Congressional Research Service Reports - 79 Matching Results
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- Small Business Size Standards: A Historical Analysis of Contemporary Issues
- This report provides a historical examination of the SBA's size standards, assesses competing views concerning how to define a small business, and discusses how the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 might affect program eligibility. It also discusses H.R. 585, the Small Business Size Standard Flexibility Act of 2011, which would authorize the SBA's Office of Chief Counsel for Advocacy to approve or disapprove a size standard proposed by a federal agency if it deviates from the SBA's size standards.
- Small Business and the 97th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Small Business Innovation Research Program
- No Description Available.
- Small Business Innovation Research Program
- No Description Available.
- The Corporate Income Tax System: Overview and Options for Reform
- This report presents information and research on the corporate tax to help policy makers understand and evaluate arguments presented in the tax reform debate. This report first reviews the structure of the corporate income tax. Data on which companies pay the corporate tax, corporate tax revenue, and how the U.S. system compares to the rest of the world are then presented and analyzed. Next, the economic effects of the corporate tax are reviewed--including a discussion of the purpose of the corporate tax, who bears the burden of the tax, and how to evaluate alternative corporate tax systems. The report then reviews broad reform options and concludes with a comparison of specific proposals that have been offered.
- Double-Dip Recession: Previous Experience and Current Prospect
- This report discusses factors suggesting an increased risk of double-dip recession. It discusses other factors that suggest economic recovery will continue. The U.S. historical experience with double-dip recessions is also presented. It examines the role of deleveraging by households and businesses in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis in shaping the likely pace of economic recovery. The report concludes with a look at current economic projections.
- Small Business Administration HUBZone Program
- This report examines arguments both for and against targeting assistance to geographic areas with specified characteristics, such as low income, high poverty, or high unemployment, as opposed to providing assistance to people or businesses with specified characteristics. It then assesses the arguments both for and against the continuation of the HUBZone program
- Legal Protections for Subcontractors on Federal Prime Contracts
- This report provides an overview of the payment and other protections for subcontractors on certain federal prime contracts under the Miller Act, the 1988 amendments to the Prompt Payment Act, and the Small Business Act.
- Appropriations for FY2005: VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
- This report discusses the Veterans Affairs (VA), Housing and Urban Development(HUD), and Independent Agencies Appropriations for FY2005.
- Dairy Policy Issues
- Several major dairy policy issues are addressed in the context of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107- 171, the 2002 farm bill), which was signed into law on May 13, 2002. Included in the enacted 2002 farm bill are a reauthorization of the dairy price support program for an additional 5 ½ years, and new authorization for direct payments to dairy farmers through September 2005, triggered whenever the market price of farm milk falls below a target price level.
- Job Loss and Infrastructure Job Creation During the Recession
- The report examines trends in employment and job loss since the start of the latest recession then focuses on job creation estimates associated with increased spending on infrastructure, placing a heavy emphasis on explaining the limitations with the methodology that is often utilized to develop the estimates.
- Is the U.S. Current Account Deficit Sustainable?
- No Description Available.
- 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.
- Small Business Administration: Overview and Issues
- No Description Available.
- The Divestiture of American Telephone and Telegraph Company: The Impact on Shareholders
- This report analyzes the impact which the divestiture of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) will have on the 3.2 million holders of AT&T stock. The method of distribution and the listing and trading mechanics of the shares as well as dividend and tax information are discussed. A brief analysis of initial stock performance based on the first two weeks of trading concludes the analysis.
- Corporate Mergers Through Tender Offers: Measurement and Public Policy Considerations
- This report provides a perspective on the role of tender offers in corporate mergers and acquisitions and on the nature of financing used to carry them out. Analyzing SEC data on corporate takeovers, it classifies by industry those firms for which tender offers were made in 1979 and 1980 and examines the sources of funds used in these acquisition bids. Comparing SEC data with information compiled by FTC and others, it assesses the importance of tender offers in overall merger and acquisition activity. The report focuses mainly on domestic mergers, but foreign takeovers of U.S. companies also are discussed.
- Small Business Administration HUBZone Program
- This report discusses the Historically Underutilized Business Zone Empowerment Contracting (HUBZone) program, which provides participating small businesses located in areas with low income, high poverty, or high unemployment with contracting opportunities in the form of set-asides, sole-source awards, and price-evaluation preferences. It provides information about the program and it's structure; outlines arguments for an against targeting assistance and the continuation of the program; analyzes the program's administration; and examines related legislation.
- Small Business Afministration 504/CDC Loan Guaranty Program
- This report examines the rationale provided for the Small Business Administration's 504/CDC program, its borrower and lender eligibility standards, operating requirements, and performance statistics, including loan volume, loss rates, proceeds usage, borrower satisfaction, and borrower demographics. This report also discusses congressional action taken to help small businesses gain greater access to capital, including enactment of P.L. 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA); P.L. 111-240; and P.L. 114-113, and issues related to the SBA's oversight of 504/CDC lenders.
- Economic Downturns and Crime
- This report examines the relationships between selected variables of economic strength and crime. It begins with an overview of crime rates during times of economic recession in the United States. It then reviews the existing literature in the field analyzing various data sets that examine whether the unemployment rate and foreclosures can be related to increases in the national crime rate.
- Economic Recovery: Sustaining U.S. Economic Growth in a Post-Crisis Economy
- This report looks at how Congress has been proactive in helping the economy recover after the 2008-2009 recession, as well as how it can help to keep recessions at bay in the future. Issues include typical post-war recessions, insufficient pace of private spending, and the long-term debt problem.
- The Power to Regulate Commerce: Limits on Congressional Power
- This report discusses the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which provides that the Congress shall have the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.
- Terrorism Insurance in the Post September 11 Marketplace
- No Description Available.
- Electricity: The Road Toward Restructuring
- The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) and the Federal Power Act (FPA) were enacted to eliminate unfair practices and other abuses by electricity and gas holding companies by requiring federal control and regulation of interstate public utility holding companies. Comprehensive energy legislation has passed the House and Senate. The House passed H.R. 6 on April 11, 2003. On July 31, 2003, the Senate suspended debate on S. 14, inserted the text of H.R. 4 (107th Congress) as a substitute, and passed H.R. 6. A conference agreement was reached November 17, 2003, and passed by the House the next day. H.R. 6 includes an electricity title that would, in part, repeal PUHCA, would prospectively repeal the mandatory purchase requirement under PURPA, and would create an electric reliability organization. On June 15, 2004, H.R. 4503, a comprehensive energy policy bill, passed the House.
- Terrorism Insurance - Comparison of H.R. 3210, S. 2600, and Conference Report
- No Description Available.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- Report that covers legislative activity in the past and present regarding private-sector technological development. It also looks at the future of Congressional action towards mandated specific technology development.
- Multilateral Development Banks: Overview and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and highlights major issues for Congress. The first section discusses how the MDBs operate, and the second section discusses the role of Congress in the MDBs.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- This report discusses contribution of technological advancement to economic growth and productivity increases. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private-sector technological development.
- Internet Transactions and the Sales Tax
- This report is an introduction to the economics of electronic commerce and its potential impact on sales and use tax collections. Presently, 45 states (and the District of Columbia) require that retail outlets add a fixed percentage to the sales price of all taxable items (inclusive of federally imposed excise taxes).
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- Concern has been growing that the pace of U.S. technological advancement is declining, with negative consequences for 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. Aerospace Manufacturing: Industry Overview and Prospects
- This report primarily provides a snapshot of the U.S. commercial (non-defense, non-space) aerospace manufacturing industry and a discussion of major trends affecting the future of this industry.
- National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: A Glimpse of the Legal Background and Recent Amendments
- This report discusses the National Security Letters (NSLs), which seek customer and consumer transaction information in national security investigations from communications providers, financial institutions, and credit agencies.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy, December 3, 2001
- This report discusses contribution of technological advancement to economic growth and productivity increases. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private-sector technological development.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy, December 28, 2000
- This report discusses contribution of technological advancement to economic growth and productivity increases. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private-sector technological development.
- Health Insurance: The Pro-Competition Proposals
- For more than a decade, Congress and the Executive Branch have tried to stem spiraling health care costs through various regulatory actions at the Federal and State levels. Planning laws, for example, focus regulatory attention on the capacity of the health care industry to provide health services. Other laws have created programs to monitor and control the use of services provided to individual patients. Direct wage and price controls were applied to the health industry in the early 1970's and in recent years Congress has debated whether to impose controls over hospital spending in the United States. This report discusses the debate surrounding various approaches to lower health care costs.
- Legislation to Facilitate Cybersecurity Information Sharing: Economic Analysis
- This report analyzes the incentives for companies to share information about cybersecurity breaches with other companies and the federal government. Data breaches, such as those at Target, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, and JPMorgan Chase, affecting financial records of tens of millions of households seem to occur regularly. Companies typically respond by trying to increase their cybersecurity by hiring consultants and purchasing new hardware and software. Policy analysts have suggested that sharing information about these breaches could be an effective and inexpensive part of improving cybersecurity. Firms share information directly on an ad hoc basis and through private-sector, nonprofit organizations such as Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) that can analyze and disseminate information.
- Contract Types: Legal Overview
- This report provides an overview of the various contract types (e.g., fixed-price, cost-reimbursement) used in federal procurement and the legal requirements and issues pertaining to each. The types of contracts used by federal agencies have long been of interest to Congress and the executive branch, as they have sought to ensure that the most appropriate type of contract is used to acquire particular supplies or services.
- Insurance Regulation and Competition: Background and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Exempting Food and Agriculture Products from U.S. Economic Sanctions: Status and Implementation
- This report includes information background and analysis regarding exemption for and agriculture products from United States economic sanctions. This report also details debates, enacted provisions, sales, and developments regarding this subject.
- Terrorism Risk Insurance Legislation: Issue Summary and Side-by-Side Analysis
- After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress responded to the disruption in the insurance market by passing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA; P.L. 107-297). TRIA created a temporary program, to calm the insurance markets through a government reinsurance backstop sharing in terrorism losses. The current TRIA program expires at the end of 2014. This report briefly outlines the issues involved with terrorism insurance, summarizes the extension legislation, and includes a side-by-side of the current TRIA law and the bills that have been passed by the Senate (S. 2244), reported by the House Committee on Financial Services (H.R. 4871), and passed by the House (S. 2244 with a substitute amendment).
- The Global Financial Crisis: The Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- This report discusses two potential roles the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have in helping to resolve the current global financal crisis
- Location-Based Preferences in Federal and Federally Funded Contracting: An Overview of the Law
- This report discusses constitutional and other legal issues related to the creation and implementation of location-based preferences in federal contracting, as well as summarizes key authorities requiring or allowing federal agencies to "favor" contractors located in specific places. The report does not address federal preferences for domestic products or provisions of federal law that could, depending upon their implementation, effectively prefer local contractors, such as project labor agreements.
- Postal Reform
- No Description Available.
- Telecommunications Services Trade and the WTO Agreement
- No Description Available.
- Accounting Problems at Fannie Mae
- This report summarizes the critiques the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Supervision (OFHEO) made of accounting practices at Fannie Mae. The OFHEO's two main issues are under the domains of: amortization of discounts, premiums, fees involved in the purchase of home mortgages, and the other being accounting for financial derivatives contracts. The report emphasizes that these discrepancies created a false image of the company's earnings and in one case was the cause of the company's executives to receive bonuses.
- Accounting Problems at Fannie Mae
- This report summarizes the critiques the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Supervision (OFHEO) made of accounting practices at Fannie Mae. The OFHEO's two main issues are under the domains of: amortization of discounts, premiums, fees involved in the purchase of home mortgages, and the other being accounting for financial derivatives contracts. The report emphasizes that these discrepancies created a false image of the company's earnings and in one case was the cause of the company's executives to receive bonuses.
- Economic Crisis in Russia
- This report briefly examines the economic climate in Russia, providing background information and examining key trends. The report also briefly discusses possible next steps for the Kremlin and potential spillover effects for the United States.
- Distributional Effects of Taxes on Corporate Profits, Investment Income, and Estates
- Tax reductions enacted in 2001-2004 reduce the effective tax rate on capital income in several different ways. Taxes on capital arise from individual taxes on dividends, interest, capital gains, and income from non-corporate businesses. This report contains data on the distribution of income by type and class, shifting the incidence of taxes, the effect of the savings response, and related information.
- Financial Market Turmoil and U.S. Macreconomic Performance
- This report looks at causes of the 2008 financial crisis and ways that government policy can help to fix it.
- The TANF Emergency Contingency Fund
- This report discusses the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which created an Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The fund expired on September 30, 2010. It helped states, Indian tribes, and territories pay for additional costs of providing economic aid to families during the current economic downturn for FY2009 and FY2010. This report describes the TANF ECF as well as proposals offered in 2010 to extend and modify TANF emergency funding.
- U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry: Federal Financial Assistance and Restructuring
- This report reviews the U.S. automotive industry at present, aspects of the industry's financial situation, and relief options. It includes an analysis of the current situation in the U.S. automotive market, including efforts to address problems of long-term competitiveness and the impact of the industry on the broader U.S. economy. It focuses on financial issues, including credit questions, and legal and financial aspects of government-offered loans or loan guarantees.