Congressional Research Service Reports - 425 Matching Results

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527 Groups and Campaign Activity: Analysis Under Campaign Finance and Tax Laws

Description: This report focuses on the controversy surrounding 527 groups in terms of their increased campaign-related activity and their regulation by the federal government. The report describes the origins of the contention and how groups that may not be necessarily "political committees" under FECA (Federal Election Campaign Act) guidelines are still eligible for beneficial tax deductions. This report also examines the extent to which FECA regulates such organizations.
Date: June 12, 2008
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige & Lunder, Erika
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Abortion Services and Military Medical Facilities

Description: The purpose of this report is to describe and discuss the provisions for providing abortion services to military personnel, their dependents, and other military health care beneficiaries at military medical facilities. The report describes the history of these provisions, with particular emphasis on legislative actions. Finally, this report discusses a number of proposals to modify the law, as well as other related legislative and administrative actions.
Date: July 10, 2008
Creator: Burrelli, David F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Access to Government Information In the United States

Description: The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes — the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act — and two meetings access statutes — the Federal Advisory Com… more
Date: March 13, 2008
Creator: Relyea, Harold C. & Ginsberg, Wendy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The ADA Amendments Act: P.L. 110-325

Description: This report summarizes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Moreover, the report specifically considers the purpose of the ADA, threshold issues, and other court decisions. The report highlights that many Supreme Court decisions and lower court decisions have interpreted the definition of disabled strictly.
Date: September 29, 2008
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Growth Models Under the No Child Left Behind Act

Description: This report highlights the adequate yearly progress (AYP) concept of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The AYP is the standard of eligibility for grants, of which states must implement AYP policies in all public schools and local education agencies (LEAs). The standard primarily utilizes state test scores to measure the school's eligibility for funding, schools that do not meet AYP standard for two or more consecutive years face consequences. Finally, the report tackles the idea of growth m… more
Date: October 31, 2008
Creator: Riddle, Wayne C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act

Description: This report is intended to provide an overview of the Adequate Yearly Process (AYP) concept and several related issues, a description of the AYP provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, and an analysis of the implementation of these provisions by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the states. It will be updated when major administrative actions are taken by ED, or substantial new data on state implementation become available.
Date: October 31, 2008
Creator: Riddle, Wayne C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation

Description: This report summarizes and discusses potential adjustments in civil monetary penalties. The report covers the history of both legislation and enforcement on this issue which is central to the deciding how to enforce civil monetary penalties. The report identifies three courses of action that include either maintaining the status quo, adjusting civil monetary penalty maximums through legislation, or implementing some of the recommendations in the General Accounting Office's (GAO) report.
Date: February 11, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Curtis W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Administrative Law Judges: An Overview

Description: This report summarizes what an administrative law judge (ALJ) is, what they do, and their responsibilities as one. Moreover, the report explains that ALJ's have both a rulemaking and judicial role in work done by executive agencies. Finally, the report emphasizes the differences between ALJs and non-ALJs that also conduct judicial activities in federal agencies.
Date: August 5, 2008
Creator: Burrows, Vanessa K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture and Forestry Provisions in Climate Change Legislation (S. 3036)

Description: This report summarizes some of the domestic agriculture and forestry provisions in the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S. 3036, formerly S. 2191), as ordered reported out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in December 2007.
Date: June 3, 2008
Creator: Johnson, Renée
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement

Description: This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, intended to produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a "safe harbor" from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.
Date: August 26, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Alternative Minimum Tax for Individuals: Legislative Activity in the 110th Congress

Description: This report discusses the legislative activity in the 110th Congress related to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which was originally enacted to ensure that all taxpayers, especially high-income taxpayers, pay at least a minimum amount of federal taxes.
Date: October 9, 2008
Creator: Maguire, Steven & Teefy, Jennifer
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Alternative Minimum Tax for Individuals: Legislative Activity in the 110th Congress

Description: The alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals was originally enacted to ensure that all taxpayers, especially high-income taxpayers, pay at least a minimum amount of federal taxes. However, the AMT is not indexed for inflation, and this factor, combined with recent reductions in the regular income tax, has greatly expanded the potential impact of the AMT. This report explains legislation for the FY2009 budget compromise, which includes an offset AMT patch.
Date: July 1, 2008
Creator: Maguire, Steven & Teefy, Jennifer
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The America COMPETES Act and the FY2009 Budget

Description: This report is about the America COMPETES act and the budget for the fiscal year 2009.
Date: March 20, 2008
Creator: Stine, Deborah D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Requirements Concerning the Provision of Interpreters by Hospitals and Doctors

Description: The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in places of public accommodations. A common question is whether this prohibition requires medical doctors and hospitals to provide an interpreter when they have a patient with a hearing disability. This requirement varies depending upon the situation presented but situations may arise where there is an obligation to provide an interpreter. Updated as appropriate.
Date: May 30, 2008
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Americans with Disabilities Act and Emergency Preparedness and Response

Description: The Americans with Disabilities Act provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations and serves operated by private entities. Although the ADA does not include provisions specifically discussing its application to disasters, its nondiscrimination provisions are applicable to emergency preparedness and responses to disasters. In order to further the ADA's goals, President Bush issued an Executive Order on July… more
Date: October 15, 2008
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Animal Identification: Overview and Issues

Description: Livestock industry groups, animal health officials, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been working to establish a nationwide identification system capable of quickly tracking animals from birth to slaughter, to deal with animal diseases and/or to satisfy foreign market specifications. This report details information on what animal identification is and why is it used, animal health, commercial production and marketing, food safety, development of a national plan, and selected issues.
Date: July 14, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Animal Waste and Water Quality: EPA’s Response to the Waterkeeper Alliance Court Decision on Regulation of CAFOs

Description: On June 30th, 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations that would revise a 2003 Clean Water Act rule governing waste discharges from large confined animal feeding operations. This report details the 2003 rule and the Waterkeeper Alliance Decision and the EPA's response, including agricultural stormwater discharges, duties to apply for a permit, nutrient management plans, and aspects of the effluent limitation guidelines for confined animal feeding operations.
Date: November 20, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Animal Welfare Act: Background and Selected Legislation

Description: The Animal Welfare Act was first passed in 1966 to prevent pets from being stolen for sale to research laboratories, and to improve the treatment and wellbeing of animals intended for research. The passage in 2007 of legislation on animal fighting marked the sixth time Congress has amended the act to strengthen enforcement, expand coverage to more animals and activities, or curtail practices viewed as cruel, among other things. The Animal Welfare Act amendments in the 2008 farm bill band the im… more
Date: November 17, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Animal Welfare Act: Background and Selected Legislation

Description: This report describes the Background and Selected Legislation of The Animal Welfare Act which was first passed in 1966.
Date: August 6, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Drought: Federal Water Management Issues

Description: This report provides an introductory analysis of federal water management issues in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF), particularly during drought. The report underscores that decision makers are faced with the tradeoff of the current harm that reduced flows may cause aquatic species against the benefits of maintaining water in storage for future multipurpose use later. The first section briefly introduces the basin's water resources and related federal issues. The second section summa… more
Date: May 1, 2008
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.; Kaplan, Stan Mark; Buck, Eugene H.; Brougher, Cynthia & Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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