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Bill· HRH.R. 1470 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Corporate Tax and Other Provisions Subtitle A: Tax Provisions Subtitle B: Agricultural-Related Provisions Subtitle C: Other Subsidies Title II: Mineral Exploration and Development Subtitle A: Mineral Exploration and Development Subtitle B: Environmental Considerations of Mineral Exploration and Development Subtitle C: Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund Subtitle D: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Revenues Dedicated to Deficit Reduction Corporate Responsibility Act of 1999 - Title I: Corporate Tax and Other Provisions - Subtitle A: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the exclusion of certain income of foreign sales corporations; (2) repeal alcohol fuel incentives; and (3) revise rules concerning the source of income from the sale of inventory property. Subtitle B: Agricultural-Related Provisions - Amends the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to require the payment of the full cost for the delivery of water used for the production of surplus crops. (Sec. 112) Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to repeal: (1) title III (Export Enhancement Program); and (2) the market promotion program provisions. (Sec. 114) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to repeal tobacco price supports. Subtitle C: Other Subsidies - Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to eliminate the Advanced Technology Program. (Sec. 122) Amends the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 to declare that no appropriations are authorized to carry out the Act after September 30, 1999. (Sec. 123) Amends the Act commonly known as the National Forest Roads and Trails Act to prohibit: (1) the provision of effective purchaser road credits; and (2) Federal funding for any forest road principally used for logging. (Sec. 124) Prohibits the provision of Federal funds to, or for the benefit of, the International Monetary Fund, pursuant to the New Arrangements to Borrow of the International Monetary Fund. Title II: Mineral Exploration and Development - Subtitle A: Mineral Exploration and Development - Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 1997 - Sets forth guidelines for mineral exploration on public domain lands. Declares that holders of mining claims located or converted and maintained under this Act have the exclusive right of possession and use of the claimed land for mineral activities. (Sec. 205) Prescribes rules for mining claim location and use of public land surveys. Provides for administrative adjudication of conflicting claims. Mandates a specified location fee for every unpatented mining claim located after the date of enactment of this Act. (Sec. 206) Subjects existing unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites to the provisions of this Act ("converted mining claims"). (Sec. 207) Sets forth certain annual claim maintenance fees. Mandates that all monies received from such fees be deposited into the Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund (established under this Act). (Sec. 208) States that failure to comply with the requirements of this Act shall be deemed conclusively to constitute forfeiture of the mining claim. (Sec. 209) Prescribes procedural guidelines for: (1) contesting a mining claim on the basis of discovery; and (2) demonstrating the continued sufficiency of a mining claim. Subtitle B: Environmental Considerations of Mineral Exploration and Development - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, and for National Forest System lands the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries), to require that mineral activities on Federal lands be conducted in a manner that minimizes adverse impacts on the environment. Prescribes surface management guidelines for the granting of both an exploration and an operations permit. Requires applications for such permits to contain both an operations plan and a reclamation plan, and evidence of financial assurances. Limits an operations permit to a ten-year term (subject to renewal). (Sec. 215) Declares persons in violation of this Act ineligible for permits. Sets as a prerequisite to the issuance of any permit evidence of financial assurance payable to the United States for all lands to be affected by the mineral activities described in the permit application. (Sec. 217) Mandates that lands subject to mineral activities be restored to a condition capable of supporting their prior uses, or to other beneficial uses which conform to applicable land use plans. Sets forth reclamation standards applicable to mineral exploration. (Sec. 218) Declares that State standards for reclamation, bonding, inspection, and water or air quality which either meet or exceed Federal standards shall not be construed as inconsistent with this Act. Permits cooperative agreements between the States and the Secretary. Prohibits the Secretary from delegating authorities or responsibilities conferred under this Act to any State or its political subdivision. (Sec. 219) Requires the Secretaries, in preparing land use plans, to determine those areas deemed unsuitable for certain mineral activities. Requires withdrawal of such areas from mineral exploration and development. Subtitle C: Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund - Establishes the Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund (the Fund), to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by past minerals activities on certain public lands. (Sec. 233) Restricts reclamation expenditures to Federal or Indian land and water resources that traverse or are contiguous to Federal or Indian lands where such resources have been affected by past mineral activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 236) Subjects the production of locatable minerals (or mineral concentrates or products derived from locatable minerals) from any mining claim under this Act to a royalty scheme of eight percent of the net smelter return. Subtitle D: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 and the National Materials and Minerals Policy Research and Development Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to implement minerals policy and actions to improve availability and analysis of mineral data in Federal land use decision making for National Forest System lands. (Sec. 242) Authorizes the Secretaries to establish and collect user fees to reimburse the United States for expenses incurred in administering this Act. (Sec. 243) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the publication of an application for an operations permit and the public participation requirements. (Sec. 244) Instructs the Secretaries to: (1) inspect mineral activities to ensure compliance with surface management requirements; and (2) require all operators to maintain a monitoring and evaluation system to identify compliance with them. Authorizes citizen suits to enforce compliance. (Sec. 246) Prescribes procedural guidelines for administrative and judicial review of agency actions. (Sec. 247) Sets forth enforcement guidelines and civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance. Provides transitional rules for: (1) new and preexisting claims; (2) claims that have not been converted; (3) contest proceedings; and (4) oil shale claims. (Sec. 251) Adjusts the dollar amounts established under this Act according to a certain inflation formula. (Sec. 255) Prohibits the issuance after January 4, 1995, of patents for vein, lode, placer, and mill site mining claims unless certain administrative requirements are met. (Sec. 256) Declares that the Multiple Minerals Development Act, and certain other Federal law, apply to all mining claims located or converted under this Act. (Sec. 257) Amends Federal law to subject all mineral materials deposits to disposal under the terms of the Materials Act of 1947 (eliminating the concept of uncommon varieties). Renames specified Federal law: (1) the Surface Resource Act of 1955; and (2) the Materials Act of 1947. Repeals the Building Stone Act and the Saline Placer Act. (Sec. 258) Declares this Act applicable to Federal lands that are used for beneficiation or processing activities for any mineral regardless of Federal title to the mineral. (Sec. 259) Requires recipients of funds under this Act to comply with the "Buy American Act." (Sec. 260) Expresses the sense of the Congress that such funds should be used to purchase only American-made equipment and products. (Sec. 261) Declares a person ineligible to receive any contract made with funds provided under this Act if the person has been judicially determined to have intentionally affixed a "Made in America" label to a product that is not U.S.-made. (Sec. 263) Declares that court-awarded compensation for a Federal taking under the fifth amendment of the Constitution shall be paid from the Fund. (Sec. 264) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to report annually to the Congress on the percentage of each mining claim held by a foreign firm. Title III: Revenues Dedicated to Deficit Reduction - Prohibits any changes in revenues or direct spending resulting from the enactment of this Act from being counted for purposes of specified provisions of the Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Bill· HRH.R. 1452 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
State and Local Government Economic Empowerment Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to have money available for purposes of this Act (i.e., the creation of non-interest-bearing Government credit funds in measured or limited increments for the purpose of funding capital and environmental projects in the public interest) in an amount equal to the product of: (1) the U.S. population, as determined by the Secretary of Commerce on the basis of the 1990 census; and (2) $1,400. Requires that the money be created by having the Secretary and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System enter into a loan agreement whereby: (1) the Board shall lend the U.S. Treasury a sum up to $360 billion at the rate of not more than $72 billion per annum (on a cumulative basis) in each of the five years commencing 60 days after this Act's enactment date; and (2) the Secretary shall pay an annual fee to the Board to cover administrative costs that the Board incurs in acting as the agent of the Administrator appointed by the Secretary. Treats any amount made available pursuant to this Act as money created in the sovereign and exclusive capacity of the United States to create money. Specifies that: (1) money created under this section shall not be treated as revenue when it is created or made available to the Administrator, nor when the loans are repaid; (2) the money created and the interest-free loan program established under this Act shall not be treated as budget authority, shall not be subject to apportionment or sequestration other than in accordance with this Act, and shall not be taken into account in the determination of the baseline for any fiscal year; and (3) the disbursement of money created under this Act shall not be treated as an outlay or a budget outlay. (Sec. 5) Entitles each State, county, township, incorporated municipality, school district, and Indian tribe to obtain a loan from the Administrator, unless such governmental unit is delinquent in repaying a prior loan, subject to specified limitations. (Sec. 6) Directs the Administrator to issue an interest-free loan from the money created to any such government unit if the Administrator obtains assurances that the proceeds will be used solely for the purpose of: (1) funding capital projects of such unit, including the construction of or improvements to school facilities, streets, water and sewer systems, and public and environmental facilities; or (2) the cleanup of toxic waste sites or other environmental improvements.
Bill· HRH.R. 1467 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
National Retail Sales Tax Act of 1999 - Repeals the income, estate, gift, and certain excise tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. (Sec. 4) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 15 percent tax on the use, consumption or enjoyment in the U.S. of any property or service produced or rendered within or without of the United States. Prohibits, subject to exception, imposing a tax on any property or service purchased for: (1) a business purpose in an active trade or business; or (2) export from the United States for use or consumption outside of the United States, provided that the purchaser provided the seller with either an intermediate sales certificate or an export sales certificate. Defines "purchased for a business purpose in an active trade or business" as property or services: (1) purchased for resale; (2) purchased to produce property or services; or (3) purchased in furtherance of other bona fide business purposes. Sets forth rules relating to the obligation of governmental units and not-for-profit organizations to collect, remit, and pay taxes. Sets forth provisions concerning credits and refunds. Allows for general credits against the tax, including: (1) a used property credit; (2) a business use conversion credit; (3) an administration credit; (4) a compliance equipment cost credit; (5) a bad debt credit; (6) an insurance proceeds credit; and (7) a transition inventory credit. Provides for installment payments of the tax on the purchase of a principal residence. Allows an eligible family unit to receive a sales tax rebate. Requires that a family member, to be counted for the purposes of determining family unit size, must: (1) if over two years old, have a bona fide social security number; and (2) be a lawful resident. Declares that no individual shall be considered part of more than one family unit. Sets forth definitions and special rules concerning such things as: (1) foreign financial intermediation services; (2) financing leases; and (3) installment sales. Imposes a 15 percent tax on gaming services. Directs an administering State to administer, collect, and remit to the Treasury the tax on gross payments for the use, consumption or enjoyment of taxable property or services within the State. Defines an administering State as one which maintains a specified conforming sales tax and enters into a specified cooperative agreement with the Secretary. Provides for administrative support for States. Sets forth provisions concerning, among other things: (1) monthly reports and payments; (2) records; (3) penalties; (4) appeals; (5) accounting; and (6) hobby activities. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish an Office of Revenue Allocation to arbitrate any claims or disputes among States. (Sec. 5) Prohibits the authorizing of any appropriations for the Internal Revenue Service after FY 2003. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) an Excise Tax Bureau to administer any excise taxes not repealed by this Act; and (2) a Sales Tax Bureau to administer the national sales tax. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Social Security Administration to collect and administer self-employment income and employment taxes beginning in 2001. (Sec. 7) Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) the self-employment tax; (2) the indexing of social security benefits; (3) compensating payments to individuals on fixed incomes; and (4) the interest rate on tax underpayments and overpayments. (Sec. 11) Requires a supermajority in the House of Representatives or the Senate to raise rates.
Bill· HRH.R. 1469 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the treatment of S corporations and to the tax exemption for farmers' cooperatives, to declare that cooperative marketing includes the value-added processing of the products of cooperative members and other producers through animals, that is, by: (1) feeding such products to cattle, hogs, fish, chickens, or other animals; and then (2) selling the animals (or animal products) which were fed such feed products. Authorizes a U.S. district court to issue a declaratory judgment relating to the initial or continuing qualification of a farmers' cooperative as tax-exempt.
Bill· HRH.R. 1465 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Residential Solar Energy Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited tax credit for residential solar energy property equal to the sum of: (1) 15 percent of the taxpayer's qualified photovoltaic property expenditures during the taxable year; and (2) 15 percent of the taxpayer's qualified solar water heating property expenditures during the same year.
Bill· HRH.R. 1457 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide a credit for electricity produced from poultry waste; and (2) extend, by five years, the placed in service date of a qualified energy resources facility.
Bill· HRH.R. 1453 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a deduction for two-earner married couples to eliminate the marriage penalty. Allows such deduction, in the case of a joint return, in an amount equal to a specified applicable percentage of the qualified earned income of the spouse with the lower qualified earned income for the taxable year. Specifies such applicable percentage as 20 percent (10 percent for FY 1999 and 2000) reduced (but not below zero) by one percentage point (0.5 percentage point for FY 1999 and 2000) for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year exceeds $50,000. Makes such deduction above-the-line (allowed regardless of whether the taxpayer itemizes other deductions). Requires that the earned income credit phaseout reflect such deduction.
Bill· HRH.R. 1466 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Death Tax Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal subtitle B (Estate and Gift Taxes) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Bill· HRH.R. 1462 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Employee Ownership Act of 1999 - Declares the policy of the United States that, by the year 2010, 30 percent of all U.S. corporations shall be owned and controlled by their employees. (Sec. 3) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for tax-exempt employee-owned and employee-controlled corporation (EOECC) trusts whose primary assets consist of the employer securities of an EOECC in which: (1) more than 50 percent of the voting stock is held by a trust for the benefit of the corporation's employees; (2) in all matters requiring the vote of stock, including the election of the corporate board of directors, the trustee of such trust is obligated to vote the stock held in trust and allocated to participants in the trust in the manner in which the participants direct, on the basis of one-employee one-vote (and vote any stock not so allocated as if it were so allocated); (3) at least 25 employees of such corporation are participants in and beneficiaries of such trust; (4) a minimum of 90 percent of the employees who work at least 1,000 hours annually for such corporation are participants in such trust; and (5) the trustee administers the trust for the benefit of the corporation's employees, complying with all Code requirements for employee stock ownership plans which pertain to independent appraisal of shares not readily tradable, and distribution of those shares. Declares that: (1) there shall be no tax on the corporate income of an EOECC; and (2) the gross income of an employee owner shall not include any proceeds from the qualified sale of EOECC securities. Exempts from inclusion in gross income of property transferred in connection with performance of services any transfer (in lieu of compensation) of EOECC securities during the three years following a corporation's election to become an EOECC. Mandates nonrecognition of gain in the case of the sale or transfer of EOECC securities to an EOECC trust. Establishes a credit against the estate tax for the amount of EOECC securities considered to have been acquired from or to have passed from a decedent to an EOECC trust. (Sec. 4) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on Federal regulations and policies affecting EOECCs. (Sec. 5) Directs the President to establish a Presidential Commission on Employee Ownership to study and report on all issues that affect ownership of businesses in the United States, with a primary focus on the issues that affect employee ownership of such businesses.
Bill· HRH.R. 1458 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Working Americans Wage Restoration Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a deduction in arriving at adjusted gross income for the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) taxes paid by the individual as an employee during the taxable year. Includes in such deduction: (1) the portion of the tier 1 railroad retirement tax paid equivalent to OASDI taxes; as well as (2) amounts equivalent to such taxes imposed with respect to remuneration covered by a voluntary agreement under the Social Security Act for coverage of State and local government employees, or a specified kind of agreement entered into by American employers with respect to foreign affiliates. Allows a self-employed individual to deduct, in arriving at adjusted gross income, all OASDI taxes paid and half the hospital insurance taxes paid.
Bill· HRH.R. 1464 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Income Averaging Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the current income-averaging option for farm income. Allows a taxpayer to elect to increase or decrease taxable income for the taxable year and the three previous taxable years by moving elected farm income from any of such taxable years to any other of such years.
Bill· HRH.R. 1454 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Treasury the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift, and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers: (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon the taxpayer's deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act); and (2) who have certified these beliefs in writing. Requires that funds in the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose. Declares the sense of Congress that any increase in revenue to the Treasury resulting from the creation of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund shall be allocated in a manner consistent with the purposes of the Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 1433 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to elect, when itemizing, to deduct State and local general sales taxes in lieu of State and local income taxes. Limits such deduction to a tax imposed at one rate in respect of the sale at retail of a broad range of classes of items (including food, clothing, medical supplies, and motor vehicles).
Bill· HRH.R. 1446 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax-free distribution from a qualified retirement plan to the extent that the distribution is contributed for charitable purposes. Declares that a trust forming part of a profit-sharing or pension plan shall not be treated as failing to constitute a qualified trust merely because the stock bonus, profit-sharing, or pension plan of which it is a part makes one or more qualified charitable distributions. Excludes from the gross income of a plan participant the amount of any qualified charitable distribution (regardless of whether such distribution is made with respect to the participant's charitable pledge) from a stock bonus, profit-sharing, or pension plan: (1) to an organization to which deductible charitable contributions are allowed; (2) to a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust; (3) to a pooled income fund; or (4) for the issuance of a charitable gift annuity. Allows such income exclusion only if no person holds an income interest in the amounts in the trust, fund, or annuity attributable to such distribution other than one or more of the following: (1) the individual for whose benefit amounts in the stock bonus, or profit-sharing pension plan are maintained and from which such distribution was made; (2) the individual's spouse; or (3) any organization to which deductible charitable contributions are allowed. Denies a taxpayer any charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year for the qualified charitable distributions made during such year with respect to the taxpayer.
Bill· HRH.R. 1440 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Tax Rate Reduction Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the 15 and 28 percent individual income tax rates to 10 and 23 percent over a ten-year period.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 87 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Declares the sense of Congress that the Federal income tax deduction for interest paid on debt secured by a first or second home should not be further restricted.
Bill· SS. 799 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce by five percent the general income tax rate. Increases the maximum taxable income level for the ten percent rate bracket and the minimum taxable income level for the 23 percent rate bracket by specified applicable dollar amounts of: (1) $10,000 for calendar 2000, $10,000 for calendar 2001, and $20,000 for calendar 2002 and thereafter for joint returns and surviving spouses; and (2) $5,000 for calendar 2000, $5,000 for calendar 2001, and $10,000 for calendar 2002 and thereafter for heads of households, unmarried individuals, and married individuals filing separate returns. Increases the basic standard deduction, for the purpose of eliminating the marriage penalty, from: (1) $5,000 to $8,500 for joint returns and surviving spouses; (2) from $4,400 to $6,250 for heads of households; and (3) from $3,000 (unmarried individuals) and $2,500 (married individuals filing separate returns) to $4,250 for all others. Repeals the separate categories for unmarried individuals and married individuals filing separate returns. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments. Allows an individual taxpayer a deduction (even if the taxpayer does not itemize) for the amount paid during the taxable year for insurance covering medical care or for any qualified long-term care insurance contract for the taxpayer, and the taxpayer's spouse and dependents. Increases from $2,000 to $3,500 the limit on the deductible amount of an individual's qualified retirement contributions. Increases from $7,000 to $15,000 the limit on the amount of elective deferrals (of compensation contributed to a qualified pension, profit- sharing, or stock bonus plan) which is excluded from an individual's gross income.
Bill· SS. 801 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce from $18 to $9 (its pre-1991 level) the per-barrel tax on beer.
Bill· SS. 804 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 1999 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (Stevenson-Wydler Act) to revise requirements regarding enumerated authority under a cooperative research and development (R&D) agreement to permit Government laboratories to grant licenses to federally owned inventions for which a patent application was filed before the granting of the license, and directly within the scope of work under such agreement. (Sec. 3) Rewrites Federal restrictions on the licensing of federally owned inventions. Requires a license applicant to make a commitment to achieve practical utilization of the invention within a reasonable time. Requires such a license to include provisions: (1) retaining a nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license for the Federal agency to practice the invention or have the invention practiced throughout the world by or on behalf of the U.S. Government; (2) requiring periodic reporting on use of the invention by the licensee only to the extent necessary to enable the Federal agency to determine whether the licensee is complying with license terms; and (3) empowering the Federal agency to terminate the license if the licensee has been found by a competent authority to have violated the Federal antitrust laws in connection with its performance under the license agreement. Prohibits an agency from granting an exclusive or partially exclusive license on a federally-owned invention unless: (1) it has provided 15 days' public notice and considered all comments received; and (2) the person requesting the license has supplied to the agency a plan for development and-or marketing of the invention. Exempts from these requirements the licensing of any inventions made under a cooperative research and development (R&D) agreement. (Sec. 4) Makes certain technical amendments to: (1) provisions commonly known as "the Bayh-Dole Act" with regard to Government acquisition of the rights of a private party to a federally owned invention; and (2) the Stevenson-Wydler Act relating to, among other things, the distribution of royalties received by Federal agencies. (Sec. 6) Requires each Federal agency with a federally funded laboratory that has one or more cooperative R&D agreements under the Stevenson-Wydler Act to report to the Committee on National Security of the National Science and Technology Council (Committee) and the Congress on the general policies and procedures that agency uses to gather and consider the views of other agencies on joint work statements, or cooperative R&D agreements in the case of certain laboratories, with respect to major proposed cooperative R&D agreements that involve critical national security technology or may have a significant impact on domestic or international competitiveness. Directs the Committee to: (1) determine the adequacy of existing procedures and methods for interagency coordination and awareness with respect to cooperative R&D agreements; and (2) establish and distribute to appropriate Federal agencies specific criteria to indicate the necessity for gathering and considering agency views on such statements or agreements, as well as additional procedures, if any, for carrying out such gathering and considering. (Sec. 7) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Act to provide for Federal laboratory partnership intermediaries to work with educational institutions as well as small businesses. (Sec. 8) Requires: (1) Federal agencies to report annually to the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of Commerce on agency activities concerning Federal inventions and licensing; and (2) the Secretary to report to the President and Congress each fiscal year on agency use of the authorities for such activities and under this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 1401 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Procurement Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations Subtitle B: Multi-Year Contract Authorizations Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Title III: Operation and Maintenance Title IV: Military Personnel Authorizations Subtitle A: Active Forces Subtitle B: Reserve Forces Subtitle C: End and Grade Strength Management Title V: Military Personnel Policy Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy Subtitle B: Matters Relating to Reserve Components Subtitle C: Military Education and Training Subtitle D: Uniform Code of Military Justice Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances Subtitle B: Bonuses and Special and Incentive Pays Subtitle C: Extension of Certain Bonuses and Special Pays Subtitle D: Military Retired Pay Subtitle E: Other Matters Title VII: Health Care Provisions Title VIII: Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related Matters Title IX: Department of Defense Organization and Management Subtitle A: Organization Subtitle B: Service Academy Management Subtitle C: Personnel Management Title X: General Provisions Subtitle A: Financial Matters Subtitle B: Foreign Nations Subtitle C: Department of Defense Schools Subtitle D: Other Matters Division B: Military Construction Authorizations Title XXI: Army Title XXII: Navy Title XXIII: Air Force Title XXIV: Defense Agencies Title XXV: North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program Title XXVI: Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities Title XXVII: Expiration and Extension of Authorizations Title XXVIII: General Provisions Subtitle A: Military Construction Program and Military Family Housing Subtitle B: Real Property and Facilities Administration Subtitle C: Defense Base Closure and Realignment National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 - Title I: Procurement - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force for aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, shipbuilding and conversion, and other procurement. (Sec. 104) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for: (1) defense-wide procurement; (2) the Defense Inspector General; (3) the Defense Health Program; and (4) the chemical demilitarization program. Subtitle B: Multi-Year Contract Authorizations - Authorizes the use of multiyear procurement contracts for specified Army and Navy aircraft, vehicles, ammunition, and equipment. Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for the armed forces for research, development, test, and evaluation. Title III: Operation and Maintenance - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for operation and maintenance (O&M) for the armed forces and specified activities and agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD). (Sec. 302) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for: (1) working capital and revolving funds; and (2) the Armed Forces Retirement Home. (Sec. 304) Authorizes the transfer of up to $150 million from the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund to specified military O&M accounts for FY 2000. (Sec. 305) Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) to pay inspection and monitoring expenses of international inspectors from the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Title IV: Military Personnel Authorizations - Subtitle A: Active Forces - Sets forth the authorized end strengths for active-duty forces as of the end of FY 2000 and 2001. Subtitle B: Reserve Forces - Sets forth the authorized end strengths as of the end of FY 2000 and 2001 for members of the Selected Reserve and reserve personnel on active duty in support of the reserves. (Sec. 413) Sets forth the authorized end strengths as of the end of FY 2000 and 2001 for military technicians (dual status) and military technicians (non-dual status). (Sec. 415) Increases the number of certain officers and enlisted personnel authorized to serve on active duty in support of the reserves. Subtitle C: End and Grade Strength Management - Prohibits DOD funds from being used to implement a reduction of active-duty end strengths for any of the armed forces for any fiscal year below the number currently required to support two major regional contingencies simultaneously unless the Secretary notifies Congress of such proposal and a justification. (Sec. 417) Authorizes the Secretary to increase the end strengths for Selected Reserve personnel by up to two percent. (Sec. 418) Makes permanent (currently terminates at the end of FY 2000): (1) the authority to exempt certain senior joint officer positions from officer end strength limitations; and (2) the requirement for each military department Secretary to submit to the Secretary the name of an officer to serve in a vacant senior joint officer position. (Sec. 419) Exempts from Air Force officer end strength limitations an officer appointed to the position of Commander in Chief of the United States Transportation Command or United States Space Command. Title V: Military Personnel Policy - Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy - Removes the requirement that active-duty or retired officers serving on boards of inquiry be serving on active duty in a grade above lieutenant colonel or commander, but requires one board member to be above such grade. Requires remaining board members to be in grades above major or lieutenant commander. (Sec. 502) Limits to no less than three or more than five the number of officers to be recommended by the Secretary of each military department for vacant positions for Judge Advocate General and Assistant (or Deputy) Judge Advocate General of each military department. (Sec. 503) Requires the following positions (currently designated simply as critical acquisition positions) to be assigned for no fewer than three years: program or deputy program managers for a significant nonmajor defense acquisition program; program executive officers; general or flag officer or the civilian equivalent; and senior contracting official. (Sec. 504) Authorizes a promotion selection board to recommend for promotion an officer from below the promotion zone for that position when the number of officers recommended is less than one. Subtitle B: Matters Relating to Reserve Components - Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to delay the separation or retirement of a reserve officer until the completion of court-martial disciplinary proceedings. (Sec. 511) Authorizes the Secretary concerned, with the consent of the member, to order a reserve member to active duty to complete a required DOD health care study. (Sec. 512) Makes ineligible for promotion a reserve officer serving in an educational delay status in order to attend an approved educational institution to receive advanced training, when such training is subsidized by the military department concerned. Makes this section retroactive in the case of officers not promoted due to such status between October 1, 1996, and the date of enactment of this Act. (Sec. 513) Requires a major or lieutenant commander who has twice failed to be selected for promotion to be removed from the reserve active status list on the later of the first day of the month after such member completes 20 years of service (current law) or seven months after the President approves the report of the board which considered such officer for the second time. (Sec. 514) Excludes from the computation of creditable years of service for a reserve officer service as a reserve commissioned officer while in a program of advanced education to receive the first professional degree required for appointment, designation, or assignment within various military medical specialties, or as a chaplain or judge advocate, provided such service occurs before the officer commences initial active or reserve service in the specialty that results from such degree. (Sec. 515) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to retain reserve component chaplains until age 67 (currently 60). (Sec. 516) Authorizes reserve personnel to travel in a space required status on military aircraft between home and place of inactive duty training, or place of duty in lieu of unit training assembly, when there is no road or rail transportation between such locations. (Sec. 517) Prohibits civil employment for regular and reserve officers serving on active duty under a call or order for a period in excess of 270 (currently 180) days. Subtitle C: Military Education and Training - Makes permanent (currently terminates September 30, 1999) the authority of the Secretary concerned to allow graduate students to receive financial assistance under the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. (Sec. 521) Revises generally provisions concerning the award of reserve service credit for participation in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance program. (Sec. 522) Allows tuition reimbursement and training allowances provided to acquisition personnel to be for the full amount of expenses and training incurred. (Sec. 523) Provides the authorized grade for an individual serving as a dean of the United States Military Academy or United States Air Force Academy. (Sec. 524) Authorizes the Commandant of the United States Army War College to confer the degree of master of strategic studies. (Sec. 525) Authorizes the Commander of the Air University to confer the degrees of master of strategic studies and master of military operational art and science. (Sec. 526) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to provide up to $5,200 yearly in financial assistance to certain members of the Marine Corps Reserve for completion of: (1) baccalaureate degree requirements in an educational program that takes less than five years to complete; or (2) doctor of jurisprudence or bachelor of laws degree requirements in programs that take no more than three years to complete. Outlines eligibility requirements, including selection as an officer candidate in the Marine Corps Platoon Leader's Class Program and completion of at least six weeks of military training. Requires graduates to serve at least five years of active duty upon graduation. Prohibits more than 1,200 individuals from participating in such program at any one time. Provides for the computation of creditable service for officers serving in such positions. Subtitle D: Uniform Code of Military Justice - Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize special courts-martial to adjudge and execute punishments which include confinement for up to one year (currently six months). (Sec. 531) Reduces from 0.10 to 0.08 the blood-alcohol content for determining the UCMJ offense of drunken operation of a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel. Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits - Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances - Waives any FY 2000 military pay increases tied to increases in the General Schedule of Compensation for Government employees. Increases by 4.4 percent, effective on January 1, 2000, the rates of basic pay for military personnel. Subtitle B: Bonuses and Special and Incentive Pays - Authorizes enlistment bonuses to be paid in a lump-sum (currently, only installments). Increases from $12,000 to $20,000 the authorized one-time bonus for enlisting for at least a four-year period. (Sec. 613) Reduces from 21 to 17 the months of continuous active duty service required for a member to be eligible (among other requirements) for a reenlistment bonus. Increases the amount of such bonus to the lesser of 15 (currently, ten) times the amount that the member was entitled to at the time of original separation or discharge multiplied by the number of agreed-upon years of additional service, or $60,000 (currently, $45,000). (Sec. 614) Authorizes payment of a prior service enlistment bonus to members of the Selected Reserve attaining or occupying positions designated as critically short. (Sec. 615) Requires air battle managers entitled to the payment of aviation career incentive pay to receive the higher of such pay or the amount they were receiving prior to such entitlement. (Sec. 617) Authorizes the payment of career enlisted flyer incentive pay to enlisted personnel who: (1) are entitled to basic pay or inactive training duty pay; (2) hold or are in training for a career enlisted occupational or flyer specialty; (3) are qualified for aviation service; and (4) engage or remain in such service on a career basis. Outlines operational flying duty requirements. Provides the monthly amounts of such pay, which increases with the years of creditable aviation service performed. Provides for a proportionate share of such pay for reserve members performing inactive duty training involving aviation. Prohibits such pay for members already receiving either hazardous duty incentive pay or diving duty special pay. (Sec. 618) Increases the diving duty special pay and the foreign language proficiency special pay. (Sec. 620) Authorizes the payment of surface warfare officer continuation pay to such officers who agree to remain on active duty to complete tours of duty to which such officers may be ordered as a department head afloat. Limits such amount to $50,000, requiring pro rata repayment for tours not completed. (Sec. 622) Authorizes special pay for certain special warfare officers who agree to remain on active duty in such service for at least one additional year. Limits such pay to $10,000 for each additional year. Terminates on September 30, 2001, the authority to enter into such agreements. Requires a pro rata repayment for additional periods not completed. (Sec. 623) Increases certain bonuses and special pay provided to nuclear-qualified officers. Subtitle C: Extension of Certain Bonuses and Special Pays - Extends through FY 2001 specified authorities currently scheduled to expire at the end of 1999 with respect to certain special pay and bonus programs within the regular and reserve armed forces. Subtitle D: Military Retired Pay - Repeals a reduction in retired pay currently required for individuals who first became members of the armed forces after July 31, 1986, and retired with less than 30 years of retirement-creditable service. Revises the annual cost-of-living adjustment applicable to such retired pay. Subtitle E: Other Matters - Authorizes the lump-sum payment of accrued unused annual leave upon a member's reenlistment into the armed forces. (Sec. 641) Authorizes the use of any airport in the United States at which travel can be arranged at the lowest cost in connection with emergency leave travel for military personnel. (Currently, only travel from the closest airport is authorized.) (Sec. 642) Authorizes the use of appropriated funds to provide contract quarters as lodging in kind for reservists performing active duty for training or inactive-duty training. (Sec. 643) Provides limited authority for the Secretary concerned to delegate the authority to waive operational flying duty requirements. (Sec. 644) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to provide tuition assistance for members deployed in a contingency operation or similar operational mission. (Sec. 645) Authorizes the payment of temporary lodging expenses of members making their first permanent change of duty station. (Sec. 646) Requires the continuation of authorized pay and allowances for a member listed under a "whereabouts unknown" duty status. (Sec. 647) Changes from annually to biennially a required report concerning operation of the educational assistance program for reserve personnel. Title VII: Health Care Provisions - Amends the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to direct the Secretary, in the administration of health care contracts and programs, to implement program benefit and administrative changes at the start of each fiscal year rather than throughout the year, except when the Secretary determines that such changes would significantly improve health services to eligible beneficiaries. Authorizes the Secretary, under certain circumstances, to defer for up to one year the schedule implementation for a new health care program or benefit (requires congressional certification). (Sec. 702) Authorizes the Secretary, on a case-by-case basis, to continue payment under CHAMPUS for domiciliary or custodial care services to covered beneficiaries who, prior to the effective date of final regulations implementing the individual case management program, were provided such care. (Sec. 703) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 to revise a due date for an evaluation and report concerning the effectiveness of TRICARE (a DOD managed health care program). (Sec. 704) Authorizes the Armed Forces Medical Examiner to conduct forensic pathology examinations, including autopsies. Outlines circumstances warranting such examinations, including when a person dies while imprisoned in a military installation or from an injury or illness incurred during active duty or military training. Subjects such authority to the primary jurisdiction of any State or local governmental authority involved. Requires that, when a person is found dead at a place garrisoned by the Navy or Marine Corps under circumstances requiring investigation, such commanding officer shall direct a summary court-martial to investigate the circumstances. (Sec. 705) Authorizes the Secretary to make payments for emergency medical or dental care for military, civilian, and DOD contractor employees permanently or temporarily on duty in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. (Sec. 706) Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the administration of the collection from third party insurers of the costs of care provided in military health care facilities to covered beneficiaries of such insurers. Title VIII: Acquisition Policy, Acquisition Management, and Related Matters - Authorizes the Secretary to withhold from public disclosure any DOD geodetic product (maps, charts, and related data) that, if disclosed, would interfere or unfairly compete with an emerging or existing commercial industry or market operation. (Sec. 802) Authorizes the Secretary to waive the application of certain survivability test requirements with respect to the MH-47E and MH-60K helicopter modification programs before their release for operational use. Requires a congressional report upon the exercise of such waiver. (Sec. 803) Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain defense contracting procedures for the acquisition of coal or coke (currently, only petroleum and natural gas). (Sec. 804) Removes a prior funding certification requirement with respect to the use of multiyear contracts for defense acquisition programs. (Sec. 805) Repeals the authority of the Secretary of the Navy to enter into shipbuilding capability preservation agreements. (Sec. 806) Excludes certain subcontract notification requirements with respect to a contractor that maintains a purchasing system that has been approved by the appropriate contracting officer. (Sec. 807) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year: (1) 1996 to repeal certain reports, plans, processes, and reviews required for nuclear attack submarines; and (2) 1997 to repeal a required annual report on design responsibility under the New Attack Submarine program. (Sec. 809) Authorizes the waiver of cost-sharing requirements under the defense manufacturing technology program when a project: (1) is not likely to have an immediate and direct commercial application; and (2) is initiated by a military service acquisition organization or by the Defense Logistics Agency. Requires documentation of the rationale for not requiring cost-sharing. Adds the extent to which project costs are being shared to information to be included in a five-year plan for such program. Title IX: Department of Defense Organization and Management - Subtitle A: Organization - Abolishes the position of Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. (Sec. 903) Establishes within the Office of the Secretary a Director of Defense Logistics, to advise the Secretary and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology on DOD logistics. Subtitle B: Management of Service Academies - Makes eligible for presidential appointment to a service academy children of members who: (1) are on active duty and have at least eight total years of active duty (currently, eight continuous years is required); (2) are members of the reserves who have earned at least 2,880 retirement points; or (3) are eligible, or who died while they were eligible, for retired pay but had not yet reached age 60. (Sec. 906) Authorizes the waiver of reimbursement of up to 50 (currently 35) percent of the costs of instruction of foreign persons at U.S. service academies for students entering on or after May 1, 1999. (Sec. 907) Authorizes up to 24 (currently, ten) cadets from each service academy to participate in a service academy foreign exchange program. Increases from $50,000 to $120,000 the authorized fiscal year expenditures for each academy under such program. Subtitle C: Personnel Management - Excludes from a limitation on the number of retired officers authorized to serve on active duty an officer assigned to the Army, Navy, or Air Force Retiree Council. Subtitle D: Other Matters - Allows captured vessels or vessels stricken from the Naval Register to be transferred by the Secretary of the Navy after congressional notification and a 60 calendar day waiting period (currently, 60 days of continuous congressional session). (Sec. 916) Extends through FY 2002 the authority to acquire real property leases for special operations activities. (Sec. 917) Repeals the Naval Academy Museum Fund and transfers such funds into the United States Naval Academy Gift and Museum Fund, established herein. Repeals the Naval Center Historical Fund and transfers such funds into the Department of the Navy General Gift Fund. (Sec. 918) Authorizes the use of common defense burdensharing funds for a military construction project in a country which contributed such funds, upon a declaration of war or national emergency, when necessary to support the use of armed forces. Requires congressional notification of such decision and its estimated cost. (Sec. 919) Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to exempt operational files of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) from Federal public disclosure laws (including the Freedom of Information Act). Provides exceptions, including the use of such files for immigration and nationality purposes or Federal investigative proceedings. Provides judicial review, with limitations, when a person alleges that such records have been improperly withheld. Requires the NIMA Director and the Director of Central Intelligence, at least once every ten years, to review any exemptions in force to determine whether they should be removed from the exempt category. Title X: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Financial Matters - Repeals the requirement for: (1) a separate budget request for the procurement of reserve equipment; and (2) a two-year DOD budget cycle pursuant to the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1986. (Sec. 1003) Revises the due date for, and requires inclusion of specified additional information in, a joint report by the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office on the scoring of defense budget outlays. Subtitle B: Foreign Nations - Removes a provision limiting the Secretary's authority to enter into cooperative military airlift agreements with allied countries solely to that provided under current Federal law. Subtitle C: Department of Defense Schools - Allows a military dependent who has been a junior at a secondary school under the DOD domestic dependent elementary and secondary schools program to be enrolled as a senior in the next school year, notwithstanding a change in status that would otherwise terminate such eligibility. (Sec. 1016) Allows the Secretary to establish a single school board for program schools located in a U.S. territory, commonwealth, or possession. (Sec. 1017) Allows the Secretary to continue the enrollment of a military dependent or the dependent of a Federal employee under the program for as long as determined appropriate (currently, only until the end of that school year), notwithstanding a change in status that would otherwise terminate such eligibility. Subtitle D: Other Matters - Removes a provision that limits to $50 million in a fiscal year the Federal expenditure for the National Guard civilian youth opportunities program. Division B (sic): Military Construction Authorizations - Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 - Title XXI(sic): Army - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects in specified amounts at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire family housing units, carry out architectural planning and design activities, and improve existing military family housing in specified amounts. Authorizes appropriations to the Army for fiscal years after: (1) 1999 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions of the Army; and (2) 2000 for completion of the military construction and family housing projects, above, and for those authorized for FY 2001. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. (Sec. 2105) Amends the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 to increase the amount authorized for the Pueblo Chemical Activity, Colorado. Title XXII: Navy - Provides, with respect to the Navy, authorizations paralleling those provided for the Army under the previous title. (Sec. 2205) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy, or such other department Secretary as designated, to acquire real property and carry out a military construction project for a forward deployment site for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities. Title XXIII: Air Force - Provides, with respect to the Air Force, authorizations paralleling those provided for the Army under Title XXI. (Sec. 2305) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force, or such other department Secretary as designated, to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects for forward deployment sites for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities in Ecuador and Curacao. Title XXIV: Defense Agencies - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects in specified amounts at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts. (Sec. 2403) Earmarks funds authorized under this title for deposit into the Department of Defense Family Housing Fund. (Sec. 2404) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out certain energy conservation projects. (Sec. 2405) Authorizes appropriations to DOD for fiscal years after: (1) 1999 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions of DOD; and (2) 2000 for completion of the military construction and family housing projects, above, and for those authorized for FY 2001. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Title XXV: North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program - Authorizes the Secretary to make contributions for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program and authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 1999 for such contributions. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 2000 for such purpose. Title XXVI: Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 1999 for the Guard and reserve forces for acquisition, architectural and engineering services, and construction of facilities. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 2000 for such purpose, and for construction projects authorized for FY 2001. Title XXVII: Expiration and Extension of Authorizations - Terminates all authorizations contained in titles XXI through XXVI of this Act on October 1, 2002, or the date of enactment of an Act authorizing funds for military construction for FY 2003, whichever is later, with exceptions. Extends certain prior-year military construction projects. Title XXVIII: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Military Construction Program and Military Family Housing - Authorizes the use of O&M funds for minor construction projects intended solely to correct a life-threatening, health-threatening, or safety-threatening deficiency. (Sec. 2802) Includes design costs within authorized uses for military construction project funds. Subtitle B: Real Property and Facilities Administration - Authorizes the Secretary concerned, in connection with the conveyance of a utility system, to enter into a contract for utility services for a period not to exceed 50 years. (Sec. 2804) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to construct or acquire family housing not otherwise authorized if: (1) Congress has previously appropriated funds for such purpose; and (2) funds for such units have been transferred from the Family Housing Improvement Fund into a Family Housing account. Requires congressional notification and a 21-day waiting period following such notification. Subtitle C: Defense Base Closure and Realignment - Establishes the Environmental Restoration Account, Base Realignment and Closure, to fund environmental restoration and mitigation activities required as the result of the closure or realignment of a military installation pursuant to a base closure law. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer funds to such Account from the Department of Defense Base Closure Account 1990. Makes environmental restoration activities funds used during such closures and realignments available for administrative expenses and technical assistance related to such activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 1414 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Health Care Access Promotion Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual certain amounts received under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and the F. Edward Hebert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance Program.
Bill· HRH.R. 1411 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Uniformed Services Filing Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a two-month extension for the due date for filing a tax return for any member of a uniformed service on a tour of duty outside the United States for a period which includes the normal due date for such filing.
Bill· HRH.R. 1407 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Capital Gains Tax Simplification Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that, if for any taxable year a non-corporate taxpayer has a net capital gain, 38 percent of such gain shall be a deduction from gross income regardless of whether or not the taxpayer itemizes other deductions. Makes such deduction inapplicable to the alternative minimum tax. Revises provisions concerning the maximum and the regular tax on net capital gain for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. Repeals the tax preference for exclusion for gains on the sale of certain small business stock. Treats, as a general rule, any gain or loss from the sale or exchange of a collectible as a short-term gain or loss without regard to the period the asset was held. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, with respect to maximum capital gains rates for individuals, to repeal the allowance of an election to recognize gain on assets held on January 1, 2001.
Bill· HRH.R. 1420 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Individual Tax Simplification Act of 1999 - Title I: Simplification Relating to Nonrefundable Personal Credits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the interaction of the alternative minimum tax with the partially refundable child care tax credit. (Sec. 102) Replaces the current three ranges for phaseout of the adoption, child, and Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits with a single, uniform phaseout of such credits. Title II: Simplification of Capital Gains Tax - Mandates a deduction from gross income of 38 percent of a net capital gain for any taxable year for a taxpayer other than a corporation. Title III: Repeal of Certain Hidden Marginal Rate Increases; Repeal of Individual Minimum Tax - Subtitle A: Repeals - Repeals the overall limitation on itemized deductions, the phaseout of personal exemptions, and the alternative minimum tax on individuals. Subtitle B: Revenue Offsets - Establishes an additional income tax on a sliding scale from: (1) one percent for adjusted gross incomes in excess of $120,000 on a joint return; up to (2) 2.08 percent for income greater than $150,000 (where the minimum tax exemption begins to phase out under this Act). (Sec. 312) Increases the floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions from two percent to four percent for adjusted gross incomes greater than $100,000.
Bill· HRH.R. 1410 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt qualified small issue bonds from the restrictions on the deduction by financial institutions for interest.
Bill· HRH.R. 1416 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that interest on indebtedness used to finance the furnishing or sale of rate-regulated electric energy or natural gas in the United States shall be allocated solely to sources within the United States.
Bill· HRH.R. 1406 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that certain bonds issued by local governments in connection with delinquent real property taxes (delinquent tax bonds) may be treated as tax exempt. Requires: (1) such a bond to be issued (with a three-month maturity date) primarily to facilitate the collection or receipt of delinquent real property taxes; and (2) that all delinquent real property taxes (and interest, fees, and penalties attributable to them) received by such governmental units after a specified date but before any maturity date are used, within three months of receipt, for the payment of principal, interest, or redemption price of the issue of which the bond is a part (to the extent that such taxes, interest, fees, and penalties do not exceed such principal, interest, and redemption price, in the aggregate).
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 45 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that three years after ratification of this amendment: (1) the 16th amendment to the U.S. Constitution is repealed; and (2) the Congress shall have no power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, except in time of war declared by the Congress.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 140 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Sets forth the rule (closed) for the consideration of H.R. 1376 (extending the tax benefits available with respect to services performed in a combat zone to services performed in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro) and certain other areas).
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 85 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Internal Revenue Code should be reformed by April 15, 2002, in a manner that protects the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, that is revenue neutral, and that results in a fair and less complicated tax code.
Bill· SS. 779 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from Federal income tax any amounts received by Holocaust victims or their heirs: (1) from the Swiss Humanitarian Fund established by the Government of Switzerland or from any similar fund established by any foreign country; or (2) as a result of the settlement of the action entitled "In re Holocaust Victims' Asset Litigation", (E.D. NY), C.A. No. 96-4849, or as a result of any similar action.
Bill· SS. 773 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, concerning the active business definition relating to distributions of stock and securities of a controlled corporation, to require that all corporations that are members of the same affiliated group be treated as a single corporation.
Bill· SS. 774 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to phase-in an increase from the current 50 percent deduction to an 80 percent deduction for meal and entertainment expenses of small businesses.
Bill· HRH.R. 1390 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Income Tax Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the income tax rates imposed on individual taxpayers by three percentage points. Repeals the current requirement that property acquired from a decedent be valued, generally, at its fair market value at the date of the decedent's death or, after December 31, 1997, at the basis in the decedent's hands. Treats the carryover basis property acquired from or passed from a decedent dying after December 31, 1999, as though it were acquired by gift. Provides for adjustments in the basis of such property, by specified formulae, for family farms and closely held businesses. Requires an additional adjustment for death taxes equal to the net appreciation of such property multiplied by the Federal marginal estate tax. Increases from 39 years to 100 years the applicable recovery period used to determine the depreciation deduction for nonresidential real property.
Bill· HRH.R. 1385 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Reinstatement of the Medicare Rehabilitation Benefit Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the financial limitation on rehabilitation services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program. Provides that for outpatient physical therapy services, outpatient occupational therapy services, and outpatient speech-language pathology services covered under Medicare and furnished on or after January 1, 2001, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall implement a new payment methodology based on the classification of individuals by diagnostic category, functional status, and prior use of services in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Requires that such payment methodology be designed so that, taking into account the increased expenditures resulting from this Act, it does not result in any increase or decrease in the expenditures under Medicare on a fiscal year basis.
Law· HRH.R. 1376 (106th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Extends the tax benefits available under the Internal Revenue Code for services performed in a combat zone to members of the Armed Forces of the United States for services performed in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro), Albania, the Adriatic Sea, and the northern Ionian Sea.
Bill· HRH.R. 1386 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Family Farm Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any gain on the sale of a qualified family farm interest to a family member of the taxpayer. Requires the taxpayer (or a member of the taxpayer's family) to have participated materially in the farming business operation during the five years preceding the sale, and requires the family member purchasing the interest to participate materially during the five years following the sale. Provides for recapture of tax foregone because of the exclusion if during the five years following the sale: (1) the interest ceases to be used in a farming business; or (2) the purchasing family member fails to participate materially in the farming business.
Bill· HRH.R. 1383 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow registered vendors to administer refunds of Federal excise taxes on kerosene used in unvented heaters for home heating purposes. Denies a refund by the Secretary of the Treasury of the excise tax on kerosene for home heating use in unvented heaters if the vendor delivers the kerosene to a residential customer who signs a receipt for the delivery and the vendor reasonably believes that the kerosene is to be so used. Waives such refund denial 30 days after a report to Congress of a study finding that kerosene which is dyed in accordance with certain regulations may be used in unvented heaters used for home heating without risk of adverse health consequences to the home's occupants. Directs the Secretary (or a delegate) to study whether such a finding may be made.
Bill· HRH.R. 1389 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Higher Education Reporting Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the requirement that educational institutions and certain other trades and businesses file returns reporting information about recipients of Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits. Requires taxpayers taking such credits to include on their returns the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the eligible educational institution concerned.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 139 (106th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Sets forth the rule (closed) for the consideration of H.J. Res. 37 (constitutional amendment proposing tax limitations).
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 137 (106th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on H. Con. Res. 68 (congressional budget).
Bill· SS. 767 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1999
Uniformed Services Filing Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a two-month extension for the due date for filing a tax return for any member of a uniformed service on a tour of duty outside the United States for a period which includes the normal due date for such filing.
Bill· HRH.R. 1366 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce from $18 to $9 (its pre-1991 level) the per-barrel tax on beer.
Law· SS. 748 (106th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report: (1) detailing the progress the Department of the Interior has made in implementing provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (regarding revenue-producing visitor services and local hires) and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act; (2) including a detailed action plan on the future implementation of those provisions; (3) describing in detail the measures and actions that will be taken, with a description of anticipated results to be achieved during the next three fiscal years; (4) focusing on lands under the jurisdiction of the Department in Alaska; and (5) addressing any laws, rules, regulations, and policies which act as a deterrent to hiring or contracting with Native Alaskans to perform and conduct activities and programs of agencies and bureaus under the Department's jurisdiction. Requires that such report be completed within existing appropriations and transmitted to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Resources Committee. Requires the Secretary to: (1) implement pilot programs to employ residents of local communities at Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Noatak National Preserve (all National Park System units located in northwest Alaska); (2) report the results to such committees; and (3) consult with Native Corporations, nonprofit organizations, and tribal entities in the immediate vicinity of such units, and to the extent practicable, involve them in the development of interpretive materials and the pilot programs relating to such units. Prohibits any National Park Service (NPS) career employee, employed at one of the Alaska northwest parks at the time of the transfer of an operation or program to a local Native entity by contract, from being separated from the NPS by reason of such transfer and requires that any such employee at the time of such transfer be given priority placement for any available position within the National Park System, notwithstanding any priority reemployment lists, directives, rules, regulations or other orders from the Department, the Office of Management and Budget, or other Federal agencies.
Bill· SS. 758 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Asbestos Resolution Corporation Title II: Medical Eligibility Determinations Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution Title IV: Civil Actions Title V: Rules Applicable to Arbitrations and Civil Actions Title VI: Funding Title VII: Applicability; Pending Civil Actions Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act of 1999 - Title I: Asbestos Resolution Corporation - Establishes the Asbestos Resolution Corporation which shall: (1) have exclusive authority to adopt rules for cost recovery, physician qualifications, alternative dispute resolution, exceptional medical cases, and disease eligibility; and (2) appoint a Medical Advisory Board. Title II: Medical Eligibility Determinations - Sets forth claimant medical eligibility determination criteria for: (1) nonmalignant conditions; (2) mesothelioma; (3) lung cancer; and (4) other cancer. (Sec. 205) Sets forth procedures for Corporation determination of a claimant's certificate of medical eligibility. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to establish one or more exceptional medical claims panels. Sets forth application and acceptance provisions. (Sec. 207) Provides for: (1) confidentiality; and (2) U.S. district court review of Corporation determinations of eligibility. Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution - Directs the Board to establish procedural rules for an alternative dispute resolution process. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) motions officers; (2) respondent notification; (3) additional respondents; (4) grace period; (5) mediation and arbitration; and (6) subpoena powers. Title IV: Civil Actions - Prohibits: (1) a civil asbestos action unless the plaintiff has obtained a certificate of medical eligibility and release from mediation; and (2) a class action or other collective action without the consent of each defendant. (Sec. 404) Requires a penalty for a final offer made by a respondent in mediation if such offer is below a certain amount assigned by the jury or fact-finder. Title V: Rules Applicable to Arbitrations and Civil Actions - Sets forth arbitration and civil action rules with respect to: (1) issues to be decided; (2) relief; (3) timeliness defenses; (4) attorney's fees; and (5) nonpreclusion of nonmalignant claims upon subsequent malignancy claims. Title VI : Funding - Directs the Corporation to estimate its annual medical review and administrative and overhead costs and allocate proportionate cost shares among the previous year's respondents. Provides monetary penalties for noncooperation with the Corporation. (Sec. 602) Provides for mediation and arbitration costs to be charged on a per capita basis to participating respondents. (Sec. 603) Directs the Corporation to establish procedures for informal resolution of cost assessment disputes. Provides for U.S. district court review of cost assessment disputes. (Sec. 606) Establishes the Asbestos Resolution Corporation Trust Fund and transfers to it amounts received under this title and other amounts. Authorizes obligation of Fund amounts consistent with this Act, to remain available without fiscal year limitation. Title VII: Applicability; Pending Civil Actions - Makes this Act applicable to any civil asbestos action that has not resulted in a final, nonappealable judgment, with specified conditions applicable to pending civil actions. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Defines specified terms. (Sec. 803) Makes this Act inapplicable to existing asbestos trusts, with an elective trust exception. (Sec. 804) States that nothing in this Act shall prohibit a claimant from entering into a settlement agreement concerning a claim covered under this Act.
Bill· SS. 734 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
National Discovery Trails Act of 1999 - Amends the National Trails System Act to provide for the establishment, as components of the National Trails System, of national discovery trails which shall be extended, continuous interstate trails located so as to provide for outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities. Permits designation of any such trail on Federal lands and, with the owner's consent, on any non-Federal lands. Prohibits a trail from being considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national discovery trail unless it: (1) links one or more areas within the boundaries of a metropolitan area and should join with other trails, connecting the National Trails System to significant recreation and resources areas; (2) is supported by a competent trailwide volunteer- based organization and has extensive local and trailwide support by the public, user groups, and affected State and local governments; and (3) extends and passes through more than one State and, at a minimum, is a continuous, walkable route. Requires the appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail to administer the trail in cooperation with a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization. Designates as a national discovery trail the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail which shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, traveling northern and southern routes from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado. Requires the administering Federal agency, within three complete fiscal years after enactment of legislation designating a national discovery trail, to submit to specified congressional committees a comprehensive plan for: (1) the protection, management, development, and use of the Federal portions of the trail; and (2) technical assistance to States, local governments, and private landowners, as requested, for non-Federal portions of the trail.
Bill· SS. 719 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of public land in the State of Nevada identified under specified current land use plans other than land identified under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998. Authorizes the State or local governments in the jurisdiction of which the land is located to obtain the land for local public purposes prior to the offering of such land for sale or exchange. Requires the Secretary to retain such land for conveyance to the State or a local government if such entities elect to obtain the land. Withdraws Federal land selected for disposal, subject to valid existing rights, from location and entry under the mining laws and from operation under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws until the Secretary terminates the withdrawal or the land is patented. Requires the Secretary, the local government that has jurisdiction over land identified for disposal, and the State to select land to be offered for sale or exchange. Sets forth requirements for sales, including those for competitive bidding. Bars the sale of a tract of land if the Federal costs of sale preparation and processing are estimated to exceed sale proceeds. Allocates the gross proceeds of land sales during a fiscal year as follows: (1) five percent to the State for the general education program; (2) 45 percent to the local government for use as determined by such government; and (3) 50 percent to the Special Account established by this Act. Sets forth requirements for land exchanges. Authorizes the Secretary, subject to certain consultation requirements, to use funds to acquire environmentally sensitive land and interests in such land. Permits such acquisitions only from willing sellers. Defines "environmentally sensitive land" as land that would: (1) promote the preservation of specified values that contribute to public enjoyment or biological diversity; (2) enhance recreational opportunities or public access; (3) provide the opportunity to achieve better management of public land through consolidation of Federal ownership; or (4) otherwise serve the public interest. Includes such lands in the definition of "entitlement land" for purposes of Federal provisions governing payment for entitlement land. Establishes a Special Account in the Treasury to carry out this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 741 (106th)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education Title VI: Reducing Red Tape Title VII: Plan Amendments Pension Coverage and Portability Act - Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise requirements relating to pension plan loans for Subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 102) Allows an employer to establish payroll deductions for contributions to employee individual retirement plans without incurring ERISA liability. (Sec. 103) Amends the IRC to allow an eligible employer to establish and maintain a SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan), both to be funded by the employer. Makes the employer contributions deductible without limitation and otherwise provides for the treatment of contributions and distributions. Mandates a penalty for early withdrawals. Requires simplified employer reports for SAFE annuities and simplified actuarial reports for SAFE trusts. Amends the ERISA to exempt SAFE trusts from coverage requirements and SAFE annuities from certain employer reporting requirements. (Sec. 104) Amends the IRC to modify definitions applicable to special rules for top-heavy plans. Requires consideration of employer matching contributions in determining whether a defined contribution plan meets minimum contribution requirements. Exempts frozen plans from a minimum benefit requirement. Provides an alternative test for top-heavy plans. (Sec. 105) Allows employers to elect salary reduction only arrangements under IRC requirements for simple plans. (Sec. 106) Establishes a small employer pension plan credit. (Sec. 107) Increases (from $6,000 to $8,000) limits for deferrals to simple plans. (Sec. 108) Amends ERISA to provide for a phase-in of an additional premium for new plans to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 109) Provides for a reduced PBGC premium for new plans of small employers. (Sec. 110) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the status of pension plans. (Sec. 111) Declares the $150,000 compensation limit inapplicable to simple 401(k) arrangements. (Sec. 112) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 113) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the IRC for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women - Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Requires that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. Sets forth special rules for annuity contracts and simplified pensions. (Sec. 202) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under IRC and ERISA. (Sec. 203) Amends Federal civil service law to revise requirements for deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal employees under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 204) Revises IRC requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. (Sec. 205) Amends the IRC and ERISA to provide for the spouse's right to know specified distribution information relating to survivor annuities. (Sec. 206) Revises minimum distribution rules under IRC. Revises requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefit under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. (Sec. 207) Directs the Secretary to revise regulations relating to safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from cash or deferred arrangements. Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the IRC. (Sec. 302) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers into workplace retirement plans only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. (Sec. 304) Revises restrictions on distributions from defined contribution plans, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 305) Provides that a transferee defined contribution plan shall not be treated as having failed to meet certain requirements because it does not provide for some or all of the distribution forms previously available under a transferor defined contribution plan. (Sec. 306) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 307) Authorizes employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of employee cash-out amounts under the IRC and ERISA. Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise the percentage of current liability funding limit. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules and applies them to all defined benefit plan under the IRC. (Sec. 402) Increases dollar limits for employer-sponsored retirement plans. (Sec. 403) Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. (Sec. 404) Amends ERISA to direct the PBGC to prescribe rules relating to missing participants for multiemployer plans covered by the PBGC that terminate. (Sec. 405) Amends ERISA to make discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility. Revises requirements for the applicable recovery amount and related rules. (Sec. 406) Amends the IRC to allow an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 407) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. (Sec. 408) Bars the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury from litigating any claim against a person under specified ERISA provisions if: (1) an action against that person with respect to the same plan is resolved by a court-approved settlement; (2) such proposed settlement is served upon the Secretaries at least 90 days before entry of final judgment approving the settlement; and (3) such claim was or could have been brought in such action. Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education - Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Allows written or electronic statements. Requires multiemployer plans to furnish a statement (written or electronic) on request. (Sec. 502) Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to prepare a plan to: (1) increase awareness of retirement benefits;(2) update small business owners concerning such benefits; and (3) post information on the Internet on types of retirement benefit plans and other options. (Sec. 503) Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Prohibits including an amount in an employee's gross income solely because the employee may choose between any retirement planning fringe and compensation otherwise includible in gross income, providing such choices are available in a way that does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. Title VI: Reducing Red Tape - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 602) Amends ERISA rules for substantial owners relating to plan terminations to revise: (1) the phase-in of the guarantee; and (2) the allocation of assets. (Sec. 603) Amends IRC requirements for applicable dividends to allow dividends of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the regulations regarding the exclusion allowance to render void the requirement that contributions to a defined benefit pension plan be treated as previously excluded amounts. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy specified requirements of the IRC if it satisfies a certain facts and circumstances test, under specified conditions. (Sec. 606) Grants the Secretary discretion in applying a specified coverage test to a plan. (Sec. 607) Makes inapplicable to certain mirror plans specified IRC requirements relating to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 608) Revises the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations under the IRC to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 609) Sets forth conforming amendments relating to election to receive taxable cash compensation in lieu of nontaxable transportation fringe benefits. (Sec. 610) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 611) Extends to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans. (Sec. 612) Revises ERISA requirements for annual report dissemination. (Sec. 613) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the IRC. (Sec. 614) Repeals a multiple use test. Directs the Secretary prescribe regulations permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. Title VII: Plan Amendments - Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the IRC and ERISA.
Bill· SS. 753 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Financial Services Act of 1999 - Title I: Facilitating Affiliation Among Securities Firms, Insurance Companies, and Depository Institutions - Subtitle A: Affiliations - Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to repeal the prohibitions: (1) against affiliation of any Federal Reserve member bank with an entity engaged principally in securities activities (securities affiliate); and (2) against simultaneous service by any officer, director, or employee of a securities firm as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank (interlocking directorates). (Sec. 102) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to exempt from its prohibition against interests in nonbanking organizations the shares of any company whose activities had been determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act, to be so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto. (Sec. 103) Creates a statutory mechanism for the establishment of financial holding companies (FHCs) whose subsidiary depository institutions are well-capitalized, are well-managed, and have achieved a rating of at least a "satisfactory record of meeting community credit needs" at the most recent examination under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Sets forth limited exclusions from community needs requirements for newly acquired depository institutions. Instructs the Board to establish and apply comparable capital standards to a foreign bank with a subsidiary bank or commercial lending company in the United States. Permits an FHC and a wholesale financial holding company (WFHC) to engage in any activity and acquire the shares of any company whose activities have been determined jointly by the Board and the Secretary of the Treasury to be either financial in nature, or incidental to financial activities. Includes among such activities any investments, lending, insurance, securities transactions, and ownership or control of banking interests. Requires an FHC to make assurances that risk management procedures adequately protect insured depository institution subsidiaries, including reasonable measures to preserve separate corporate identity and limited liability. Mandates notification to the Board of certain large business combinations with FHCs or wholesale FHCs. Cites circumstances under which an FHC (and its foreign counterpart) may engage in nonfinancial activities. Permits FHCs which were not BHCs or foreign banks before becoming FHCs to retain limited non-financial activities and affiliations. Sets forth cross-marketing restrictions for FHC-controlled depository institutions. (Sec. 104) Preempts State anti-affiliation laws restricting transactions among insured depository institutions, wholesale financial institutions, insurance concerns, and national banks. Cites exceptions to such preemption, including State regulation of the business of insurance, retention of State capitalization requirements for an insurance entity acquired by another, and specified consumer protections. Prohibits State regulation of the insurance activities of an insured depository institution or wholesale financial institution that discriminates adversely between insured depository institutions or wholesale financial institutions and other entities engaged in insurance activities. Declares that nothing in this Act preempts State antitrust and general corporate laws, or laws or regulations with respect to non-insurance financial activities. (Sec. 105) Mandates that mutual bank holding companies be regulated on the same terms as bank holding companies. (Sec. 106) Amends the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (RNIBBEA) to apply its prohibition against deposit production offices to interstate branches acquired or established under this Act, including all branches of a bank owned by an out-of-State BHC. (Sec. 107) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to apply to any branch of a bank controlled by an out-of-State BHC certain requirements for branch closures by an interstate bank. (Sec. 108) Authorizes well-capitalized and well-managed limited purpose banks to engage in any banking activity. (Maintains the restriction that such banks may accept demand deposits or make commercial loans, but not both.) Prohibits such banks from permitting any overdraft (including intraday overdrafts), or incurring overdrafts in their accounts at a Federal Reserve Bank, on behalf of an affiliate, with certain exceptions. Permits such banks to: (1) issue corporate credit cards; (2) cross market affiliates; and (3) avoid divestiture by correcting violations within six months of receiving notice from the Board. (Sec. 109) Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to present interim reports to the Congress regarding an ongoing multistage study of consumer privacy issues. (Sec. 110) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the projected impact that the enactment of this Act will have on financial institutions with total assets of $100 million or less. Subtitle B: Streamlining Supervision of Financial Holding Companies - Prohibits the Board from imposing any capital or capital adequacy criteria upon a non-depository institution FHC subsidiary that is in compliance with State or Federal capitalization rules, or is registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Prohibits the Board, in developing capital adequacy requirements, from taking into consideration any affiliated investment company which is not a bank holding company nor controlled by one holding 25 percent or more shares of the investment company worth more than $1 million. (Sec. 111) Authorizes the Board to transfer its BHC oversight authority to the appropriate Federal banking agency if a BHC is not significantly engaged in non-banking activities. Mandates Board deference to the SEC and relevant State securities and insurance authorities with respect to interpretations and enforcement of activities (functional regulation) within their respective jurisdictions. (Sec. 112) Provides that a declaration filed by a company seeking to be an FHC shall satisfy BHC registration requirements but not any requirement to file an application to acquire a bank. Revises BHCA divestiture procedures to permit a BHC to elect divestiture of either a nonbanking subsidiary or an insured depository institution. (Sec. 113) Declares ineffective and non-enforceable any Board actions requiring an insurance company BHC or a registered securities broker-dealer BHC to provide assets to a subsidiary insured depository institution if the State insurance authority, or the SEC, determines in writing that such actions would have a material adverse effect on the BHC's financial condition. Permits the Board to order divestiture of the subsidiary in lieu of other action. (Sec. 114) Authorizes the Board to restrict relationships or transactions between: (1) a BHC depository institution subsidiary and its affiliates (other than a subsidiary of the institution); and (2) a foreign bank and its U.S. affiliates. (Sec. 115) Grants the SEC exclusive authority to examine and inspect any non-BHC registered investment company. Prohibits a Federal banking agency from inspecting or examining such a non-BHC company. Permits the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to examine an insured depository institution and its affiliate in order to disclose fully the impact of the relationship upon such institution. (Sec. 116) Prohibits the Board from taking any action under the BHCA or the FDIA against a BHC-regulated subsidiary unless it is necessary to prevent or redress an unsafe or unsound practice or breach of fiduciary duty by the subsidiary that poses a material risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of an affiliated depository institution or to the domestic or international payment systems. (Sec. 117) Declares it is the intent of the Congress that the Board and State insurance regulators should: (1) coordinate their respective supervision of companies that control a depository institution and a company engaged in insurance activities; and (2) share relevant information on a confidential basis (including information regarding the financial health of the consolidated organization, and transactions and relationships between insurance companies and affiliated depository institutions). States that Federal banking agencies for depository institutions should also share information with State insurance regulators on a confidential basis regarding transactions and relationships between depository institutions and affiliated companies engaged in insurance activities. Sets forth guidelines for such information exchange and confidentiality. (Sec. 118) States that BHCA restrictions placed upon Board authority over bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries also limit FDIC authority over such companies and their nonbank subsidiaries. Permits the FDIC to examine an insured depository institution and its affiliate in order to disclose fully the impact of the relationship upon such institution. (Sec. 119) Amends the FDIA to prohibit the use of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) to benefit any affiliates or subsidiaries of certain insured depository institutions in receivership, in default, or in danger of default, or of any insured depository institution in such circumstances that is acquiring another insured depository institution. Subtitle C: Subsidiaries of National Banks - Amends Federal law governing national banks to permit a national bank subsidiary to engage in activity that: (1) is permissible for the parent national bank; (2) is authorized under specified Federal statutes that expressly authorize national banks to own or control subsidiaries; and (3) is permissible for a BHCA bank holding company other than engaging as principal in traditional insurance activities (including providing annuities, or engaging in insurance company investments. Prohibits a national bank subsidiary from engaging in real estate investment or development activities (unless Federal statute expressly authorizes a national bank to engage in such activity). Precludes certain large-sized national banks ($10 billion total assets) from controlling a subsidiary unless such bank is itself a subsidiary of a bank holding company. Cites prerequisites for national banks with financial subsidiaries. (Sec.122) Amends the FDIA to prescribe guidelines authorizing State bank subsidiaries to engage in financial activities. (Sec. 123) Mandates safety and soundness firewalls between insured banks and their financial subsidiaries, including: (1) limits on the equity investment of a bank in such subsidiary; (2) mandatory bank procedures for identifying and managing financial operational risks posed by its financial subsidiary; (3) maintenance of separate corporate and legal status; and (4) limits on the credit exposure of a bank to its financial subsidiary. (Sec.124) Subjects securities and insurance agency activities of insured depository institution subsidiaries to functional regulation under the Securities Exchange Commission, and the State insurance regulator, respectively. (Sec. 125) Amends Federal criminal law to proscribe misrepresentations regarding depository institution liability for obligations of affiliates. (Sec. 126) Amends the Federal Reserve Act to repeal: (1) the Board's power to restrict the percentage of individual bank capital and surplus represented by loans secured by stock or bond collateral; and (2) the Board's duty to establish such restrictions with a view to preventing the undue use of bank loans for the speculative carrying of securities. Subtitle D: Wholesale Financial Holding Companies; Wholesale Financial Institutions - Chapter 1: Wholesale Financial Holding Companies - Sets forth a statutory mechanism for regulation of wholesale financial holding companies that do not control a bank other than a wholesale financial institution (WFI) or specified, limited-purpose institutions. Requires such a company to be a registered bank holding company predominantly engaged in certain financial activities, and in control of one or more WFIs. Specifies the limits of Board examinations of such companies. (Sec. 131) Prohibits the Board, in developing capital adequacy requirements, from taking into consideration any affiliated investment company which is not a bank holding company nor controlled by one holding 25 percent or more shares of the investment company worth more than $1 million. Specifies the kinds of nonfinancial activities in which Board-supervised companies may engage. Sets forth guidelines for the treatment of foreign banks operating within the United States as Board-supervised wholesale financial holding companies. Chapter 2: Wholesale Financial Institutions - Amends the Revised Statutes to permit a national bank to operate as a noninsured national WFI subject to FRA and the regulatory authority of the Comptroller of the Currency. Amends FRA to prescribe procedural guidelines for State bank membership as a noninsured WFI in the Federal Reserve System, subject to FDIA enforcement authority and prompt corrective action requirements. Subjects such institutions to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 only if the WFI has an affiliate that is an insured depository institution or that operates an insured branch. (Sec. 136) Prohibits a WFI from receiving initial deposits of $100,000 or less except on an incidental and occasional basis. Limits incidental deposits of $100,000 or less to a maximum five percent of a WFI's total deposits. Sets forth capital and managerial requirements for certain WFIs controlled by companies under the jurisdiction of either the SEC or the BHCA. Empowers the Comptroller of the Currency (in the case of a national WFI), and the Board to direct a WFI conservator or receiver to file a petition under title II of the Federal bankruptcy code. Amends FDIA to prescribe procedures whereby an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a WFI in order to accept any deposits. Amends Federal bankruptcy law to prescribe WFI liquidation guidelines. Subtitle E: Preservation of FTC Authority - Amends the BHCA to require the Board to notify the FTC of its approval of a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation which involves acquisition of nonbanking interests. (Sec. 142) Directs certain Federal banking agencies to make data available to the Attorney General and the FTC that they deem necessary for antitrust review under specified statutes. (Sec. 143) Excludes from FTC jurisdiction any nondepository institution subsidiary or affiliate of a bank or savings association. Amends the Clayton Act to apply its premerger notification and waiting period requirements to any portion of a merger or acquisition transaction that does require notice under BHCA but does not require approval. (Sec. 144) Instructs the Comptroller General to report annually to the Congress on market concentration in the financial services industry and its impact on consumers. Subtitle F: Applying the Principles of National Treatment and Equality of Competitive Opportunity to Foreign Banks and Foreign Financial Institutions - Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 (IBA) to terminate the grandfathered authority of a foreign bank or company under the IBA to engage in any financial activity, if it files a BHCA declaration to function as a qualified BHC (QBHC). (Consequently, foreign banks with grandfathered affiliates would be permitted to keep them on the same terms and conditions that govern domestic banking organizations.) (Sec. 152) Amends the FDIA to allow insured foreign banks and foreign wholesale financial institutions (WFIs) to terminate deposit insurance voluntarily in the same manner and to the same extent as insured State or national banks. (Sec. 153) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to authorize the Board to examine any affiliate of a foreign bank conducting business in any State in which the Board deems it necessary to determine and enforce compliance with Federal banking law. Subtitle G: Federal Home Loan Bank System Modernization - Federal Home Loan Bank System Modernization Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) to expand Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) membership parameters to make a Federal savings association's membership in the FHLB system voluntary instead of mandatory. Permits such an association to withdraw its membership (currently such withdrawal is prohibited). (Sec. 164) Modifies guidelines governing long-term advances to: (1) allow advances to any community financial institution for small businesses, agricultural, rural development, or low-income community development lending; (2) make the cash (as well as the deposits) of an FHLB eligible collateral for securing a bank's interest in a loan or advance; and (3) repeal the 30 percent of capital cap on the aggregate amount of outstanding advances secured by real estate related collateral. Includes within the categories of collateral eligible for bank loans secured loans for small business, agriculture, rural development, or low-income community development, or securities representing a whole interest in such secured loans, in the case of any community financial institution. Authorizes an FHLB to renew certain advances on its own determination without concurrence by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). Requires an FHLB member with an advance secured by insufficient eligible collateral to reduce its level of outstanding advances according to a schedule determined by the FHLB (currently, by the FHF Board). Authorizes such Board to: (1) review the collateral standards applicable to each Federal home loan bank for designated classes of collateral; and (2) require an increase in such standards for safety and soundness purposes. (Sec. 165) Revises eligibility criteria to permit certain community financial institutions to gain FHLB membership regardless of the percentage of total assets represented by residential mortgage loans. (Sec. 166) Amends the FHLBA to increase from two years to four years the term of an elective director of a Federal home loan bank. Repeals the mandates for: (1) a procedure for informal review of certain supervisory decisions; and (2) the Housing Opportunity Hotline program. Repeals: (1) the prohibition against an FHLB's acquisition of a bank building by purchase or over ten-year lease; (2) the requirement for FHFB approval of personnel decisions as well as the exercise of corporate powers by any FHLB; and (3) authorization for an FHLB president to be a member of the FHLB board. Grants the FHFB power to: (1) issue charges upon an FHLB or any executive officer or director for violation of law or regulation in connection with the granting of any application or other request by the bank, or any written agreement between the bank and the FHFB, and take affirmative action to correct conditions resulting from violations or practices, or to limit FHLB activities; (2) address insufficiencies in capital levels resulting from automatic membership of a Federal savings association in the local FHLB; and (3) sue and be sued. Repeals FHFB jurisdiction to approve the granting by an FHLB of a member's application to secure an advance. Expands the mandate of FHLB Affordable Housing Programs to include providing subsidies (in addition to subsidized interest rates) on advances for member lending for low- and moderate-income housing. Authorizes each FHLB board of directors to approve member requests for Affordable Housing Program subsidies. Revises guidelines governing reserves and dividends to permit dividend payments out of previously retained earnings or current net earnings (currently, only out of net earnings). Repeals the requirement for: (1) FHFB approval for such dividend payments; and (2) investment of FHLB reserves exclusively in U.S. obligations or certain other Federal Government-related securities. (Sec. 167) States that FHLB payments to the Resolution Funding Corporation to cover interest payments on obligations shall be a specified percentage of net earnings (currently an aggregate sum certain). Subtitle H: Direct Activities of Banks - Amends Federal banking law to provide that limitations placed on securities transactions by a national banking association for its own account do not apply to State, local, or municipal bond transactions by a well-capitalized national banking association. Subtitle I: Deposit Insurance Funds - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study and report to the Congress on specified issues regarding the BIF and the SAIF, including their safety and soundness, and the adequacy of their reserve requirements in light of mergers and consolidations within the industry. (Sec. 187) Amends the FDIA to eliminate the SAIF and Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) special reserves. Subtitle J: Effective Date of Title - Sets forth the effective date of title I of this Act. Title II: Functional Regulation - Subtitle A: Brokers and Dealers - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) to include certain bank activities within the definition of "broker" and "dealer" (thus subjecting them to registration requirements and regulation under the Exchange Act). (Sec. 203) Requires a registered securities association to create a limited qualification category, without a testing requirement, for certain bank employees effecting sales as part of a non-public primary securities offering (private placement sales). (Sec. 204) Amends the FDIA to direct the appropriate Federal banking agencies to: (1) promulgate regulations and complaint procedures applicable to retail transactions, solicitations, advertising, or offers of any security by any insured depository institution or affiliate other than a registered broker or dealer; (2) jointly establish a grievance process for customer complaints against banks or bank employees arising in connection with securities sales or purchases; and (3) establish recordkeeping requirements for banks relying on exceptions and exemptions from the definitions of broker and dealer under the Exchange Act. (Sec. 206) Defines traditional banking product, and amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define a new banking product as a security that: (1) was not subject to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation as a security before enactment of this subtitle; and (2) is not a traditional banking product. Authorizes the SEC to determine, by regulation published in the Federal Register, that a bank that effects transactions in, or buys or sells, a new (hybrid) product (which is a security) should be subject to broker and dealer registration requirements, but only if it is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors. Prescribes procedural guidelines under which the Federal Reserve Board, or any aggrieved party, may obtain judicial review of such regulation. Requires the court to determine whether the subject product or instrument would be more appropriately regulated under either Federal banking laws or Federal securities laws. (Sec. 207) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define: (1) derivative instrument so as to exclude a traditional banking product; (2) qualified investor; and (3) government security, so as to include a qualified Canadian government obligation. Subtitle B: Bank Investment Company Activities - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to authorize the SEC to prescribe conditions under which a bank or its affiliate serving as promoter, organizer, or principal underwriter for a registered management company or a registered unit investment trust may also serve as custodian of such company or trust. Permits the SEC to bring a civil action against a custodian for a registered investment company for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct. (Sec. 212) Declares it is unlawful for an affiliate, promoter, or principal underwriter for a registered investment company to lend to it or its subsidiaries in contravention of SEC prescriptions. (Sec. 213) Modifies the definition of "interested person" to identify transactions, services, and loans taking place during the six months preceding determination of an interested person which would make a person an affiliated person of a broker or dealer. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of the subsidiaries of any one bank, or of any single BHC, its affiliates and subsidiaries. (Sec. 214) Modifies guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 215) Modifies the definition of "broker" to exclude any person who would be deemed a broker solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 216) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 217) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definition of investment adviser to remove the exclusion for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 220) Mandates interagency sharing between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC of examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of a registered BHC and its separately identifiable departments or divisions. (Sec. 221) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 222) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another non-affiliated fiduciary. Exempts a church plan organization that is also an investment adviser (including its affiliate) from the proscription against ownership of controlling interests in an investment company. Subtitle C: SEC Supervision of Investment Bank Holding Companies - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to permit certain investment bank holding companies that do not have a bank or savings association affiliate to elect SEC supervision. (Sec. 231) Provides for voluntary withdrawal from SEC supervision by specified investment bank holding companies. Sets forth the parameters of SEC supervision of investment bank holding companies, including authority to set capital adequacy standards. Instructs the SEC, in developing its rules, to consider use of debt and other liabilities (double leverage) by the supervised investment BHC in order to fund capital investments in affiliates. Prohibits the SEC from imposing capital adequacy requirements on regulated nonbanking entities (other than a broker or a dealer) that are in compliance with the capital requirements of another Federal regulatory body or State insurance authority. Mandates SEC deference to appropriate regulatory banking agencies and State insurance regulators with respect to the banking and insurance laws under their purviews. Grants the SEC backup inspection authority for certain wholesale financial holding companies for monitoring and compliance enforcement purposes. Subtitle D: Studies - Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the efficacy, costs, and benefits of requiring a federally-insured depository institution to disclose to its retail consumers through the use of a logo or seal that its investment or insurance products are not FDIC-insured. (Sec. 242) Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress regarding the efficacy and benefits of uniformly limiting commissions and costs incurred by customers in the acquisition of financial products. Title III: Insurance - Subtitle A: State Regulation of Insurance - States that the McCarran-Ferguson Act remains the law of the United States. (Sec. 302) Mandates: (1) State licensure of any entity providing insurance in a State as principal or agent; and (2) State functional regulation of insurance sales activity. (Sec. 304) Prohibits a national bank and its subsidiaries from providing insurance as principal in a State, except for certain authorized products (which may not include title insurance or taxable annuity contracts). (Sec. 305) Prohibits national banks and subsidiaries from selling or underwriting title insurance, except for certain grandfathered banks and subsidiaries already doing so. (Sec. 306) Establishes expedited dispute resolution for regulatory conflicts between State insurance regulators and Federal financial regulators. (Sec. 307) Requires each Federal banking agency to: (1) issue consumer protection regulations (including physical segregation of banking activities from insurance product activities); and (2) prohibit discrimination against victims of domestic violence. Expresses the sense of Congress that the States should adopt regulations prohibiting such discrimination regarding insurance products that are at least as strict as those under this Act. Mandates that the Federal banking agencies jointly establish a consumer complaint mechanism to address violations of this Act expeditiously. (Sec. 308) Preempts State law restricting: (1) insurance companies or insurance affiliates from becoming a financial holding company or acquiring control of a bank; and (2) the amount of an insurer's assets that can be invested in a bank (except that the insurer's State of domicile may limit such investments to five percent (or any higher threshold) of the insurer's admitted assets). Preempts State laws that restrict reorganization by an insurer from mutual form to stock form. (Sec. 309) Amends the Revised Statutes to apply to Federal banking agencies the same notice and publication requirements for preemption of State law with respect to Federal savings associations as pertain with respect to national banks. Subtitle B: National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers - Sets forth a regulatory framework for uniform multistate licensing for insurance sales practices, to take effect only if a majority of the States have not enacted uniform laws and regulations governing the licensure of insurance sales by individuals and entities within three years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 322) Establishes the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (the Association) as a non-profit, non-Federal agency, to provide a mechanism for uniform licensing, appointment, continuing education, and other insurance producer sales qualification requirements which can be adopted and applied on a multistate basis, while preserving the right of States to regulate insurance producers and insurance-related consumer protection and unfair trade practices. (Sec. 324) Subjects the Association (which shall not be considered a Federal agency or instrumentality) to regulation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Requires the Association to establish an office of consumer complaints. Vests management of the Association in a board of directors. Cites circumstances under which Association rules preempt State regulation of insurance producers. Requires the Association to coordinate with the National Association of Securities Dealers in order to mitigate administrative burdens that may result from dual membership. Title IV: Unitary Savings and Loan Holding Companies - Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to prohibit new affiliations between savings and loan holding companies and certain commercial firms, except in specified circumstances, including a family trust that becomes a savings and loan holding company with respect to a savings association. (Sec. 402) Permits Federal savings associations to convert into national banks if the resulting bank meets all applicable financial, management, and capital requirements. (Sec. 403) Amends specified Federal law to declare that any depository institution whose charter is converted from that of a Federal savings association to a national bank or a State bank after enactment of this Act may retain the term "Federal" in its name so long as it remains an insured depository institution. Title V: Financial Information Anti-Fraud - Financial Information Anti-Fraud Act of 1999 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to: (1) specify the types of enterprises constituting a financial institution within its purview; and (2) authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe regulations clarifying or describing the types of institutions which shall be treated as financial institutions for purposes of this Act. (Sec. 501) Declares it a violation of this Act to obtain or solicit customer information of a financial institution relating to another person under false pretenses with intent to deceive. Exempts from such proscription: (1) law enforcement agencies; (2) financial institutions engaged in testing security procedures, investigating misconduct or negligence, or recovering customer information obtained or received under false pretenses; as well as (3) customer information of financial institutions available as a public record under Federal securities laws. Grants the FTC, certain banking regulatory agencies, and the States enforcement powers under this Act. Subjects violations of this Act to Federal civil and criminal penalties. Requires each Federal banking agency to issue advisories to the depository institutions under its jurisdiction relating to the deterrence and detection of the activities proscribed by this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress: (1) on the efficacy and adequacy of the remedies provided in this Act addressing attempts to obtain financial information by fraudulent means or by false pretenses; and (2) any recommendations for additional action to address threats to the privacy of financial information created by such attempts. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Amends Federal criminal law to cite circumstances under which a court may direct disclosure of grand jury information concerning a banking law violation to certain personnel of a Federal or State financial institution. (Sec. 602) Expresses the sense of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs that: (1) the small business tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code should be more widely available to community banks; and (2) in conjunction with any financial modernization legislation the Congress should amend the Code for certain purposes. Urges such legislation to: (1) increase the number of S corporation shareholders; (2) permit S corporation stock to be held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs); (3) clarify that interest on investments held for safety, soundness, and liquidity purposes should not be considered passive income; (4) provide that bank director stock is not treated as a disqualifying second class of stock for S corporations; and (5) improve the tax treatment of bad debt and interest deductions. (Sec. 603) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to specify circumstances under which the Secretary of the Treasury may: (1) approve an affiliation between a depository institution and the Student Loan Marketing Association (SALLIE MAE) solely in its reorganized, privatized status as "the Holding Company," not in its status as a government sponsored enterprise (GSE); and (2) impose affiliation terms and conditions, including restrictions upon either the issuance of debt obligations by SALLIE MAE in its GSE status, or upon the use of proceeds from such obligations. (Current law prohibits affiliations between depository institutions and GSEs.) Limits the value of the investment portfolio of SALLIE MAE in its GSE status in the event such affiliation should occur to the lesser of: (1) its value upon enactment of this Act; or (2) its value on the date such an affiliation is consummated. Grants the Secretary enforcement powers under the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Sec. 604) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to repeal certain authority, requirements, and restrictions relating to insurance activities of savings bank subsidiaries of bank holding companies. (Sec. 605) Declares that the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board may serve as a member of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority. (Sec. 606) Amends the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to add to title I a new subtitle C, the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act of 199, or the PRIME Act. Directs the Administrator of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (Administrator) to establish a microenterprise technical assistance and capacity building program to provide Fund grants to qualified nonprofit organizations to: (1) provide training and technical assistance to disadvantaged entrepreneurs; (2) provide training and capacity building services to help microenterprise development organizations and programs develop microenterprise training and services; and (3) aid in researching and developing the best practices in the field of microenterprise and technical assistance programs for disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Sets forth an allocation formula for such assistance and for grants benefitting very low-income persons, including those residing on Indian reservations. Authorizes a qualified organization to provide subgrants to small and emerging microenterprise entities. Mandates 50 percent matching funds from non-Federal sources. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 733 (106th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Directs the Secretary of the Army to acquire, demolish, and remove structures in the floodway of the Central Passaic River basin (the basin) where excessive damage has occurred in at least two floods. Requires that: (1) the floodway land in the basin be stabilized as part of the ecological restoration program under the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 (WRDA) and, where appropriate, wetlands be created; (2) after the land is vacated, it be held in perpetuity by the most appropriate Federal or State agency, as determined by the Oversight Committee (created by this Act), and be managed as open space; (3) this section be carried out in conformance with New Jersey's Blue Acres Program; and (4) crediting of land acquisition for the non-Federal cost share remain in effect in accordance with WRDA. Directs the Secretary to: (1) acquire, demolish, and remove additional structures, or floodproof structures, to the ten-year floodplain in the floodway of the basin in areas where excessive damage has occurred in at least two floods; (2) floodproof structures in the floodplain of the basin to the 50-year floodplain in areas of high risk, at a 55 percent Federal, 20 percent State, and 25 percent property owner cost share; (3) provide information on techniques to deal with flood management in the remainder of the floodplain to the 100-year protective flood elevation; (4) acquire wetlands in the floodways throughout the Great Piece Meadows of the basin, to supplement the wetlands acquisition authorized under WRDA, and upland transition areas with significant wildlife or other natural values; (5) transfer the wetlands and transition areas to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or an appropriate State agency, which shall manage the wetlands and transition areas in accordance with proper wetlands management principles; (6) acquire strategic land in New Jersey and New York to prevent flooding and to prevent flooding from increasing in the High Mountain area in Wayne, New Jersey, and the urban area of the Molly Ann's Brook project in North Haledon, New Jersey; (7) complete the Passaic River Restoration Project from Little Falls to Newark Bay, New Jersey; and (8) complete the streambank restoration element of the project for flood control, Passaic River Main Stem, New Jersey and New York (the Project), authorized by WRDA, known as the Joseph G. Minish Passaic River Waterfront Park and Historic Area, New Jersey (Minish Park). Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assist the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners in the implementation of remedial actions for the combined sewer overflows in the lower Passaic River Basin from Great Falls to Newark Bay. Establishes the Oversight Committee. Finds that the most appropriate solution to flooding in the Passaic River basin is the "preferred alternative" (a qualified acquisition and hazard mitigation plan for the Project). Directs that such alternative be implemented immediately. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations to begin the Federal portion of a buyout of floodway structures authorized by WRDA. Directs that $15 million made available by New Jersey for the Blue Acres portion of the Green Acres Bond Act of 1995, approved by New Jersey voters, constitute the 25 percent non-Federal cost share. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) acquisition of freshwater wetlands, and for floodproofing of structures, in the floodplains within the Passaic River basin; (2) acquisition of land in the Highlands Province to reduce flooding in the Passaic River basin in New Jersey and New York; (3) acquisition of land and the development and redevelopment of parkland along the Passaic River from Little Falls to Newark Bay, Kearny; (4) completion of the Minish Park, at a 100 percent Federal cost share; (5) implementation, each fiscal year, of the preferred alternative and administration of the Oversight Committee; and (6) acquisition of land at High Mountain. Directs that, for the combined sewer project in the lower Passaic River basin, a project budget be established of $85 million, with a $65 million Federal share. Authorizes appropriations for the purpose of making a grant to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission for FY 2000 through 2002.
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