Congressional Research Service Reports - 30 Matching Results

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State and Homeland Security: Unresolved Issues for the 109th Congress

Description: Arguably, the three most important homeland security public laws enacted following the terrorist attacks on September 2001 are P.L. 107-56, “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act)”; P.L. 107-296, “Homeland Security Act of 2002"; and P.L. 108-458, “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.” The PATRIOT Act focused on enhancing domestic security through anti-terrorism measures, specificall… more
Date: June 9, 2005
Creator: Reese, Shawn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State and Local Economic Sanctions: Constitutional Issues

Description: 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.
Date: June 27, 2012
Creator: Grimmett, Jeanne J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues

Description: This report examines debates regarding what constitutes an "unfunded federal mandate" and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation, requirements, and costs. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future.
Date: June 12, 2014
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay & Beth, Richard S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues

Description: 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… more
Date: June 29, 2011
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay & Beth, Richard S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes): Somewhat Simplified

Description: Under current federal law, local governments are compensated through various programs for losses to their tax bases due to the presence of most federally owned land. Some of these programs are run by specific agencies, and apply only to that agency's land. The most widely applicable program, while run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), applies to many types of federally owned land, and is called "Payments in Lieu of Taxes" or PILT. The level of payments is calculated under a complex formul… more
Date: June 24, 1998
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Welfare Reform: TANF Trends and Data

Description: The size and character of the nation’s family cash welfare rolls and the composition of welfare spending have changed markedly since August, 1996, when Congress created the time-limited and work-conditioned block grant program of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Enrollment has plunged more than 50%. The share of recipients who combine welfare and work has risen sharply (26% in FY2000). The share of “child-only”cases, which are free of work and time limit rules, has climbed above … more
Date: June 7, 2002
Creator: Burke, Vee
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Under Medicaid

Description: Medicaid, a means-tested federal/state program that provides health care coverage to certain groups of individuals, requires that states continue Medicaid benefits for certain low-income families who would otherwise lose coverage because of changes in their income. This continuation of benefits is known as transitional medical assistance (TMA). The law permanently requires four months of TMA for families who lose Medicaid eligibility due to increased child or spousal support collections, as wel… more
Date: June 30, 2004
Creator: Grady, April
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State Taxation of Internet Transactions

Description: 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 state… more
Date: June 7, 2011
Creator: Maguire, Steven
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations

Description: This report provides background information on the child welfare waivers and a description of the progress states have made on these demonstration projects. Waiver projects must be cost neutral to the federal government; may be conducted for no longer than 5 years (though HHS may grant an extension of up to 5 years); and must include an evaluation comparing the existing state program to the waiver project.
Date: June 16, 2003
Creator: Shuman, Matthew
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare: State Performance on Child and Family Services Reviews

Description: This report begins with a short history of the legislation and other factors that led to the creation of the current CFSR and then briefly describes how a CFSR is conducted and what “substantial conformity” with federal child welfare policy means in the context of this review. Much has been made of the fact that no state was found to be in substantial conformity with all aspects of federal policy reviewed during the initial (FY2001-FY2004) round of the CFSRs. This report seeks to better underst… more
Date: June 29, 2005
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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First Responder Initiative: Policy Issues and Options

Description: 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.
Date: June 4, 2003
Creator: Canada, Ben
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Restructuring Electricity Markets, Public Power, and Tax-Exempt Bonds: An Economic Analysis

Description: Tax-exempt bonds subsidize public power's cost of capital and enable it to lower price. The subsidy is economically beneficial (enables public power price to reflect the true cost of electric service) only if the private market fails to provide the correct amount of electricity. In general, the private market does provide the correct amount of electricity; in those cases when it does not, the tax-exempt bond subsidy is unlikely to correct the problem. Tax-exempt bond legislation over the last 3… more
Date: June 10, 1998
Creator: Zimmerman, Dennis
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Do Local Elections Officials Think About Election Reform?: Results of a Survey

Description: There are more than 9,000 local election jurisdictions in the United States. Local election officials (LEOs) are responsible for administering elections in those jurisdictions. LEOs are therefore critical to the successful implementation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA, P.L. 107-252) and state election laws, but there has been little objective information on the perceptions and attitudes of those officials about election reform. This report, which will not be updated, discusses the r… more
Date: June 23, 2005
Creator: Fischer, Eric A. & Coleman, Kevin J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Tests: Administration Initiative

Description: The Clinton Administration is encouraging states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to administer new national tests to 4th-grade pupils in reading and 8th-grade pupils in mathematics each year beginning in 2000. Participation in the tests would be voluntary and would not affect a state or LEA’s eligibility for federal aid programs. These tests would be based on existing assessments that were developed with federal financial support. The federal government would oversee the development of th… more
Date: June 16, 1998
Creator: Riddle, Wayne C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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ERISA's Impact on Medical Malpractice and Negligence Claims Against Managed Care Plans

Description: This report will examine the preemption provisions of ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of these provisions, selected cases applying ERISA to state medical malpractice and negligence claims, and the congressional response to the issue.
Date: June 27, 2002
Creator: Welborn, Angie A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FY2006 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security

Description: This report provides information about the FY2006 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security. This report is a preliminary overview of the administration FY2006 budget request and congress proposed appropriations for selected programs of homeland security.
Date: June 16, 2005
Creator: Reese, Shawn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: Program Overview and Issues

Description: In the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 (P.L. 104-182), Congress authorized a drinking water state revolving loan fund (DWSRF) program to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to protect public health. Under the program, states receive capitalization grants to make loans to water systems for drinking water projects and certain other SDWA activities. Since the program was first funded in FY1997, Con… more
Date: June 14, 2005
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Ownership of Property in the United States: Federal and State Restrictions

Description: 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… more
Date: June 23, 1980
Creator: Zaritsky, Howard
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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