets forth special rules concerning asbestos liability losses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to taxation of U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations, to permanently extend the subpart F exemption (which excludes such income from the shareholder's foreign personal holding company income) for active financing (banking, financing, or similar business) income earned on business operations overseas. (Thus permits American financial services firms doing business abroad to defer U.S. tax on their earnings from their foreign financial services operations until such earnings are returned to the U.S. parent company.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2001
Motor Vehicle Franchise Contract Arbitration Fairness Act of 2001 - Provides that whenever a motor vehicle franchise contract provides for the use of arbitration to resolve a controversy arising out of or relating to the contract, arbitration may be used to settle the controversy only if both parties consent in writing after such controversy arises. Requires the arbitrator to provide the parties with a written explanation of the factual and legal basis for the award.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Harold Hughes-Bill Emerson Substance Abuse Treatment Parity Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to provide for parity in the application of treatment limitations and financial requirements to substance abuse treatment benefits under group health plans and individual health insurance coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Historic Homeownership Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 20 percent (up to a maximum limit of $40,000 for a joint return) of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures made by a taxpayer with respect to the certified rehabilitation of 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 · 22 March 2001
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise title I as Improving the Academic Performance of the Disadvantaged (currently Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). Revises title I part A with respect to: (1) yearly testing and assessments of student performance; (2) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards; (3) identification of schools for improvement and corrective actions; (4) supplemental education services, or public (or private) school choice options under certain conditions, if a school fails repeatedly; (5) reporting to parents and the public on school performance and teacher quality; (6) State reservation of funds for school improvement; (7) formulas relating to Basic, Concentration, Targeted, and Education Finance Incentive Grants; and (8) eligibility requirements for schoolwide programs. Revises and reauthorizes title I provisions for: (1) the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program; (2) Education of Migratory Children; (3) Neglected or Delinquent Youth; and (4) Federal evaluations and demonstrations. Establishes title I programs for: (1) Reading First and Early Reading First initiatives; and (2) Comprehensive School Reform. Rural Education Initiative Act - Revises, reauthorizes, and transfers to title I part G Rural Education Flexibility and Assistance, ESEA provisions for a Rural Education Initiative, with State formula grants for: (1) flexibility for small rural schools; and (2) assistance for low-income and rural schools. Revises ESEA title II as Preparing, Training, and Recruiting Quality Teachers to: (1) replace the current Eisenhower Professional Development and Class-Size Reduction programs; and (2) establish a teacher quality training and recruiting fund as a State formula grant program, with subgrants to LEAs, to support various similar and additional activities to improve elementary and secondary school teaching. Establishes a Mathematics and Science Partnerships subgrants program involving SEAs, higher education mathematics or science departments, and LEAs. Includes among authorized national teacher activities, administered by the Secretary, support for: (1) the Troops-to-Teachers program recruiting military retirees into teaching; and (2) innovative preretirement teacher certification programs for members of the Armed Forces. Eliminates an authorization for the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Math and Science Education. Sets forth title II part B, Teacher Liability Protection, to provisions to exempt teachers, administrators, and school board members from certain liability for actions taken in official capacity to maintain school discipline. Revises ESEA title III as Education of Limited English Proficient Children; Indian and Alaska Native Education (consolidating current title VII and title IX parts A and C). (Current title III Technology for Education programs are eliminated, but some similar activities are consolidated under the new title V part B.) English Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement Act - Sets forth a title III part A, Education of Limited English Proficient Children. Replaces the Bilingual Education Act programs, Foreign Language Assistance Program, and Emergency Immigrant Education Program with this program of formula grants to States for education of limited English proficient (LEP) children. Requires students who have been in U.S. schools for at least three years to be tested for reading in English. Sets forth certain language program exceptions for programs that serve Native American and Native Pacific Island children and children in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to rename the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs as the Office of Educational Services for Limited English Proficient Children. Reauthorizes and revises ESEA provisions for Indian and Alaska Native Education (currently under ESEA title IX parts A and C, but eliminates current title IX part B provisions for education of Native Hawaiians), under the new title III part B. Alaska Native Educational Equity Support and Assistance Act - Revises the Alaska Native Educational Equity Support and Assistance Act (currently under ESEA title IX part C). Amends the Education Amendments of 1978 to revise provisions for Bureau of Indian Affairs programs. Revises ESEA title IV as Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs. (Transfers parts of the current title IV to title V.) Revises and reauthorizes: (1) part A Innovative Programs (currently under title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies); (2) part B Public Charter Schools (currently under title X part C); and (3) part D Magnet Schools Assistance (currently under title V part A). Allows Innovative Program funds to be used for public (or private) school choice, under certain conditions, for disadvantaged students in failing schools. Establishes a part C Educational Opportunity Fund for competitive awards to eligible entities for school choice research and demonstration projects concerning the effectiveness of school choice programs in improving the academic performance of low-income students. Revises ESEA title V as Safe Schools for the 21st Century. (Eliminates current title V parts B and C provisions for Women's Educational Equity and for Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems.) Safe Schools for the 21st Century Act of 2001- Revises and reauthorizes title V part A, Supporting Drug and Violence Prevention and Education for Students and Communities (currently under title IV, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities). Revises: (1) school safety programs; (2) national activities; and (3) gun-free school requirements (currently under title IX part F of ESEA, also known as the Gun-Free Schools Act). Requires drug and violence prevention programs to be consistent with certain principles of effectiveness. Requires States to establish policies providing public school choice (and private school choice if a safe public school cannot accommodate them) to students who attend persistently dangerous schools or who are victims of violent crimes in school or on school grounds. Allows States to carry out programs through grants and contracts with charitable, religious, and other private organizations, in addition to LEAs. Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001 - Sets forth title V part B, Enhancing Education Through Technology which revises and reauthorizes some programs currently under title III Education for Technology and title X part I 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Consolidates such program activities for telecommunications and technology access into a formula grant program for State and local technology for success programs, and authorizes certain national technology initiatives. Sets forth title V part C Character Education programs (revises and expands a pilot project currently under title X part A). Revises and reauthorizes the Impact Aid Program as ESEA title VI (currently title VIII). Revises ESEA title VII as Flexibility and Accountability. Sets forth part A, State Accountability for Improving Academic Achievement. Authorizes various education performance awards for States and schools. Penalizes States that fail to achieve progress in certain educational assessments by reducing administrative funds under ESEA formula grant programs. Directs the Secretary to make: (1) awards to States for costs of developing certain additional required assessments and standards, administration of assessments and other accountability activities; and (2) bonus payments for development of such assessments ahead of deadline. Academic Achievement for All Act (Straight A's Act) - Sets forth ESEA title VII part B, Performance Agreements. Allows States a certain type of flexibility in consolidating and using specified formula program funds for State education priorities and programs, in exchange for being held accountable for meeting, in a five-year period, certain performance goals which they propose. State and Local Transferability Act - Sets forth ESEA title VII part C, Transferability of Funds. Authorizes State and LEA transfers of funds: (1) among specified ESEA formula grant programs; and (2) from such programs to their allocations for ESEA title I but does not allow transfer of title I funds to other programs. Revises as ESEA title VIII General Provisions (current title IX), including flexibility in the use of administrative and other funds, coordination of programs, consolidated plans and applications, waivers, uniform provisions, and evaluations. Sets forth the sense of the Congress regarding: (1) paperwork reduction; and (2) memorials. Prohibits: (1) use of Federal funds or sanctions for mandatory national certification of teachers and paraprofessionals; and (2) use of ESEA funds for federally-sponsored national testing, unless specifically authorized by law. Redesignates as ESEA title VIII parts H, I, J, and K, current ESEA title XIII provisions for: (1) Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers; (2) National Diffusion Network; (3) Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia; and (4) Technology-Based Technical Assistance. Amends the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 with respect to State assessments. McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to revise and reauthorize provisions for education for homeless children and youth. Repeals provisions under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act for: (1) the National Education Goals Panel and the National Education Standards and Improvement Council; and (2) an International Education Program. Repeals the Troops-to-Teachers Program Act of 1999. Repeals the following ESEA provisions: (1) part B of title IX, education of Native Hawaiians; (2) title X, Programs of National Significance, including the Fund for the Improvement of Education and programs for gifted and talented children, arts in education, inexpensive book distribution, civic education, Ellender fellowships, urban and rural education assistance, and the national writing project; (3) title XI, Coordinated Services; and (4) title XII, School Facilities Infrastructure Improvement, a program of grants for school construction and renovation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Constitutional Amendment - Requires that any bill, resolution, or other legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of that House voting and present, unless the bill is determined at the time of adoption, in a reasonable manner prescribed by law, not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for purposes of determining any increase, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Requires journal entry of any vote. Permits the waiver of such requirement, for up to two years, if there is a declaration of war or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution which becomes law.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2001
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to increase benefits to railroad employees and their beneficiaries and to revise financing of the pension part (tier II) of the railroad retirement system. Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund and a Railroad Retirement Investment Trust to manage and invest Fund assets. Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. Provides for transfer to the Fund of certain portions of the Railroad Retirement Account and of Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds. Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefits Payments Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. Requires the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Fund from taxation. Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. Provides for adjustments to railroad employers, employee representatives, and employee tier II tax rates.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2001
Generator Tariff Elimination Act - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to grant duty-free treatment to certain steam or other vapor generating boilers used in nuclear facilities. Provides a duty for certain other steam or vapor generating boilers. Provides for the liquidation or reliquidation (refund) of duty on such boilers used in nuclear facilities that are entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption during a specified period of time.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that is a union security agreement, to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2001
Access to Innovation for Medicare Patients Act of 2001- Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000, to provide for Medicare coverage of self-injected biologicals approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are prescribed as a complete replacement for a drug or biological that otherwise cannot be self-administered.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Marriage Tax Elimination Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide that the basic standard deduction on a joint return shall be equal to 200 percent of the dollar amount of an individual who is not married. Provides a schedule for making, by 2005, the maximum taxable income in the lowest married bracket equal to double the maximum taxable income in the lowest single filer bracket. Increases the earned income credit phaseout amount on a joint return by $2,000. Revises IRC provisions relating to limitation based on tax liability and the definition of such liability to provide that the aggregate amount of credits allowed as nonrefundable personal credits shall not exceed the sum of: (1) the taxpayer's regular tax liability for the taxable year reduced by the foreign tax credit; and (2) the tax imposed by the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Transportation Tax Equity and Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the special fuel excise tax on railroads and inland waterway transportation. Subjects diesel fuel used in trains to the additional tax for the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify qualified leasehold improvement property (defined as certain improvements made to an interior portion of nonresidential real property) as ten-year property for depreciation purposes under the Accelerated Cost Recovery System.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce; and (3) provisions for safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. Allows 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 they exceed the full-funding limitation. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans) subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. 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. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the 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. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Death Tax Elimination Act - Repeals the estate tax, gift tax, and the tax on generation-skipping transfers, effective January 1, 2011. Provides for annual reductions of the tax until such date. Increases the unified estate and gift tax credit to $1.3 million. Repeals the estate and gift tax provisions applicable to family-owned businesses. Amends provisions concerning the special rules for allocation of the generation-skipping tax (GST) exemption to provide, as a general rule, that: (1) if any individual makes an indirect skip during such individual's lifetime, any unused portion of such individual's GST exemption shall be allocated to the property transferred to the extent necessary to make the inclusion ratio for such property zero; and (2) if the amount of the indirect skip exceeds such unused portion, the entire unused portion shall be allocated to the property transferred. Declares that, if a trust is severed in a qualified severance, the trusts resulting from such severance shall be treated as separate trusts thereafter. Revises valuation rules for gifts for which a gift tax return was filed or deemed allocation made. Provides that, if an allocation of the GST exemption to any transfers of property is deemed to have been made at the close of an estate tax inclusion period, the value of the property shall be its value at such time. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe circumstances and procedures under which extensions of time will be granted to make an allocation of GST exemption or an election not to apply specified allocation requirements to certain lifetime direct skips, indirect skips, or transfers to a particular trust. Increases the permissible number of partners or shareholders in a closely held business for purposes of eligibility for an extension of estate tax payments.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Budget Responsibility and Efficiency Act of 2001 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Conforms provisions of the Rules of the House of Representatives, provisions governing the President's budget, and requirements for certain strategic and performance plans and reports to the biennial framework. Provides a point of order against any measure that contains a specific authorization of appropriations unless such authorization is for each fiscal year in a biennium. Requires the President's budget submission for FY 2004 to identify budget accounts for which an appropriation should be made for each fiscal year of the FY 2004-2005 biennium. Directs congressional committees, during the 108th Congress, to work with the Comptroller General to develop plans to transition program authorizations to a multi-year schedule. Sets forth additional transition requirements. Makes this Act applicable to budget resolutions and appropriations for the biennium beginning with FY 2006.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
William Howard Taft National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 2001 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service, to acquire a specified parcel of real property in exchange for another specified parcel of real property of equal value to be added to the William Howard Taft National Site in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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