Congressional Research Service Reports - 99 Matching Results
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- State Corporate Income Taxes: A Description and Analysis
- No Description Available.
- Association Health Plans: Legislation in the 109th Congress
- An estimated 41.2 million people were without health insurance in 2001. Legislation under consideration by the 108th and earlier Congresses is intended to assist small employers in offering health insurance as a benefit to their workers. A new bill, H.R. 4281, introduced on May 5, 2004, The Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003 (H.R. 6601s. 545), and a number of bills from the earlier Congresses include provisions creating new groups for small firms to join or encouraging the growth of existing groups so that small employers can band together to offer coverage to their employees. Opponents of the AHP approach raise concerns that unintended negative consequences would arise, negating the benefits that the new groups would create. While the proposed AHPs are not likely to immediately undermine the small group market, they are likely to require additional features to significantly expand insurance coverage among the uninsured.
- The Senate's Calendar of Business
- This report provides a summary of the contents of the Senate's Calendar of Business, which lists bills, resolutions, and other items of legislative business that are eligible for floor consideration.
- Average Marginal Income Tax Rates by Adjusted Gross Income and Filing Status
- This report presents average marginal income tax rates by filling status and detailed adjusted gross income(AGI) class for the 2001 tax year.
- Accounting and Management Problems at Freddie Mac
- This report summarizes the extent of accounting and management problems at Freddie Mac. The report highlights the issues of selecting policies to report constant earnings, and undertaking certain transactions for the sake of creating a facade of reported earnings. Finally, the report discusses the consequences of these problems by stating that many of the Freddie Mac's executives have been replaced, fines were issued, and a lawsuit occurred.
- Dairy Policy Issues
- Several dairy issues that were debated during the 108th Congress are expected to continue as issues of interest in the 109th Congress. Separate bills were introduced in the 108th Congress to extend authority for both the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program and the dairy forward pricing pilot program, and to address dairy producer concerns about the importation of milk protein concentrates.
- Dairy Policy Issues
- Several dairy issues that were debated during the 108th Congress are expected to continue as issues of interest in the 109th Congress. Separate bills were introduced in the 108th Congress to extend authority for both the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program and the dairy forward pricing pilot program, and to address dairy producer concerns about the importation of milk protein concentrates.
- U.S. Agriculture After Hurricane Katrina: Status and Issues
- On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast region leaving behind widespread devastation. This report examines Katrina’s impact on three important factors affecting the U.S. agricultural sector: marketing infrastructure based on the Mississippi River waterway and Gulf ports; production losses for major crop and livestock producers in the affected region; and potential consequences for agricultural production as a result of high energy costs. It also discusses the federal government response.
- Inequality in the Distribution of Income: Trends and International Comparisons
- This report examines the distribution of income in the United States, including factors that may help explain it, how it has changed over time, and how it compares with those of other countries.
- Softwood Lumber Imports from Canada: Issues and Events
- This report provides a concise historical account of the dispute over softwood lumber imports from Canada, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses current issues and events.
- The Quasi Government: Hybrid Organizations with Both Government and Private Sector Legal Characteristics
- No Description Available.
- Congressional or Federal Charters: Overview and Current Issues
- A congressional or federal charter is a federal statute that establishes a corporation. Congress has issued charters since 1791, although most charters were issued after the start of the 20th century. This report discusses the issues that recently, Congress has faced two issues involving its use of charters — confusion over who is responsible for the activities of chartered corporations and the challenges of managing them.
- Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues
- This report includes information related to energy efficiency, including history, various bills and budgets, and conservation. Climate change and energy security related to energy efficiency are also discussed in this report.
- Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues
- This report includes information related to energy efficiency, including history, various bills and budgets, and conservation. Climate change and energy security related to energy efficiency are also discussed in this report.
- China and the CNOOC Bid for Unocal: Issues for Congress
- The bid by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to acquire the U.S. energy company Unocal for $18.5 billion raised many issues with U.S. policymakers. This report provides an overview and analysis of the CNOOC bid, U.S. interests, implications for U.S. energy security, U.S. investment in the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) oil industry, the process for reviewing the security and other implications of foreign investment in the United States, Congressional activity, and a listing of unresolved issues.
- Oil and Gas: Supply Issues After Katrina
- No Description Available.
- Oil and Gas: Supply Issues After Katrina
- No Description Available.
- Estate Taxes and Family Businesses: Economic Issues
- The 2001 tax revision began a phaseout of the estate tax, by increasing exemptions and lowering rates. The estate tax is scheduled to be repealed in 2010 and a provision to tax appreciation on inherited assets (in excess of a limit) will be substituted. The 2001 tax provisions sunset, however, so that absent a change making them permanent the estate tax will revert, in 2011, to prior, pre-2001, law.
- Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues
- This report includes information related to energy efficiency, including history, various bills and budgets, and conservation. Climate change and energy security related to energy efficiency are also discussed in this report.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- This report provides an overview of the debate over government policy of industrial competitiveness and technology advancement.
- Export-Import Bank: Legislative Mandate for Small Business
- No Description Available.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate over Government Policy
- This updated report summarizes the debate on the government policy regarding industrial competitiveness and technological advancement and its influence on the U.S. economy. It discusses the most recent developments, dives into the background and analysis of the topic, and talks about Congress' plans and approach.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- This report summarizes the debate over government policy on industrial competitiveness and technological advancement and its connection to the U.S. economy. It also discusses congress' approach in the previous years on this topic, and the policy changes that have been implemented in recent years.
- Federal Business Taxation: The Current System, Its Effects, and Options for Reform
- No Description Available.
- Renewable Energy: Tax Credit, Budget, and Electricity Production Issues
- This report details information such as history and analyses of renewable energy tax credit, budget, and electricity production issues.
- Postal Reform
- This report examines the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS's) financial crisis and the resulting legislative action. Although its short-term financial performance has improved, the USPS faces severe long-term financial straits, largely due to digital alternatives. USPS has a negative net worth and mounting obligations for retiree health benefits.
- Offshoring (a.k.a. Offshore Outsourcing) and Job Insecurity Among U.S. Workers
- No Description Available.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- There is an on-going interest in the pace of U.S. technological advancement due to its influence on U.S. economic growth, productivity, and international competitiveness. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private-sector technological development. Legislative activity over the past decade has created a policy for technology development, albeit an ad hoc one. Because of the lack of consensus on the scope and direction of a national policy, Congress has taken an incremental approach aimed at creating new mechanisms to facilitate technological advancement in particular areas and making changes and improvements as necessary
- U.S. Agriculture After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Status and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Petroleum Refining: Economic Performance and Challenges for the Future
- No Description Available.
- The Advanced Technology Program
- The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) was created by P.L. 100-418, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, to encourage public-private cooperation in the development of pre-competitive technologies with broad application across industries. This activity has been targeted for elimination as a means to cut federal spending. Since FY2000, the original House-passed appropriation bills have not included funding for ATP. Many of the Administration’s budget requests have proposed termination of the program. However, ATP continues to be supported, although at levels below that achieved in FY1995 when the activity was expanded significantly. This report discusses funding (or lack thereof) appropriated for the ATP for FY2006.
- Changing Causes of the U.S. Trade Deficit
- This documents notes the United States trade deficit and money of household saving, business saving, and private sector saving.
- Chemical Plant Security
- Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. Because few terrorist attacks have been attempted against chemical facilities in the United States, the risk of death and injury in the near future is estimated to be low, relative to the likelihood of accidents at such facilities or attacks on other targets using conventional weapons. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but risks may be increasing with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Available evidence indicates that many chemical facilities may lack adequate safeguards.
- Chemical Facility Security
- Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemical (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but the risks may be increasing -- with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Congress might choose to rely on existing efforts in the public and private sectors to improve chemical site security over time. Alternatively, Congress could expand existing environmental planning requirements for chemical facilities to require consideration of terrorism. Congress might also enact legislation to reduce risks, either by "hardening" defenses against terrorists or by requiring industries to consider use of safer chemicals, procedures, or processes.
- "Bunker Busters": Sources of Confusion in the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Debate
- Earth penetrator weapons, often called “bunker busters,” burrow into the ground some tens of feet before detonating, greatly increasing their ability to destroy buried targets. The United States has several types of conventional earth penetrators. The Air Force and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are studying a more effective penetrator, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). The FY2005 defense authorization act contained the full RNEP request, $27.6 million. This report explains the budget request and provides details on the RNEP plan.
- Accounting Problems at Fannie Mae
- On September 22, 2004, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Supervision (OFHEO) made public a report that was highly critical of accounting methods at Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise that plays a leading role in the secondary mortgage market. OFHEO charged Fannie Mae with not following generally accepted accounting practices in two critical areas: (1) amortization of discounts, premiums, and fees involved in the purchase of home mortgages and (2) accounting for financial derivatives contracts. According to OFHEO, these deviations from standard accounting rules allowed Fannie Mae to reduce volatility in reported earnings, present investors with an artificial picture of steadily growing profits, and, in at least one case, to meet financial performance targets that triggered the payment of bonuses to company executives. On November 15, 2004, Fannie Mae reported that it was unable to file a third-quarter earnings statement because its auditor, KPMG, refused to sign off on the accounting results. On December 15, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), after finding inadequacies in Fannie’s accounting policies and methodologies, directed Fannie Mae to restate its accounting results since 2001. Shortly thereafter, the company’s CEO and CFO resigned. It is estimated that earnings since 2001 will be revised downwards by as much as $12 billion, but the formal restatement of earnings is not expected before late 2006.
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: A Fact Sheet
- No Description Available.
- Textile and Apparel Quota Phaseout: Some Economic Implications
- No Description Available.
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- This report includes information regarding strategic petroleum reserve. Background, purchases of crude oil, and drawdown capability are among topics discussed in this report.
- Health Insurance Continuation Coverage Under COBRA
- This report is about Health Insurance Continuation Coverage.
- Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Trinko: Telecommunications Consumers Cannot Use Antitrust Laws to Remedy Access Violations of Telecommunications Act
- No Description Available.
- Foreign Outsourcing: Economic Implications and Policy Responses
- This report takes the approach that this experience will be the best predictor of the economic effects of outsourcing’s spread to the service sector. The substantive economic conclusion of this report is that foreign outsourcing is international trade in a somewhat different guise.
- Outsourcing and Insourcing Jobs in the U.S. Economy: An Overview of Evidence Based on Foreign Investment Data
- No Description Available.
- Hurricane Katrina: Fishing and Aquaculture Industries - Damage and Recovery
- This report summarizes damage assessments and recovery efforts, with initial reports primarily anecdotal until more accurate assessments become available.
- Hurricane Katrina: Fishing and Aquaculture Industries - Damage and Recovery
- This report summarizes damage assessments and recovery efforts, with initial reports primarily anecdotal until more accurate assessments become available.
- Tobacco Farmer Assistance
- No Description Available.
- Tobacco Farmer Assistance
- No Description Available.
- Charitable Contributions of Food Inventory: Proposals for Change
- Early in the 109th Congress, both S. 6, the Family and Community Protection Act of 2005, and S. 94, the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act, have been introduced to encourage gifts of food by businesses for charitable purposes. While current law provides a deduction only to C corporations, these bills would expand the tax break to all business entities. The value of the existing deduction is the corporation’s basis in the donated product plus one half of the amount of appreciation, as long as that amount is less than twice the corporation’s basis in the product.
- Intercarrier Compensation: One Component of Telecom Reform
- No Description Available.
- Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs
- The Direct-to-Consumer advertising of perscription drugs by pharmaceutical companies has been described as any promotional effort with respect to these drugs that targets the general public through the lay media. This report contains information on growth in spending on direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, the impact of such advertising, the FDA's existing authority to regulate such advertising, funding, and legislative issues.