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951 records in US in 1991
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
National Energy Strategy Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities; and (2) extend the energy credit through 1992. (Currently such energy credit expires at the end of 1991.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award five grants in each fiscal year to institutions or organizations to engage in aspirations research (i.e. research on raising the ambitions of U.S. students). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Better Access to Student Aid Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to remove from the computation of expected family contribution, in the case of a family with an adjusted gross income of $40,000 or less, in the determination of need for assistance under the title IV (Student Assistance) Pell Grant program and other title IV student assistance programs, the following assets: (1) the family's principal place of residence; or (2) a farm on which the family resides. Sets forth formulas for determination of the adjusted net worth of the principal place of residence, from ten percent of the net value of such residence for parents' whose total income is between $40,000 and $45,000, increasing by increments of $5,000 income and 15 percent, up to 100 percent for those whose income is $70,000 or more. Reduces from 70 percent to not less than 45 percent the amount of student income considered for purposes of expected contribution by a dependent student. Permits independent students with dependents to deduct from their total income, for purposes of determining the family's available income in student aid calculations, an allowance for reasonable child care costs, which is equal to the amount paid by the student or to the student's spouse, or both, for each dependent child receiving child care services. Expands eligibility of students and families to use the Simplified Needs Test to apply for Federal student financial aid, by raising the income ceiling cap from $15,000 to $25,000. Provides that nothing in HEA title IV (Student Assistance) limits the authority of student financial aid administrators to: (1) make necessary adjustments to the cost of attendance and expected student and/or parent under special circumstances; or (2) use supplementary information about the financial status or personal circumstances of eligible applicants in selecting recipients and determining award amounts under specified student assistance programs. Allows the exclusion of certain assets from the calculation of expected family contribution in the case of dislocated workers or displaced homemakers. Allows, in the case of dislocated workers, projected income for the award year to be considered instead of income reported for the preceding tax year. Makes conforming amendments relating to provisions for dislocated workers and displaced homemakers. Repeals certain provisions relating to determinations of income and consideration of unemployment compensation received by dislocated workers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Persian Gulf Conflict Supplemental Authorization and Personnel Benefits Act of 1991 - Title I: Authorization of Fiscal year 1991 Supplemental Appropriations for Operation Desert Storm - Authorizes supplemental appropriations for FY 1991 to the Department of Defense (DOD) for its current and future balances in the Defense Cooperation Account (Cooperation Account). Requires Cooperation Account funds to be used for: (1) incremental costs associated with Operation Desert Storm; and (2) replenishment of the working capital account for DOD to be known as the Persian Gulf Working Capital Account (Capital Account). Authorizes appropriations to the Capital Account for FY 1991. Requires Capital Account funds to be used for incremental costs associated with Operation Desert Storm, but only to the extent that funds for such use are not available in the Cooperation Account. Requires Cooperation Account funds to replenish funds used from the Capital Account. Reverts Capital Account balances to the Treasury upon its termination. Authorizes funds from both Accounts to be transferred to appropriation accounts of DOD as necessary to meet Operation Desert Storm incremental costs. Increases the transfer authority provided in current law for DOD transfers to accomodate such increased transfer authority. Requires all such transfers to comply with a congressional notice-and wait requirement. Requires monthly reports through FY 1992 on such transfers to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees (the defense committees) and to the Comptroller General. Title II: Waiver of Personnel Ceilings Affected by Operation Desert Storm - Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to waive any military personnel end strength in such department as prescribed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991. Allows certain grade strength limitations to be suspended. Requires such Secretary to certify to the defense committees that the exercise of such authority is necessary because of personnel actions relating to Operation Desert Storm. Authorizes additional appropriations to DOD from the Cooperation Account for increases in military personnel costs for FY 1991 through 1995 resulting from the exercise of such waiver and suspension authorities. Title III: Benefits for Persons Serving in the Armed Forces During the Persian Gulf Conflict - Part A: Military Compensation and Benefits - Increases, as of August 1, 1990, the rate of special pay for duty subject to hostile fire or imminent danger. Terminates such increase 180 days after termination of the Persian Gulf War. Increases from $60 to $75 the monthly family separation allowance for the period beginning January 15, 1991, and ending at the beginning of the first month after a 180-day period after the end of the Persian Gulf conflict. Requires that the variable housing allowance being paid to reserve members called to active duty in the Persian Gulf be calculated using the rate to which the member is entitled in the area of the member's principal place of residence in lieu of a permanent duty location. Authorizes the payment of active duty special pay to reserve optometrists, veterinarians, nurse anesthetists, and certain other non-physician health care providers called or ordered to active duty in connection with activities in the Persian Gulf. Authorizes the payment of such special pay to physicians, dentists, optometrists, veterinarians, nurse anesthetists, and other non-physician health care providers who are: (1) involuntarily retained on active duty; (2) recalled to active duty; or (3) agreeing to remain on active duty for less than one year in connection with the Persian Gulf Conflict. Authorizes continued payment of board certification pay to physicians, dentists, and other health care providers who have completed residency training and were scheduled for board certification or recertification, but were unable to complete such process due to a duty assignment in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict. Conditions such payments upon the completion of such certification or recertification requirements within 180 days after release from such duty assignment or such additional time thereafter as determined necessary by the Secretary of Defense. Requires foreign language proficiency pay to be paid to members assigned to duty in connection with the Persian Gulf Conflict who meet all eligibility criteria for such pay except that they have not been certified by the Secretary concerned to be proficient in a foreign language necessary for national defense purposes. Conditions such payment upon the completion of such certification within 180 days after release from such duty assignment or such additional time thereafter as determined necessary by the Secretary. Establishes a death gratuity of $6,000 for all deaths resulting from injury or illness incurred during the Persian Gulf Conflict or 180 days after such conflict. Directs the Secretary to pay a death gratuity to each Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (SGLI) beneficiary of each deceased member of the armed forces who died after August 1, 1990, and before the date of enactment of this Act. Makes the amount of such death gratuity an amount equal to the SGLI coverage at the time of death. Requires the appropriate SGLI recipient to make application to the Secretary for the payment of such death gratuity within one year after the enactment of this Act. Entitles survivors of members who die as a result of injury or illness sustained while on active duty during the Persian Gulf War to payment for all accrued leave of such member. (Currently, there are limitations to the authorized build-up of such leave.) Removes the ceiling on savings deposit for service members carried in a missing person status during the Persian Gulf Conflict. Requires the payment of a basic allowance for quarters to reserve members without dependents called to active duty in connection with the Persian Gulf Conflict who are unable to occupy the primary residence owned or rented by such member because of such active duty. Part B: Military Personnel Policies and Programs - Allows a retired member of the armed forces who is ordered to return to active duty in connection with Operation Desert Storm to be ordered to such active duty in the highest grade in which the member previously satisfactorily served on active duty. States that a member ordered to active duty in a grade higher than his or her retired grade shall be deemed to have been promoted to such grade. Delays until October 1, 1991, the implementation of a required increase in the annual deductible for services provided under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) in the case of dependents of active duty personnel serving or who have served in connection with the Persian Gulf Conflict. Allows any health care provider furnishing health care under CHAMPUS to dependents of military personnel serving on active duty in the Persian Gulf to waive any required copayment from such dependents during the Persian Gulf Conflict. Requires the provider to certify to the Secretary of Defense that the amount charged to the Government under such waiver was not increased above the amount the provider would have charged the Government had the payment not been waived. Provides certain transitional health care benefits under CHAMPUS to reservists called to active duty in connection with the Persian Gulf Conflict, and to active duty personnel involuntarily retained on active duty or voluntarily agreeing to remain on active duty for less than one year in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Provides such transitional health care for 30 days after release from active duty or the date on which the member and his or her dependents are covered by an employer-sponsored health plan. Provides such coverage for dependents of such reservists or active-duty personnel. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to remove certain fiscal year restraints in such Act concerning spending in support of the Persian Gulf Conflict. Directs the Secretary to carry out a study of DOD policies relating to the family interests and responsibilities of reserve members called to active duty and of active and reserve members deployed overseas. Requires a report on study results. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to extend to October 1, 1991, the effective date for certain reductions in inpatient mental health services to be implemented under such Act. Provides funding from the Cooperation Account to pay for the costs incurred in delaying such reductions in services. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that armed forces policy should provide that mothers of newborn children under six months of age shall not be: (1) deployed on active duty; or (2) activated if such activation requires separation from such child, or deployed, in the case of a mother serving in the reserves. Part C: Veterans Benefits and Programs - Persian Gulf War Veterans' Benefits Act of 1991 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to include the Persian Gulf War within the definition of "period of war" for purposes of eligibility for general veterans' benefits, veterans' pensions, and survivors' benefits for a veteran's spouse and dependents. Requires, in the case of pension eligibility of the surviving spouse of a Persian Gulf War veteran, that such spouse marry the veteran before January 1, 2001. Extends the eligibility for one-time dental care for dental conditions found to have been incurred while on active duty to those who served at least 90 days on active duty during the Persian Gulf War. Extends to such veterans a presumption of service-connection for psychosis that becomes manifest within two years from discharge from active duty and before the end of the two-year period beginning on the last day of the Persian Gulf War. Makes veterans of the Persian Gulf War and subsequent wars eligible for drugs and medicine required due to being permanently housebound or in need of regular aid and attendance. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish readjustment counseling to any veteran who served on active duty after May 7, 1975, in an area at a time during which hostilities occurred in such area. Defines "hostilities" as an armed conflict comparable to the danger members are subjected to in combat with enemy forces during a period of war. Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to each submit two reports to the Congress concerning the need for rehabilitative services for military personnel participating in the Persian Gulf War who experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Increases from $50,000 to $100,000 the maximum amount of life insurance coverage available to servicemen and veterans under the SGLI and Veterans' Group Life Insurance programs. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that persons insured under either program are notified of such increase and given an opportunity to increase their coverage. Increases the monthly educational assistance benefits available to active-duty military personnel under the Montgomery GI Bill to: (1) $350 for those serving on active duty for three years or more; and (2) $275 for those serving two years on active duty. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, after FY 1993, to continue such increased rates and to further increase such rates to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. Increases in FY 1992 and 1993 the monthly educational assistance benefits available to reserve members serving at least six years in the reserves to: (1) $170 for full-time study; (2) $128 for three-quarter-time study; and (3) $85 for half-time study. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, after FY 1993, to continue such increased rates and to further increase such rates to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. Authorizes veteran representatives of the Persian Gulf War to be included on the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education. Revises veterans' reemployment rights with respect to disabled veterans to state that a person shall be considered qualified for an employment position if such person, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position. Requires the employer to make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of the individual disabled, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on its business. Excludes employers employing less than a certain number of personnel as of a specified date from such requirements. Requires an employer to make reasonable efforts to requalify a service member returning to his or her employment position held before such service. Makes each veteran who served on active duty for 90 days or more during the Persian Gulf War eligible for housing loan benefits under the veterans' home loan program. Part D: Federal Employee Benefits - Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish a leave bank program under which: (1) employees of any executive agency may donate any unused annual leave to a leave bank established by OPM; (2) the total donated annual leave is divided equally among the annual leave accounts of employees who have been members of the armed forces serving on active duty during the Persian Gulf War and who return to civilian employment with their agencies; and (3) such participants may use such donated annual leave in the same manner as any other annual leave to their credit. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a similar program for the benefit of health-care professionals returning to employment within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Part E: Higher Education Assistance - Persian Gulf Conflict Higher Education Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to ensure that men and women serving on active duty during the Persian Gulf War who are borrowers of student loans under such Act are not placed in a worse position financially in relation to those loans because of such service. Requires the Secretary to publish such waivers or modifications in the Federal Register. Expresses the sense of the Congress that all institutions offering postsecondary education should provide a full refund or credit to any reserve member serving on active duty in the Persian Gulf for the portion or period of instruction such member was unable to complete because the individual was called up for such service. Directs the Secretary of Education to report to the Congress on the implementation of this provision. Amends the Public Health Service Act to exempt members of the armed forces from required payments on loans under such Act for the training of professional health personnel for the duration of active duty during the Persian Gulf conflict. Terminates the provisions concerning student loan modifications and waivers, and interrupted education refunds or credits, as of the end of FY 1997. Part F: Programs for Farmers and Ranchers - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary, for purposes of this part), with respect to a producer on a farm who is an activated reservist (called or ordered to active duty in the Persian Gulf) during a crop year, to provide for the protection of the producer's crop acreage base for any crop to the extent necessary to provide fair and equitable treatment. Allows producers on a farm to be eligible for payments for rice or upland cotton under the Agricultural Act of 1949 without regard to minimum planting requirements of such Act if: (1) one or more of the producers is an activated reservist during any part of the crop year; and (2) the producers satisfy all other appropriate requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for a temporary waiver or modification of the application of subtitles A through E of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (erodible land conservation requirements): (1) for the period during which the producer is an activated reservist; (2) if necessary to prevent undue hardship caused as a result of the producer's active duty during the Persian Gulf War or to provide equitable treatment; and (3) if the waiver or modification will not significantly detract from the purposes and objectives of such subtitles. Requires a report from the Secretary concerning temporary waivers and modifications so granted. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide relief to any borrower under any farmer program loan under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act if the borrower is an activated reservist. Directs the Secretary to modify the terms and conditions of such loans in order to alleviate conditions of distress and to assist in keeping the farm or ranch of an activated reservist in operation until his or her return. Allows the Secretary to modify loans or to take other specified action in order to maintain a farm or ranch until the reservist returns. Requires the Secretary to notify persons operating a farm or ranch of an activated reservist who is a farmer program borrower of these relief provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for procedures by which the spouse or other close relative of an activated reservist may participate in, or make decisions related to, a program administered by the Secretary under the Agricultural Act of 1949 or other specified Acts concerning the operation of the activated reservist's farm or ranch. Allows the Secretary to rely on the representations of the spouse or close relative made under such procedures, under certain conditions. Directs the Secretary to conduct outreach projects in order to inform households of which a member is serving on active duty in the armed forces of possible eligibility for participation in the Food Stamp Program authorized under the Food Stamp Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary to report on the effectiveness of the outreach projects. Part G: Budget Treatment - Authorizes supplemental appropriations from the Cooperation Account for the payment of new or enhanced benefits authorized under title III of this Act for FY 1991 through 1995, with specified spending prohibitions. Authorizes appropriations from the Cooperation Account for title III costs accruing after FY 1995. Provides that certain title III benefit costs are to be considered incremental costs associated with Operation Desert Storm. Prohibits the payment of any title III benefit payable during FY 1991 through 1995 unless funds are specifically appropriated from the Cooperation Account for transfer to the applicable appropriations. Prohibits payment of Montgomery GI Bill rate increases during FY 1992 or 1993 unless a specific appropriation from the Cooperation Account for such purpose occurs. Title IV: Reports on Foreign Contributions and the Costs of Operation Desert Storm - Requires the Director of OMB to prepare periodic reports on the incremental costs associated with Operation Desert Storm and the contributions made to the United States by foreign countries to offset these costs. Requires each such report to include periodic and cumulative costs, as well as nonrecurring costs and cost offsets. Requires the Secretaries of State and the Treasury to jointly prepare periodic reports on the contributions made by foreign countries as part of the international response to the Persian Gulf Crisis. Outlines specific types of contributions to be included in such report. Requires both of the above series of reports to be submitted in unclassified form, to the extent practicable. Title V: Report on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf Conflict - Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the congressional defense committees on the conduct of the hostilities in the Persian Gulf, including a discussion of the accomplishments and shortcomings of the armed forces in such conflict, as well as casualty information. Requires a preliminary and final report on such matters. Title VI: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to ensure that families of military personnel serving on active duty obtain needed child care services, with special focus on children of personnel serving in the Persian Gulf or otherwise deployed in connection with Operation Desert Shield. Authorizes appropriations from the Cooperation Account for such purpose. States that such funds are in addition to other funds used for child care programs for members of the armed forces. Authorizes the Secretary to provide assistance to ensure that families of military personnel serving on active duty receive educational assistance and family support services necessary to meet the needs arising out of Operation Desert Storm. Outlines provisions concerning the types of assistance, areas of assistance, and the types of educational and family support assistance to be provided. Authorizes appropriations from the Cooperation Account. Directs the Secretary of the Army to convey to Caroline County, Virginia, or the Commonwealth of Virginia all rights and interest to a parcel of land located at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Directs the Secretary to identify the size and location of the property to be so conveyed. Outlines property conveyance conditions, and requires reversion to the United States if such property is not used for the construction and operation of a regional correctional facility. Prohibits housing certain prisoners in such correctional facility. Repeals a provision of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 made inconsistent by such provision. States that the Congress: (1) supports and endorses national, State, and local grassroots efforts to support our servicemen and women who participated in Operation Desert Storm, as well as their families at home; (2) encourages Federal, State, and local governments, as well as private business and industry, to organize task forces intended to provide support for the families of military personnel deployed in the Persian Gulf region and to organize celebrations for returning servicemen and women; and (3) encourages those governments, businesses, and industries to include Vietnam Veteran organizations in all activities conducted for the benefit of the troops returning home from Operation Desert Storm. Amends a provision of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 relating to the filing of financial disclosure statements by certain senior Government officials to extend the time for such filing, in the case of an individual serving in the armed forces or in support of the armed forces, to a date that is the later of 180 days after the last day of the individual's: (1) service in an area; or (2) hospitalization as a result of injury received or illness contracted while serving in such area. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Army Corps of Engineers and other Federal agencies should award contracts for the rebuilding of Kuwait, and should encourage the Government of Kuwait to award such contracts, according to the following priority: (1) to U.S. firms that are committed to employing U.S. workers under the contract; (2) to other U.S. firms; and (3) to firms from allied nations that committed troops to the liberation of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf Conflict. Expresses the sense of the Congress that any U.S. firm that receives such a contract should: (1) employ U.S. citizens under such contract; and (2) provide a preference to veterans in hiring for work under such contract. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should take steps to provide assistance to U.S. small and minority-owned businesses seeking to be awarded contracts for the rebuilding of Kuwait; (2) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration should conduct a public information campaign to advise such businesses about becoming so involved; and (3) U.S. firms that are awarded such contracts should award subcontracts under such contracts to U.S. small and minority-owned businesses. Directs the President to submit quarterly reports with respect to contracting for the rebuilding of Kuwait. Expresses the sense of the Congress that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by any provision of law may be obligated or expended, directly or indirectly, for rebuilding Iraq while Saddam Hussein remains in power there. Directs the Secretary of Defense, as of six months after enactment of this Act, to withhold payments normally provided to a foreign nation for expenses of indirect-hire civilian DOD personnel in that nation if such nation has pledged to make contributions to the United States to assist in defraying the cost of Operation Desert Shield and has not paid the full amount so pledged. Releases amounts so withheld upon payment of the full amount pledged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such withholding upon certification to the Congress that such waiver is in the national security interest. Requires the Secretary, in allocating to defense installations and facilities the defense acquisition workforce reductions required for FY 1991, to use considerable flexibility in order to respond to the influx of work expected to enter the defense acquisition system as a result of Operation Desert Storm. States that any installation or facility that will experience a significant workload increase during FY 1991 as a result of Operation Desert Storm activities is not required to make defense acquisition workforce reductions during FY 1991. Title VII: Miscellaneous Technical Amendments - Makes various technical, clarifying, or conforming amendments to Federal armed forces provisions, military pay and allowances provisions, National Guard provisions, and various public laws and specified Acts. Title VIII: Authorization of Supplemental Appropriations for Department of Energy National Security Programs for Fiscal Year 1991 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 for: (1) operating expenses incurred in carrying out national security programs for weapons activities production and surveillance; and (2) carrying out environmental restoration and waste management programs necessary for national security programs. States that provisions contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 concerning the applicability of recurring general provisions shall apply in the same manner to this title. Directs the Secretary of Energy to develop a program to relocate within ten years operations performed at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, to a replacement facility at which public health and safety can be assured. Requires a report concerning implementation of such relocation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude the imposition of employer social security taxes on cash tips.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Technical Corrections Act of 1991 - Title I: Revenue Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make technical corrections to amendments made by the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Title XI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990) with respect to: (1) individual income tax provisions; (2) excise taxes; (3) certain revenue increases; (4) the extension of certain expiring tax provisions; (5) energy incentives; (6) small business incentives; and (7) the repeal of expired or obsolete provisions. Makes technical corrections to amendments made by Title XII (Pensions) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 concerning: (1) treatment of hedge bond rules; (2) treatment of dispositions of U.S. real property interests; and (3) treatment of passive activity credits. Title II: Medicare Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical amendments with respect to the Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) concerning: (1) excluding distinct psychiatric and rehabilitation units from adjustment to payments for hospitals exempt from the prospective payment system; (2) the DRG payment window expansion; (3) physician payment provisions; (4) nursing home reform; (5) services furnished in ambulatory surgical centers; (6) durable medical equipment and orthotics and prosthetics, including a required study; and (7) other specified Medicare services. Makes technical corrections related to Medicare supplemental insurance policies. Title III: Corrections Relating to Social Security, Income Security and Human Resources, and Tariff and Customs - Amends the Social Security Act to make technical corrections related to provisions concerning old-age, survivors and disability insurance in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Amends such Act to make technical corrections related to income security and human resources provisions. Makes technical amendments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, and the Customs and Trade Act of 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the requirement that an S corporation (certain small business corporations) have only one class of stock. Provides that an S corporation shall be treated as having one class of stock if all outstanding shares of stock confer identical rights for distribution and liquidation proceeds. Grants such corporations a reasonable period of time to take corrective action if found to have more than one class of stock in order to retain S corporation status.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1980 to authorize appropriations for the African Development Foundation for FY 1992 and 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
R & E Permanent Resolution Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the rules on the allocation of research and experimental expenditures. (Currently, such rules expire on August 1, 1991.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Declares that the United States should: (1) call upon the Government of Papua New Guinea to make available the findings and implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry Into Aspects of the Forest Industry; (2) provide technical and financial assistance to achieve these ends; (3) call upon the Government of Japan to investigate the activities of certain private Japanese corporations and official aid agencies in violating laws in Papua New Guinea and in causing the destruction of tropical forests; (4) seek the enactment of tax treaties and other arrangements with the governments of Papua New Guinea and other timber exporting countries to prohibit illegal activities and falsification of trade information; (5) work to reduce Japan's consumption of timber and regulate its trade to ensure that timber traded comes from sustainable sources; and (6) call upon the International Tropical Timber Organization to create a system under which all internationally traded tropical timber is authenticated to ensure its true origin, species, volume, value, and price and to ensure that all timber traded by the end of 1994 comes only from sources managed without harm to the environment and societies in timber-exporting nations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Comprehensive Energy Policy Act of 1991 - Title I: Conservation and Energy Efficiency in the Electricity Sector - Subtitle A: Electricity and Utilities - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to declare that the rates charged by a State-regulated electric utility shall be such that its net income after implementation of cost effective conservation measures is at least as high as it would have been if such measures had not been implemented. Directs the Tennessee Valley Authority to use least-cost planning in its decision-making regarding increased electric power demand. Requires unregulated utilities to initiate or expand efforts to ensure that cost-effective energy efficiency is pursued by customer utilities. Sets forth energy efficiency guidelines for unregulated utilities. Requires unregulated utilities to submit an annual energy efficiency status report to the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary). Authorizes the Secretary to provide energy efficiency and conservation grants to State regulatory authorities upon their submission of an energy efficiency and conservation plan. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Residential, Commercial, and Federal Energy Use - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct the Secretary to establish a technical assistance program for States and localities to update the energy efficiency provisions of residential and commercial building codes. Mandates certification by each State that it has updated its residential and commercial building energy codes. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force to advise in the development of the energy efficiency update program. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to promulgate procedures that may be used by governmental entities and the private sector to assign efficiency ratings to residential buildings. Requires the Secretary to implement a technical assistance program utilizing energy efficiency rating systems based on such promulgated procedures. Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress on such procedures and State actions to implement them. Authorizes appropriations. Sets a deadline by which each Federal agency must: (1) install energy conservation measures in Federal buildings with a specified payback period; (2) submit a list of projects to the Secretary which meet such payback criterion; and (3) have substantially completed at least 25 percent of such projects or as many as would account for 25 percent of total energy savings. Directs the Secretary to develop guidelines for the selection of energy service contractors by Federal agencies. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish the Federal Energy Efficiency Fund to provide grants to Federal agencies to enable them to meet energy conservation requirements in Federal buildings; and (2) report annually to the Congress on progress. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes Federal agency participation in energy conservation programs conducted by gas or electric utilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a financial bonus program to reward outstanding facility energy managers in Federal agencies; (2) study the monetary value of the environmental benefits resulting from energy efficiency improvements in Federal buildings; (3) establish a program to install in Federal buildings commercial energy efficiency technologies developed by entities receiving Federal financial research and development assistance; and (4) disseminate an evaluation of each energy efficiency technology included in the program. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator of the General Services Administration to: (1) issue guidelines to Federal Product Schedule users to encourage their purchase of preferred energy efficient models based upon a life-cycle-cost-benefit analysis; (2) provide assistance to manufacturers whose energy efficient products are not listed on the Federal Product Schedule to encourage inclusion of their products on it; and (3) submit a status report to the Congress on manufacturers on the Schedule. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Standards and Information - Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide financial assistance to support a voluntary national window rating program to develop energy ratings and labels for windows and window systems; (2) develop voluntary national standards for industrial insulation; (3) review and report to the Congress on energy audit procedures in commercial, agricultural, and industrial sectors; (4) establish test procedures and develop energy conservation standards for lamps, appliance motors, and small package air conditioners; (5) evaluate for the Congress the feasibility of requiring electric lights and utility distribution transformers to meet minimum energy efficiency levels (and the possible replacement of existing transformers); and (6) submit to the Congress a program plan for promoting the early introduction of high-efficiency appliances by utilities and appliance manufacturers. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) exclude from gross income the value of energy and water conservation subsidies provided by a public utility to a customer; and (2) restore the tax credit for energy conservation expenditures on oil-heated homes. Title II: Conservation in the Transportation Sector - Subtitle A: Alternative Fuels - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation when amending fuel economy standards: (1) not to consider the fuel economy of alcohol-powered automobiles or natural gas-powered automobiles; but (2) to consider dual energy automobiles and natural gas dual energy automobiles to be operated exclusively on gasoline or diesel fuel. Sets forth acquisition and credit allocation guidelines for owners, operators and lessees of fleets of alternative fuel vehicles. Prescribes civil and administrative penalties for noncompliance with this Act. Subtitle B: Natural Gas as a Transportation Fuel - Amends the Natural Gas Act to state that its provisions shall not apply to a person solely because such person sells or transports natural gas for subsequent use as a fuel in transportation vehicles. Preempts any State regulation prior to January 1, 1989, with respect to natural gas transportation in closed containers, or the sale of natural gas for use as a fuel in transportation vehicles. Declares that a company shall not be considered a gas utility company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 solely because it distributes or sells natural gas as a fuel for transportation vehicles. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to define a "high-priority user" as any person who uses natural gas as a fuel in transportation vehicles. Subtitle C: Fuel Economy - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation to amend the average fuel economy standard to levels which the Secretary determines are the maximum feasible average fuel economy level for model years beginning after model year 1996. Extends from ten to 30 days the period during which the Secretary of Energy may provide the Secretary of Transportation with written comments on the level of proposed amended fuel economy standards. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to determine by rule an appropriate fuel economy credit to be given to electric vehicle manufacturers. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee the value of any qualified transportation benefit provided by the employer. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations providing for appropriate credits for complying with the Clean Air Act to persons who operate programs for the scrapping of older, less fuel efficient vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to study whether consumers use automotive fuel octane ratings higher than needed to operate their vehicles, and, if so, to take appropriate consumer education steps to reduce the excess use of premium gasoline. Declares certain conservation requirements under the Clean Air Act applicable to all employers of 100 or more persons in standard metropolitan statistical areas of 250,000 or more people. Declares it is U.S. policy that by 2000 at least ten percent of the Nation's vehicle transportation needs shall be served by domestic non-petroleum fuels. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric vehicle research and development grant program to fund joint venture demonstrations of electric vehicles, and to develop an electric vehicle infrastructure. Authorizes appropriations. Declares that for purposes of the Natural Gas Act, vehicular natural gas, including gas sold wholesale or transported by persons with service area determinations, shall be deemed to be ultimately consumed in the State in which physical delivery of a natural gas sale occurs, whether or not physical combustion occurs in another State. Directs the Administrator of EPA to approve use of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) in unleaded gasoline in amounts up to .03125 grams per gallon. Title III: Renewable Energy Sources - Subtitle A: PURPA Size Cap and Co-Firing Reform - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prescribe rules requiring electric utilities to offer to purchase electric capacity from alternative power production facilities only through competitive acquisition. Subjects alternative power production facilities to current cogeneration and small power production rules. Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Power Regulatory Reform - Amends the Federal Power Act to direct FERC to require hydroelectric power project license applicants to consult with certain Federal and State agencies and Indian tribes and file a plan and schedule for conducting studies as part of the licensing process. Sets forth guidelines for additional licensing procedures. Directs FERC to coordinate a single, consolidated licensing review (including review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) of a hydropower project license application by all interested Federal and State agencies and Indian tribes. Removes from FERC jurisdiction hydropower projects with installed capacities of five megawatts or less that have not received a license by the date of enactment of this Act. Permits such projects with licenses to petition for their surrender. Subtitle C: Credit for Electricity Generated Using Solar, Wind, or Geothermal Energy - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for electricity generated using solar, wind, or geothermal energy (renewable electricity generating credit). Extends the period allowing existing solar and geothermal energy credits. Subtitle D: Study of Tax and Rate Treatment of Renewable Energy Projects - Directs the Secretary of Energy to study and report to the Congress on the tax and rate treatment of renewable energy projects. Subtitle E: Encouragement of Energy Recovery From Waste - Requires each Federal agency to adopt policies and institute regulatory changes to encourage and remove regulatory obstacles to the burning of high-BTU secondary materials as a fuel substitute. Title IV: Electric Power - Subtitle A: Public Utility Holding Company Act Reform - Sets forth regulatory guidelines for the treatment of public utility holding companies as exempt wholesale generators. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous - Amends the Federal Power Act to mandate that FERC, as a prerequisite to approving a rate or charge filed as the result of an agreement between a public utility and a wholesale seller, require the purchasing utility to certify that the charge conforms to its least-cost planning as approved by a regulatory authority, or, if no such plan exists, that the charge is less than, or equal to, the utility's avoided cost. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Energy for electronic switching research. Requires the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on legislative and regulatory reforms and incentives to provide improved electric transmission transfer capability between the councils comprising the North American Electric Reliability Council. Title V: Natural Gas Regulatory Reform - Directs FERC to: (1) issue regulations to expedite pipeline certifications; and (2) report to certain congressional committees on recommended reforms to facilitate increased deliverability of natural gas to consumers. Amends the Natural Gas Act to provide that, for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, a FERC certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas facility construction or extension is the only Federal action requiring a detailed environmental impact statement. Directs FERC to permit natural gas facility construction on operation applicants to prepare such statements. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to authorize an interstate pipeline to construct facilities incidental to transportation service upon 30 days notice to the affected State commission. Amends the Natural Gas Act to declare that a natural gas transportation rate mutually agreed-upon by a natural-gas company and the customer is deemed just and reasonable and in compliance with this Act. Sets forth expedited certification procedures for natural gas transportation and related facilities construction. Provides for the construction and operation of natural gas transportation facilities with an option not to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (thus taking such facility out of the jurisdiction of the Act). Sets forth deadlines for a rehearing under the Natural Gas Act. Declares that facilities repair or replacement does not require a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Sets forth certification procedures for priority natural gas facility. Title VI: Oil and Gas Production - Subtitle A: Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Leasing - Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Leasing Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain Study Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. States that this Act shall be considered the primary land management authorization for all exploration and production activities on the Coastal Plain. Provides that no land management review shall be required except as specifically authorized by this Act. Mandates that all receipts from sales, rentals, bonuses, and royalties on leases under this Act be deposited into the Treasury. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to ensure that oil and gas exploration and transportation activities are conducted to achieve the reasonable protection of animal and environmental resources (including subsistence uses of the Coastal Plain). States that the "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, Coastal Plain Resource Assessment," prepared by the Secretary, satisfies all legal requirements for such promulgation and that no further studies or assessments shall be required. Directs the Secretary to provide impact aid and other assistance to communities on the North Slope and elsewhere in Alaska in order to ensure the public services needed to accommodate oil and gas production and transportation activities on the Coastal Plain. Subtitle B: Tax Incentives for Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow as an income tax credit 15 percent of: (1) any qualified investment in crude oil and natural gas exploration activities; and (2) the qualified cost of each barrel of eligible crude oil (marginal production credit). Declares that intangible drilling and development costs with respect to oil and gas wells shall also apply to surface casting costs and geological and geophysical costs for ascertaining the existence, location, extent or quality of domestic oil or gas deposits (thus qualifying them for deduction). Repeals the taxable income limitation on oil and gas well depletion allowances. Defines tar sands for IRC purposes. Removes from the alternative minimum tax purview oil and gas well depletion allowances and intangible drilling costs. Declares that the tax treatment with respect to mineral sharing arrangements shall be determined without regard to Revenue Ruling 77-176. Subtitle C: Oil Pipeline Deregulation - Oil Pipeline Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to terminate FERC jurisdiction over oil and other pipelines except the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Authorizes the Attorney General to petition the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) for an adjudication of whether Commission rate regulation of an existing pipeline in any market is in the public interest. Prescribes adjudication guidelines. Provides that pipeline rates for service to markets which are not identified in a mandatory published adjudications list will no longer be subject to FERC regulatory jurisdiction. Prescribes adjudication guidelines under which the Secretary shall find that regulation of a pipeline is in the public interest only if it is demonstrated that such regulation is necessary to constrain the exercise of substantial market power in the supply and demand of products transported by the pipeline in that market. States that new pipelines shall not be subject to existing Commission regulatory jurisdiction or rate regulation, but shall be subject to common carrier regulation under such Act. States that Commission rate regulation shall be prospective only. Prohibits terminated Commission regulatory jurisdiction from reverting to any other Federal agency. Confers exclusive, original jurisdiction over any petition for judicial review upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Precludes from such judicial review any action of the Attorney General under this Act, including adjudication petitions. Outlines the parameters within which pipelines are required to operate as common carriers. Requires pipelines to file terms of carriage schedules (except carriage rates) with the Commission. Sets forth guidelines for maximum rates, on a market by market basis, subject to price cap regulation based on base rates and cumulative changes in a Competitive Pipeline Price Index. Precludes a pipeline from conditioning its services upon entering into other transactions or on taking or refraining from any action. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding the results of this Act five years after the conclusion of all adjudications. Retains the applicability of antitrust laws to pipeline transportation of crude oil or refined oil products. Subtitle D: Leasing of Naval Petroleum Reserve - Naval Petroleum Reserve Leasing Act - Authorizes the President to lease Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 (California) if it is not necessary for national defense purposes. Sets forth leasing and antitrust guidelines. Mandates the use of competitive leasing procedures, minimum royalty payments, and crude oil set asides for sale to small refiners by Reserve lessees. Authorizes the President to take certain steps to arrange and conduct a leasing action. Authorizes the President to acquire privately owned lands or physical improvements within a Naval Petroleum Reserve if a lease of Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 cannot be arranged. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to store within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a Defense Petroleum Inventory of petroleum products (in addition to any other acquisition and storage for such Reserve required by law). Directs the Secretary to obligate the United States share of funds available in the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account (created by this Act) for the acquisition of 10,000,000 barrels of petroleum products for the Defense Petroleum Inventory. Declares that upon request of the Secretary of Defense: (1) petroleum products acquired for or dedicated to the Defense Petroleum Inventory shall be drawn down and distributed by the Secretary of Energy for the Department of Defense for use, sale, or exchange; and (2) the Secretary of Energy shall replace in the Defense Petroleum Inventory those petroleum products drawn down on behalf of the Department of Defense. Requires the Department of Defense to reimburse the Department of Energy for services rendered under this Act. Establishes the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account in the Treasury to implement this Act. Funds such Special Account with amounts realized from the lease of any United States interest in Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1. Sets forth a payment scheme under which lease proceeds shall be used to make payments to the State of California. Declares that: (1) the authority to lease under this Act extends to specified sections within Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1; and (2) this Act does not affect the withdrawal of lands provided for in certain school land grants. Subtitle E: Outer Continental Shelf Local Impact Assistance - Coastal State and Community Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Act - Establishes the Coastal State and Community Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Fund whose revenues shall be paid to and used by coastal States, especially for subdivisions socially or economically impacted by mineral development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Subtitle F: Western Hemisphere Energy Policy - Directs the President to report to the Congress on actions taken to implement U.S. policy to focus attention in trade negotiations and international consultations on investment policies that expand worldwide production capacity and diversity of oil suppliers. Title VII: Coal and Coal Technology - Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) conduct (and report annually to the Congress regarding) an advanced coal-based technologies research and development program; and (2) submit to the Congress a domestic coal export expansion plan. Establishes the Clean Coal Technology Export Coordinating Council to: (1) expand the export and use of clean coal technologies with an emphasis on their use in lesser developed countries; and (2) provide certain congressional committees with a plan detailing actions to be taken to address specified recommendations of the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to: (1) submit a status report to the Congress on commercialization of coal fuel mixtures; and (2) conduct a research and demonstration program for utilizing "ultra-clean coal-water slurry" in diesel locomotive engines. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore investment credits for pollution devices required by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Title VIII: Nuclear - Nuclear Standardization and Safety Reform Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Licensing Reform - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to issue a combined construction and operating license to an applicant after holding a public hearing and determining that facility construction and operation will comply with NRC rules and regulations. Directs the NRC to propose implementing regulations regarding combined license applications. Subtitle B: Amendment of PUHCA - Amends the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to exempt a public utility holding company from coverage under such Act if it controls utility assets pursuant to an NRC-approved management agreement and otherwise meets at least one of the other criteria for exemption. Permits the acquisition of securities of a public utility company controlling utility assets by an affiliate or an affiliate of another public utility or holding company if the control is pursuant to such an agreement. Subtitle C: Fast Flux Test Facility - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a research, development, and production center known as the "Research Reactor User Complex" (RRC) at the Hanford Reservation in Richland, Washington. Mandates that a contractor under contract with the Department of Energy to operate the RRC maintain and operate the Fast Flux Test Facility for the Department's account. Establishes the "RRC Fund" from which the Secretary may make expenditures to offset the cost of operating the RRC. Subtitle D: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Sewer and Water Fee Deductibility Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for amounts imposed by a State or local government as fees for water or sewer services. Disallows a deduction, individual or corporate, for that portion of the interest expense which is allocable to tax-exempt interest.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1991 - Title I: Increase in Access to Health Care and Affordable Health Insurance - Subtitle A: Provision of Insurance Through Small Employers - Part I: Small Employer Health Insurance Reforms - Provides for development by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of model standards regarding requirements under this Act relating to: (1) offering by small employer carriers of MedAccess plans; (2) benefits under such plans; (3) guaranteed issue; (4) initial writing; and (5) premium increases. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to adopt those standards or specify alternative standards. Provides for enforcement of the standards through each State. Allows a State to have more stringent standards. Directs the Secretary to enforce the standards in any State which fails to comply with enforcement or reporting requirements (Federal standard State). Amends the Internal Revenue Code tax on a small employer carrier for any failure in a Federal standard State to comply with the standards. Sets the tax at a specified percentage of the amounts received by the carrier for providing any health benefit plan to any small employer in the Federal standard State. Preempts any provision of State law with regard to a small employer health benefit plan that meets requirements of this Act relating to initial writing and premium increases. Requires each small employer carrier to offer a MedAccess Plan, defined as a plan which: (1) is designed to provide only basic hospital, medical, surgical, and preventive benefits so as to make it affordable to small employers as specified in standards under this Act; (2) is guaranteed issue; and (3) meets requirements of this Act relating to initial writing and premium increases. Defines the term, for a health maintenance organization (HMO), as a plan of the type described above, but with benefits consistent with applicable Federal or State requirements for HMOs. Requires each MedAccess plan to accept every small employer in the State that applies for coverage and every full-time employee, with associated family coverage. Provides special rules allowing HMOs to: (1) limit enrollment of employers and employees to the HMO's service area; and (2) deny coverage on the basis of inadequate capacity, provided the denial is applied uniformly without regard to health status, claims experience, or duration of coverage. Sets forth requirements for the initial writing of policies, including prohibiting limiting or excluding coverage for pre-existing conditions under certain circumstances. Limits: (1) variation of index rates between distinct groups of employers (blocks of business) as shown on the records of the carrier; (2) variation of premium rates within a block of business; and (3) transfer of employers among blocks of business. Sets forth rules for establishing blocks of business. Requires: (1) a carrier to fully disclose rating practices; (2) actuarial certification that a carrier is in compliance with these provisions and the rating methods are sound; and (3) registration of carriers with and reporting by carriers to the State insurance commissioner. Allows a carrier to condition issuance or renewal on enrollment of a minimum number or percentage of an employer's employees. Requires such conditions to be imposed uniformly on employers of the same size. Prohibits cancellation or denial of renewal other than for specified reasons, including for: (1) nonpayment of premiums; (2) noncompliance with plan provisions; (3) failure to maintain the required number or percentage of enrollees; or (4) misuse of a provider network provision. Limits premium increases. Prohibits for five years market reentry after a carrier terminates the offering of plans in an area. Provides for development by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of models for reinsurance mechanisms for individuals and small employers who are enrolled under a small employer plan and for whom a carrier is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan. Requires each State to establish and fund one or more reinsurance mechanisms. Allows a State, in order to assure the financial solvency of the mechanism, to impose charges on any entity, including a self-insured entity, providing employee-related health benefits. Directs the Secretary to establish a mechanism for a State which fails to do so (Federal reinsurance State). Requires the mechanism in a Federal reinsurance State to charge the carrier a premium equal to 500 percent of the premium charged to a reinsured individual or 150 percent of the premium charged a reinsured group. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the providing of any health benefit plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. Ties the amount of the tax to the percentage estimated as generating sufficient revenues to carry out the reinsurance. Requires the tax to be paid by the plan provider (the carrier, the HMO, or the administrator of a self-insured plan). Allows each State commissioner of insurance to require each employer health benefit plan, including a self-insured plan, to be registered with that commissioner. Allows the Secretary to impose such a requirement with regard to a Federal reinsurance State. Part II: Requiring Employers to Offer Health Insurance to Employees - Requires each small employer to make available to each full-time employee the option to enroll the employee, and the employee's spouse and dependent children, in a MedAccess plan. Declares that the employer need not make any contribution towards the cost. Considers an employer in compliance if the employer sought coverage but the plan was not made available because an insufficient number or percentage of employees enrolled. Requires each large employer to make available to each full-time employee the option to enroll the employee, and the employee's spouse and dependent children, in a health benefits plan providing for at least the benefits required of a MedAccess plan. Declares that the employer need not make any contribution towards the cost. Defines a large employer as having 26 or more full-time employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on an employer for failure to offer a health insurance plan. Sets the amount of the tax at a specified amount per employee per year, to a specified maximum. Part III: Definitions - Sets forth definitions of terms as used in this subtitle, including defining a small employer to include certain employers with between three and 26 employees. Subtitle B: Incentives for Managed Care Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on an employer for providing any health plan unless the plan is a cost-controlled plan or a safe harbor plan. Sets the amount of the tax at a specified percentage of the amount paid or incurred by the employer in providing the plan which is not a cost-controlled or safe harbor plan. Defines "cost-controlled health benefit plan" to mean either a managed care plan or a responsible co-payment plan. Defines "safe harbor plan" as a plan under which the average monthly employer contribution does not exceed specified levels for individual and group coverage. Increases the percentage of medical care insurance costs which a self-employed individual is allowed to deduct from income taxes. Removes provisions terminating all health care insurance deductions for self-employed individuals as of a specified date. Allows such deductions only for controlled-cost or safe harbor plans. Preempts and prohibits the enforcement of any State law that restricts: (1) carriers from negotiating reimbursement rates with providers or contracting selectively with one or a limited number of providers; (2) financial incentives a health plan may require a beneficiary to pay for using a non-plan provider on a non-emergency basis; and (3) certain aspects of utilization review. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services and report to the Congress. Declares the provisions superseding State law inapplicable after five years. Subtitle C: Study and Report - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to the Congress on the impact of the changes made by this title on: (1) increasing access to health care; (2) the number of employees of small employers who do not have health insurance; (3) the cost of small employer health benefit plans; and (4) the effectiveness of MedAccess plans. Title II: Encouraging Expansion of Services to the Poor and Working Poor - Declares that the remedy provided by specified provisions of Federal law relating to claims against the United States for personal injury resulting from medical care provided by an entity receiving a grant or contract under provisions relating to migrant and community health centers, or provided by an individual employed by or under contract to such a center, shall be exclusive of any other civil action or proceeding. Directs the Attorney General to defend any civil action or proceeding brought in any court against a protected person for such injury. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to certify that an entity receiving a grant or contract under such provisions has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; and (2) no history of claims against it or, if such claims exist, has fully cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against the claims and taken corrective steps. Directs the Secretary to provide for a program of grants to migrant and community health centers receiving grants or contracts under provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to such centers to promote the provision of primary health care services for underserved individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Preserving and Improving Quality of Care - Directs the Secretary to develop standards for: (1) a common set of hospital clinical patient data; and (2) the confidential transfer of data in electronic form. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on restructuring the Medicare peer review quality assurance program given the availability of hospital data in electronic form. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require hospitals, in order to be eligible for Medicare payments, to: (1) maintain clinical data in electronic form on all inpatients; and (2) transmit electronically to the Secretary or a utilization and quality control peer view organization a common set of clinical inpatient hospital data relating to any individual receiving services for which certain Medicare payments may be made. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to demonstrate and conduct research on the application of comprehensive information systems in monitoring and improving patient care. Makes up to a specified amount available each year from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for the grants.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Technical Corrections Act of 1991 - Title I: Revenue Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make technical corrections to amendments made by the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Title XI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990) with respect to: (1) individual income tax provisions; (2) excise taxes; (3) certain revenue increases; (4) the extension of certain expiring tax provisions; (5) energy incentives; (6) small business incentives; and (7) the repeal of expired or obsolete provisions. Makes technical corrections to amendments made by Title XII (Pensions) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 concerning: (1) treatment of hedge bond rules; (2) treatment of dispositions of U.S. real property interests; and (3) treatment of passive activity credits. Title II: Medicare Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical amendments with respect to the Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) concerning: (1) excluding distinct psychiatric and rehabilitation units from adjustment to payments for hospitals exempt from the prospective payment system; (2) the DRG payment window expansion; (3) physician payment provisions; (4) nursing home reform; (5) services furnished in ambulatory surgical centers; (6) durable medical equipment and orthotics and prosthetics, including a required study; and (7) other specified Medicare services. Makes technical corrections related to Medicare supplemental insurance policies. Title III: Corrections Relating to Social Security, Income Security and Human Resources, and Tariff and Customs - Amends the Social Security to make technical corrections related to provisions concerning old-age, survivors and disability insurance in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Amends such Act to make technical corrections related to income security and human resources provisions. Makes technical amendments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, and the Customs and Trade Act of 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends Federal law to increase the Federal payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government for entitlement land. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust such payments by the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recodify and revise qualifications for church retirement and pension plans. Makes employee contributions to such plans nonforfeitable. Allows ten-year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of accrued benefits derived from employer contributions. Allows five-to-fifteen year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to a percentage (25% to 100%) of such accrued benefits. Requires the plan to meet minimum vesting requirements. Provides that no employee shall be considered an officer, shareholder, supervisor, or highly compensated employee if such employee receives less than $50,000 per year. Excludes from such consideration employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement if retirement benefits were a subject of good faith bargaining. Recodifies the authority of a church or a convention or association of churches to be treated as an employer making contributions to retirement income accounts. Subjects church-related hospitals and universities to certain coverage and related rules in the case of a contract purchased by a church. Requires distributions from retirement income accounts provided by churches to be in accordance with distributions under cash or deferred arrangements. Provides for determining the beginning date for such distributions. Allows self-employed ministers and chaplains who work for non-church employers to participate in their church plans. Provides that certain rules aggregating employees do not apply to churches. Restores qualified voluntary employee contributions to church plans. Treats self-employed ministers as employees for purposes of certain welfare benefit plans and retirement income accounts. Allows a deduction for contributions to retirement income accounts by such ministers. Provides that a church plan maintained by more than one employer shall not be treated as a single plan. Provides that accounting methods of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations do not apply to a church plan. Exempts a church plan from the requirement to maintain separate accounts for medical benefits for key employees. Provides that the special rules for computing employee contributions to pension plans do not apply to certain foreign missionaries. Repeals the elective deferral catch-up limitation for church retirement income accounts. Allows church plans to annuitize benefits and increase benefit payments. Provides that rules for self-insured medical reimbursement plans are not applicable to church plans.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Intergovernmental Mandate Relief Act of 1991 - Prohibits a Federal agency or court from requiring compliance in any fiscal year by State or local governments with any intergovernmental regulation unless provisions of law have been enacted which compensate such governments for additional direct costs incurred by such compliance. Declares that the compensation requirement may be waived by the enactment of a joint resolution of the Congress. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to estimate such additional direct costs and include such estimates in annual reports to the President and the Congress. Requires congressional committees to propose amendments to significant laws for which regulations will be promulgated containing provisions to compensate State and local governments for additional direct costs of complying with any intergovernmental regulation which takes effect on or after enactment of this Act. Establishes procedures for Federal agencies to reimburse State governments for additional direct costs and for State governments to reimburse local governments for such costs. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require CBO to prepare cost estimates for bills or resolutions which are likely to cost State and local governments $100,000,000 (currently, $200,000,000) or more annually.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the tax on social security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the offset for rental real estate activities under passive activity rules to increase the low-income housing credit and the rehabilitation credit under such rules.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Repeals the provision of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1989 which requires the withholding of income tax from wages paid for agricultural labor. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied as though such provision had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Corporate Raider Tax Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow a deduction for interest on junk bonds incurred to acquire stock or assets in hostile takeovers. Requires that a hostile stock purchase in a corporate takeover attempt be treated as an asset acquisition by the purchasing corporation. Disallows an income tax deduction for interest on any indebtedness incurred or continued by a purchasing shareholder to purchase or carry corporate stock or assets acquired through a hostile purchase. Lowers the minimum maturity date requirement of an applicable high yield discount obligation from five years to two years (thus restricting the tax deduction for interest on certain high yield original issue discount obligations). Amends the definition of "disqualified yield" as it relates to the disqualified portion of original issue discount on any applicable high yield discount obligation to remove the additional percentage point added to the excess of the yield to maturity over a specified sum.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit mortgage revenue bond financing of mortgages for veterans of combat activities in the Persian Gulf.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by certain individuals who are unemployed.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make available to an employer a credit against income tax liability for expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year to acquire, construct, rehabilitate, or expand a qualified on-site day care facility operated by the employer for the care of enrollees, at least 30 percent of whom must be dependents of the employer's employees. Limits the amount of the credit based on the number of enrollees who may be cared for in the facility at one time. Limits use of the personal tax credit for employment-related day care expenses to taxpayers having adjusted gross income of $50,000 or less.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow a deduction for certain costs incurred in connection with any oil discharge or hazardous substance release. Provides an exception to such rule for any taxpayer who has a complete liability defense or qualifies for a liability limitation with respect to such discharge or release. Provides a limitation on the use of the net operating loss deduction to offset deductions disallowed by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove charitable contributions of appreciated capital gain property as an item of tax preference for purposes of the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to transfer separation pay from the Armed Forces within 60 days after its receipt to an eligible retirement plan.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Taxpayer Regulatory Relief Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the extent to which rules and regulations may be applied without retroactive effect (or with it). Requires all final, temporary, or proposed regulations and rulings issued by the Secretary to apply prospectively from the date of publication in the Federal Register, unless the Congress supersedes such treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Charitable Giving Tax Equity Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit individuals who do not itemize deductions a direct deduction from gross income of charitable deductions in excess of $100.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Declares that the United States should: (1) encourage the Government of Papua New Guinea to make available the findings and implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry Into Aspects of the Forest Industry; (2) provide technical and financial assistance to achieve these ends; (3) call upon the Government of Japan to investigate the activities of certain private Japanese corporations and official aid agencies in violating laws in Papua New Guinea and in causing the destruction of tropical forests; (4) seek the enactment of tax treaties and other arrangements with the governments of Papua New Guinea and other timber exporting countries to prohibit illegal activities and falsification of trade information; (5) work to reduce Japan's consumption of timber and regulate its trade to ensure that timber traded comes from sustainable sources; and (6) call upon the International Tropical Timber Organization to create a system under which all internationally traded tropical timber is authenticated to ensure its true origin, species, volume, value, and price and to ensure that all timber traded by the end of 1994 comes only from sources managed without harm to the environment and societies in timber-exporting nations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) a universal health care system, using Medicare, Medicaid, public and private insurance, and mandated employee benefits, be established by this Congress; (2) cost containment measures be included; and (3) system costs be covered through cost savings stemming from cost containment, a focus on primary and preventive care, a shift away from competition, quality control accountability, and, if new tax revenues are necessary, through revenues designed to minimize their effect on working and middle-income Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend permanently the exemption for State and local agricultural private activity bonds for first-time farmers.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Fairness for Adopting Families Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual income tax deduction for qualified adoption expenses. Includes as deductible reasonable and necessary expenses that are directly related to a legal adoption of any child if the adoption has been arranged by a State, local, or other nonprofit agency, or through a private placement. Excludes from an employee's gross income any amounts paid on behalf of the employee by an employer pursuant to a qualified adoption assistance program. Limits both the deduction and the exclusion to $5,000. Reduces the amount when the taxpayer's income exceeds $60,000. Permits an employer to treat an adoption assistance program as a statutory employee benefit plan, thus making the employer's contributions to such a program tax deductible as business expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Long-Term Growth and Job Opportunity Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a 50 percent capital gains deduction for corporate and noncorporate taxpayers for assets held for at least five years.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the personal exemption for a dependent child who has not attained age 18 from $2,000 to $3,500. Provides for rounding inflation adjustments in tax tables to the nearest multiple of $10 (currently rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50).
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Title I: Indexation of Certain Capital Assets - Requires indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Title II: Restoration of Capital Gains Exclusion for Small Business Stock - Permits noncorporate taxpayers an income tax deduction of 33 percent of the gain from an investment in the stock of a small business whose outstanding stock is valued at less than $100,000,000. Allows the deduction only if the taxpayer is the initial acquirer of the particular stock and holds the stock for at least four years. Allows corporate taxpayers an income tax deduction of 33 percent of the qualified small business net capital gain. Revises the computation of the alternative tax for corporations to include 23 percent of such gain. Limits the maximum marginal tax rate on the income from such investments to 21 percent for individual taxpayers. Adds the amount of the deduction for capital gain from such investments as a tax preference item for purposes of determining alternative minimum tax liability.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
American Health Security Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on insurance companies which do not meet mandatory policy and guaranteed issuance requirements and specific contractual requirements concerning coverage, rating, or disclosure and recordkeeping with respect to accident and health insurance provided to small employers. Permits Federal-State agreements to: (1) apply State laws in lieu of this Act; or (2) provide for States to determine if insurers are in compliance with such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Violence Against Women Act of 1991 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Mandatory Restitution, Treatment, and Rehabilitation for Sex Offenses - Requires that a court order restitution, treatment, and rehabilitation for violations of Federal sexual abuse laws, including participation in a psychotherapeutic treatment program by a licensed therapist for specified persons who committed sexual or sexual-related offenses. Specifies that: (1) the treatment program shall be designed to rehabilitate the affected person and to deter such person from committing a sexual offense after being released from the institution; and (2) treatment for a substance abuse-related condition shall be made available to such person in addition to, but not as a substitute for, counseling under such program. Sets forth provisions with respect to the period of treatment, the requirement of a complete forensic psychological assessment prior to the commencement of the treatment program, termination of treatment, supplemental chemical treatment (but the affected person may refuse to participate, or continue to participate, in supplementary chemical treatment), and the responsibilities of the Attorney General (such as contracting for treatment and documenting subsequent criminal sexual abuse). Directs the Attorney General to establish an advisory committee on therapeutic treatment for sex offenders. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crime Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Requires that the grants be used for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States, for use by States and their subdivisions, to be used for the same purposes as the high intensity area grants and to reduce the rate of violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country. Authorizes the Director, in addition to the grants under this subtitle, to direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources in support of State and local assistance efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Bars any State or other grantee (recipient) from receiving funds under this title unless such recipient incurs the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault when such exams are required under this title. Specifies that a recipient does not incur the full medical cost of such exams if it chooses to reimburse the victim after the fact unless the reimbursement program waives any minimum loss or deductible requirement, provides victim reimbursement within a reasonable time (90 days), permits applications for reimbursement within one year from the date of the exam, and provides information to all subjects of such exams about how to obtain reimbursement. Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Directs the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Sets the Federal share of each project at 90 percent of the net cost. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. Amends the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System (NPS). Provides for the compilation of a list of areas within the NPS with the highest rates of violent crime. Allows funds to be used, around public parks and recreation areas, for increasing lighting, providing emergency phone lines, increasing security or law enforcement personnel, and any other project to increase security and safety. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in public parks and recreation areas. Subtitle D: National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission after submission of its final report, subject to extension by the President for up to one more year. Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in criminal cases other than a sex offense case, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, inadmissible in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Defines actionable sexual misconduct to include sex harassment or discrimination claims under title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gender bias claims under title III of this Act. Makes evidentiary rulings made under specified Federal Rules of Evidence relating to sex offense cases and the relevance of a victim's past behavior subject to interlocutory appeal by the Government or by the alleged victim. Allows the alleged victim to waive those rules if the prosecution seeks to offer evidence of prior sexual history. Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissible to show the victim incited or invited the offense. Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. Authorizes appropriations. Removes a requirement that a minimum amount from the block grants under the PHSA be allotted to States on the basis of population. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to make grants for research and service demonstration projects to develop and evaluate techniques for lowering the overall incidence of rape by 20 percent by the year 2000 and for reducing the trauma and long-term impact of rape. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Provides for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who travels or causes another (including the intended victim) to travel across State lines or in interstate commerce with intent to injure a spouse or intimate partner and who, during the travel or thereafter, injures his or her spouse or intimate partner in violation of a criminal law of the State where the injury occurs, or in violation of a State protection order. Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act. Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Makes a protection order issued against a person who filed a written pleading for protection not entitled to full faith and credit if no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order or, if a cross or counter petition was filed, the court did not specifically find each party entitled to such an order. Subtitle B: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; and (3) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Directs the Secretary to delegate to the Attorney General responsibility to carry out these provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act, earmarking at least 85 percent of funds appropriated for States, and at least ten percent for Indian tribes and tribal organizations, for grants (under current law, demonstration grants) to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance. Limits the percentage which may be used to provide training and technical assistance to State, Indian tribal, and local domestic violence programs and to other professionals who provide services to victims of domestic violence. Subtitle D: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Amends the FVPSA to: (1) specify that the purpose of such Act is to increase public awareness of, as well as to prevent, family violence, and to provide for training to the courts, and legal, social service, and health professionals (current law specifies only local public agencies, nonprofit private organizations, and others seeking such assistance); and (2) grant preference in the distribution of funds to States that give special emphasis to projects including counseling and self-help services to victims and their children (current law covers counseling, alcohol and drug abuse treatment, and self-help services to abusers and victims.) Directs the Secretary to provide for the funding of domestic violence coalitions that shall further the purposes of domestic violence intervention and prevention through activities such as: (1) working with judicial and law enforcement agencies to encourage appropriate response to domestic violence cases and specified issues, such as the use of mandatory arrest of accused offenders and the use of interstate extradition in cases of domestic violence crimes; (2) working with family law judges, Child Protective Services agencies, and children's advocates to develop appropriate responses to child custody and visitation issues in domestic violence cases, and where domestic violence and child abuse are both present; and (3) conducting public education campaigns regarding domestic violence through the use of public service announcements and informative materials designed for print and electronic broadcast media, billboards, and public transit advertising. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to the allotment of funds. Requires: (1) that any State domestic violence coalition have standing to challenge whether a grantee is in compliance with the eligibility requirements, or to seek enforcement, of provisions of the FVPSA; and (2) that each such coalition submit a report to the Secretary detailing the coordination, training, technical assistance, and public education services performed, and evaluating the effectiveness of such services. Raises the limit on funding of grants in any fiscal year to any single entity (other than to a State) to $75,000 (currently, $50,000, and a $150,000 limit on the total amount of such grants to any such single entity). Modifies provisions with respect to grants to entities other than States to require that the local share as a proportion of the total amount of funds provided under such Act to the project involved be 35 percent for new programs for the first year of the program and 20 percent for each year therafter for existing programs. (Current law specifies 35 percent in the first year such project receives a grant under such Act, 55 percent in the second such year, and 65 percent in the third such year.) Repeals a provision requiring that a specified portion of State demonstration grant funds for preventing, and assisting victims of, family violence be distributed to provide shelter for victims. Includes shelter as "related assistance" that may be funded under grants for such purposes, as well as medical services, legal assistance, technical assistance with respect to obtaining financial assistance under Federal and State programs, employment training, and educational and preventive health services. Increases the minimum allotment to States for grants under the FVPSA. Requires the General Accounting Office, within 120 days, to complete a study of, and submit to the Congress a report and recommendations on, problems of recordkeeping of criminal complaints involving domestic violence. Directs the Secretary to: (1) award to not less than ten States model State leadership grants for domestic violence intervention; and (2) provide grants or contracts with public or private nonprofit organizations for the establishment and maintenance of a national resource center and six specialty resource centers focusing on one or more specified issues of concern to domestic violence victims. Sets forth eligibility requirements, funding provisions, and, with respect to the latter, reporting requirements. Subtitle E: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Title III: Civil Rights - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities in every State as are enjoyed by all other persons to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender (defined as any crime of violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, or any other crime of violence committed because of or on the basis of gender). Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws as enumerated by this Act liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate. Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 to allow the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title. Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Safe Campuses for Women Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make, on a competitive basis, grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education for rape education and prevention programs. Requires that the grants be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of rape or sexual assault, with 25 percent of the funds available for model demonstration programs for rape prevention and education curricula and for local programs to provide services to student rape victims. Authorizes appropriations to carry out title X (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) of the Act. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to add sexual assault to the list of criminal offenses about which statistics must be disclosed by institutions participating in certain programs. Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the State Justice Institute to expend at least: (1) 40 percent of appropriated funds on programs regarding domestic violence; and (2) 40 percent on programs regarding rape and assault. Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Directs the Federal Judicial Center to study and report on the nature and extent of gender bias in the Federal courts. Requires the Center to develop and disseminate model programs to be used in training Federal judges and court personnel in the laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires between 25 and 40 percent of such funds to be used for the study required by this subtitle.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Fairness for Adopting Families Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual income tax deduction for qualified adoption expenses. Includes as deductible reasonable and necessary expenses that are directly related to a legal adoption of any child if the adoption has been arranged by a State, local, or other nonprofit agency, or through a private placement. Excludes from an employee's gross income any amounts paid on behalf of the employee by an employer pursuant to a qualified adoption assistance program. Limits both the deduction and the exclusion to $5,000 ($7,000 in the case of an international adoption). Reduces the amount when the taxpayer's income exceeds $60,000. Permits an employer to treat an adoption assistance program as a statutory employee benefit plan, thus making the employer's contributions to such a program tax deductible as business expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Pension Tax Equity Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to prohibit a State from imposing an income tax on the pension income of an individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of such State.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Supplemental Compensation Act of 1991 - Establishes a Federal supplemental unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of Federal supplemental compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and the weekly amount of supplemental benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish a Federal supplemental compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that such amount shall be equal to the lesser of: (1) 100 percent of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual with respect to the most recent regular benefit year; or (2) 26 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Coordinates the Federal supplemental compensation program with the trade readjustment allowance program under the Trade Act of 1974. Sets forth general, special, and transitional rules for supplemental benefit periods, individual eligibility periods, State on and off indicators, and a temporary national trigger. Sets forth provisions for payments to States having such agreements for Federal supplemental compensation. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Repeals the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Act of 1970, and references to the extended unemployment compensation program (established by such Act) in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and in the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the standard mileage rate deduction for charitable use of a passenger automobile. Provides an inflation adjustment for such rate.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Oil Spill Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code relating to trade or business expenses to disallow the deduction for oil and hazardous substances cleanup costs if the Secretary of the Treasury receives notification from the relevant authority that the taxpayer has failed to comply with specified Federal environmental law. Disallows such deduction where it can be shown that the oil or hazardous substance discharge was the result of willful negligence or willful misconduct. Reduces the tax attributes of the taxpayer by the amount disallowed. Disallows a deduction for losses resulting from any oil or hazardous substance discharge if the cleanup costs of such discharge are disallowed as a deduction. Sets forth time limits for: (1) the Secretary to assess any deficiency attributable to the notification of noncompliance with Federal environmental law; and (2) the taxpayer to file a claim for credit or refund attributable to receipt of such notification. Establishes an account in the Treasury to consist of the increase in revenues resulting under this Act. Makes such amounts available for: (1) the revolving fund under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for expenses related to removal of discharged oil; or (2) the Hazardous Substance Superfund. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the decrease of Federal revenues because of the allowance of the deduction for oil and hazardous substances cleanup costs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to such committees on the amount expended on environmental cleanup costs and the amount accruing to the Treasury by reason of the disallowance of such deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify displaced homemakers for the targeted jobs income tax credit. Defines "displaced homemaker" as an individual who: (1) has not worked in the labor force for a substantial number of years but has, during those years, worked in the home providing unpaid services for family members; and (2) has been dependent on public assistance or on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income or is receiving public assistance on account of dependent children in the home.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Elderly Americans' Economic Security Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for qualified elderly care expenses which exceed five percent of the taxpayers adjusted gross income. Allows a charitable deduction to physicians and registered professional nurses for medical services or goods donated to elderly individuals. Allows tax-free withdrawals from individual retirement accounts to pay long-term care expenses or to purchase insurance covering such expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee the following qualified employer-provided transportation benefits: (1) the value of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle between the employee's residence and workplace; and (2) up to $100 per month of the value of any transit pass entitling the employee to transportation on mass transit facilities. Requires that such benefits be provided: (1) under a nondiscriminatory written plan; and (2) in addition to (and not in lieu of) any other compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Alternative Fuels Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an income tax credit for investments in qualified clean-burning (natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, or alcohol) motor vehicle fuel property. Permits a 20 percent credit from 1992 through 2001, phasing out the credit in five percent increments annually thereafter to reach zero percent at the end of 2004. Applies the credit to tangible property that is: (1) equipment designed either to modify a motor vehicle so that it will be propelled by a clean-burning fuel or to assist in delivering such fuel into such vehicles; or (2) a motor vehicle propelled by clean-burning fuel. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make credit-equivalent payments to States and to local governments in connection with qualified property.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by individuals who are involuntarily unemployed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
National Foundation for Excellence Act - Establishes the National Foundation for Excellence as an independent establishment of the executive branch. Authorizes the Foundation to award scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study for outstanding students committed to careers in teaching in public education. Sets forth scholarship conditions, including reporting requirements and student agreements to teach in a public elementary or secondary school for a certain period of years based on the total amount of scholarship awarded. Sets forth scholarship repayment requirements (with deferral and forgiveness provisions) for those who do not fulfill such teaching commitments or who otherwise do not comply with the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Foundation to make grants to States to pay the Federal share (50 percent) of scholarship programs conducted by the States in accordance with this Act. Establishes in the Treasury the National Foundation for Excellence Trust Fund, consisting of appropriations under this Act and amounts raised from non-Federal sources by the Foundation, invested in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. Directs the Board to make an annual report of its operations to the Congress by April 1 of each year. Authorizes appropriations to the Foundation for each of FY 1992 through 1997 for operating and administrative expenses with remaining monies left in the Fund. Authorizes appropriations to the Fund for the period of FY 1993 through 1997, but only in an amount each fiscal year equal to that raised by the Foundation from non-Federal sources.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Allied Health Professionals Promotion Act of 1991 - Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to grants and contracts concerning training of allied health personnel to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to allocate 75 percent of the funds authorized to those allied health fields the Secretary determines to have: (1) the most significant shortages of practitioners; and (2) a significant role in the care and rehabilitation of patients who are elderly or disabled. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and contracts to assist allied health students in meeting the costs of entry level education, allocating 75 percent of the funds as above. Makes payments of tuition under these provisions to, or on behalf of, a participating student, notwithstanding other law, exempt from taxation. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for traineeships for advanced training of allied health personnel, making the traineeships available for postgraduate (currently, doctoral) programs and students. Establishes within the Health Resources and Services Administration the Advisory Council on Allied Health. Excludes registered nurses from the definition of "allied health personnel."