Budget

Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1992

Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 - Title I: Extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Amends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-164, as amended) to extend the emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) program. Changes the EUC program termination date (currently July 4, 1992) to the earliest of: (1) April 1, 1993; (2) the first day of the third month after the first month (after June 1992) for which the applicable unemployment rate is less than six and one-half percent; or (3) the first day of the first month (after June 1992) for which the applicable unemployment rate is less than six percent. Makes the applicable unemployment rate for any month, for such purposes, the average rate (seasonally adjusted) of total unemployment in all States for the most recent three calendar months for which data are published before the beginning of such month. Provides for specified reductions of benefits during periods after June 13, 1992, and after December 31, 1992 (or three months prior to any earlier termination date for the program than April 1, 1993). Provides, therefore, up to : (1) 33 weeks of EUC benefits in certain high-unemployment States and 26 weeks in all other States, respectively, for claimants prior to June 14, 1992; (2) 26 or 20 weeks, respectively, for new claimants on or after such date; and (3) 13 or 10 weeks, respectively, for new claimants on or after January 1, 1993 (or any earlier date for the final three-month phaseout). Provides for up to three months continuation of EUC benefits for certain individuals receiving such benefits for a week during which such termination date occurs. Modifies EUC eligibility requirements to: (1) make a 20-week work requirement inapplicable; (2) provide that an individual is not ineligible by reason of subsequent entitlement to regular benefits; and (3) provide certain transition rules, including a waiver of recovery of certain overpayments and an option to defer rights to certain regular benefits. Provides, under specified conditions, that certain Persian Gulf Crisis reservists may receive an EUC weekly benefit amount equal to that they were receiving under the regular State unemployment compensation program when they were called to active duty. Title II: Modifications to Extended Benefits Program - Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 to modify trigger provisions for the extended benefits (EB) program. Provides for an EB State "on" indicator for a month if the average rate of total unemployment (seasonally adjusted) for the most recent three months for which data are published before the close of such month is: (1) six percent or more; and (2) 110 percent or more of such average rate for either (or both) of the corresponding three-month periods ending in the two preceding calendar years. (Current law uses the State insured unemployment rate, rather than the State total unemployment rate, in the trigger formula.) Provides for additional weeks of EB program benefits during high unemployment periods (when the trigger period average rate of total unemployment is eight percent or more). Repeals certain special eligibility requirements under the EB program. Increases the amount of Federal reimbursement under the EB program. Makes these amendments to the EB program effective on October 1, 1993, with certain exceptions. Title III: Modifications to Federal Unemployment Tax - Amends Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to modify the Federal unemployment tax rate. Reduces the percentage of Federal taxable wages, which is part of the formula for determining the FUTA rate of an employer, from the current 0.8 (which is currently scheduled to return to 0.6 when a 0.2 surtax expires in 1996) to 0.3 in 1994 through 1996 and 0.25 in 1997 and thereafter; but increases the FUTA taxable wage base in 1994 and thereafter to the average annual covered wage. Amends IRC to require the appropriate State agency to provide to each individual filing a claim for unemployment compensation under State law a written explanation of: (1) the Federal and State taxation of unemployment benefits; and (2) the requirements to make payments of estimated Federal and State income taxes. Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to allow States to include information on the earned income credit under IRC in certain mailings relating to unemployment compensation, at no cost if such additional information does not increase the postage cost of such mailings. Amends IRC to extend by two years (until January 1, 1995) the current exclusion from coverage under FUTA of agricultural labor performed before such date by an individual who is admitted to the United States to perform such agricultural labor under certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Requires the Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation to report by February 1, 1994, to specified congressional committees on such FUTA exclusion treatment of agricultural labor performed by aliens. Extends by one year the grace period for State repayment of Federal loans to State unemployment funds (before certain penalty taxes on employers take effect in such States with overdue loans), if the State amended its unemployment compensation law during 1992 or 1993 to increase estimated contributions requirements by at least 25 percent. Title IV: Modification to Regular State Unemployment Compensation Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide for treatment of short-time compensation programs which provide partial unemployment benefits to individuals whose workweeks have been reduced by at least ten percent. Allows State laws to provide for unemployment compensation funds to be withdrawn for the payment of such short-time compensation under a plan approved by the Secretary of Labor. Directs the Secretary of Labor to assist States in establishing and implementing short-time compensation programs by: (1) developing model legislative language and proposing appropriate revisions; and (2) providing technical assistance and guidance. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on implementation of these short-time compensation program provisions. Requires each employer covered under a State unemployment compensation law to: (1) post statements (prescribed by the State agency) regarding benefit rights and other matters in places readily accessible to employees; and (2) furnish to each terminated employee written statements (provided by the State agency) regarding claims for compensation. Title V: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to extend by two years, through December 31, 1997, a phase out of personal exemptions for certain high income taxpayers. Amends IRC to disallow an income tax deduction for remuneration for services in excess of $1,000,000 per employee per year to certain covered employees or former employees who are or had been officers of the taxpayer (and not including any employee-owners of personal service corporations). Aggregates remuneration from certain related employers for purposes of such $1,000,000. (Makes such amendment retroactive to cover amounts paid or accrued on or after January 1, 1992, but waives estimated tax provisions with respect to underpayments created or increased by such amendment.) Amends the Social Security Act to provide for transfer of revenues from income taxes on unemployment benefits to the Unemployment Trust Fund. Bases such transfers on estimates of benefit payments. Sets forth a transition rule requiring the Secretary of the Treasury, by the end of FY 1992, to transfer from the general fund of the Treasury to the Unemployment Trust Fund, for credit to the extended unemployment compensation account, an amount equal to that which would have been appropriated to the Unemployment Trust Fund for months beginning on or before enactment of this Act if such transfer amendments had been in effect for all months after December 31, 1990. Revises provisions for Federal unemployment accounts. Modifies provisions for the extended unemployment compensation account with respect to transfers and increases the ceiling on such account. Reduces the ceiling on the Federal unemployment account. Provides for borrowing among the employment security administration account, the Federal unemployment account, and the extended unemployment compensation account. Amends specified Federal law relating to civil service employment to provide that if any Federal agency does not deposit a required amount in the Federal Employees Compensation Account for unemployment benefits within 30 days after notification by the Secretary of Labor, such Secretary shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of such failure and that Secretary shall transfer such amount to such Account from amounts otherwise appropriated to such Federal agency. Extends, to December 31, 1994, the deadline for a report on a study of the allocation of funds among States for the administration of unemployment compensation programs (such report is required under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991). Title VI: Budgetary Treatment - Provides that any amount of new budget authority, outlays, or receipts resulting from this Act shall not be considered for any purpose under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) (BBEDCA). Exempts EUC payments under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 from sequestration orders under BBEDCA.

Local Partnership Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1992

Local Partnership Act of 1992 - Establishes a revenue sharing program of payments to local governments. Sets forth the general framework for the use and timing of payments and for adjustments. Establishes in the Treasury a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Trust Fund (trust fund), with the Secretary of the Treasury as the personal trustee, and authorizes appropriations to finance it. Describes qualifying criteria for and conditions to be met by local governments seeking payments under the program. Requires payments withheld in cases of noncompliance. Requires the Secretary, in accordance with specified formulae, to determine the amount from the trust fund to be allocated to each State for further allocation to county, municipal, and township local governments as well as to Indian tribes and Alaskan native villages. Sets forth special rules governing allocations to territorial governments. Permits State variation of certain local government allocations. Sets forth special rules governing adjustments in local government allocations, including a limit on allocations to local government units based on a specified formula. Specifies the information to be used in making allocations under the program. Requires public hearings on proposed uses of program payments in relation to the local government's budget. Requires public disclosure of information on proposed payment uses and proposed budgets of local governments both prior to the hearing and after adoption of the budget. Prohibits discrimination under a local government program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex if such program or activity is paid for with funds provided under this Act. Lists additional prohibitions applicable to such programs or activities. Prescribes procedures for: (1) instituting administrative proceedings for violations of such prohibitions; (2) suspending and terminating payments; and (3) judicial review of such sanctions. Sets forth provisions providing for: (1) enforcement by the Attorney General of such prohibitions; (2) civil actions by persons adversely affected by prohibited practices; (3) independent audits of local government finances; (4) investigations by the Secretary of possible violations of this Act; (5) reviews by the Comptroller General of activities of the Secretary, State governments, and local government units to determine compliance with this Act; (6) annual reports by the Secretary to the Congress on both the trust fund and the administration of the payment program; and (7) annual reports by local govermental units to the Secretary on program payments.

Einigungsbedingte Ausgaben für die neuen Bundesländer im Bundeshaushalt 1992; Haushaltssteigerung 1992 ohne diese Ausgaben (G-SIG: 12042724)

Germany · German Bundestag · 22 May 1992

A bill to amend and authorize appropriations for the continued implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974.

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (the Act) to revise provisions with respect to the operation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Establishes a direct reporting relationship between the Administrator of the Office and the Attorney General. Makes the Administrator directly responsible to the Attorney General. Bars the Attorney General from delegating specified powers, duties, or functions. Repeals a provision directing the Administrator, in carrying out his functions, to consult with the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Directs the Administrator to: (1) assist Federal agencies that have direct responsibilities for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency in the development and promulgation of regulations, guidelines, requirements, criteria, standards, procedures, and budget requests in accordance with the policies, priorities, and objectives that the Commission establishes; (2) conduct and support evaluations and studies of the performance and results achieved by Federal juvenile delinquency programs and activities and of the prospective performance and results that might be achieved by alternative programs and activities supplementary to or in place of those currently being administered; and (3) develop for each fiscal year, and publish annually in the Federal Register for public comment, a proposed comprehensive plan describing the particular activities that the Commission intends to carry out. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) request a Federal department or agency that engages in activity involving any Federal juvenile delinquency prevention program to provide the Administrator with programmatic and other information, and the head of such department or agency to comply with such request; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts with public or private nonprofit agencies, organizations, institutions, and natural persons to carry out the Act. Directs the Administrator to review: (1) the programs and practices of Federal agencies and report to the President and the Congress on the degree to which Federal agency funds are used for purposes that are either consistent or inconsistent with provisions of the Act; and (2) the reasons why Federal agencies take juveniles into custody and make recommendations regarding how to improve Federal practices and facilities for holding juveniles in custody. Revises reporting requirements to cover specified activities, including a description of exemplary delinquency programs for which assistance is provided under the Act, with particular attention to community-based alternatives to juvenile incarceration that involve and assist families of juveniles. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for State and local programs with public and private nonprofit agencies for the development of more effective programs of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention and treatment (currently, with public and private agencies for the development of more effective education, training, research, prevention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation programs in the area of juvenile delinquency and programs to improve the juvenile justice system (system)). Increases allocations for State formula grants. Revises provisions with respect to the composition and functions of the advisory group required under each State plan. Specifies that such advisory group shall consist of not more than 30 members: (1) who have training, experience, or special knowledge concerning the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency or the administration of juvenile justice; (2) including at least one locally elected official representing general purpose local government, representatives of law enforcement and juvenile agencies, public agencies concerned with delinquency prevention or treatment, private nonprofit organizations, volunteers who work with delinquents or potential delinquents, youth workers involved with programs that are alternatives to incarceration, persons with special experience and competence in addressing problems related to school violence, vandalism, and alternatives to suspension and expulsion, and in addressing problems related to learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, child abuse and neglect, and youth violence; (3) a majority of whom (including the chairperson) shall not be full-time employees of the Federal, State, or local government; (4) at least one-fifth of whom shall be under age 24 at the time of appointment; and (5) at least three of whom have been under the jurisdiction of the system at some time. Sets forth additional requirements with respect to such advisory group. Earmarks funds for programs and services such as: (1) community-based alternatives to incarceration and institutionalization, including specified programs and services for youth who can remain at home with assistance, need temporary placement, and need residential placement; (2) community-based programs and services to work with parents and other family members to strengthen families, including parent self-help groups, so that juveniles may be retained in their homes; (3) comprehensive juvenile justice and delinquency programs that meet the needs of youth through the collaboration of the many local systems before which a youth may appear, including schools, courts, and specified agencies and services; (4) educational programs or supportive services for delinquent or other youth, provided equitably regardless of sex, race, or family income, designed to encourage them to remain in school; (5) expanded use of home probation; (6) programs and projects designed to provide for the treatment of youths' dependence on or abuse of alcohol or other drugs; (7) law-related education programs and projects for delinquent and at-risk youth; and (8) programs for positive youth development that assist delinquent and other at-risk youth in obtaining a sense of safety and structure, of belonging, of self-worth, of independence and control over one's life, of closeness in interpersonal relationships, and of competence. Extends through 1997 (currently, 1993) the requirement that the Administrator promulgate regulations which make exceptions to a prohibition against the detention or confinement of juveniles in any jail or lockup for adults with respect to the detention of juveniles accused of non-status offenses who are awaiting an initial court appearance pursuant to an enforceable State law requiring such appearances within 24 hours after being taken into custody, subject to specified limitations. Requires State plans to provide assurance that youth in the system are treated equitably on the bais of gender, race, family income, and mentally, emotionally, or physically handicapping conditions. Provides for the reduction of funds by 25 percent for each paragraph with respect to which noncompliance with requirements of the Act occurs. Revises provisions with regard to ineligibility of such States to receive allotments. Includes among the purposes of the National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to provide appropriate training for prosecutors and defense attorneys. Authorizes the Administrator to provide such training. Directs the Comptroller General, not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, to conduct studies with respect to: (1) juveniles waived to adult court; (2) admissions of juveniles for behavior disorders to private psychiatric hospitals and to other residential and nonresidential programs that serve such juveniles; (3) gender bias within State juvenile justice systems; (4) the Native American pass-through grant program that reviews the cost-effectiveness of the funding formula utilized; and (5) access to counsel in juvenile court proceedings. Sets forth reporting requirements. Requires the Administrator to provide for the establishment or support of programs and services that encourage the improvement of due process available to juveniles in the system and the quality of legal representation for such juveniles. Specifies that the competitive process regarding consideration of grant applications shall not be required if the Administrator makes a written determination that apply to programs to be carried out in areas with respect to which the President declares under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act that a major disaster or emergency exists (but repeals other exceptions, and reporting requirements related to such exceptions, to the competitive process). Directs the Administrator to establish and support programs and activities that involve families and communities in: (1) the prevention of youth gangs through programs that are designed to: target elementary school students, with the purpose of steering students away from gang involvement; provide individual and family crisis intervention and counseling to students and their families who are particularly at risk of gang involvement; develop and support community education about gangs and gang activity with the intent of involving the community in dealing with the problems associated with gangs; and include a special location within a school or housing project for program activities; and (2) crisis intervention and rehabilitation of youth gangs. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants, in the amount of ten percent of the amount of the State allocation, for challenge activities in which the State participates in such activities. Defines "challenge activity" as a program maintained for one of specified purposes, such as: (1) developing and adopting policies and programs to provide: basic health and appropriate education services for youth in the system as specified in standards developed by the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention prior to October 12, 1984; access to counsel for all juveniles in the justice system to ensure that juveniles consult with counsel before waiving the right to counsel; and secure settings for the placement of violent juvenile offenders with capacities of no more than 50 youth with ratios of staff to youth great enough to ensure adequate supervision and treatment; (2) increasing community-based alternatives to incarceration by establishing programs and developing and adopting objective criteria for the appropriate placement of juveniles in detention and secure confinement; (3) developing and adopting policies to prohibit gender bias in placement and treatment, and establishing programs to ensure that female youth have access to the full range of health services, treatment for physical or sexual assault and abuse, education in parenting, education in general, and other training and vocational services; (4) establishing and operating a State ombudsman office for children, youth, and families to investigate and resolve complaints relating to action, inaction, or decisions of providers of out-of-home care to children and youth that may adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of resident children and youth; (5) developing and adopting policies and programs designed to remove, where appropriate, status offenders from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; (6) developing and adopting policies and programs designed to serve as alternatives to suspension and expulsion from school; (7) increasing aftercare services for juveniles involved in the justice system; and (8) developing and adopting policies to establish a State administrative structure to coordinate program and fiscal policies for children who have emotional and behavioral problems and their families among the major child serving systems and a statewide case review system which meets specified requirements. Revises findings with respect to runaway and homeless youth. Specifies that runaway and homeless youth centers funded by grants under the Act shall serve as alternatives to the law enforcement, child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice systems. Provides for increases in the allocation to a State or territory under such provisions. Repeals a provision authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide on-the-job training to local runaway and homeless youth center and other personnel in recognizing and providing for learning disabled and other handicapped juveniles. Modifies eligibility requirements with respect to such grants. Includes among such requirements that an applicant propose to establish, strengthen, or fund a locally controlled project (currently, facility) providing temporary shelter. Requires that, to qualify for such assistance, the applicant submit a plan to the Secretary including assurances that the applicant shall: (1) develop an adequate plan for assuring proper relations with health and mental health care personnel; and (2) keep adequate statistical records profiling the family members which it serves, including youth who are not referred to out-of-home shelter services. Authorizes appropriations for grants for a national communication system to assist runaway and homeless youth in communicating with their families and with service providers. Gives priority to grants smaller than $250,000 (currently, $150,000) for runaway and homeless youth centers. Requires applicants, to be eligible for transitional living grant assistance, to submit to the Secretary a plan in which such applicant agrees, as part of such project: (1) to provide services including training in money management, budgeting, consumer education, and use of credit to homeless youth; and (2) not to disclose records maintained on individual homeless youth without the consent of the individual youth (currently, and parent or legal guardian) to anyone other than an agency compiling statistical records or a government agency involved in the disposition of criminal charges against youth. Repeals provisions with respect to grants for technical assistance and training, authority to make grants to research, demonstration, and service projects, and coordination with the activities of health agencies in the Department of HHS. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and provide technical assistance to public and nonprofit private entities (and combinations of such entities) to establish and operate street-based services to runaway, homeless, and other street youth. Requires an applicant, to be eligible for such assistance, to propose to establish, strengthen, or fund a street-based services project and submit to the Secretary a plan in which the applicant agrees, as part of the project, to: (1) identify and frequent areas in which such youth congregate, making contact and forming relationships with such youth; (2) assess the problems and service needs of such youth and provide appropriate services or information and referral for these services; (3) cause its staff to work in teams with on-street supervision or backup and off-street clinical supervision, develop referral relationships with agencies and organizations, and help integrate and coordinate such services for youth; (4) submit to the Secretary an annual report and an annual budget; (5) implement such accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as the Secretary may require; (6) keep adequate statistical records profiling the youth that it serves and not disclose the identity of individual street youth in documents based on such records; (7) not disclose records maintained on street youth without the consent of the individual youth to anyone; and (8) provide to the Secretary such other information as the Secretary may reasonably require. Directs the Secretary to: (1) give priority in selecting eligible applicants to entities that have experience in providing direct services to street youth; and (2) make grants to State, regional, and other nonprofit organizations (and combinations of such organizations) to provide technical assistance and training to eligible groups for the purpose of establishing and improving the operation of programs for street youth. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States, localities, and private entities (and combinations of such entities) to carry out research, demonstration, and service projects designed to increase knowledge concerning, and to improve services for, street youth. Requires the Secretary to give priority to applicants that have knowledge of or experience in working with runaway and homeless youth, and special consideration to proposed projects meeting specified criteria. Directs the Secretary, with respect to matters relating to health, education, employment, and housing, to coordinate the activities of health agencies in the Department of HHS with those of other divisions of that department and other public and private entities, and encourage coordination with other departments. Sets forth additional reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth priorities in the use of appropriated funds. Authorizes appropriations for grants relating to locating missing children. Creates a new title V of the Act, which may be cited as the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs Act. Sets forth provisions regarding the duties and functions of the Commission. Authorizes the Commission to make grants to a State for delinquency prevention programs and activities for youth who have had, or who are likely to have, contact with the system, including the provision to children, youth, and families of recreation services, tutoring and remedial education, assistance in the development of work awareness skills, child and adolescent health and mental health services, alcohol and substance abuse prevention services, and leadership development activities. Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) eligibility requirements; (2) priorities in considering grant applications; (3) innovative ways to involve the private nonprofit and business sector in delinquency prevention activities; and (4) developing or enhancing a statewide subsidy program to local governments that is dedicated to early intervention and delinquency prevention. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the General Accounting Office, after such program has been funded for two years, to prepare and submit to the Congress a study of the effects of the program in encouraging States and units of general local government to comply with requirements of the Act. Creates a new title VI of the Act, which may be cited as the Justice System Enhancement for Abused and Neglected Children Act. Directs the Administrator, subject to specified limitations, to: (1) issue such rules as are necessary or appropriate to carry out such title; (2) make such arrangements as necessary and appropriate to facilitate coordination and policy development among all civil and criminal justice system improvement activities funded through the Department of Justice, as well as with other Federal agencies (including the Inter-Agency Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect), relating to abused and neglected children (including the preparation of an annual comprehensive plan for facilitating such coordination and policy development); and (3) provide adequate staff and agency resources necessary to properly carry out responsibilities pursuant to such title. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to and enter into contracts with public agencies or privte nonprofit organizations (or combinations thereof) for research or demonstration and system improvement projects designed to: (1) identify effective approaches to the handling of child abuse and neglect cases in the criminal and civil justice systems so that such approaches can serve as models to other jurisdictions; (2) research issues concerning the legal system's reponse as a whole to child abuse and neglect; (3) improve the response of the criminal and civil justice systems to the special needs and sensitivities of children who have been abused or neglected; and (4) enhance coordination between the civil and criminal justice systems in child abuse and neglect cases (as well as coordination between these systems and the social services, mental health, health, and education systems that are also involved) and the availability of, and access to, child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment services for child victims, their family members, and the perpetrators. Directs the Assistant Attorney General, in considering grant applications, to give priority to applicants that demonstrate ability in: (1) conducting research and disseminating findings with respect to civil and criminal justice system cases involving child abuse, child neglect, or child maltreatment-related fatalities; (2) developing model approaches for responding to such cases; and (3) coordinating responses to such cases. Requires the Administrator, in considering grant and contract applications under such title, to endeavor to ensure that cases of child abuse and neglect in family settings, in the community, and within residential institutions are all given an adequate focus. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants and enter into contracts with public agencies or private nonprofit organizations (or combinations thereof) for training, technical assistance, and service programs designed to educate prosecutors and defense attorneys in the criminal justice system, judges in the civil and criminal justice systems, and practitioners in the civil justice system about the experiences of children who are abused or neglected and their families and improve skills and responses in handling child abuse and neglect cases. Sets forth priorities in considering applications for such grants. Directs the Administrator to establish annual priorities for making grants and contracts for research or demonstration and system improvement projects and criteria based on merit for making such grants and contracts, and to publish in the Federal Register for public comment a statement of such proposed priorities and criteria before establishing such priorities and criteria. Authorizes appropriations.

American Technology and Competitiveness Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

American Technology and Competitiveness Act - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth the purposes and goals of this Act. Title II: Manufacturing - Manufacturing Technology and Extension Act of 1992 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to designate the Department of Commerce as the lead civilian Federal agency to work with U.S. industry, State and local governments, and private entities to enhance U.S. manufacturing capabilities. Establishes the Nationwide Network of Manufacturing Outreach Centers to assist U.S. manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized firms, to expand the use of technology and modern manufacturing processes. Provides for a related communications infrastructure and information clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes the Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Networking Projects program to create technology development programs to create advanced computer-integrated, electronically-networked manufacturing technologies and associated applications. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to expand the Engineering Research Centers program with emphasis on advanced manufacturing. Authorizes the establishment of up to five new Centers for such purpose. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Critical Technologies - Subtitle A: Miscellaneous - Requires the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees regarding any executive branch international trade negotiations which might affect Federal research and development programs. Subtitle B: Council on Technology and Competitiveness - Establishes within the Executive Office of the President a Council on Technology and Competitiveness. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Advanced Technology Program - Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress an expansion plan for the Advanced Technology program. Requires the establishment of at least two new critical technologies consortia. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Technology Commercialization Loans - Authorizes the Secretary to make technology commercialization loans. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Critical Technologies Development-Part I: General Provisions - Critical Technologies Development Act of 1992 - Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology (Under Secretary) to establish a critical technologies development advisory committee. Part II: Program Structure and Operation - Establishes a program of financing qualified business concerns through federally assisted licensees. Part III: Enforcement - Provides for licensee enforcement. Part IV: Miscellaneous - Authorizes the Under Secretary to issue and guarantee trust certificates for licensee preferred securities. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: International Standardization - Amends the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 to expand the standards pilot program to promote the dissemination of U.S. technical standards abroad. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress with regard to the appropriate Federal role in developing and promulgating domestic and global product and quality standards. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the Office of the Under Secretary; (2) technology policy; (3) Japanese technical literature; (4) National Technical Information Service modernization, including a facilities study; and (5) specified activities within the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Prohibits the fraudulent use of "Made in America" labels. Provides for compliance with the Buy American Act. Prohibits the making of a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award within a category or subcategory if there are no qualifying enterprises in that category or subcategory. Title VI: Competitiveness Research, Data Collection, and Evaluation - Directs the Secretary to conduct a competitiveness research program. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Education and Workforce Training - Subtitle A: American Industrial Quality and Training - American Industrial Quality and Training Act of 1992 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for workforce quality training partnerships. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make grants for youth technical apprenticeship programs. Directs such Secretary to establish a program information clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants for statewide systems of technical training. Authorizes appropriations. Requires reports on U.S. industry worker training and on the applicability of total quality management to education. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Scientific and Technical Education - Scientific and Technical Education Act of 1992 - Requires NSF to: (1) carry out a program to assist associate-degree-granting colleges to provide education in advanced technology fields, with emphasis on the needs of nontraditional students; (2) establish up to ten scientific and technical education centers of excellence; (3) make grants to eligible college partnerships to assist associate students in mathematics, science, engineering, or technology make the transition to bachelor-degree-granting institutions; and (4) make grants to strengthen the relationships between associate-degree-colleges and secondary schools. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes NSF to make grants for technology education teacher training. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to require the Secretary to report to the Congress on establishment of a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for educational institutions. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Technology Administration the American Industrial Quality Foundation to further U.S. industrial competitiveness in the international marketplace. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Academic Research Facilities Modernization Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations for the Academic Research Facilities Modernization program. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture, of Defense, and of Energy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Director of the National Institutes of Aeronautics and Space Health to each establish academic research facilities awards programs. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes NASA, NSF, and the Department of Energy to establish a joint awards program in support of science and technology instructional equipment and facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to authorize NSF to foster the development of high performance computing. Amends the Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for grants to educational agencies for systematic reform of mathematics and science education. Title VIII: Tax and Investment Incentives - Investment Incentives Act of 1992 - Subtitle A: Tax and Investment Incentives - Part I: Research and Experimentation Tax Credit Made Permanent - Amends the Internal Revenue Service Code to make the research tax credit permanent. Part II: Capital Gain Provisions - Provides for: (1) the indexing of certain assets acquired on or after February 1, 1992, for purposes of determining gain; and (2) a 50 percent exclusion for gain of individuals from certain small business stock. Part III: Temporary Investment Incentives - Provides for: (1) a temporary expensing increase for small businesses; and (2) a special depreciation allowance for certain equipment acquired in 1992. Subtitle B: Revenue Provisions - Makes the high-income personal exemption phaseout permanent. Disallows the deduction for: (1) certain employee remuneration in excess of $1 million; and (2) club membership dues. Requires specified identifying information with regard to certain seller-provided financing. Extends temporarily the overall limitation on high-income taxpayer itemized deductions. Sets forth a mark-to-market accounting method for securities dealers. Increases the base tax rate on ozone-depleting chemicals. Title IX: National Security Reinvestment - Subtitle A: Advanced Manufacturing Equipment Leasing Corporations - Provides for the establishment of a pilot Advanced Manufacturing Equipment Leasing Corporation which shall: (1) expand the commercial market for advanced manufacturing equipment produced by eligible Department of Defense (DOD) contractors; and (2) provide such equipment through lease or sale to small and medium commercial businesses at less than market rates. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Science and Mathematics Educational Reinstatement - Directs NSF to establish and administer a fellowship program for teaching certification in science and mathematics for qualifying displaced or retiring military and defense support personnel. Funds the program through DOD. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: National Security Retraining Fellowships - Directs NSF to establish and administer a fellowship program for retraining qualifying displaced or nonretiring military and defense support personnel with specialized defense-related expertise in science or engineering. Funds the program through DOD. Provides for the establishment of a related Engineer Reinvestment Panel. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Multiprogram Laboratory Conversion - Requires that within five years of enactment of this Act, ten percent of all Federal funding for research and development at (the Department of Energy) multiprogram laboratories shall be used for joint projects with private industry, including specified priority projects. Subtitle E: Research and Development Spending - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any budget reductions in DOD research and development should be balanced by equal increases in civilian research and development spending; and (2) defense and civilian research and development spending should be made approximately equal as soon as practicable. Subtitle F: Manufacturing Extension and Critical Technologies - Authorizes DOD appropriations for: (1) manufacturing extension programs; and (2) critical technology application centers.

Fundamental Competitiveness Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

Fundamental Competitiveness Act of 1992 - Title I: Public Debt Reduction - Allows individual taxpayers to designate a portion of tax liability (not to exceed ten percent) on their tax returns to reduce the public debt. Establishes the Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund consisting of amounts so designated. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for a sequestration of revenues equivalent to the estimated aggregate amount so designated. Specifies accounts exempted from such sequestration and establishes reporting requirements with respect to budget procedures. Title II: Capital Formation - Establishes a method of computing the credit for increasing research activities based on aggregate research expenses, as an alternative to the method based on qualified research expenses. Establishes a variable capital gains deduction whose formulas on a sliding scale range from ten percent for assets held for one year up to 100 percent for assets held for ten years. Allows a deduction of 50 percent of the capital gain from stock investments by non-corporate taxpayers in start-up companies where initial stock offerings are held for two years. Requires indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangle property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other disposition, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Permits an income tax deduction in the amount of dividends paid by domestic corporations, except S corporations, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, and personal holding companies. Repeals the income tax deductions currently permitted in connection with: (1) dividends received by a corporation; (2) dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility; and (3) dividends paid by a public utility on its preferred stock. Increases the deductible percentage of amounts received by a corporation from a qualified ten-percent owned foreign corporation. Allows a charitable deduction for corporate contributions of employee volunteer services to an educational organization. Establishes an investment tax credit for manufacturing and other productive equipment. Provides for determining the applicable percentage of such credit, which includes an efficiency improvement percentage. Increases the limitation based on the amount of tax for purposes of the general business credit. Provides for the treatment of losses on stock in manufacturing companies as ordinary (as opposed to capital) losses. Allows a partial exclusion of dividends or interest received by an individual. Provides for ordinary-loss treatment for losses on investments in a qualified startup company. Describes such company as one which: (1) manufacture tangible personal property in the United States; (2) does not involve a business acquired from another person; and (3) has not been in existence for more than one taxable year at the time it issued stock. Title III: Antitrust - Amends the Clayton Act to bar the acquisition by one corporation of stock of another, subject to specified conditions, where there is a significant probability that such acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power (currently, where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition or to tend to create a monopoly). Defines the ability to exercise market power for purposes of such provision as the ability of one or more firms profitably to maintain prices above competitive levels for a significant period of time. Directs the court, in determining whether there is a significant probability that any acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power, to consider all economic factors relevant to the effect of the acquisition in the affected markets, including: (1) the number and size distribution of firms and the effect of the acquisition thereon; (2) the ease or difficulty of entry by foreign or domestic firms; (3) the ability of smaller firms in the market to increase production in response to an attempt to exercise market power; (4) the nature of the product and terms of sale; (5) conduct of firms in the market; (6) efficiencies deriving from the acquisition; and (7) any other evidence indicating whether the acquisition will or will not substantially increase the ability, unilaterally or collectively, to exercise market power. Amends the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 to include a joint production venture within the scope of such Act as an activity that shall not be deemed illegal per se under the antitrust laws. Changes the short title of such Act to the National Cooperative Research, Development, and Production Act. Title IV: Business Liability - Subtitle A: Findings - Makes findings with respect to the increasing amount of litigation in our society and the desirability of encouraging alternative dispute mechanisms and providing uniform legal standards in the areas of professional and product liability. Subtitle B: Professionals' Liability Reform - Professionals' Liability Reform Act of 1992 - Establishes certain limitations and procedures regarding professional liability actions. Preempts certain State laws. Provides that nothing in this Act shall prohibit any State from developing or implementing alternative procedures for: (1) expediting the adjudication of professional liability claims; (2) resolving professional liability disputes; or (3) compensating for harm caused by professional services. Requires professional liability actions to be brought within three years after the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, the harm. Requires the claimant, in any professional liability action, to establish: (1) that the professional negligently rendered professional services and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the harm; or (2) in a claim for economic injury, that the professional negligently rendered professional services to and for the direct and intended benefit of the claimant, and such services were the proximate cause of the harm. Requires the claimant to establish that, at the time such services were provided, knowledge of the circumstances that caused the harm and a practical means to eliminate such circumstances were reasonably available. States that a professional shall not be liable in a professional liability action in which: (1) the professional's services were rendered to an agency of the Federal or State government; (2) Federal or State contract specifications existed which were material to the claim; and (3) the services rendered conformed to such specifications. Permits future damage awards exceeding $100,000 to be made by periodic payments. Requires that damage awards be offset by any amount received as compensation for the same injury. Establishes a contingency fee schedule for plaintiffs' attorneys. States that the principles of comparative liability shall apply unless persons engaged in concerted action which proximately caused the harm. Permits the awarding of punitive damages only where the conduct of the defendant: (1) manifested a malicious and reckless disregard for safety; and (2) constituted an extreme departure from accepted standards of safety. States that punitive damages may not be awarded in the absence of a compensatory award, or for the negligent provision of professional services. Requires the trier of fact, at the request of the professional, to consider in a separate proceeding whether punitive damages are to be awarded. Limits the claimant's actual recovery of punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages. States that excess punitive damages shall be paid to the State or Federal government. Makes any attorney who files a frivolous claim subject to pecuniary sanctions by the court. Requires each State to encourage professional organizations to form risk management programs. Subtitle C: Product Liability Fairness - Part I: General Provisions - Product Liability Fairness Act - Declares that this Act governs any product liability action brought against a manufacturer or product seller, on any theory, for harm caused by a product. States that a civil action brought against a manufacturer or product seller for loss or damage to a product itself or commercial loss shall be governed by applicable commercial or contract law. Supersedes any inconsistent State law regarding recovery in such actions. Lists specific laws not superseded, including: (1) defense of sovereign immunity asserted by any State or by the United States; (2) any Federal law (except the Federal Employees Compensation Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act); (3) the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976; (4) State choice-of-law rules; (5) the right of any court to transfer venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation or to dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or citizen on the ground of inconvenient forum; and (6) any statutory or common law cause of action, including an action to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a State or person to institute an action for civil damages or civil penalties, clean up costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, punitive damages, or any other form of relief from contamination or pollution of the environment or the threat of it. Declares that U.S. district courts shall not have jurisdiction over any civil action under this Act, based on specified provisions of Federal law relating to district court jurisdiction. Declares that, if any provision of this Act would shorten the period during which a manufacturer or seller would otherwise be exposed to liability, the claimant may, notwithstanding that period, bring any civil action under this Act within one year after the effective date of this Act. Part II: Out of Court Procedures - Allows any claimant to bring a civil action for damages against a person for harm caused by a product under applicable State law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this title. Sets forth expedited settlement measures, including: (1) an option to include an offer of settlement, for a specific dollar amount, by the plaintiff in the complaint and by the defendant in a responsive pleading; and (2) awarding attorney's fees and costs, in certain circumstances, to the prevailing party if the other party does not accept the settlement offer. Sets forth alternative dispute resolution procedures, including: (1) an option, in lieu of or in addition to a settlement offer, for a claimant or a defendant to offer to proceed under any voluntary alternative dispute resolution procedure established or recognized under the law of the State in which the action is brought or maintained; and (2) awarding of attorney's fees and costs to the offering party if the court determines that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable or not in good faith. Creates a rebuttable presumption that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable, or not in good faith, if a verdict is rendered in favor of the offeror. Part III: Court Procedures - Allows a person seeking to recover for harm caused by a product to bring a civil action against the manufacturer or seller under applicable State or Federal law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this Act. Establishes a standard of product seller liability for proximate causes of harm, established by a preponderance of the evidence, which fall under the categories of negligence or express warranty. Allows the trier of fact, in a negligence action, to consider the conduct of the seller with respect to: (1) the construction, inspection, or condition of the product; and (2) failure to pass on warnings or instructions from the manufacturer. Deems the seller not liable for failure to provide warnings or instructions unless the claimant establishes that the seller failed to: (1) provide warnings or instructions received while the product was in the seller's possession and control; or (2) make reasonable efforts to provide users with warnings and instructions which it received after the product left its possession and control. Deems a seller not liable except for breach of warranty where there was no opportunity to inspect the product in a manner which would or should, in the exercise of reasonable care, have revealed the aspect which allegedly caused the harm. Declares that the seller shall be treated as the manufacturer and be liable for harm caused by a product as if it were the manufacturer if: (1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of process in any State in which the action might have been brought; or (2) the court determines that the claimant would be unable to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer. Allows punitive damages, if otherwise permitted by applicable law, to be awarded in any civil action under this title to any claimant who establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of conduct manifesting a manufacturer's or product seller's conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those persons who might be harmed by a product. Declares that a failure to exercise reasonable care in choosing among alternative product designs, formulations, instructions, or warnings is not of itself such conduct. Prohibits awarding punitive damages in the absence of a compensatory award, subject to exception. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer or seller of a drug or medical device where: (1) the drug or device was subject to pre-market approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); or (2) the drug is generally recognized as safe and effective under conditions established by the FDA. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer of an aircraft where: (1) the aircraft was subject to pre-market certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); and (2) the manufacturer complied, after delivery, with FAA requirements and obligations with respect to continuing airworthiness. Provides for separate proceedings, if requested by the manufacturer or seller, with regard to punitive damages. Lists factors the trier of fact is allowed to consider in determining the amount of punitive damages. Bars any civil action under this title: (1) unless filed within two years after the claimant discovered or should have discovered the harm and its cause, subject to exception; and (2) if the product involved is a capital good that is alleged to have caused harm which is not a toxic harm unless filed within twenty-five years after delivery of the product, provided the claimant has received or would be eligible for State or Federal workers' compensation. Excludes a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or railroad used primarily to transport passengers for hire from these time limitations. States that nothing in these provisions affects the right of any person who is subject to liability under this Act to obtain contribution or indemnity from any other person who is responsible for the harm. Requires reduction in the damages awarded by the sum of all State or Federal workers' compensation benefits to which the employee is or would be entitled. Requires a claimant in a civil action under this title who is or may be eligible to receive State or Federal workers' compensation to notify the claimant's employer of the civil action. Requires an action to be stayed, at the sole discretion of the claimant, until a final determination is made on the amount payable as workers' compensation benefits. Declares that, unless the manufacturer or seller has expressly agreed to indemnify or hold an employer harmless, neither the employer nor the workers' compensation insurance carrier shall have a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery, except if the claimant's harm was not in any way caused by the fault of the claimant's employer or co-employees. Allows the employer or workers' compensation insurer to intervene in the action to prove that fact. Prohibits a third party tortfeasor, where workers' compensation is involved, from maintaining any action for implied indemnity or contribution against the employer, any coemployee, or the exclusive representative of the injured person. Prohibits, for a person who is or would have been entitled to receive workers' compensation, any other action, unless a State or Federal workers' compensation law permits recovery based on a claim of an intentional tort. Makes these provisions inapplicable and declares that applicable State law shall control if the employer or the workers' compensation insurer asserts a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery. Declares that, in any product liability action, the liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages shall be several and not joint. Requires the trier of fact to determine the proportion of responsibility of each party for the claimant's harm. Establishes a complete defense, in any civil action under this Act in which all defendants are manufacturers or sellers, that the claimant was under the influence of alcohol or any drug and that, as a result, the claimant was more than 50 percent responsible for the event which resulted in the harm. Defines "drug" to mean any non-over-the-counter drug which has not been prescribed by a physician. Title V: Long-Term Investment - Long-Term Investment Promotion Act of 1992 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to eliminate the requirement that publicly-held corporations report their financial status on a quarterly basis. Title VI: Competitiveness Risk Assessment - Declares that no agency shall propose or promulgate a regulation without first analyzing its direct and indirect effects on the health and safety of consumers and workers, including effects due to wage and job losses, price increases, product restrictions, technological delays, and substitution effects. Title VII: Department of Manufacturing And Commerce - Department of Manufacturing and Commerce Act of 1992 - Renames the Department of Commerce as the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Requires the President to establish a Manufacturing Advisory Commission to examine Federal agencies, programs, and offices responsible for manufacturing-related research and development, technology transfer, education, and trade in order to prepare a report for the Congress on the feasibility of consolidating such agencies, programs, and offices into a single Office of Manufacturing within the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Title VIII: Amendments to the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to change from discretionary to mandatory a Federal agency's authority to permit the director of any of its laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development agreements on its behalf. Authorizes each Federal agency to copyright on behalf of the United States any computer software prepared in whole or in part by Government employees involved in cooperative research and development agreements. Includes software royalties in the current distribution format (agency, laboratory, author, and Treasury) under such Act.

Gulf of Mexico Preservation Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

Gulf of Mexico Preservation Act of 1992 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Gulf of Mexico Program to: (1) assess trends in environmental quality in the Gulf; (2) collaborate with specified entities to identify causes of environmental problems; and (3) provide for the development of a management, protection, and restoration plan. Establishes a Gulf of Mexico Program Office within EPA. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) conduct a study of environmental problems in the Gulf that are not confined to the jurisdiction of any Federal, State, or foreign entity; and (2) enter into memoranda of understanding and cooperative agreements and participate in a joint commission with the Mexican Government and any other appropriate foreign country to address such problems. Directs the Administrator to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the status of activities in the Gulf. Requires the Administrator to prepare an assessment of Gulf environmental quality that shall: (1) describe the existing state of knowledge concerning the Gulf's environmental quality; (2) include an inventory of relevant environmental research and monitoring programs; (3) identify gaps in knowledge and research needed for the development of the management plan; and (4) assess the environmental impact of specified types of pollution, erosion, dissolved oxygen, bacterial infection in fish, and oil spill response activities. Directs the Administrator to design a strategy for monitoring the environmental quality of the Gulf. Authorizes the Administrator to carry out the assessment and strategy by making grants to specified public and private entities. Requires the Administrator to develop a management, protection, and restoration plan for the Gulf. Requires the Plan to: (1) establish priority schedules for addressing environmental problems in the Gulf; (2) outline specific activities to be conducted under the Program; (3) provide for cooperative activities by public and private entities under the Program; (4) set forth recommendations for actions by Federal, State, and local agencies to prevent, abate, or remediate pollution in the Gulf or to improve environmental quality; and (5) include a summary of the assessment and the monitoring strategy. Provides for periodic reviews of the Plan. Directs the Administrator to make grants to States for purposes of furthering the development and implementation of the Plan. Prohibits grants from being used to relieve any person of liability for environmental damages, response costs, or related relief under Federal or State law. Authorizes appropriations. Earmarks at least 70 percent of appropriations for the grant program. Requires the Administrator to request that funding of the Program Office be included as a separate line item in any annual budget proposal submitted by the President to the Congress.

Balanced Budget Implementation Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

Balanced Budget Implementation Act of 1992 - Title I: Repeal of Budget Agreement Enforcement Provisions - Repeals the budget agreement enforcement provisions of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Title II: Emergency Powers to Eliminate Deficits in Excess of Maximum Deficit Amount - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for enforcement of deficit reduction to balance the Federal budget by the end of FY 1997. Requires enforcement to be implemented through sequestration and revenue surtax (current provisions only require budget enforcement through sequestration). Repeals provisions which govern enforcement of discretionary spending limits and pay-as-you-go through FY 1995. Revises provisions concerning enforcing deficit targets. Requires the President, within 15 calendar days after the Congress adjourns to end a session, to take action to eliminate the excess deficit, in any. Sets forth the maximum deficit amounts allowed for FY 1993 through 1997. Reduces such amounts to zero by FY 1997 plus any amount designated to meet a condition of national economic urgency. Requires 60 percent of the excess deficit in a budget year to be eliminated through across-the-board outlay reductions and 40 percent through a revenue surtax. Provides rules for such sequestration process. Revises the timetable and requirements for deficit reduction reports and presidential orders. Requires within-session deficit reduction reports. Revises the list of exempt programs and activities. Removes the special exemption for social security benefits, railroad retirement benefits, certain veterans programs, payments made for the earned income tax credit, and certain low-income programs. Removes the special exceptions, limitations, and rules with respect to sequestration for: (1) certain automatic spending increases; (2) the guaranteed student loan program; (3) foster care and adoption assistance programs; (4) the Medicare program; (5) community and migrant health centers, Indian health services and facilities, and veterans' medical care; (6) the child support enforcement program; (7) payments and advances for unemployment compensation; (8) the Commodity Credit Corporation; and (9) the jobs portion of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Repeals the provision that requires permanent cancellation of budgetary resources sequestered from any account other than a trust or special fund account. Adds a special rule if the President exempts military personnel from sequestration with respect to further reductions in the appropriate subfunctional category. Repeals provisions concerning: (1) suspension of deficit reduction in the event of low economic growth; (2) the President's flexibility in making deficit reductions among defense programs, projects, and activities; and (3) the special reconciliation process. Sets forth congressional procedures to make available excess budgetary resources whenever the President transmits to the Congress a declaration of national economic urgency. Title III: Tax Surcharge to Reduce Deficit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax surcharge on the income of every taxpayer if the Office of Management and Budget reports to the Congress and the President that a revenue increase is required. Establishes procedures for determining and administering such surcharge. Repeals such surcharge if the Secretary of the Treasury determines that it is not needed. Title IV: Budget Submitted by the President - Requires the President's budget to ensure that the deficit for such fiscal year does not exceed the maximum deficit amount. Requires the submission of a balanced budget for FY 1997 and subsequent fiscal years. Makes such requirements inapplicable during a declaration of national economic urgency or a declaration of war. Title V: Total of President's Budget Shall Represent Spending Ceiling - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to prohibit the Congress from passing legislation which provides budgetary resources in excess of those proposed in the President's budget. Title VI: Fiscal Year 1993 Deficit Reduction Actions - Requires the President to submit to the Congress a revised budget for FY 1993 to achieve the deficit targets set forth under this Act. Requires the Congress, after receipt of the President's budget, to report revised concurrent budget resolutions for FY 1993 to achieve such deficit targets.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget of the United States Government.

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992

Constitutional Amendment - Requires the President, prior to each fiscal year, to transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for that year in which total expenditures (except those for repayment of debt principal) do not exceed total receipts (except those derived from borrowing). Provides that if the President transmits to the Congress a declaration of National Economic Urgency for that fiscal year and if such declaration identifies the amount of excess expenditures required to meet national needs, budgetary resources equivalent to the amount of excess expenditures shall become eligible for appropriation only if Congress approves such declaration by a majority rollcall vote in each House. Prohibits the Congress from approving a budget for any fiscal year which is estimated to result in a higher amount of total expenditures than those recommended by the President for that fiscal year. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect.

22 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, in regard to the announcement made following the meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference on 27 April, regarding the upgrading of the Dublin-Belfast rail line, she will outline the total budget for the plan, including the amount to be contributed from the Irish Exchequer; when it is expected that work will be commenced and when it will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 20 May 1992

22 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, in regard to the announcement made following the meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference on 27 April, regarding the upgrading of the Dublin-Belfast rail line, she will outline the total budget for the plan, including the amount to be contributed from the Irish Exchequer; when it is expected that work will be commenced and when it will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

22 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, in regard to the announcement made following the meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference on 27 April, regarding the upgrading of the Dublin-Belfast rail line, she will outline the total budget for the plan, including the amount to be contributed from the Irish Exchequer; when it is expected that work will be commenced and when it will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 20 May 1992

22 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, in regard to the announcement made following the meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference on 27 April, regarding the upgrading of the Dublin-Belfast rail line, she will outline the total budget for the plan, including the amount to be contributed from the Irish Exchequer; when it is expected that work will be commenced and when it will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

11 Mr. Taylor asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications the departmental budget for entertainment expenses for each of the last five years together with the estimated figure for 1992; and if she will make a statement on the trend indicated.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 20 May 1992

11 Mr. Taylor asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications the departmental budget for entertainment expenses for each of the last five years together with the estimated figure for 1992; and if she will make a statement on the trend indicated.

To reauthorize for 5 additional years the rural health care transition grant program established under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 and to require the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to give preference in awarding grants under such program to projects involving cooperative programs with multiple providers.

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1992

Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, to: (1) extend for five years the rural health care transition grant program; and (2) give preference in awarding grants under such program to projects which include programs of cooperation with other health care providers.

Waiving all points of order against the conference report on the bill (H.R. 4990) rescinding certain budget authority, and for other purposes, and against consideration of such conference report.

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1992

Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on H.R. 4990 (rescission of budget authority).

Waiving all points of order against the conference report on the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 287) setting forth the congressional budget for the United States for the fiscal years 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997, and against consideration of such conference report.

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1992

Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on H. Con. Res. 287 (congressional budget).

Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs Act

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1992

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Amendments of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) to include within the policy enunciated under such Act to: (1) encourage parental involvement in treatment and alternative disposition programs; and (2) provide for coordination of services between State, local, and community-based agencies, and promote interagency cooperation in providing such services. Revises the definition of "valid court order" to mean a court order given by a juvenile court judge to a juvenile: (1) who was brought before the court and made subject to such order (as under current law); (2) who received, before the issuance of such order, the full due process rights guaranteed to such juvenile by the Constitution; and (3) with respect to whom an appropriate public agency (other than a court or law enforcement agency), before the issuance of such order, reviewed the behavior of the juvenile and circumstances under which the juvenile was brought before the court and made subject to such order, determined the reasons for such behavior, determined that all dispositions (including treatment), other than placement in a secure detention or correctional facility had been exhausted or were clearly inappropriate, and submitted to the court a written report stating the results of the review and the determinations made. Specifies that there shall be a direct reporting relationship between the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Attorney General, that the Administrator shall be directly responsible to the Attorney General, and that the Attorney General may not delegate specified powers, duties, or functions. (Under current law, the Administrator reports to the Attorney General through the Assistant Attorney General who heads the Office of Justice Programs under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.) Directs the Administrator to develop objectives, priorities, and a long-term plan, and implement overall policy and a strategy to carry out such plan (currently, to implement overall policy and develop objectives and priorities). Specifies that such plan shall: (1) contain specific goals and criteria for making grants and contracts, conducting research, and carrying out other activities under such Act; and (2) provide for coordinating the administration of programs and activities under such Act with the administration of all other Federal juvenile delinquency programs and activities. Requires the Administrator to review such plan annually, revise it as appropriate, and publish it in the Federal Register. Repeals certain provisions with respect to: (1) the transfer of funds to other agencies; and (2) grants and contracts to other agencies, institutions, and individuals. Revises provisions with respect to the composition, functions, and administration of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Provides for the appointment of specified numbers of members appointed from among individuals who are practitioners in the field of juvenile justice who are not officers or employees of the United States, from members selected by the Congress, and from members appointed by the President. Directs the Council to examine how the separate programs can be coordinated among Federal, State, and local governments to better serve at-risk children and juveniles. Specifies that, in addition to performing their functions as members of the Council, members shall collectively: (1) make recommendations regarding the development of the objectives, priorities, and long-term plan, and the implementation of overall policy and strategy to carry out such plan; and (2) submit recommendations to the Administrator and the chairmen of specified congressional committees. Requires the Administrator's annual report to include a summary and analysis of: (1) the types of facilities used to hold juveniles treated as adults for purposes of prosecution; and (2) the educational status of juveniles. Makes a portion of any State allotment under such Act available to pay for one full-time staff position. Revises State plan requirements to provide for: (1) representation by recreation departments on the advisory group appointed by the chief executive of the State; (2) an assessment of educational needs as part of the analysis of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention needs; (3) coordination and maximum utilization of existing juvenile-related recreation programs within the State; (4) home-based alternative services; (5) community-based programs and services designed to work with juveniles during their incarceration, and with their families, to ensure the safe return of such juveniles to their homes and to strengthen the family unit; (6) enhanced coordination with the local schools such juveniles would otherwise attend to ensure that the instruction such juveniles receive outside, is closely aligned with the instruction provided in, such schools, and that information regarding any learning problems identified in such alternative learning situations are communicated to such schools; (7) juvenile initiated programs and outreach programs to assist juveniles with limited English-speaking ability; (8) special emphasis on involving parents with limited English-speaking ability; (9) programs relating to juveniles who have educational problems; (10) programs (including referral to literacy and social service programs) to assist families with limited English-speaking ability that include delinquent juveniles to overcome language and cultural barriers that may prevent the complete treatment of such juveniles and the preservation of the family unit; (11) programs designed to prevent and reduce hate crimes committed by juveniles; (12) a prohibition on detention or confinement in institutions in which juveniles alleged or found to be delinquent have contact (currently, regular contact) with adult convicts or with adults awaiting trial on criminal charges, or with the security staff or direct-care staff of a jail or lockup for adults; (13) elimination of an exception to the requirement that no juvenile be detained or confined in any jail or lockup for adults; (14) family counseling during the incarceration of juvenile family members and coordination of family services when appropriate and feasible; and (15) an assurance that any specified excess funds received by the State shall be expended through or for programs that are part of a comprehensive and coordinated community system of services. Directs that such State plans contain an analysis of services available, and a plan for providing needed services, with respect to: (1) gender-specific services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency; (2) services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency in rural areas; and (3) mental health services available to juveniles in the juvenile justice system (including an assessment of the appropriateness of the particular placements of juveniles in order to receive such services) and of barriers to access to such services. Revises provisions with respect to the approval of State plans and the lack of a State plan. Provides for a reduction or termination of funds for noncompliance, subject to specified limitations. Specifies that the National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (the Institute) shall serve as a clearinghouse for information regarding juvenile delinquency, including State and local juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment programs (as under current law), and including drug and alcohol programs and gender-specific programs. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) support research related to achieving a better understanding of the commission, and designed to identify educational programs best suited to prevent and reduce the incidence, of hate crimes by juveniles; and (2) develop, conduct, and provide training programs for persons working with juveniles and their families (as under current law), including juveniles who commit hate crimes. Requires the Administrator to include within the Institute's training program methods and techniques specifically designed to prevent and reduce such incidence. Directs the Administrator to conduct a study of the incidence of violence committed by or against juveniles in urban areas of the United States. Sets forth study objectives, including: (1) identifying characteristics and patterns of behavior of juveniles who are at risk of becoming violent or victims of homicide, factors particularly indigenous to such areas that contribute to violence committed by or against juveniles, and existing and new diversion, prevention, and control programs to ameliorate conditions causing any increase in such violence; (2) determining the accessibility and use of firearms, and the conditions that cause any increase in violence committed, by or against juveniles; (3) using data available from Federal and State law enforcement agencies to make specified assessments with respect to hate crimes; (4) improving current systems to prevent and control violence by or against juveniles; and (5) developing a plan to assist State and local governments to establish viable ways to reduce homicide committed by or against juveniles. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Administrator, in making grants and contracts under Special Emphasis Prevention and Treatment Programs, to include: (1) home-based treatment programs in establishing or maintaining community-based alternatives to traditional forms of institutionalization of juvenile offenders; (2) self-help programs for parents in developing or supporting model programs to strengthen and maintain the family unit; (3) programs that work with families during the incarceration of juvenile family members and which take into consideration the special needs of families with limited English-speaking ability; (4) targeting juveniles who have had, or are likely to have, contact with the juvenile justice system in disseminating information regarding model, innovative, law-related education programs; and (5) establishing or supporting programs designed to prevent and reduce the incidence of hate crimes committed by juveniles, including model educational programs (designed to reduce such incidence by means such as addressing the specific prejudicial attitude of each offender, developing an awareness in such offender of the effect of the hate crime on the victim, and educating such offender about the importance of tolerance in our society) and sentencing programs (designed specifically for juveniles who commit hate crimes and that provide alternatives to incarceration). Authorizes the Administrator, in making such grants and contracts, to assist in identifying learning disabilities in developing and implementing model programs and methods to keep students in elementary and secondary schools, and in encouraging new approaches with respect to prevention of school violence and vandalism. Bars the Administrator from making any such grant or contract to the Department of Justice (DOJ) or to any administrative unit or other entity that is part of DOJ. Modifies provisions regarding the competitive process (and related reporting requirements) in approving applications for such grants or contracts. Specifies that such process shall not apply to programs to be carried out in areas with respect to which the President declares (under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act) that a major disaster or emergency exists. Revises provisions with respect to prevention and treatment programs relating to juvenile gangs and drug abuse and trafficking. Directs the Administrator to make grants to or enter into contracts with public agencies (including local educational agencies) and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions to establish and support programs and activities that involve families and communities that are designed to carry out specified purposes, including to: (1) prevent and reduce the participation of juveniles in the activities of gangs that commit crimes (which may include individual, peer, family, and group counseling, education and social services designed to address the social and developmental needs of juveniles, the organization of neighborhood and community groups, and training and assistance to adults who have significant relationships with juveniles who are or may become members of gangs, in providing constructive alternatives to participating in gang activities); (2) promote and support the development of policies and activities in public elementary and secondary schools which will assist such schools in maintaining a safe environment conducive to learning; (3) assist juveniles who are or may become gang members to obtain appropriate educational instruction, in or outside a regular school program, including the provision of counseling and other services; (4) expand the availability of prevention and treatment services relating to the illegal use of controlled substances and controlled substance analogues by juveniles; (5) provide services to prevent juveniles from coming into contact with the juvenile justice system again as a result of gang-related activity; and (6) support activities to inform juveniles of the availability of treatment and services for which financial assistance is available. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants and enter into contracts with public agencies and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions to: (1) conduct research on issues related to juvenile gangs; (2) evaluate the effectiveness of programs and activities funded under these provisions; and (3) increase the knowledge of the public by disseminating information on research and on effective programs and activities. Sets forth application requirements, including that applications: (1) provide an assurance that the proposed program or activity will supplement, not supplant, similar programs and activities already available in the community; (2) describe how such program or activity is coordinated with other specified programs, activities, and services available locally; and (3) certify that the applicant has requested the State planning agency (currently, any designated local agency) to review and comment on such application, and summarize the responses of such State planning agency to the request). Directs the Administrator, in reviewing applications, to give priority to specified applications, including those: (1) submitted by, or substantially involving, local educational agencies; and (2) for assistance for programs and activities that are broadly supported by public and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions in the geographical area in which the applicants propose to carry out the programs and activities, and that will substantially involve the families of juvenile gang members in carrying out such programs or activities. Sets forth new provisions with respect to community-based gang intervention. Directs the Administrator to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, public and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions to carry out programs and activities to: (1) reduce the participation of juveniles in illegal gang activities; (2) develop regional task forces involving State, local, and community-based organizations to coordinate enforcement, intervention, and treatment efforts for juvenile gang members and to curtail interstate gang activities; and (3) facilitate coordination and cooperation among local education, juvenile justice, employment, and social service agencies, and community-based programs with a proven record of effectively providing intervention services to juvenile gang members for the purpose of reducing the participation of juveniles in illegal gang activities. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Amendments to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act - Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to provide services to deal with the immediate needs of homeless youth and their families (as under current law) in a manner which is outside the law enforcement, child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice systems (current law specifies outside the law enforcement structure and juvenile justice system). Increases the allotment of grant funds. Amends the JJDPA to: (1) delete a provision authorizing the Secretary to provide on-the-job training to local runaway and homeless youth center personnel and coordinated networks of local law enforcement, social service, and welfare personnel to assist such personnel in recognizing and providing for learning disabled and other handicapped juveniles; and (2) authorize the Secretary, subject to specified appropriations-related limitations, to make grants to establish and operate street-based service projects for runaway, homeless, and street youth, and home-based service projects for families that are separated (or at risk of separation) as a result of the physical absence of a runaway youth or youth at risk of family separation. Amends the RHYA to provide that, to be eligible for assistance under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Grant Program, an applicant shall propose to establish, strengthen, or fund specified centers and services and a locally controlled facility providing temporary shelter (as under current law), including a family host home. Specifies that, to qualify for such assistance, the applicant shall submit a plan to the Secretary including assurances that such applicant shall: (1) use such assistance with respect to a facility that has a maximum capacity of not more than 25 youths (currently, not more than 25 children); (2) develop an adequate plan for assuring proper relations with law enforcement, social service, school system, and welfare personnel (as under current law), and health care personnel, as well as coordination with personnel of the schools to which runaway and homeless youth will return, to assist such youth to stay current with the curricula of such schools; (3) develop an adequate plan for providing counseling and aftercare services to such youth, and for encouraging the involvement of their parents or legal guardians in counseling (current law specifies aftercare counseling involving such youth and their families within the State in which the runaway and homeless youth center is located); (4) keep adequate statistical records profiling the children and parents which it serves, except that records maintained on individual youth shall not be disclosed without consent of the individual youth and family members (as under current law) whom it serves, including youth who are not referred to out-of-home shelter services; and (5) develop an adequate plan for establishing outreach programs designed to attract individuals (including minorities and those with limited English-speaking ability) who are eligible to receive services for which a grant may be expended. Amends the JJDPA to provide that, to be eligible for street-based services assistance, an applicant shall propose to establish, strengthen, or fund a street-based service project for runaway and homeless youth and street youth, and shall submit to the Secretary a plan in which such applicant agrees, as part of such project: (1) to provide qualified supervision of staff, backup personnel for on-street staff, informational and health educational material to runaway and homeless youth and street youth in need of services, and initial and periodic training of staff who provide services under such project; (2) to carry out outreach activities for, and collect statistical information on, such youth; (3) to develop referral relationships with agencies and organizations that provide services or assistance to such youth; (4) to submit to the Secretary an annual report, an annual budget, and such other information as the Secretary may reasonably require; (5) to implement such accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as the Secretary may require; (6) to keep adequate statistical records that profile such youth whom it serves and not disclose their identity in reports or other documents based on such records; and (7) not to disclose records maintained on individual youth without their consent to anyone other than an agency compiling statistical records. Requires an applicant, to be eligible for home-based services assistance, to propose to establish, strengthen, or fund a home-based service project for runaway youth or youth at risk of family separation and submit to the Secretary a plan in which the applicant agrees, as part of such project: (1) to provide counseling and information services needed by runaway youth, youth at risk of family separation, and the family (including unrelated individuals in the family household) of such youth, 24-hour service to respond to family crises (including immediate access to temporary shelter for such youth affected by family crises), informational and health educational material to such youth in need of services, and initial and periodic training of staff who provide services under such project; (2) to establish in partnership with the families of such youth objectives and measures of success to be achieved as a result of participating in such project; (3) to carry out outreach activities for, and collect statistical information on, such youth; (4) to ensure that caseloads remain sufficiently low to allow for intensive involvement with each family participating in, and that qualified supervision will be provided to staff who provide services under, such project; (5) to submit to the Secretary an annual report, an annual budget, and such other information as the Secretary may reasonably require; (6) to implement such accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as the Secretary may require; (7) to keep adequate statistical records that profile such youth whom it serves and not disclose the identity of such youth in reports or other documents based on such records; and (8) not to disclose records maintained on individual youth without their consent to anyone other than an agency compiling statistical records. Makes conforming amendments with respect to grants to private entities and approval by the Secretary of specified grant funds. Gives priority to grants smaller than $200,000 (currently, $150,000). Provides that, to be eligible for assistance under the Transitional Living Grant Program, an applicant must agree not to disclose records maintained on individual homeless youth without the consent of such individual (current law also requires consent of a parent or legal guardian) to anyone other than an agency compiling statistical records or a government agency involved in the disposition of criminal charges against youth. Directs the Secretary to include in its annual report to the Congress a summary of the results of Federal evaluation of the programs, projects, and activities carried out under the RHYA, and a description of the training provided to the individuals who carry out such evaluation. Specifies that, as part of such evaluation, the Secretary shall require such individuals to visit each grantee on-site not less frequently than at three-year intervals. Authorizes appropriations for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Grant Program and the Transitional Living Grant Program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) give priority to grant applicants (with respect to grants, as provided for under current law, for a national communication system to assist runaway and homeless youth in communicating with their families and with service providers) that have experience in providing telephone services to such youth; (2) coordinate the activities of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services with those of other Federal and eligible non-Federal entities (currently, with respect to matters relating to communicable diseases); and (3) make grants to statewide and regional nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance and training to eligible public and private entities (as under current law) for the purpose of carrying out the programs, projects, or activities for which such grants are made pursuant to this Act. Sets forth additional criteria for the Secretary to use in selecting applicants with respect to grants (provided for under current law) to States, localities, and private entities to carry out research, demonstration, and service projects designed to increase knowledge concerning, and to improve services for, runaway and homeless youth. Title III: Amendment to the Missing Children's Assistance Act - Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to authorize appropriations. Title IV: General Provisions - Sets forth effective dates of this Act.

Influenza Immunization Awareness Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1992

Influenza Immunization Awareness Act of 1992 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to extend the influenza vaccination demonstration project currently conducted under the Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act). Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate establishment of a program to award grants for hospital-based influenza vaccine delivery programs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a National Clearinghouse on Vaccine Information through which health care providers may submit and obtain information on the availability of vaccines. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control to study the feasibility and desirability of bulk purchases of vaccines by the Federal Government as a method of preventing shortages of vaccines.

Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1992

Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 - Sets forth congressional findings and definitions. Title I: Supervision and Regulation of the Enterprises - Establishes within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, managed by a presidentially appointed Director, who shall ensure that the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) (the enterprises) are adequately capitalized and operating safely. Authorizes the Director to levy annual assessments on the enterprises for the estimated expenses of the Office, including an initial assessment to cover its start-up costs. Requires the Director to report annually to the Secretary of HUD and specified congressional committees. Requires each enterprise to report quarterly and annually to the Director on its financial condition and operations. Requires each enterprise to establish a minority outreach program to ensure inclusion in its contracts of minorities and women and businesses owned by them. Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to prohibit the Secretary from merging or consolidating the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or any of its functions or responsibilities, with any function or program the Secretary administers. Prohibits the Director, and any former officer or employee of the Office who was compensated at certain levels higher than GS-15 while employed by the Office, from accepting compensation from any enterprise during the two years following separation from the Office. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed: (1) as obligating the Federal Government, either directly or indirectly, to provide any funds to Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, or to honor, reimburse, or otherwise guarantee any of their obligations or liabilities; or (2) as implying that either enterprise or its securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Title II: Required Capital Levels for Enterprises and Special Enforcement Powers - Requires the Director to establish by regulation a risk-based capital test which shall require each enterprise to maintain positive capital during a ten-year period ("stress period") in which specified circumstances occur with respect to credit risk, interest rate risk, and new enterprise business. Declares that the risk-based capital level for an enterprise shall be 130 percent of the amount of capital required to meet the risk-based capital test. Requires the minimum capital level for each enterprise to be the sum of: (1) 2.5 percent of its aggregate on-balance sheet assets; (2) 0.45 percent of the unpaid principal balance of outstanding mortgage-backed securities and substantially equivalent instruments issued or guaranteed by it that are not included in (1); and (3) those percentages of other off-balance sheet obligations not included in (2) (excluding certain commitments), that best reflect the credit risk of such obligations or guarantees in relation to the instruments included in (2). Requires the critical capital level for each enterprise to be the sum of: (1) 1.25 percent of the aggregate on-balance sheet assets of the enterprise; (2) 0.25 percent of the unpaid principal balance of outstanding mortgage-backed securities and substantially equivalent instruments issued or guaranteed by it that are not included in (1); and (3) those percentages of other off-balance sheet obligations not included in (2) (excluding certain commitments), that best reflect the credit risk of such obligations or guarantees in relation to the instruments included in (2). Requires the Director to classify, on a quarterly basis, each enterprise as adequately capitalized (meeting or exceeding both its risk-based capital level and its minimum capital level), undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized, or critically undercapitalized. Requires undercapitalized and significantly undercapitalized enterprises to submit capital restoration plans to the Director and, after approval, carry them out. Prohibits such enterprises from making any capital distribution that would result in a lower classification. Authorizes the Director, in the event an enterprise fails to submit a substantially compliant plan, win approval for a submitted plan, or make reasonable good-faith efforts to comply with an approved plan, to: (1) reclassify an undercapitalized enterprise as significantly undercapitalized, or a significantly undercapitalized enterprise as critically undercapitalized; and (2), with respect to significantly undercapitalized enterprises, limit increases in obligations, limit or prohibit asset growth, restrict certain activities, require new capital, and (in certain circumstances) appoint a conservator. Requires the Director to appoint a conservator for a critically undercapitalized enterprise, unless the public interest would be better served by some other enforcement action. Sets forth the contents of capital restoration plans. Requires written notification of an enterprise before any proposed capital classification may be made or discretionary enforcement action taken. Provides for judicial review of certain classifications or supervisory enforcement actions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Requires the Director, for each enterpise, to contract with two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations: (1) to assess and rate, as a traditional credit rating, the likelihood that the enterprise will be unable to meet its obligations from its own resources with an assumption that there is no recourse to any implicit Government guarantee; and (2) to review the enterprise's rating as frequently as appropriate, but at least annually. Requires submission of comments to specified congressional committees on any difference between the Office's evaluation and the evaluation of the rating organizations, especially about capital adequacy. Requires the Director to define by regulation the meaning of "capital," excluding any amounts that an enterprise could be required to pay, at the option of investors, to retire capital instruments. Title III: Enforcement Actions - Sets forth general procedures for: (1) issuing temporary and permanent cease-and-desist orders against enterprises; (2) hearings; (3) judicial review; (4) civil money penalties; (5) notice after separation from service; (6) private rights of action; and (7) public disclosure of final orders and agreements. Title IV: Conservatorship - Provides a procedure for the appointment of a conservator, judicial review of such appointment, and termination of a conservatorship. Specifies the powers of a conservator, and provides for errors or omissions liability protection. Title V: Housing - Requires the Director to establish specified housing goals for each enterprise, including goals for purchase of mortgages on housing for low- and moderate-income families, and on housing located in underserved areas (both urban and rural). Requires an annual special affordable housing goal that is not less than one percent of the dollar amount of the mortgage purchases by the enterprise for the previous year. Sets forth factors to be applied in establishing such goals. Requires the Director to establish guidelines to measure the extent of compliance with housing goals established under this title. Requires each enterprise to collect and provide to the Director, in useful form, data relating to both its single family and multifamily housing mortgages, including certain information and annual reports to the Director and the Congress. Requires the Director to include in the annual report to specified congressional committees an evaluation of the extent to which each enterprise is achieving annual goals and general purposes. Requires the Director to monitor and enforce compliance with such goals, filing goal failure notices and requiring (of noncompliant enterprise) submission of housing plans. Prescribes deadlines for approval or disapproval of such housing plans. Requires each enterprise to appoint an Affordable Housing Advisory Council to advise it on possible methods to promote affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act to: (1) make it a purpose of such Acts to promote access to mortgage credit throughout the Nation (including central cities and rural areas) by increasing the liquidity of mortgage investments, including facilitating credit secured by mortgages to secondary market participants, and improving the distribution of investment capital available for residential mortgage financing; (2) indicate that each of their respective public purposes relates to both single-family and multifamily housing; and (3) require that at least one presidentially appointed member of each enterprise's board of directors has demonstrated a career commitment to the provision of low-income housing. Directs the Secretary, by regulation, to impose on the enterprises specified fair housing requirements and prohibitions. Prohibits the public disclosure of proprietary information. Title VI: Amendments to Charter Acts of Enterprises - Makes conforming amendments to the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act. Title VII: Regulation of Federal Home Loan Bank System - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to declare that the primary duty of the Federal Housing Finance Board is to ensure that the Federal Home Loan Banks operate in a financially safe and sound manner. Requires the Federal Housing Finance Board, the Comptroller General of the United States, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on specified aspects of the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury and certain Federal agencies to submit opinions to the Congress to the extent that their views differ from those of the study participants. Requires the Board of Directors of each Federal Home Loan Bank to submit to the Congress its evaluation of the costs and benefits of consolidating the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Requires the Federal Home Loan Banks to set up a Study Committee to study and report to specified congressional committees, the Federal Housing Finance Board, and the presidents of the Federal Home Loan Banks on the same topics covered by the above study, as well as the costs and benefits of consolidating the System. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to require all Board directors to serve on a full-time basis beginning January 1, 1994. Title VIII: Study of National Consumer Cooperative Bank - Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the extent to which the National Consumer Cooperative Bank has achieved its statutory purposes under the National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act; and (2) the financial safety and soundness of the activities of the Bank and its affiliates. Specifies items the study must cover. Title IX: Miscellaneous - Subtitle A: Miscellaneous - Directs the Comptroller General, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to specified congressional committees on the desirability and feasibility of eliminating Federal sponsorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow 500 low-rent housing assistance (section 8) certificates earmarked for use in the Park Central New Town in Town project (in Port Arthur, Texas) to be available for use generally in Jefferson County, Texas. Amends the Cranston-Gonzales Affordable Housing Act to authorize assistance to all non-profit organizations, including municipal and State-owned or -sponsored organizations (currently only private ones), to expand the supply of supportive housing for persons with disabilities (Shelter Plus Care program). Amends the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 to apply only to home purchase and other consumer loans the maximum interest rate cap for adjustable rate mortgage loans. Amends a section of the Revised Statutes (National Bank Act) and the Federal Reserve Act to permit national banks and State member banks to make investments in community development projects or an entity primarily engaged in such investments. Requires the Comptroller General or the Federal Reserve Board, as appropriate, to limit the investment in any one project. Limits the aggregate investment of a bank to the sum of ten percent of its paid-in, unimpaired stock plus ten percent of its unimpaired surplus. Subtitle B: Presidential Insurance Commission - Presidential Insurance Commission Act of 1992 - Establishes a Presidential Commission on Insurance to: (1) assess the condition of the property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, and reinsurance industries; and (2) recommend any necessary legislative and regulatory changes that will improve the domestic and international financial health and competitiveness of such industries, and thereby assure consumers of the availability of adequate insurance coverage when an insured event occurs, and of the best possible range of products at competitive prices. Requires a report to the President and the Congress by a specified deadline. Terminates the Commission 60 days after submission of the report. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Secondary Market for Commerical Mortgage Loans - Secondary Market for Commercial Real Estate Mortgage Loans Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission to study and report to specified congressional committees on the potential benefits of, and legal, regulatory, and market-based barriers to, developing a secondary market for commercial real estate mortgage loans. Directs the chief executive officer of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the RTC's efforts to standardize its disposition methods; (2) its success in marketing its commercial mortgage loan-backed securities; (3) the impact of its programs on the commercial real estate mortgage loan secondary market; and (4) the impact of its commercial real estate loan securitization program generally.

Aufstockung der Mittel im Bundeshaushalt 1993 für die UNICEF (G-SIG: 12042668)

Germany · German Bundestag · 15 May 1992

86 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Education the total moneys available for capital works in respect of school buildings in 1992; the amount allocated between the budget and his appointment; his proposals for expenditure of any funds further remaining; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 14 May 1992

86 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Education the total moneys available for capital works in respect of school buildings in 1992; the amount allocated between the budget and his appointment; his proposals for expenditure of any funds further remaining; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

86 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Education the total moneys available for capital works in respect of school buildings in 1992; the amount allocated between the budget and his appointment; his proposals for expenditure of any funds further remaining; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 14 May 1992

86 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Education the total moneys available for capital works in respect of school buildings in 1992; the amount allocated between the budget and his appointment; his proposals for expenditure of any funds further remaining; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Medicare Program Protection Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992

Medicare Program Protection Act of 1992 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to authorize adjustments to discretionary spending limits to allow additional spending for the administration of the Medicare program by fiscal intermediaries and carriers for FY 1993, 1994, and 1995.

Emergency Short Term Assistance for American Youth Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992

Emergency Short Term Assistance for American Youth Act of 1992 - Designates the amounts described in this Act as emergency requirements for all purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes emergency supplemental appropriations to provide short-term assistance for the following programs for children and youth: (1) Head Start Act services, during the summer months (including services through family literacy projects); (2) compensatory education for disadvantaged students, during the summer months, under chapter 1 of title I of the elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (including projects related to arts and drama, academic subjects, literacy, recreation, conflict management, and dropout prevention); (3) summer youth employment and training programs, under part B of title II of the Job Training Partnership Act; and (4) the Operation Weed and Seed demonstration program carried out by the Department of Justice and other Federal entities. Sets forth requirements and formulas for the allocation of such funds.

Small Business Revitalization and Job Growth Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992

Small Business Revitalization and Job Growth Act of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to Securities Acts - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to increase from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 the aggregate amount of an issue of securities that may be exempted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from the regulatory requirements of such Act. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ICA) to exempt from the definition of an investment company any securities issuer whose outstanding securities are owned exclusively by persons who, at the time of acquisition, are qualified purchasers, except that such issuer shall be deemed an investment company for purposes of limitations governing the purchase by such issuer of any security issued by a registered investment company and the sale of any security issued by a registered open-end investment company to such issuer. Defines as a "qualified purchaser" under the ICA any person whom the SEC has determined does not need the protections of the ICA, taking into consideration financial sophistication, net worth, and certain other financial knowledge and experience. Revises the definition of the beneficial ownership of securities for purposes of the ICA. Provides an additional exemption from the definition of an investment company under the ICA in the case of any company that is not engaged in the business of issuing redeemable securities and the operations of which are subject to regulation by the State in which it is organized under statutes governing entities that provide financial or managerial assistance to enterprises doing or proposing to do business primarily in such State if: (1) the purpose of such company is limited to the provision of such assistance; (2) at least 80 percent of the securities being offered for sale by such company represent persons who reside or have a substantial business presence in such State; (3) the securities are sold to accredited investors or other persons that the SEC may permit to purchase such securities; and (4) the company does not purchase any security issued by an investment company, or by a company that would be an investment company except for the exclusions from the definition of an investment company, other than investment-grade securities or securities required by its investment policies to invest in investment-grade or comparable securities. Requires any company proposing to meet such exemption to file with the SEC a notification of intent to do so, subject to SEC approval. Amends the ICA to: (1) increase from $100,000 to $10,000,000 the aggregate sums received by a closed-end investment company for the sale of its securities plus the value of remaining securities allowed to be held while still being exempted from provisions regulating investment companies; (2) include within the definition of "eligible portfolio company" any issuer that has total assets of not more than $4,000,000, and capital and surplus in excess of $2,000,000, allowing the SEC to adjust such figures to reflect changes in generally accepted indices for small businesses; (3) provide that a business development company, in order to be so considered, need not make available significant managerial assistance with respect to eligible portfolio companies or to any other company that meets such criteria as the SEC may permit; (4) allow acquisition by business development companies of the securities of eligible portfolio companies; (5) allow business development companies to issue without condition more than one class of senior securities representing indebtedness; (6) allow such companies to issue warrants, options, or other rights to convert securities to voting securities either alone or accompanied by securities; and (7) prohibit such warrants, options, or other rights of business development companies from being separately transferable unless no class of such rights and the securities (currently, senior securities) representing them has been publicly distributed. Title II: Credit Relief - Amends the Small Business Act to provide that the amount of deferred participation loans authorized under such Act shall: (1) mean the net amount of the loan principal guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and does not include any amount not guaranteed; and (2) be available for a national program, except that the SBA may use up to ten percent of the amount authorized each year for special or pilot programs directed to identified sectors of the small business community or to specific U.S. geographic regions. Increases the amount the SBA is authorized to make in deferred participation loans and other financings to small businesses, and, from such authorized sums, the amount authorized to make general business loans for specified purposes under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Chairman of the SEC, in consultation with the SBA Administrator, to conduct a study of the potential benefits of, and legal, regulatory, and market-based barriers to, developing a secondary market for commercial real estate mortgage loans and loans to small businesses. Outlines study consideration requirements. Requires a report. Directs the chief executive officer of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the impact of its commercial real estate loan securitization program and the impact of the RTC's programs on the commercial real estate mortgage loan and small business loan secondary market. Directs the SBA Administrator to simplify the application process for a small business concern to receive a loan guarantee under the Small Business Act, including loan applications in connection with an additional loan guarantee application that is filed not later than two years after the initial application is filed. Title III: Capital Formation - Enterprise Capital Formation Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for gain on investments in new small business stock (seed capital) held for at least five years. Establishes special rules for such investments. Provides for determining the maximum capital gains rate for small business net capital gain or seed capital gain. Treats capital gains on the sale of such stock as a preference item for purposes of the minimum tax. Title IV: Health Care Provisions - Subtitle A: Small Business Purchasing Groups - Defines a "qualified small employer purchasing group," for purposes of this subtitle, as an entity that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines: (1) is administered solely under authority and control of its member employers; (2) has as its membership solely small employers; (3) with respect to each State in which its members are located, consists of no fewer than 100 employers; (4) has member employers whose health care insurance plans are in compliance with applicable State law and model benefits plans and are not self-insured plans; (5) will be a nonprofit entity; and (6) has a board of directors with full authority to act on the part of the group. Directs the board of directors of the small employer purchasing group to: (1) establish geographic areas within which participating carriers may offer health care insurance coverage to eligible employees and dependents; and (2) enter into contracts with qualified carriers for providing health insurance coverage to eligible employees and dependents, and to pay such carriers on at least a monthly basis at the contracted rates. Outlines provisions relating to: (1) general qualifications of carriers, including financial solvency; (2) program standards, including review of the quality and appropriateness of care covered; (3) uniformity of benefits; (4) the collection of insurance premiums from small employers; (5) notification from the board to employers of the availability of sponsored health insurance coverage from the program; and (6) conditions of participation in the program, including a requirement that an entity is a valid small employer and not formed solely to secure health insurance coverage. Finds that qualified small employer purchasing groups organized to obtain health insurance for its employer members affect interstate commerce, and that no State law shall preempt provisions of the model benefit health insurance plan as outlined above. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to define the amount of the employer health insurance credit for a taxable year for Federal income tax purposes. Prohibits the taking of both a credit and a deduction for health insurance premiums paid under the model plan. Subtitle B: Deductible Health Insurance Costs for Self-Employed Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 25 to 100 percent the allowable deduction of health insurance costs for self-employed individuals and their spouses and dependents. Makes such increased deduction permanent (currently ends December 31, 1992). Subtitle C: Improvements in Health Insurance for Small Employers - Adds a new Title XXI to the Social Security Act entitled "Standards for Small Employer Health Insurance and Certification of Managed Care Plans." Treats as meeting the requirements of title XXI an insurer offering a health insurance plan to a small employer in a State on or after January 1, 1994, if: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that the State has established a regulatory program that provides for the application and enforcement of appropriate requirements under this title; and (2) the State has not established such a program or if the program has been decertified by the Secretary, the health plan has been certified by the Secretary as meeting the requirements of part B of title XXI. Provides an extension of the date by which a regulatory program must be adopted by a State for States requiring legislation to be passed and which has a legislature which does not meet in 1993 in a legislative session. States that requirements under title XXI shall not apply to pre-existing health insurance plans. Requires each State to report to the Secretary on the implementation and enforcement of standards with respect to health insurance plans offered to small employers. Allows State standards more stringent than the requirements of title XXI. Directs the Secretary to require the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to: (1) develop specific standards for small employer health insurance plans; and (2) report to the Secretary on implementation. Directs the Secretary to develop appropriate standards if the NAIC fails to do so. Requires such standards to provide alternative standards for guaranteeing the availability of health insurance plans for all small employers in a State. Directs the Secretary to periodically review State regulatory programs, allow a State to adopt a plan of correction if necessary, and to decertify a State program and assume program responsibility, if necessary. Directs the Comptroller General to periodically audit sample State regulatory programs. Defines a "small employer" for purposes of title XXI as an employer who employs more than one but less than 51 employees on a typical business day. Requires each health insurer to register with the applicable regulatory authority for each State in which it issues or offers a health insurance plan to small employers. Prohibits such insurer from excluding any eligible employee, or their spouse or dependent, under a plan, with the exception of waiting periods required generally under health insurance coverage. Requires insurers offering a health insurance plan to small employers in a State to meet the standards for such insurance adopted by such State. Outlines provisions concerning: (1) State standards on the guaranteed availability of small employer health insurance; (2) the State adoption of a regulatory program for such standards; (3) standards for guaranteed insurance availability for States not adopting such standards; (4) appropriate grounds for refusal by an insurer to renew, and for termination of, a health insurance plan (including nonpayment of premiums, fraud or misrepresentation, or failure to maintain minimum participation rates); (5) authority of an insurer to require minimum participation rates; (6) guaranteed renewability of such insurance unless reasons enumerated in (4), above, occur; (7) nonrenewability of health insurance by an insurer who elects to terminate all of the health insurance plans issued to small employers in a State; and (8) a prohibition against an insurer denying, limiting, or conditioning health insurance coverage based on health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability of an individual. Allows a plan offered to a small employer under this title to exclude coverage with respect to a preexisting condition, but limits the period of such exclusion to six months. Reduces such authorized preexisting condition exclusionary period by one month for each month in which an individual was already in a plan of continuous coverage with respect to particular services on the date of initial coverage of the new plan. Prohibits the base premium rate charged by an insurer for any block of business (all of the small employers within a health insurance plan issued by the insurer) from exceeding by more than 20 percent the base premium rate charged for any other block of business, with exceptions. Limits similarly the variation of rates charged during a rating period to small employers within the same block of business of an insurer when such employers have similar demographic characteristics. Provides that, in establishing premium rates for health insurance plans offered to small employers: (1) an insurer making adjustments with respect to age, sex, or geography must apply such adjustments consistently across all small employers; and (2) no insurer may use a geographic area smaller than a county or a certain zip code area. Places limitations on the transfer by an insurer of employers among blocks of business, requiring employer consent. Limits to five percent over the base premium rate the percentage increase in the premium rate authorized to be charged to a small employer for a new rating period. Requires an insurer, at the time of offering a health insurance plan to a small employer, to fully disclose specified information relating to the insurer's rating practices with respect to small employers under a plan, and the insurer's right to change premium rates. Requires at least 60 days' prior notice of the renewal terms of a plan about to expire. Requires each participating insurer to file with the applicable regulatory authority a written actuarial certification of insurer compliance with standards and requirements of this title. Outlines the basic medical benefits which must be included in a benefits package offered by an insurer to small employers in a State as part of the health insurance plan. Requires such insurer to offer a managed care plan to such small employers if the insurer offers a managed care plan in such State to employers that are not small employers. Provides for cost sharing (premiums, deductibles, copayments) and out-of-pocket limits for health insurance plans containing basic benefit packages. Preempts State-mandated benefit packages in favor of the benefits package described in the small employer health insurance plan. Amends the Internal Revenue Code relating to taxes on group health plans to impose upon any person issuing a health insurance plan to a small employer a tax on the failure to meet at any time the applicable requirements of title XXI of the Social Security Act (as added by this Act). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether a person meets such requirements. States that such tax shall be 25 percent of the gross premiums on health insurance plans issued to a small employer during a taxable year. Treats corporations which are members of the same controlled group of corporations as one person for purposes of such tax, as well as partnerships and proprietorships under common control. Waives the application of such tax where the failure to meet such requirements: (1) could not have reasonably been discovered; and (2) is corrected within 30 days of discovery. Allows the Secretary to waive all or part of such tax in the case of a failure due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. Makes nondeductible for income tax purposes any tax so imposed. Direct the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the standards for rating practices and the requirements for benefit packages established under the new title XXI of the Social Security Act, as well as on certain other aspects of insurance offered to small employers under this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to include as part of such report any recommendations for adjusting rating standards under title XXI to eliminate variation in premiums. Subtitle D: Improvements in Portability of Private Health Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on any person or group health plan that fails to satisfy the preexisting condition requirements of group health insurance plans as enumerated under title XXI of the Social Security Act. Makes such tax $100 for each day of noncompliance. Outlines actions to be taken in order for a failed requirement to be considered corrected. Waives the application of such excise tax where the failure to meet such requirements: (1) could not have reasonably been discovered; and (2) is corrected within 30 days of discovery. Allows the Secretary to waive all or part of such tax in the case of a failure due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. States that group health plans: (1) may not deny, limit, or condition coverage based on health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability of an individual; and (2) may exclude coverage with respect to the treatment of a preexisting condition, limiting the period of exclusion to six months. Reduces such authorized preexisting condition exclusionary period by one month for each month in which an individual was already in a plan of continuous coverage with respect to particular services on the date of initial coverage in the group health plan. Requires any person who had provided previous coverage during a period of continuous coverage with respect to a covered individual to disclose to the group health plan the coverage and benefits provided to such individual. Subtitle E: Health Care Cost Containment - Amends title XXI of the Social Security Act to add a new Part entitled "Federal Certification of Managed Care Plans." Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a process for certification of managed care plans and utilization review programs meeting the requirements of this Part. Defines a "utilization review program" as a system of reviewing the medical necessity, appropriateness, or quality of health care services and supplies provided under a health insurance plan or a managed care plan using specified guidelines. Defines a "managed care plan" as a plan operated by a managed care entity that provides for the financing and delivery of health care services to persons enrolled in such plan through: (1) arrangements with selected providers; (2) explicit standards for the selection of participating providers; (3) organizational arrangements for ongoing quality assurance and utilization review programs; and (4) financial incentives for persons enrolled in the plan to use the participating providers and procedures provided for by the plan. Defines related terms. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish procedures for the periodic review and recertification of qualified managed care plans and qualified utilization review programs; and (2) terminate such certification when such plan or program no longer meets the applicable requirements for certification. Permits certification through the recognition of a State licensure program or national accreditation body that establishes requirements at least equivalent to the requirements under this part. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Health Care Cost Commission, to establish Federal standards for the certification of qualified managed care plans and qualified utilization review programs. Requires such standards to first be established within two years after enactment of this Subtitle. Directs the Secretary to periodically review and update such standards, as appropriate. Prohibits the imposition by State law or regulation of specified limitations and restrictions on qualified managed care plans and qualified utilization review programs, with exceptions. Extends to January 1, 1992, the date by which the Administrator of Health Care Policy and Research must develop an initial set of guidelines and standards with respect to treatments and conditions that constitute a significant portion of national health expenditures. Directs the Administrator, in consultation with the National Institute of Mental Health and mental health providers, to develop outcomes research and practice parameters for mental health services, including diagnosis and treatment of childhood attention deficit syndrome disorders and manic depression. Amends the Social Security Act with respect to research on outcomes of health care services to change from 70 to 50 percent of authorized FY 1993 and 1994 funds for such research the amount to be obtained from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Increases the general authorization of FY 1992 through 1994 funds under such Act for such purpose. Subtitle F: Medical Liability Reform - Chapter 1: Definitions and Findings - Finds that the health care and insurance industries are industries affecting interstate commerce, and that the medical malpractice litigation system throughout the United States affects interstate commerce by contributing to the high cost of health care and premiums for malpractice insurance purchased by health care providers. Chapter 2: Expedited Medical Malpractice Settlements - Allows any claimant to bring a civil action for damages for harm caused during the provision of medical care pursuant to applicable State law, except to the extent that such law is superseded by this Chapter. Allows any claimant to file with the claim for damages a settlement offer for a specific amount. Directs the defendant, within 60 days or the time permitted by State law to respond to pleadings, whichever is longer, to make a settlement offer of a specific amount, except that if such pleadings include a motion to dismiss under applicable State law, the defendant may tender such relief to the claimant within ten days after the determination of the court regarding such motion. Provides for time extensions in certain cases. Outlines procedures for the rejection of settlement offers by the claimant and defendant in such cases. Provides for the calculation of attorney's fees in such cases by an hourly rate. Chapter 3: Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Alternative Dispute Resolution Board of Advisors to make recommendations to the Secretary concerning the establishment of a model voluntary alternative dispute resolution program (dispute program). Directs the Secretary to approve a model dispute program submitted by the Board, with any modifications that the Secretary deems appropriate. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a program to encourage States to develop and implement voluntary alternative dispute resolution procedures that meet the requirements of this Subtitle. Requires each State to adopt its own dispute program or the Federal program submitted by the Board to the Secretary within two years after enactment of this Act. Provides that, with respect to a State that has a dispute program in effect, in lieu of or in addition to making a settlement offer a claimant or defendant may offer to proceed pursuant to the dispute program and its procedures. Creates a rebuttable presumption that a refusal by an offeree to proceed under a dispute program was unreasonable or not in good faith if the verdict is rendered in favor of the offeror. Chapter 4: Uniform Standards for Medical Malpractice Cases - Applies provisions of this chapter to any medical malpractice case brought in Federal or State court and any such case resolved through a dispute program. Provides that in either such action, no person may be required to pay more than $100,000 in a single payment for future losses, but such person shall be permitted to make such payments on a periodic basis. Limits in a civil medical malpractice action the total amount of damages that may be awarded for noneconomic losses resulting from an injury to $250,000, regardless of the number of health care professionals and providers against whom the claim is brought. Reduces the total amount of damages received under such limits by any other payment that has been made to the injured individual (i.e., other insurance). Places specified limits on attorney's fees authorized to be collected under Chapter 4 actions. Provides that in either such action, the liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages shall be several only and not joint (requiring each such defendant to be liable only for their specific percentage of responsibility for the damages). Provides a statute of limitations with respect to such cases. Provides special medical malpractice liability provisions with respect to services provided during the delivery of a baby. Chapter 5: Uniform Disciplinary Reforms - Requires a State to comply with requirements of this chapter within two years after enactment of this Act. Directs each State to: (1) allocate the total amount of fees paid to the State in each year for the licensing or certification of each type of health care practitioner, or State funds equal to such amount, to the agencies responsible for the conduct of licensing and disciplinary actions with respect to such practitioners; and (2) permit the general public to be represented on State health care practitioner disciplinary boards. Provides immunity from liability for any member, consultant, witness, or other individual serving or having served on such a disciplinary board for either the board's operation or duties performed in good faith. Requires each State to have in effect within two years after enactment of this Act a Statewide risk management program to reduce the incidence of medical malpractice which meets any promulgated regulations. Directs each State to establish a health care disciplinary trust fund to provide resources to disciplinary boards for their functions and to provide additional resources for State consumer protection activities. Chapter 6: Medical Products - Provides that punitive damages otherwise permitted by law shall not be awarded in an action against a health care producer of a drug or device that caused the harm complained of if the drug or device: (1) was subject to approval or premarket approval under applicable Federal regulations with respect to the safety of the formulation or performance of the drug or device, or the adequacy of the packaging or labeling of the drug or device; and (2) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); or (3) is generally recognized as safe and effective pursuant to conditions established by the FDA. States that such provision shall not apply when the defendant: (1) withheld from, or misrepresented to, the FDA or other Federal agency official material and relevant information as to the performance of the drug or device; or (2) made an illegal payment to an FDA official to secure approval of the drug or device. Outlines provisions with respect to evidence, punitive damages, and positive defense to strict liability against the health care producers of the drug or device. Subtitle G: Uniform Claims Criteria - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after consultation with group health plan entities and health care providers, to develop uniform claims criteria for use by beneficiaries and health care providers in submitting claims under this Act and under title XXI of the Social Security Act. Provides a claims criteria deadline. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to prepare an estimate, for that fiscal year and the succeeding four fiscal years, of the cost which would be incurred by small business in carrying out or complying with any bill or resolution which is likely to result in an average annual cost to a small business of $1,000 or more. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that Federal provisions with respect to general notice requirements of proposed rule making shall apply to all rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary under the Code. Directs the SBA Administrator to establish a panel to provide recommendations to the Congress for a uniform statutory definition of the terms "small business" and "small business concern." Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on the panel's findings and recommendations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each Federal agency that issues rules, regulations, or orders which affect small business concerns or otherwise has some relationship with or affects small business should appoint one individual to serve as a small business ombudsman for that agency. Requires such ombudsman to represent the issues of small business to such agency, assist in the arbitration of disputes between agencies and small business concerns, and make certain reports to the Congress and the SBA Administrator. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA should be permitted to appear as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in any action or case brought in a U.S. court for the purpose of reviewing a rule.

Small Business Cost Estimate Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992

Small Business Cost Estimate Act of 1992 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to prepare for each public measure reported by a congressional committee (except the Committee on Appropriations of each House) and to submit to that committee for inclusion in the committee report: (1) an estimate of the costs in each of the first five fiscal years of carrying out such measure and of small business compliance with such measure, if significant; and (2) a comparison of those estimates with estimates made by such committee or by a Federal agency.

To reduce the amounts appropriated to the Department of Education to increase grants to State and local educational agencies and to reduce the Federal budget deficit.

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992

Directs the Secretary of Education to decrease Department of Education personnel costs by ten percent from amounts appropriated for FY 1993 and 1994. Requires that: (1) 90 percent of the savings from such reduction be transferred to local education agencies in accordance with State aid distribution formulas; and (2) the remaining ten percent be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to replace or reduce State and local government funding for education programs.

229 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will give details of the additional 1992 budget with regard to persons with a mental handicap, indicating in particular (a) the additional residential places for adult mentally handicapped, (b) the extra respite care places, (c) the extra day care places for adults, (d) the extra day care places for children, (e) the extra whole time equivalent speech therapists and (f) the extra facilities for those with a mental handicap who are 18 this year and who are not considered suitable for unsupported open employment.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 13 May 1992

229 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will give details of the additional 1992 budget with regard to persons with a mental handicap, indicating in particular (a) the additional residential places for adult mentally handicapped, (b) the extra respite care places, (c) the extra day care places for adults, (d) the extra day care places for children, (e) the extra whole time equivalent speech therapists and (f) the extra facilities for those with a mental handicap who are 18 this year and who are not considered suitable for unsupported open employment.

229 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will give details of the additional 1992 budget with regard to persons with a mental handicap, indicating in particular (a) the additional residential places for adult mentally handicapped, (b) the extra respite care places, (c) the extra day care places for adults, (d) the extra day care places for children, (e) the extra whole time equivalent speech therapists and (f) the extra facilities for those with a mental handicap who are 18 this year and who are not considered suitable for unsupported open employment.

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 13 May 1992

229 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will give details of the additional 1992 budget with regard to persons with a mental handicap, indicating in particular (a) the additional residential places for adult mentally handicapped, (b) the extra respite care places, (c) the extra day care places for adults, (d) the extra day care places for children, (e) the extra whole time equivalent speech therapists and (f) the extra facilities for those with a mental handicap who are 18 this year and who are not considered suitable for unsupported open employment.

National Technology Agency Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992

National Technology Agency Act of 1992 - Establishes in the executive branch the National Technology Agency to be headed by a Director (who shall also serve as the President's Adviser for Science and Technology). Sets forth as the responsibilities of the Agency to: (1) establish and coordinate a comprehensive Government technology, research, and development policy that will particularly assist the U.S. industries negatively affected by reductions in the national defense budget in the cultivation of new product markets; (2) expand the integration of military and commercial research and development; (3) conduct research into advanced, generic, precompetitive technologies to improve U.S. manufacturing and production processes; (4) enter into partnerships with private sector representatives to establish specific research, development, and technological policy goals; (5) plan and manage research and development with other appropriate Federal agencies; (6) plan and manage all Federal technology assistance programs for private businesses and State governments; (7) implement all Federal research, development, and technological policies in areas not under the jurisdiction of other departments and agencies; and (8) carry out functions transferred to the Agency by this Act. Authorizes the Agency to: (1) guarantee in whole or in part any public or private financing institution (including any Federal Reserve bank) against the loss of principal or interest on any loan, discount, or advance, or on any commitment in connection therewith, which may be made by such institution for the purpose of financing the conversion of businesses critical to the defense industrial base of the United States that are likely to be closed as a result of projected reductions in Government spending under the national security budget function (critical businesses) from the production of goods primarily for defense-related purposes to the production of goods for other commercial purposes, with priority given to commercially viable environmental technologies; (2) provide such a guarantee by commitment to purchase, share losses, or otherwise; (3) provide such guaranty authority only with respect to financing for critical businesses; and (4) extend direct cash grants consistent with such requirements. Sets forth reporting requirements. Transfers to the Agency all functions which were exercised previously by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President, as determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, involved in carrying out any function relating to the Agency's responsibilities, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sets forth various administrative and transition provisions. Authorizes appropriations.

Earth Summit Leadership Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992

Earth Summit Leadership Act of 1992 - Title I: Foundation for Sustainable Development - Establishes the Foundation for Sustainable Development to: (1) encourage the growth of development institutions indigenous to developing countries which respond to the needs of the poor and promote environmental protection and conservation of natural resources; (2) support efforts to increase the productivity of the poor; (3) support self-help activities at the local level to enlarge opportunities for community development; (4) support efforts at community-based, environmentally sustainable management of natural resources; (5) stimulate and assist the process of people participating in the processes that affect their lives; (6) replicate successful projects promoting sustainable and equitable development funded by specified foundations; and (7) disseminate insights gained in the Foundation's work to the American public and citizens in developing countries. Authorizes the Foundation to provide grant assistance to indigenous organizations in developing countries or entities working in partnership with such organizations to carry out it purposes. Limits the total amount of assistance for a single project. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Regional Development Foundations - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 to increase the authorization amount for the Inter-American Foundation for FY 1993 and to authorize appropriations for FY 1994. Amends the African Development Foundation Act to authorize appropriations for the African Development Foundation for FY 1993 and 1994. Makes available an additional amount of economic support fund assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for Appropriate Technology International to enable it to emphasize large-scale replication of successful projects and partnerships with major development and financial institutions. Title III: Reduction in International Security Assistance - Places a ceiling on the total amount of international security assistance provided by the United States for FY 1993 and 1994. Expresses the sense of the Congress that international security assistance for FY 1995 and 1996 should be further reduced to promote global demilitarization and make available additional resources for sustainable development programs. Title IV: Multilateral Organizations - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of specified multilateral development banks to promote the following actions: (1) to make available to the public information on physical, institutional, and economic details and the environmental, public health, and sociocultural impacts of proposed bank operations; (2) to ensure that poverty reduction becomes a higher priority, including increases for lending for health care and basic education to at least five percent of the bank's lending; (3) to ensure that all structural adjustment loans after July 1993 are presented with documentation on how such loans will affect incomes of the poor, the diversification of industrial and agricultural production, the delivery to low-income people of essential social and technical services, and the integrity of the natural resource base; (4) to ensure the development of sustainable energy systems by ensuring that all energy sector loans are based on end-use efficiency and renewable energy applications; (5) to establish a comprehensive water resource policy that will require a least-cost approach to planning for and investing in water resource development projects; and (6) to purchase commercial debt obligations of developing countries on the secondary market and forgive those debts in return for adoption of sustainable development policies. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should follow up U.S. participation in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) by taking an active role during the General Assembly session to ensure full implementation of UNCED recommendations on institutional reform issues. Title V: Domestic Environmental Policies - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all budgetary subsidies and tax advantages for unsustainable exploitation of natural resources should be eliminated as long as adequate provision is made to retrain displaced individuals and to assist poor people who are least able to bear the cost implied by such eliminations; (2) the director of the Office of Management and Budget should identify all current budgetary subsidies and tax advantages for the exploitation of nonrenewable energy, forest, and water resources and should estimate their cost to taxpayers as the basis for future congressional action to eliminate them; and (3) each Federal agency should conduct a survey of cost-effective renewable energy technologies which it could adopt for the conduct of its work and should begin conversion to those technologies as soon as possible. Directs the President to: (1) design a plan for reducing, by 2005, U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide to a level no greater than 80 percent of the 1990 level; and (2) formulate a national strategy for sustainable development.

Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1993

United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992

Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1993 - Title I: 1993 Fiscal Year Authorization - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for: (1) general administration, salaries, and expenses; (2) the Office of Inspector General; (3) the United States Parole Commission; (4) general legal activities; (5) the Antitrust Division; (6) the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission; (7) the United States Attorneys; (8) the United States Marshals Service; (9) the support of United States prisoners in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service; (10) fees and expenses of witnesses; (11) the Community Relations Service; (12) the United States Trustees System Fund; (13) the Assets Forfeiture Fund; (14) organized crime drug enforcement; (15) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); (16) the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); (17) the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and (18) the Federal Prison System. Authorizes Federal Prison Industries, Incorporated, to make expenditures necessary to carry out the program set forth in its budget for the current fiscal year. Title II: General Provisions - Allows up to $95,000 of the funds authorized to DOJ to be made available for official reception and representation expenses. Authorizes the Attorney General to transfer limited funds among appropriations, with exceptions. Requires each organization of DOJ, during FY 1993, to notify specified congressional committees and Members at least 15 days before: (1) reprogramming funds, subject to specified monetary and other limitations; (2) increasing personnel or funds by any means for any project or program from which funds or other resources have been restricted; (3) creation of new programs or significant augmentation of existing programs; (4) reorganization of offices or programs; and (5) significant relocation of offices or employees. Bars the Attorney General from delegating any power, duty, or function expressly conferred by this Act on the Attorney General. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the use of sums authorized to be appropriated for, and the proceeds of, undercover investigative operations of the FBI or DEA; (2) the deposit of proceeds from such operations to the Treasury (when they are no longer necessary for the conduct of such operations); and (3) the disposition of business entities established or acquired as part of an undercover operation. Requires the FBI or DEA, as the case may be, to: (1) conduct a detailed financial audit of each undercover investigative operation which is closed in FY 1993; (2) submit the results of such audit in writing to the Attorney General; and (3) report to the Congress within 180 days after such operation is closed concerning such audit. Sets forth additional reporting requirements by such agencies.

Bilan d'exécution du Xe Plan.

France · Senate · 7 May 1992

Bilan d'exécution du Xe Plan.

Trade Expansion Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992

Trade Expansion Act of 1992 - Title I: Market Access Provisions - Subtitle A: Enforcement of United States Rights Under Trade Agreements and Response to Certain Foreign Trade Practices - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through calendar year 1997 the requirement that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) identify U.S. trade liberalization priorities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that foreign countries that have substantial trade surpluses with the United States, and maintain acts, policies, or practices that are major barriers to, or distortions of, potential U.S. export trade, should be identified (for purposes of "Super 301" under the Trade Act of 1974) as priority foreign countries, and such acts, policies, or practices identified as priority practices. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize any interested person to request the USTR to review to determine whether a foreign country is in material compliance with the terms of a trade agreement. Defines an "interested person" as any person with a significant economic interest that is being or has been adversely affected by a foreign country's failure to comply materially with terms of a trade agreement. Requires the USTR to determine what action to take if a foreign country is found not in material compliance with such agreement. Directs the USTR to initiate an investigation of all acts, policies, and practices of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan that affect the access of U.S. rice to their markets. Requires the USTR to negotiate the elimination of such acts, policies, and practices, and report to the Congress on the progress of such negotiations. Subtitle B: International Trade in Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Parts - Directs the USTR to initiate an investigation of all acts, policies, and practices of Japan that affect the access of U.S. motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts to its market, including but not limited to: (1) acts, policies, and practices utilized in the Japanese automotive distribution system; (2) toleration of anticompetitive activities by private Japanese firms (including "Keiretsu"); (3) exclusionary business practices; and (4) testing requirements and other government regulations. Requires the USTR to negotiate with Japan for a trade agreement that: (1) eliminates such acts, policies, and practices; (2) provides enforcement of Japan's commitments under the Structural Impediments Initiative, the Market -Oriented Sector Specific agreements, and the Action Plan announced at the Tokyo Summit in January 1992 with respect to trade in, and purchase of, motor vehicles and motor vehicles parts; (3) establishes long term goals for the purchase by Japanese motor vehicle manufacturers of high value-added motor vehicle parts and accessories; and (4) establishes procedures for the exchange of information between the United States and Japan that will permit the accurate assessment of the bilateral trade in motor vehicle parts. Requires the USTR to report to the Congress if such negotiations prove unsuccessful. Directs the President to negotiate with Japan for a voluntary restraint agreement that will provide for the imposition of limitations on the aggregate number of Japanese passenger automobiles and light trucks that may be exported to the United States between 1992 and 2000. Authorizes the President to enforce such agreements. Requires specified reports with respect to such negotiations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the USTR should refer to the U.S. Government all information pertaining to Japanese acts, policies, and practices that adversely affect access to the purchasing by Japanese motor vehicle manufacturers in the United States of U.S. motor vehicle parts by Japanese-owned or-controlled producers. Requires the Board established by the Foreign-Trade Zones Act to: (1) review the operations of U.S. and foreign motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts producers to determine any positive economic effect on the United States of such Act; and (2) take appropriate action, including revocation or modification of a foreign-trade zone or subzone grant, with respect to any producer whose operations in such zone are determined not to have a net positive effect on the U.S. economy. Title II: Customs Modernization - Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance Act - Subtitle A: Improvements in Customs Enforcement - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to revise customs procedures with respect to: (1) electronic transmission of forged, altered, or false data to the United States Customs Service with regard to the entry of imported merchandise; (2) penalties for failure to declare imported controlled substances; (3) examination and detention of imported merchandise; (4) certain recordkeeping requirements; (5) examination of books and witnesses; (6) review of protests by the Customs Service; (7) a repeal of a provision relating to the reliquidation on account of fraud; (8) penalties relating to manifests, false drawback or refund claims, and for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence; (9) unlawful unlading or transshipment; (10) public access to Customs Service interpretative rulings and decisions; and (11) seizure of imported merchandise. Subtitle B: National Customs Automation Program - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish the National Customs Automation Program which shall be an automated and electronic system for the processing of commercial imports. Provides for electronic data transmission relating to: (1) remote location filing; (2) effective date of rates of duty on imported merchandise; (3) merchandise manifests; (4) imported merchandise invoices; (5) entry and release of imported merchandise; (6) admissibility in administrative and judicial proceedings of electronically transmitted information; (7) appraisement and liquidations of imported merchandise; (8) the payment of duties; (9) abandonment and damage to imported merchandise; (10) protests of Customs Service decisions; (11) refunds and errors; (12) bonds and other security; and (13) customs house brokers. Requires a refund (drawback) of duties (less one per cent of such duties) on articles produced in the United States with imported merchandise that have been destroyed under Customs Service supervision, provided such articles have not been used prior to such destruction. Sets forth provisions with respect to customs officer's immunity in regard to the appraisement of or collection of duties on imported merchandise. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize the Secretary to disregard the difference, but not less than $20 (currently ten dollars), between the total estimated duties deposited with respect to imported merchandise and the total amount actually due on such merchandise. Authorizes the Secretary to admit duty-free: (1) gifts from persons in foreign countries to persons in the United States whose value does not exceed $100 (currently, $50), or $200 (currently, $100) in the case of gifts from persons in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa; (2) articles accompanying persons for personal or household use whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, $25); or (3) articles whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, five dollars) in other cases. Authorizes the Secretary to waive collection of duties due on merchandise that are worth less than $20, or such greater amount as prescribed by him or her. Requires masters of vessels that have visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise while outside the U.S. territorial sea to report their arrival to the nearest customs facility. Provides for the electronic transmission of vessel documentation to the Customs Service. Requires the following vessels to report to the nearest Customs Service facility within 24 hours (or other period of time) as provided after arrival to a U.S. port: (1) vessels from a foreign port; (2) foreign vessels from a domestic port; (3) U.S. vessels having bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (4) vessels which visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside the U.S. territorial sea. Authorizes the Secretary to permit masters of vessels to make preliminary entry of their vessel with the Customs Service in lieu of or before formal entry is made. Requires U.S. and foreign vessels to obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a U.S. port for: (1) a foreign port; (2) another U.S. port (for foreign vessels only), or (for U.S. vessels only) another U.S. port if the vessel has bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (3) outside the U.S. territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive merchandise. Exempts from entry and clearance requirements certain passenger vessels on excursion from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands and returning, U.S. documented vessels with recreational endorsement, or (as under current law) undocumented U.S. pleasure vessels not engaged in trade, except such vessels must comply upon arrival with specified customs reporting requirements and navigation laws and must not have visited any hovering vessel. Prohibits merchandise, passengers, or baggage from being unladen from any vessel required to make entry or vehicle required to report its arrival until such entry or report of arrival is made and a permit for unlading has been issued by the Customs Service. Authorizes the issuance of such permits through electronic data transmission. Requires every importer of record of merchandise to make and file electronically or otherwise a declaration stating whether such merchandise is imported pursuant to a purchase or purchase agreement and that all other required documents are true and correct. Requires persons who gained any benefit from, or met any obligation to the United States as the result of the prior exportation of merchandise that has returned as undeliverable to inform the Customs Service of the return of such merchandise within a reasonable time. Provides for electronic data transmission of entry information to complete any incomplete entry of imported merchandise. Declares entered or unentered merchandise that remains in customs custody for six months, with an extension at the importer's request of up to a year (currently, for merchandise that remains in custody for one year), and in which duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges have not been paid, to be unclaimed merchandise which shall be appraised and sold by the Customs Service at public auction. Authorizes the sale of imported gunpowder and other explosive merchandise that if permitted to remain in a bonded warehouse for six months (currently, one year) would depreciate in value to the extent that its sale would be insufficient to pay such duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges. Authorizes the Customs Service, in lieu of sale, to provide notice to interested parties that, unless, within 30 days of such notice, the subject merchandise is entered or withdrawn for consumption and payment made of all duties, taxes, and fees, transfer and storage charges and other expenses that title to such merchandise shall be deemed to vest in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to pay to a party that has lost a substantial interest in merchandise by virtue of title vesting in the United States, and can establish that it did not receive a vesting notice, an amount from the Customs Forfeiture Fund equal to what such party would have received if such merchandise had been sold and a proper claim filed. Requires any surplus of the proceeds from the sale of such merchandise to be deposited into the Fund if a claim for such surplus is not filed with the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the declaration and entry of merchandise whose value does not exceed a certain amount, not more than $2,500 (currently not greater than $1,250), and/or when different commercial facilitation and risk considerations that may vary for different classes or kinds of merchandise or different classes of transactions may dictate. Requires the Secretary upon seizure and forfeiture of imported merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark to dispose of such merchandise more than 90 days (currently, one year) after such forfeiture. Authorizes withdrawal of imported merchandise from a warehouse for transfer to a foreign trade zone. Authorizes the Customs Service to order the destruction or other appropriate disposition of vessels, vehicles, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage that has been seized under the customs laws if it determines that the expense of keeping such items is disportionate to their value (currently applies only to items of less than $1,000 in value). Authorizes the use of funds from the Customs Forfeiture Fund for the payment of: (1) certain transfer and storage charges and expenses; and (2) claims against Customs Service employees. Requires actions for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence, false drawback or refund claims, and restoration of lawful duties with respect to imported merchandise to be instituted within five years after the alleged violation or discovery of such fraud. Requires the Customs Service to be reimbursed the administrative cost and expense incurred in collecting fees on behalf of other Federal agencies. Authorizes the Secretary to settle, for no more than $50,000 in each case, claims for personal injury, death, or damage to, or loss of, privately owned property caused by an investigative or law enforcement officer of the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with persons for collection services to recover indebtedness arising under the customs laws, provided the Customs Service has exhausted all administrative efforts to collect such indebtedness. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential and Conforming Amendments to Other Laws - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to exempt from such Schedule articles which are returned within 45 days after being exported from the United States as undeliverable and which have not left the custody of the carrier or foreign customs service. Prohibits such exportations from satisfying any requirement for exportation in order to receive a benefit from, or meet an obligation, to the United States as a result of such exportation. Declares that certain railway locomotives and railway freight cars on which no duty is owed are not subject to the entry or release requirements for imported merchandise under the Tariff Act of 1930. Exempts instruments of international trade, such as containers, lift vans, rail cars and locomotives, truck cabs and trailers, etc., from formal entry procedures. Requires them to be accounted for however, when imported to and exported from the United States through the manifesting procedures required for international carriers by the U.S. Customs Service. Amends the Internal Revenue Code and other specified Federal law with respect to: (1) certain expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund; and (2) coastwise trade vessels and U.S. vessels visiting foreign ports. Amends Federal law to grant the Court of International Trade exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action for review decisions of the Customs Service that deny, suspend, or revoke accreditation of private customs laboratories. Bars the commencement of such actions unless brought before such Court within 60 days of such decisions. Repeals specified provisions of Federal law. Requires the Commissioner of Customs to report to the Congress each fiscal year after FY 1992 on the collection of duties imposed under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to authorize the Commissioner of Customs to obtain from the operators of centralized cargo examination stations information on fees paid for the provision of services at such stations. Requires the Commissioner to report to specified congressional committees on the payment of such fees. Amends the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to require the Commissioner of Customs to: (1) devise a methodology for estimating the level of compliance with the U.S. customs laws; and (2) evaluate the extent to which such compliance was obtained during the 12-month period preceeding the 60th day before each fiscal year 1993 through 1995. Directs the Commissioner to initiate, and submit to the Congress, a compliance review of certain carrier services. Title III: Customs and Trade Agency Authorizations for Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize appropriations to the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) for FY 1993 and 1994. Earmarks a specified amount for reception and entertainment expenses. Prohibits use of such funds for any special study, investigation, or report requested by an agency of the executive branch unless such agency reimburses the ITC for its costs. Amends the Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations to the United States Customs Service for FY 1993 and 1994 for: (1) noncommercial operations; (2) commercial operations; and (3) the air interdiction program. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize appropriaitons to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for FY 1993 and 1994. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize apropriations for FY 1993 and 1994 for certain expenditures from the Customs Forfeiture Fund relating to purchases by the Customs Service of evidence of smuggling of controlled substances. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to eliminate the East-West Trade Statistics Monitoring System. Title IV: Miscellaneous Trade Provisions - Subtitle A: Nontariff Provisions - Directs the President to negotiate trade agreements that eliminate the adverse effects of anticompetitive practices on international trade. Requires the President to report to the Congress on the status of such negotiations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President, with respect to ensuring the effectiveness of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, should seek negotiations with countries that trade with Cuba to seek their agreement to restrict trade relations with it. Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to require the Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the Secretary of Commerce (currently, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury): (1) to take necessary action to ensure the attainment of the objectives of the machine tool decision of the President on May 20, 1986, and on December 27, 1991; and (2) to enforce any imported machine tool quantitative limitations, restrictions, or other terms contained in related bilateral arrangements. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enforce the quantitative limitations and other provisions of bilateral arrangements negotiated with Taiwan on December 31, 1991, pursuant to the President's machine tool decision of May 20, 1986, until bilateral agreements are negotiated with such country pursuant to the President's December 27, 1991, decision. Directs the ITC to report to the Congress propsals for consolidating and simplifying U.S. international trade laws. Requires the Director of the Congressional Research Service to make recommendations to the Congress about establishment of a special unit that would: (1) integrate the resources of the Service, the ITC, and other appropriate agencies; and (2) serve as a central and objective source of information for the Congress on data and trends in trade between the United States and foreign countries. Subtitle B: Foreign Subsidies and Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require completion of reviews by the administering authority of the amount of duty with respect to countervailing and antidumping duty orders by the 270th day after the day on which a request for review was received. (Currently, there is no such deadline for completion of such a review.) Requires the ITC to consider contracts with long lead time as a factor when making material injury determinations with respect to an affected domestic industry in countervailing and antidumping duty investigations. Declares that the presence or absence of any factor the ITC is required to consider shall not give decisive guidance with respect to any threat of material injury determinations. Provides that, with respect to the determination of foreign market value of imported merchandise under investigation, no allowance shall be made to account for differences in input costs that are based on whether the end product made from the input is sold in the home market or exported. Requires the United States Customs Service to report annually to the administering authority on the amount of duties collected during each year under each countervailing and antidumping duty order. Requires the administering authority to make such data available to interested parties. Requires the administering authority, when determining whether imported parts or components are circumventing an antidumping or countervailing duty order or finding, and whether to include such parts or components in such order or finding, to consider: (1) the pattern of trade; (2) the value and sources of supply of parts or components historically used in completion or assembly of the merchandise subject to such order; (3) whether the manufacturer or exporter of such parts or components is related to the person who assembles or completes the merchandise sold in the United States from the parts or components produced in the foreign country with respect to which the order or finding applies; and (4) whether imports into the United States of the parts or components produced in such foreign country have increased after the issuance of such order or finding. Authorizes the administering authority to include within the scope of such order or finding imported parts or components that are used in the completion or assembly of certain merchandise sold in the United States and subject to such order or finding, provided: (1) such merchandise is completed or assembled in the United States from parts or components supplied by the exporter or producer with respect to which such order or finding applies, from suppliers that have historically supplied the parts or components to that exporter or producer, or from any party in the exporting country supplying parts or components on behalf of such exporter or producer; (2) the value of such imported parts and components is significant in relation to the total value of all parts and components used in the assembly or completion operation, excluding packing, of the imported merchandise covered by such order or finding; or (3) consideration of specified factors establishes a pattern of circumvention of a countervailing and antidumping duty order or finding. Enables the administering authority to base such a decision on any of such factors by itself, rather than on all of them together. Sets forth similar provisions for merchandise completed or assembled in other foreign countries. Directs the Secretary of Commerce and the ITC to study and report to the Congress on modification of standards applicable to the initiation of countervailing and antidumping duty actions in order to make petitioning for such initiations less costly and more accessible for domestic petitioners. Requires the USTR to report to the Congress on the operation of the Agreement Concerning the Application of the GATT Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft between the United States and the European Community. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should not enter into any international trade agreement on antidumping requiring changes in U.S. antidumping laws that would reduce the effectiveness of such laws as a remedy against injurious dumped imports. Urges the President to review antidumping provisions contained in the Draft Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations dated December 21, 1991 and seek changes to strengthen the effectiveness of U.S. antidumping laws, including, but not limited to, changes in provisions dealing with cumulation of injury and dispute settlement. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should not condone the use by foreign governments of trade distorting subsidies, including development subsidies, that cause material injury to U.S. industries. Subtitle C: Other Tariff Provisions - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to remove the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the list of countries ineligible for designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to create a new tariff classification to cover imports of motor fuel blending stocks. Imposes a duty on such stocks. Revises the classification of linear alkylbenzenesulfonates and linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acids. Revises a specified subheading relating to nonalloy iron and steel pipes and tubes to include non-galvanized forms of such products. Increases the duty on certain other iron and steel pipes and tubes. Imposes a duty on galvanized nonalloy iron and steel pipes and tubes having a specified thickness. Increases the duty on certain stainless steel pipes and tubes. Authorizes the USTR to negotiate compensation for claims made pursuant to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, as a result of the amendments made by this Act. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to producers of watches in the insular possessions of the United States who are wage certificate holders, to pay to such a holder, at the holder's election, the face value of such certificates less the value of: (1) any duty refunds claimed by the holder under the certificate; and (2) any duty refunds under such certificate that are sold by such holder. Grants duty-free treatment of articles (not over $600 in value) acquired in Bermuda. Grants duty-free treatment to sweaters in which the number of U.S. citizens, nationals, or resident aliens who perform the assembly operations (in Guam) comprise at least 50 percent of the total number of assembly production workers. Sets forth specified exceptions. Provides that stuffed dolls and doll skins that are imported into the United States on or after December 31, 1985, and before October 1, 1988, shall be liquidated as duty free as of October 1, 1988. Declares that a specified production incentive certificate shall be deemed to have been reissued on the 15th day after the enactment of this Act, and shall expire one year after such day. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to exempt semiconductors from the country of origin marking requirements under such Act. Amends the Foreign Trade Zones Act to extend until December 31, 1994, the exclusion of bicycle component parts from the exemption from customs laws provided by such Act. Treats certain entries of fabric wholly of polyamide as having been exported from the United States in accordance with and in satisfaction of the temporary importation bond and obligations of The Umbrellas: Joint Project for Japan and U.S.A. Corporation if specified conditions are met. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to authorize the extension of time (not to exceed five years) for the exportation of articles to be repaired, altered, or processed, including processes which result in articles manufactured or produced in the United States, that are imported duty-free under bond, provided that any extension beyond the third year must be accompanied by the importer's certification that such articles are to be incorporated into a communications satellite. Subjects to liquidated damages any such articles imported after January 1, 1983, and before the effective date of this Act, that are certified by the importer as having been dedicated for incorporation into a communications satellite, and as not having been exported within the time required because of launch schedule delays. Limits such liquidated damages to a maximum one percent of the liquidated damages established under the bond.

Defense Economic Adjustment, Conversion, and Reinvestment Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992

Defense Economic Adjustment, Conversion, and Reinvestment Act of 1992 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to transfer funds appropriated pursuant to this Act to the head of another Federal agency to carry out this Act. Title I: Assistance for Defense Workers - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to expand the definition of "eligible employee" to include an employee at a substantially and seriously affected business or at a military facility scheduled to be closed, even if the employee has not yet been terminated. Amends the Defense Economic Adjustment, Diversification, Conversion, and Stabilization Act of 1990 to extend the authorization of appropriations for adjustment assistance for defense employees. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a Skills Conversion Program to re-educate, retrain, and reorient scientific and technical personnel who are displaced or threatened with displacement by defense budget reductions to fill positions in industries that can utilize such skills. Title II: Community Economic Adjustment Assistance - Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce, in making assistance available to communities through the Economic Development Administration, from giving a preference to substantially and seriously affected communities affected as a result of military installation closures over communities affected as a result of the curtailment, completion, elimination, or realignment of a defense contract. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such assistance through FY 1993. Title III: Small Business Programs - Amends the Small Business Act to increase the amounts authorized to be made by the Small Business Administration in: (1) deferred participation loans and other financing; and (2) guarantees of debentures for programs related to small business investment companies. Directs Federal agencies required to establish small business innovation research programs to expend at least .65 percent of their extramural budgets in FY 1993 for entering into funding agreements to assist small business concerns adversely affected by reductions in the Federal defense budget. Title IV: Economic Adjustment Committee Programs - Requires the Economic Adjustment Committee to implement programs under which: (1) the Federal Government guarantees loans made to a seriously and substantially affected business that is engaged in the production of military products or the provision of services to the military to assist the business in producing commercially viable products and services through the acquisition or construction of facilities, the purchase or reconfiguration of equipment, or the opening of new markets; (2) the Committee may provide assistance to public and private entities for the construction of physical infrastructure facilities which support the defense conversion purposes of this Act; and (3) the Committee identifies the relevant skills of defense civilian and military employees and military personnel who are displaced by defense budget reductions for purposes of filling positions for the infrastructure program. Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide for feasibility studies on military installations scheduled to be closed or realigned before December 31, 1997, to examine potential uses for such installations. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Assistance for Exports of United States Products and Services - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Export-Import Bank to develop a program for providing guarantees and insurance with respect to the export of high technology items to eligible East European countries (as defined by the Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989). Directs the Bank to inform interested U.S. high technology companies, particularly small business concerns, about such program. Amends the International Finance Corporation Act to authorize the U.S. Governor of the International Finance Corporation to vote for and make a specified contribution to an irrevocable trust fund for paying the costs of consultants to facilitate projects designed to raise the standard of living in developing countries by developing capital markets, privatizing public enterprises, and developing private businesses. Reserves 90 percent of fund expenditures for consultants who are U.S. citizens and businesses or joint ventures owned or controlled by such citizens. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to make a similar amendment urging the development of and contribution to trust funds by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to: (1) pay consultants to facilitate Bank projects designed to raise the standard of living in developing countries through the use of state of the art goods and services (with the same reservation of expenditures for U.S. citizens); and (2) promote energy efficiency and environmental objectives. Authorizes appropriations.

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to expand the requirement that legislation be accompanied by cost estimates of its impact on State and local governments.

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992

Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to include conference reports in cost estimate analyses by the Congressional Budget Office of legislative impact on State and local governments. Requires concurrent resolutions on the budget to direct committees to include cost estimates with reconciliation legislation.

To express the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need to increase budget authority for the reduction of violent crime, the rehabilitation of American youth, and the revitalization of American cities.

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992

Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that for FY 1993 through 1998 the budget authority for: (1) the defense of Europe and Japan should be decreased by $5,000,000,000; and (2) programs for the Nation's 100 largest cities should be increased by $5,000,000,000 to improve education, foster economic investment, and fight crime through prevention and suppression activities.

Omnibus Congressional and Presidential Coverage and Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Omnibus Congressional and Presidential Coverage and Accountability Act - Title I: Senate Spending Reduction and Control - Prohibits the amounts appropriated for the Senate: (1) for FY 1993 from exceeding 87 percent of the Senate's budget authority for FY 1992; and (2) for FY 1994 from exceeding 75 percent of such budget authority for FY 1992. Prohibits an annual increase in the amounts appropriated for the Senate for any fiscal year after FY 1994 that exceeds the cost of living adjustment for such fiscal year. Title II: Congressional and Presidential Accountability - Applies to the Congress: (1) specified Federal employment laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and (if enacted) the Indoor Air Quality Act of 1991; (2) the rights and protections provided pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 with respect to conduct regarding matters other than employment; (3) the Privacy Act of 1974; and (4) Title VI of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. Applies the same Federal employment laws to the employment of presidential appointees. Title III: Wage Garnishment Equalization - Subjects the pay of elected U.S. officers, Federal employees, presidential appointees, and congressional officials or employees to garnishment in the manner applicable to the pay of non-Federal employees. Title IV: Income Tax Disclosure - Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President, the Vice President, Members of Congress, and candidates for such offices to include a copy of his or her most recent Federal income tax return with each report required to be filed under such Act. Title V: Congressional Pay Accountability - Requires legislative salary adjustments for Members of Congress to take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after the election of the House of Representatives following the enactment of the law making such adjustment.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget for the United States Government and for greater accountability in the enactment of tax legislation.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Constitutional Amendment - Requires, prior to each fiscal year, that the estimated total receipts for that year be determined by enactment of a law devoted solely to that subject. Prohibits Federal outlays from exceeding estimated receipts in a fiscal year, and prohibits any increase in the public debt limit, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House of Congress provide for a specific excess of outlays, or for an increase, by rollcall vote. Requires the President to transmit to the Congress before each fiscal year a proposed Federal budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. Prohibits any bill to increase revenue from becoming law unless approved by a majority of the whole number of each House by rollcall vote. Provides for waiver of this Amendment for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Declares that Federal receipts exclude those derived from borrowing and that Federal outlays exclude those for repayment of debt principal.

A resolution to amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to establish a point of order against consideration of any measure containing a provision increasing the pay of Senators unless the Congress has passed a balanced budget.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Amends the Standing Rules of the Senate to establish a point of order against the consideration of a measure to increase the pay of Senators, the President pro tempore of the Senate, or the majority and minority leaders of the Senate unless the Committee on the Budget has determined that the most recent Federal budget passed by the Congress will be balanced for the applicable fiscal year.

To amend the Act of September 30, 1950 to provide that amounts appropriated under such Act for purposes of making payments to local educational agencies on behalf of children who are dependents of a parent or parents on active duty in the armed forces shall be considered national defense functions for budget purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Amends specified Federal law relating to impact aid to require that appropriations and expenditures under such law for payments to local educational agencies on behalf of children who are dependents of a parent or parents on active duty in the armed forces be considered national defense functions for budget purposes.

Shipbuilding Promotion Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Shipbuilding Promotion Act of 1992 - Requires the Secretary of Defense to direct that all sealift ships built under the fast sealift program be constructed and designed to commercial specifications. Directs the Secretary to establish an interagency working group to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure the effective competition of U.S. shipyards in the international shipbuilding market. Directs the Secretary to submit the plan to the Congress at the time of the FY 1994 defense budget request. Provides that, if such plan is not submitted at such time, no funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for FY 1993 may be used for contracting for the construction, repair, or purchase of any product or service with any company located or with headquarters in any country that continues to provide a subsidy to a foreign shipyard for the construction or repair of vessels or that engages in ship dumping practices. Defines a subsidy as direct or indirect official operation support, or direct or indirect assistance, to the commercial shipbuilding and repair industry of a country.

Providing for the consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res 290) proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget for the United States Government and for greater accountability in the enactment of tax legislation.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.J. Res. 290 (constitutional amendment on budget process).

Providing for the consideration of the bill (H.R. 4990) rescinding certain budget authority, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.R. 4990 (budget rescissions).

Providing for the consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 290) proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget for the United States Government and for greater accountability in the enactment of tax legislation.

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992

Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.J. Res. 290 (constitutional amendment on budget process).

proposition de loi organique modifiant l'ordonnance n°59-2 du 2 janvier 1959 portant loi organique relative aux lois de finances pour instituer un contrôle du Parlement sur la participation de la France au budget des Communautés européennes

France · Senate · 5 May 1992

Land and Water Conservation Fund Amendments of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992

Land and Water Conservation Fund Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to require the submission with the annual budget of the United States of a comprehensive statement of the estimated requirements during the ensuing fiscal year for appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for land acquisition by eligible Federal agencies and by States and local governments. Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) allocations from the Fund, including funds for Indian tribes and Alaska Native Village Corporations; and (2) multipurpose acquisition by States. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to States for outdoor recreation maintenance and security. Repeals a restriction on assistance available under the Act to enclose or shelter facilities normally used for outdoor recreation activities. Permits the use of such funds, subject to specified limitations, for: (1) maintenance of facilities acquired and developed with financial assistance provided pursuant to the Act; (2) costs of law enforcement and security personnel and other security measures; and (3) development of sheltered facilities for public health or safety in connection with projects otherwise eligible for assistance under the Act. Authorizes the transfer of funds by grant recipients to private nonprofit organizations, subject to specified requirements, to be used for projects approved in writing by the grantor of the funds in connection with the acquisition of lands (or interests in lands) and the development of recreation facilities, but not for administrative expenses. Sets forth requirements regarding maintenance of expenditures by State and Federal grant recipients.

Spending Control and Programs Evaluation Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992

Spending Control and Programs Evaluation Act of 1992 - Title I: Reauthorizations of Government Programs - Requires each Government program to be reauthorized at least once during each sunset reauthorization cycle. (Sunset reauthorization cycle means the period of five Congresses beginning with the 103d Congress and with each sixth Congress following the 103d Congress.) Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any legislation which authorizes new budget authority. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified items, such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified social security and retirement pay and benefits. Expresses the sense of the Congress that all programs should be considered and reauthorized in program categories which constitute major areas of lelgislative policy for sufficient periods of time to enhance oversight and the review and evaluation of Government programs. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist the Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1993. Directs the congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of the Congress and that such revisions be reported to each House. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Sets forth miscellaneous provisions to carry out the purposes of this Act. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a regulatory duplication and conflicts report for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires appropriate congressional committees to introduce a sunset reauthorization bill not later than 15 days after the beginning of the second regular session of the Congress. Sets forth discharge procedures to apply to motions to discharge such bills. Requires specified congressional committees to report on a review of the procedures established under this Act by December 31, 1998, and every five years thereafter. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years ending before October 1, 2003.

Aviation Noise Improvement and Capacity Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1992

Aviation Noise Improvement and Capacity Act of 1992 - Title I: Airport and Airway Improvement Act Amendments - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to declare that: (1) it is in the public interest to recognize the effects of airport capacity expansion projects on airport noise; and (2) noncompatible land uses around airports must be reduced, and efforts to mitigate noise must be given a high priority. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for: (1) airport development and planning projects; (2) air navigation facilities; (3) weather reporting services for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); (4) aviation research, engineering and development, and demonstration projects; and (5) enhancing airport capacity. Requires the Administrator of the FAA to assure that sufficient resources are available to develop improved technology for reduction in engine and airframe noise and aircraft emissions. Amends Federal law to authorize appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for FAA operations. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to revise the minimum Federal appropriation levels which permit imposition of local airport passenger facility fees on airline passengers. Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to increase the apportionment of airport development and planning funds for: (1) airports which are served by aircraft providing only air cargo (including mail) transportation; and (2) primary airports. Repeals the limitation on the amount of such funds. Decreases the State apportionment of such funds. Limits to no more than 44 percent (currently, 49.5 percent) the apportionment of such funds for primary and cargo service airports in cases where such apportionment has been limited or reduced by an Act of the Congress. Extends the funding for the military airport set-aside program. Increases the noise set-aside apportionment for airport noise compatibility planning programs. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) from obligating funds for airport development projects for the construction or extension of a runway for large aircraft operations at an airport unless it has a noise compatibility program which takes into account such runway extension or construction. Authorizes the increase by a specified percentage of the maximum obligation of the United States for airport development and planning projects for FY 1993 and thereafter for an airport other than a primary airport. Includes as an "aircraft development" activity the: (1) relocation of an air traffic control tower if relocation is necessary to carry out an approved project; and (2) if funded by a grant under this title, construction, reconstruction, repair, or improvement of an airport (or any purchase of capital equipment for an airport) which is necessary for compliance with specified Federal laws, other than construction or purchase of capital equipment which would benefit a revenue-producing area of the airport used by a nonaeronautical business. Requires as a condition precedent to the approval of an airport development project grant application that the Secretary receive assurances that a report of the airport budget will be available to the public at reasonable times and places. Requires the Administrator of the FAA to increase the employment of aviation safety inspectors by a specified ratio percentage. Title II: Federal Aviation Act Amendments - Amends Federal law to limit the term of the Administrator of the FAA appointed after March 1, 1993, to one five-year term. Requires the Administrator of the FAA to require, by regulation, procedures to improve safety of aircraft operations during winter conditions. Requires the Administrator of the FAA to initiate a rulemaking to consider whether it is advisable to require enhanced training or education, especially on the use of autopilot and high altitude flight, for pilots operating high performance, single engine, propeller-driven aircraft. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize the Administrator of the FAA to enter into a contract with a State or political subdivision to permit it to operate a level I visual flight rules airport traffic control tower, provided certain safety and contract requirements are met. Requires all persons to give adequate public notice of the establishment or expansion, or the proposed establishment or expansion, of any structure or sanitary landfill where such notice will promote safety in air commerce and preserve the navigable airspace and airport traffic capacity at public-use airports. Title III: Airline Consumer Protection and Competition Emergency Commission - Airline Consumer Protection and Competition Emergency Commission Act of 1992 - Establishes the Emergency Commission on Airline Consumer Protection and Competition to: (1) assess and report to the President and the Congress on the state of the airline industry and the aircraft manufacturing industry, particularly the full implications of foreign ownership of U.S. carriers; and (2) recommend Government policies to improve the competitive environment for the U.S. airline industry and aircraft manufacturing industry, retard the flow of carrier bankruptcies and accompanying loss of jobs, assure continued ownership and control of U.S. carriers by U.S. citizens, promote adequate levels of competition and service with reasonable fares in all geographic areas of the Nation, and stabilize the work environment of airline industry employees.

UniMed Act of 1992

United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1992

Universal Medical Care Act of 1992 - UniMed Act of 1992 - Creates the UniMed program with three components: MediWorkers, MediKids, and MediWrap. Title I: MediWorkers Component of UniMed Program - Subtitle A: Employer-Sponsored Group Health Plans - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require each employer to provide coverage to each eligible full-time employee or spouse. Provides for consumer protection by: (1) regulating claims procedures; (2) requiring certain disclosures; and (3) prohibiting financial arrangements between group health plans and physicians having the effect of reducing or limiting services. Sets forth procedures and requirements for group health plan certification by the Health Benefits Board (Board) established under this Act. Requires: (1) the Board to establish minimum quality standards; and (2) each plan to issue a health plan card to each covered individual. Mandates coverage of certain core services, including: (1) inpatient and outpatient hospital services; (2) physician and community health clinic services and certain other health professional services; (3) certain inpatient and outpatient mental health services; (4) certain alcohol and drug abuse treatment services; (5) pregnancy-related services; (6) specified preventive services; (7) diagnostic and laboratory services; and (8) case management. Allows the Board to include additional preventive services and, in order to conduct demonstrations, additional services as core benefits. Establishes related advisory committees. Prohibits a plan which is not a network plan (defining a network plan as a plan which limits coverage to services provided by participating providers or which permits higher deductibles and coinsurance applicable to the use of non-participating providers) from limiting coverage of core services to specified providers. Regulates deductibles, coinsurance, and cost-sharing. Requires the Board to: (1) annually establish reference payment rates, based on the payment methodology used under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for all core services; or (2) substitute rates established by a State, unless that would increase expenditures or shift costs among UniMed's three components. Limits charges for: (1) institutional services to the reference rates; and (2) professional services to the same proportion above the reference rates as the limiting charge established under specified Medicare provisions. Requires adequate core services payment rates and use of Medicare payment methodologies. Mandates prospective reductions in reference payment rates for: (1) hospitals with excessive rates of increase of capital expenditures which were not pre-approved by the Board; and (2) medical residency programs inconsistent with number and specialty distribution standards. Limits employee-paid premiums according to a specified formula which includes consideration of the employee's wages. Prohibits excluding pre-existing conditions or exclusions for core services that are more restrictive than the exclusions under the MediWrap component. Sets forth consumer protections, including: (1) prohibiting a plan which is not a network plan from restricting the covered individual's choice of provider; (2) requiring notice of the low-income assistance available under this Act; and (3) insolvency and escrow reserves protection. Mandates issuance of health plan identification cards and use of standard claims forms and processes. Requires: (1) coordination of coverage and termination of coverage among plans and between plans and the MediKids and MediWrap components; (2) coordination of deductibles and cost-sharing among plans; (3) notice of beginning and terminating coverage of an individual; (4) ongoing accounting, for each covered individual, regarding deductibles and cost-sharing to promote portability; and (5) that the MediWrap component cover each MediWrap eligible individual whose coverage under a plan or under Medicare part A is terminated. Provides for certification of open (defined as not limited to a particular employer or industry or organized on behalf of a particular group) group health polices. Considers a plan as meeting certain certification requirements if it provides benefits through a contract with a carrier for an open certified policy. Prohibits a State from imposing any requirement on an open basic policy inconsistent with these requirements. Requires a certified group health policy to meet requirements of this Act relating to claims procedures, financial arrangements between group health plans and physicians having the effect of reducing or limiting services, issuance of UniMed cards, core services, deductibles, coinsurance, cost-sharing, payment rates, pre-existing conditions, choice of provider, solvency, standardization of cards and claims processing, and coordination and portability of coverage. Requires the carrier of a certified policy to assume responsibility under this Act for equalization of premiums. Requires a carrier which offers a certified policy to offer it without regard to the size of the employer. Allows health maintenance organizations to have certain geographic and size limits. Prohibits open basic certified policies from being terminated, except for premium nonpayment, fraud or misrepresentation, or at the end of a year. Allows employers to change to another policy without penalty at the end of each calendar year. Requires each open basic certified policy to provide coverage to eligible employees, if ordered by the Board because of employer failure to provide coverage. Provides a process for the equalization of premiums according to specified formulas, considerations, and factors. Mandates establishment of related advisory committees. Entitles certain small (fewer than 25 employees) employers to a premium subsidy beginning at a specified percentage of the employer premium and phasing out over four years. Establishes in the Health Benefits Administration the Federal Health Benefits Equalization Corporation to carry out provisions of this Act relating to equalization. Exempts the Corporation from Federal and, subject to exception, State and local taxes. Provides for the treatment of the Corporation and the Federal Health Benefits Equalization Fund (established under this Act) regarding the Federal budget and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Establishes in the Treasury the Federal Health Benefits Equalization Fund to carry out the functions of the Corporation under these provisions, crediting to the Fund equalization payments and other amounts. Appropriates to the Fund: (1) a specified portion of taxes received under certain provisions; (2) amounts equal to the small employer subsidies; and (3) amounts equal to the low income assistance provided under title V of this Act. Sets forth reporting and disclosure requirements for all group health plans, including regarding a summary plan description, annual financial and other reports, the furnishing of certain information to covered individuals, and the publication of specified information. Regulates the retention of certain records. Requires that charges of violation of this Act be filed with the Special Counsel of the Board. Provides for the appointment of the Counsel. Requires the Counsel to investigate charges, issue complaints, and prosecute all complaints before administrative law judges of the Group Health Plan Review Board (Review Board) and the Health Benefits Board (Board). Establishes the Review Board. Provides for: (1) procedures for hearings before the administrative law judges; and (2) review of their decisions. Establishes an Early Resolution Program to facilitate discussions, clarify issues, identify additional information, encourage settlement, and present an assessment of the likely outcome of litigation. Establishes in the Health Benefits Administration the Claims Resolution Board (Claims Board) to take certain actions, including administering the Program. Sets forth Program eligibility criteria and initiation procedures. Prohibits formal rules of evidence, oaths, and transcripts. Provides for enforcement, with regard to matters which are not eligible to be brought before the Special Counsel, through a civil action brought by the Board, the Corporation, or any aggrieved party. Imposes civil penalties for failure to comply with reporting and disclosure rules. Prohibits interference with protected rights. Imposes criminal penalties for coercive interference. Preempts State laws: (1) different from this Act; (2) specifying the individuals to be covered under a certified plan or the duration of coverage; or (3) requiring a conversion right from a certified group plan to an individual plan. Prohibits State laws from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting network plans from taking specified actions. Defines a "network plan" as a plan which limits coverage of core services to those provided by participating providers or which permits higher deductibles and coinsurance applicable to the use of nonparticipating providers. Sets forth other requirements for network plans. Mandates establishment of standards for utilization review programs. Preempts inconsistent State laws. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth which provisions of title I (Protection of Employee Benefit Rights) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) apply and which provisions do not apply to group health plans. Title II: MediKids Component of UniMed Program - Subtitle A: Eligibility and Coverage - Entitles to benefits under this title each child who is: (1) under 22 years old; (2) a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident alien, or an alien residing permanently in the United States; and (3) a U.S. resident (MediKids eligible children). Declares that failure to pay a premium tax under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code shall not terminate benefits under this title. Mandates issuance of identifying UniMed cards. Declares that MediKids eligible children are entitled to benefits whether or not a UniMed card has been issued with respect to them. Subtitle B: Benefits - Includes in core services those core services described in title I of this Act, as modified with regard to inpatient and outpatient mental health services, preventive services, prescription drugs, and developmental services. Establishes an advisory committee to advise the Board on medically necessary and reasonable core services. Allows the Board, in order to conduct demonstrations, to include additional services as core benefits. Mandates a study and report to the Congress on the appropriateness of providing coverage for long-term care under the MediKids component. Regulates (in some cases prohibits) coinsurance, copayment, and cost-sharing. Requires payment of benefits under this title to be made without regard to whether a MediKids eligible child is also entitled to benefits under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Requires that Medicare benefits be coordinated with, and supplement, benefits under this title. Subtitle C: Payments; Premium Computation - Requires: (1) MediKids payments to be made on the same basis as MediWorkers payment rates, adjusting for the different populations and services; and (2) the Board to establish similar rates and methodologies for MediKids benefits that are not core services. Applies Medicare provisions (relating to withholding of payments for certain Medicaid providers and to offset of payments to individuals to collect past-due obligations arising from breach of scholarship and loan contracts) to this title. Prohibits providers from charging in excess of the applicable payment amount or charging for a service which is not medically necessary or reasonable. Provides for computation of the MediKids monthly premium amount. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Authorizes the Board to: (1) require providers to enter into participation agreements with the Board in order to be eligible for payments; or (2) permit such agreements. Authorizes the Board to provide for the administration of this title through a contract or agreement with one or more fiscal agents. Mandates application of the MediWorkers early resolution program and the claims review procedures to MediKids disputes and claims. Authorizes the Board to enter into a contract with health maintenance organizations and other prepaid capitation organizations for MediKids services and a monthly, prospectively determined capitated amount. Requires the Board to establish an optional primary care capitation payment methodology for pediatric practices involving a fixed, periodic payment. Authorizes agreements for utilization and quality control activities. Title III: MediWrap Component of UniMed Program - Subtitle A: Eligibility and Coverage - Entitles to MediWrap benefits each individual who is: (1) between 21 and 60 years old; (2) a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident alien, or an alien otherwise permanently residing in the United States; and (3) a U.S. resident. Exempts from the entitlement persons entitled to benefits under Medicare part A or under MediWorkers provisions of this Act. Declares that failure to pay a premium tax under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code shall not terminate benefits. Mandates issuance of identifying UniMed cards. Declares that MediWrap eligible individuals are entitled to benefits whether or not a UniMed card has been issued with respect to them. Subtitle B: Benefits - Requires that MediWrap benefits be the same as MediWorkers core benefits. Allows the Board, in order to conduct demonstrations, to include additional benefits. Mandates establishment of an advisory committee to advise the Board on medical necessity and reasonableness. Regulates deductibles, coinsurance, and cost-sharing. Requires MediWrap payments to be made without regard to whether a MediWrap eligible individual is also entitled to benefits under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Subtitle C: Payments; Premium Computation - Requires MediWrap payments to be made on the same basis as MediWorkers payment rates. Applies Medicare provisions (relating to withholding of payments for certain Medicaid providers and to offset of payments to individuals to collect past-due obligations arising from breach of scholarship and loan contracts) to this title. Prohibits providers from charging in excess of the applicable payment amount or charging for a service which is not medically necessary or reasonable. Provides for computation of the MediWrap monthly premium amount. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Authorizes the Board to: (1) require providers to enter into participation agreements with the Board in order to be eligible for payments; or (2) permit such agreements. Authorizes the Board to provide for the administration of this title through a contract or agreement with one or more fiscal agents. Mandates application of the MediWorkers early resolution program and the claims review procedures to MediWrap disputes and claims. Authorizes the Board to enter into a contract with health maintenance organizations and other prepaid capitation organizations for MediWrap services and a monthly, prospectively determined capitated amount. Authorizes agreements for utilization and quality control activities. Title IV: Cost Containment and Quality Control - Subtitle A: Cost Containment Provisions Contained Within UniMed Components - Sets forth references to other provisions of this Act. Subtitle B: Encouraging Use of "Managed" or "Coordinated" Care - Sets forth references to other provisions of this Act. Amends provisions of the Social Security Act relating to research on outcomes of health care services and procedures to mandate reflection of UniMed component needs in treatment- or condition-specific practice guidelines. Mandates inclusion of information UniMed impact in an annual report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions. Modifies specifications regarding the source of appropriations under the provisions. Subtitle C: Quality Control - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require the Health Benefits Board to establish a locally-based, consumer-oriented process for providing information to employers, MediWorkers eligible individuals, and organizations representing the individuals on the quality and appropriateness of care provided under certified plans. Establishes the National Quality Advisory Committee. Requires the Board to establish a process for the recognition in each locality of a local health care quality review monitoring organization. Subtitle D: Improvements in Administrative Efficiency - Requires the Board to establish standards for: (1) UniMed cards, including electronic coding on the cards; and (2) forms to be used and electronic data to be submitted regarding claims. Subtitle E: Medical Malpractice Reform - Requires the Board to report to the Congress detailing specific reforms of medical malpractice. Allows the Board to provide for the implementation under the MediKids and MediWrap components of the early resolution program. Title V: Low Income Assistance - Mandates a sliding scale of subsidies to low income individuals for UniMed component deductibles and coinsurance. Requires, for those receiving advance assistance, subsequent filing of income statements and related payment adjustments. Disqualifies from assistance under this title all members of a family for which the statements are not filed by a specified deadline. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit income information to the Board as necessary for verification. Considers a family eligible under this title, without filing an application or an income statement, if the family that has been determined to be eligible for aid under parts A or E of title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) or title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Title VI: Financing - Subtitle A: Amendments to Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose taxes on employers (including railroads), certain employees, railroad employee representatives, and self-employed individuals. Reduces the employer tax for small employers (under 25 employees), phasing out the reduction over four years. Imposes a tax on individuals who: (1) are covered by MediWrap; (2) are covered by MediKids, if their custodial parent is not covered by MediWrap and neither parent is covered by MediWorkers. Imposes a tax on a percentage of the excess (if any) of UniMed income (adjusted gross income determined without regard to specified provisions, plus interest income) over the income taxed by certain other provisions, plus an amount determined according to a specified formula. Modifies: (1) the percentage of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals which is deductible; and (2) requirements regarding the hospital insurance applicable contribution base. Excludes from gross income employer contributions to UniMed premiums. Phases out the exclusion for highly compensated employees. Subtitle B: Maintenance of Effort - Requires each State to pay to the UniMed Trust Fund amounts, determined according to specified formulas, relating to: (1) for the MediKids amount, the number of Medicaid-eligible children in the State, the average per child expenditures to be made under the MediKids component, and the Federal medical assistance percentage under Medicaid; and (2) for the MediWrap amount, the amount of MediWrap expenditures under the State Medicaid plan and the Federal medical assistance percentage under Medicaid. Appropriates equivalent amounts to the Fund. Subtitle C: UniMed Trust Fund - Establishes the UniMed Trust Fund with separate MediKids, MediWrap, and low income assistance accounts. Excludes Fund receipts and disbursements from the Federal budget and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Makes the United States not liable for any obligation or liability of the Fund. Authorizes appropriations equal to the amount by which MediKids and MediWrap expenditures exceed Fund deposits. Transfers certain tax receipts and State and Federal payments to the various accounts of the Fund. Makes amounts in the Fund also available for payments under the provisions of the Social Security Act relating to outcomes of health care services and procedures. Title VII: Administration of UniMed Program - Establishes, as an independent agency in the executive branch, the Health Benefits Administration, governed by the Health Benefits Board, to administer the components of the UniMed program. Authorizes the Board to investigate and, where appropriate, refer civil and criminal violations regarding this Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or other Federal laws. Authorizes the Board to collect, analyze, and publish information relating to the UniMed program. Mandates studies regarding: (1) the effects of the program on the provisions and costs of group health plans; (2) the role of the program in meeting national health needs; (3) the operation of group health plans; (4) methods of encouraging the growth of the group health plan systems; and (5) the appropriateness of providing coverage for long-term care under the MediWorkers and MediWrap components. Title VIII: Medicare Program - Amends provisions of title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)) of the Social Security Act relating to entitlement to hospital insurance benefits to replace references to age 65 with references to age 60 and to otherwise modify eligibility requirements for Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Repeals Medicare provisions relating to: (1) hospital insurance for uninsured individuals not otherwise eligible; and (2) hospital insurance benefits for disabled individuals who have exhausted other entitlements. Amends specified Medicare provisions to replace references to age 65 with references to age 60. Makes Medicare a secondary payer after payment under MediKids. Appropriates to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, both established under the Social Security Act, the taxes received under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the wages of individuals 60 years old or older or who are otherwise entitled to benefits under Medicare part A, less the decrease in income taxes resulting from such taxes. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals provisions of: (1) the Internal Revenue Code relating to failure to satisfy continuation coverage requirements of group health plans; (2) the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 relating to continuation coverage under group health plans; and (3) the Public Health Service Act relating to requirements for certain group health plans for certain State and local employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow returns and return information to be furnished to the Health Benefits Administration and the Federal Health Benefits Equalization Corporation for the purposes of, and to the extent necessary in the administration of, this Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate grants to provide access to services for medically underserved populations or in high impact areas not currently being serviced by a Federally-qualified health center. Allows grant funds to be used for: (1) recruiting, training, and compensating staff; (2) facilities construction, acquisition, expansion, and modernization; (3) purchasing equipment; (4) principal and interest on related loans; (5) all services of a Federally-qualified health center; (6) any other services such a center may provide and be reimbursed under Medicaid; and (7) unreimbursed costs as described under provisions relating to community health centers. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a study on the relationship and interaction between community health centers and hospitals in providing services to underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits a State, as a condition for receiving Medicaid payments, from reducing the eligibility for, or the amount of, benefits for children under 22 years old below those in effect before enactment of this Act. Amends Medicaid provisions to prohibit Medicaid payments for items and services for which payment is made under UniMed. Adds a requirement that a State Medicaid plan take all reasonable measures to ascertain the legal liability of third parties, including certified plans under MediWorkers, to pay for services under the plan. Title X: Glossary of Terms - Sets forth references to where terms are defined in this Act.

Commission on Executive Organization Act

United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1992

Commission on Executive Organization Act - Establishes the Commission on Executive Organization to examine and make recommendations with respect to an effective and practicable organization of the Federal executive branch. Requires the Commission to seek to reduce the total number of Federal employees by five percent within five years after the effective date of this Act. Requires the Commission to submit a report to the President describing its recommendations and legislative changes necessary to implement such recommendations. Requires the President to: (1) issue an Executive order implementing the recommendations made in the report; and (2) report to the Congress on the Commission's recommendations for legislation. Requires the Directors of the Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Office of Technology Assessment to submit to the Commission indices to, and synoposes of, materials on executive organization useful to the Commission. Authorizes appropriations.