Congressional Research Service Reports - 148 Matching Results

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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and the implementation of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA). It includes an overview of UMRA, its origins, and provisions; definitions for unfunded federal mandates; how UMRA relates to Congressional procedure (Title I) and to federal rulemaking (Title II); and concluding observations on the issues.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and UMRA's implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that CBO issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions which currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions which currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions that currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA's) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions which currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes): Somewhat Simplified: This report explains Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), with an analysis of the five major factors affecting the calculation of a payment to a given county. It also describes the effects of recent legislative changes to PILT.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues: This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that CBO issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules.
Arizona v. United States: A Limited Role for States in Immigration Enforcement: Report that discusses the Supreme Court's ruling in Arizona v. United States, and considers the implications that the decision may have for immigration enforcement activity by states and localities.
House Apportionment 2012: States Gaining, Losing, and on the Margin: This report examines the distribution of seats based on the most recent estimates of the population of the states (as of July 1, 2012). It explores the question of, what, if any, would be the impact on the distribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives if the apportionment were conducted today, using the most recent official U.S. Census population figures available.
Federal and State Quarantine and Isolation Authority: This report provides an overview of federal and state public health laws as they relate to the quarantine and isolation of individuals, a discussion of constitutional issues that may be raised should individual liberties be restricted in a quarantine situation, and federalism questions that may arise where federal and state authorities overlap. In addition, the possible role of the armed forces in enforcing public health measures is discussed, specifically whether the Posse Comitatus Act would constrain any military role, and other statutory authorities that may be used for the military enforcement of health measures.
Tax Exempt Bonds: A Description of State and Local Government Debt: This report provides information about state and local government debt. State and local governments issue debt instruments in exchange for the use of individuals' and businesses' savings. This debt obligates state and local governments to make interest payments for the use of these savings and to repay, at some time in the future, the amount borrowed. State and local governments may finance capital facilities with debt rather than out of current tax revenue to more closely align benefits and tax payments. The federal government subsidizes the cost of most state and local debt by excluding the interest income from federal income taxation.
State Taxation of Internet Transactions: This report discusses significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes.
State Taxation of Internet Transactions: This report intends to clarify significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because interstate commerce, in most cases, falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Federal and State Quarantine and Isolation Authority: This report provides an overview of federal and state public health laws as they relate to the quarantine and isolation of individuals and a discussion of constitutional issues that may be raised should individual liberties be restricted in a quarantine or isolation situation.
State and Local Economic Sanctions: Constitutional Issues: This report discusses the Constitutionality and ongoing legal concerns of sanctions enacted by states and localities restricting their agencies from conducting economic transactions with firms that do business with or in foreign countries whose conduct the jurisdictions find objectionable.
Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement: This report examines some of the policy and legal issues that may accompany an increased role of state and local law officials in the enforcement of immigration law.
Federal and State Quarantine and Isolation Authority: This report provides an overview of federal and state public health laws as they relate to the quarantine and isolation of individuals, a discussion of constitutional issues that may be raised should individual liberties be restricted in a quarantine situation, and federalism questions that may arise where federal and state authorities overlap. In addition, the possible role of the armed forces in enforcing public health measures is discussed, specifically whether the Posse Comitatus Act would constrain any military role, and other statutory authorities that may be used for the military enforcement of health measures.
Locally Operated Levees: Issues and Federal Programs: The report discusses the role of levees in flood risk reduction, the shared responsibilities for levees in the United States, and the role of three agencies: FEMA, the Corps, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It also discusses federal assistance for levees, describes the debate about whether levees investments have a role in federal flood mitigation programs, and compares Corps, FEMA, and NRCS activities and authorities. Finally, the report outlines policy options for locally-operated levees that might be considered by the 112th Congress. Legislative proposals in the 111th Congress are discussed in an Appendix.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions: This report provides responses to frequently asked questions about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It is intended to serve as a quick reference to provide easy access to information and data.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions: This report provides responses to frequently asked questions about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It is intended to serve as a quick reference to provide easy access to information and data. This report does not provide information on TANF program rules.
Gonzales v. Raich: Congress’s Power Under the Commerce Clause to Regulate Medical Marijuana: No Description Available.
State Taxation of Internet Transactions: This report intends to clarify significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because interstate commerce, in most cases, falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Congress will likely be asked to choose between taking either an active or passive role in the debate. In the 111th Congress, H.R. 5660 (former Representative Delahunt) would have granted SSUTA member states the authority to compel out-of- state vendors to collect sales and use taxes.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Financing Issues: This report discusses the financing of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It describes the national funding level, the distribution of funds among the states, and the basis for these funding levels; describes how states may use TANF funds; describes how states have actually used TANF funding; and discusses selected policy issues regarding TANF funding.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions: The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds a wide range of benefits and services for low-income families with children. TANF was created in the 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193). This report responds to some frequently asked questions about TANF; it does not describe TANF rules.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions: This report provides responses to frequently asked questions about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It is intended to serve as a quick reference to provide easy access to information and data. This report does not provide information on TANF program rules.
Journalists' Privilege to Withhold Information in Judicial and Other Proceedings: State Shield Statutes: This report briefly provides an overview of general trends among the states individual statutes.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This short report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This short report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This short report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This short report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act): The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states may use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. This short report provides background information on the SSBG and tracks relevant legislation and appropriations measures.
Authority of State and Local Police to Enforce Federal Immigration Law: This report discusses the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law through the investigation and arrest of persons believed to have violated such laws. It describes current provisions in federal law that permit state and local police to enforce immigration law directly, analyzes major cases concerning the ability of states and localities to assist in immigration enforcement, and briefly examines opinions on the issue by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) within the Department of Justice.
Authority of State and Local Police to Enforce Federal Immigration Law: This report discusses the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law through the investigation and arrest of persons believed to have violated such laws. It describes current provisions in federal law that permit state and local police to enforce immigration law directly, analyzes major cases concerning the ability of states and localities to assist in immigration enforcement, and briefly examines opinions on the issue by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) within the Department of Justice.
The Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF): State Insolvency and Federal Loans to States: This report discusses the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) and summarizes how insolvent states may borrow funds from the UTF loan account to meet their UC benefit obligations. It includes the manner in which states must repay federal UTF loans. It also provides details on how the UTF loans may trigger potential interest accrual and explains the timetable for increased net Federal Unemployment Taxes Act (FUTA) taxes if the funds are not repaid promptly.
The FY2014 State and Foreign Operations Budget Request: No Description Available.
Forest Service Receipt-Sharing Payments: Proposals for Change: In lieu of property taxes, the Forest Service generally shares 25% of receipts from the sale, lease, rental, or other use of the national forests to the states for use on roads and schools in the counties where the national forests are located. This report discusses concerns about the equity and stability of Forest Service receipt-sharing payments, especially with the decline in timber sales over the past decade, and about the incentives of the current system.
State and Local Economic Sanctions: Constitutional Issues: This report considers the Constitutionality of states and localities enacting their own sanctions on foreign countries, particularly Iran and Sudan.
Authority of State and Local Police to Enforce Federal Immigration Law: This report discusses the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law through the investigation and arrest of persons believed to have violated such laws. It describes current provisions in federal law that permit state and local police to enforce immigration law directly; analyzes major cases concerning the ability of states and localities to assist in immigration enforcement, including the Supreme Court's ruling in Arizona v. United States; and briefly examines opinions on the issue by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) within the Department of Justice. This report does not discuss legal issues raised by state and local measures intended to supplement federal immigration laws through the imposition of additional criminal or civil penalties.
Community Development Block Grants: Neighborhood Stabilization Program; Assistance to Communities Affected by Foreclosures: Report regarding the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, P.L. 110-289, which allocates federal financial aid to all state and local governments with high amounts of foreclosed homes, subprime mortgage loans, and delinquent home mortgages. The report focuses on the assistance that aids in aquiring, rehabilitating, and reselling foreclosed and abandoned homes.
Puerto Rican Statehood: Effects on House Apportionment: This report looks at House of Representative distribution between states if Puerto Rico were to gain statehood.
First Responder Initiative: Policy Issues and Options: This report provides background information and policy analysis pertinent to proposals to restructure first responder assistance programs. Specifically, this report provides information on existing programs, appropriations, legislation in the 107th and 108th Congress, and selected policy issues. This report does not discuss all relevant policy issues, but, rather, those issues that may be germane to any significant restructuring of existing programs.
Federalism: Selected Opinions of Judge Samuel Alito: This report discusses several opinions Judge Samuel Alito has written regarding federalism.
A CRS Review of 10 States: Home and Community-Based Services — States Seek to Change the Face of Long-Term Care: Indiana: Many states have devoted significant efforts to respond to the desire for home and community-based care for persons with disabilities and their families. Nevertheless, financing of nursing home care, chiefly by Medicaid, still dominates most states’ spending for long-term care today. To assist Congress in understanding issues that states face in providing long-term care services, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) undertook a study of 10 states in 2002. This report, one in a series of 10 state reports, presents background and analysis about long-term care in Indiana.
Internet Commerce and State Sales and Use Taxes: State governments rely on sales and use taxes for approximately one-third (32.3%) of their total tax revenue – or approximately $174 billion in FY2000. Local governments derived 16.4% of their tax revenue or $51.6 billion from local sales and use taxes in FY1999. Both state and local sales taxes are collected by vendors at the time of transaction and are levied at a percentage of a product’s retail price. Alternatively, use taxes are not collected by vendors if they do not have nexus (loosely defined as a physical presence) in the consumer’s state. Consumers are required to remit use taxes to their taxing jurisdiction. However, compliance with this requirement is quite low. Because of the low compliance, many observers suggest that the expansion of the internet as a means of transacting business across state lines, both from business to consumer (B to C) and from business to business (B to B), threatens to diminish the ability of state and local governments to collect sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because commerce between parties in different states conducted over the Internet falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Congress can either take an active or passive role in the “Internet tax” debate. This report intends to clarify important issues in the Internet tax debate.
ERISA’s Impact on Medical Malpractice and Negligence Claims Against Managed Care Plans: This report examines the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which provides a comprehensive federal scheme for the regulation of employee pension and welfare benefit plans offered by employers. While ERISA does not require an employer to offer pension and welfare benefits, it does mandate compliance with its provisions if such benefits are offered. Congress enacted ERISA to eliminate the conflicting and inconsistent regulation of pension and employee welfare benefit plans by state laws. The provisions at issue in the preemption debate are sections 502(a) and 514(a) of ERISA.
Federalism Issues in Surface Transportation Policy: A Historical Perspective: This report provides a historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy, from the beginning of the nation through the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). It also discusses legislative activity during the 114th Congress to reauthorize highway and mass transit programs.
Public Safety Communications and Spectrum Resources: Policy Issues for Congress: This report discusses possible actions for improving emergency communications. Congress has before it an opportunity to bring public safety communications into the 21st century by assuring that a nationwide, interoperable communications network is put in place. The tools at its disposal include homeland security policy, spectrum policy, funding programs, and leadership.
FY2007 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security: This report is an overview of the Administration’s budget request for the following seven homeland security programs designed to provide assistance to state and local first responders — firefighters, emergency medical personnel, emergency managers, and law enforcement officers.
Foreign Ownership of Property in the United States: Federal and State Restrictions: This report examines various legal issues raised by Federal and State laws restricting foreign ownership in U. S. property. The report examines the constitutional barriers to Federal and State laws restricting such ownership, and the possible constitutional predicates for Federal legislation regulating foreign ownership of property in the united States. The impact of treaties to which the United States is a party on both Federal and State restrictions on the rights of foreign persons to own U.S. property is also discussed.

Congressional Research Service Reports - 148 Matching Results

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