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Title
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Outdoor advertising control along federal-aid highways
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The original legislation created a Federal program to control advertising along federally funded highways was enacted in 1958, but major restructuring occurred in 1965 trhough enactment of Highway Beautification act. Current proposals now before Congress, if enacted, may remove some of the obstacles which have slowed the removal of billboards along Federal-aid highways. This report reviews the Federal program for controlling outdoor advertising along Federal-aid highways: the status of the current program, its evolution, and proposed amendments.
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Title
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Overview of whistleblower protections in federal law
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This report discusses the protections under federal statutory law for federal employees who engage in "whistleblowing" activities, that is, the disclosure by the employee of illegal or improper government activities. The protections cover most employees of the executive branch of government, and would apply where a covered employee makes a "protected disclosure" for which the agency takes a "personnel action" as a "reprisal" for such disclosure.
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Title
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Unemployment insurance loans: 1983-1985 provisions aiding debtor states
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L 98-21) established several temporary fiscal relief provisions that were aimed at providing incentives to strengthen the solvency of State Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs. These provisions allowed States meeting certain conditions to defer interest payments on UI loans, receive a discounted interest rate, and receive a partial cap on Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax credit reductions. Most of these provisions expired on September 30, 1985. This paper describes these provisions.
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Title
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Farm support programs: Cost considerations
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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Net outlays for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's commodity price support programs will reach a record $26 billion or more in fiscal 1986. This report briefly discusses how these programs are funded, who benefits from them, and their cost to taxpayers.
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Title
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Alternative energy taxes: Industry, regional and national impacts
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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A range of energy tax alternatives are discussed in this report. These tax alternatives cover the recent proposals for taxing energy to raise Treasury revenue and to achieve other energy policy goals. Each is evaluated in the context of various measures of economic impacts, varying from regional to macroeconomic, from ease of administration to income distribution.
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Title
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Teachers insurance and annuity association-college retirement equity fund (TIAA-CREF) and the tax bill (H.R. 3838): Issues and analysis
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The House-passed tax reform bill (H.R. 3838) would have a major impact on the operations of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equity Fund (TIAA-CREF). This paper discusses the issues raised by provisions in H.R. 3838 that would: (1) repeal the organization's tax-exempt status, (2) impose nondiscrimination standards on the retirement plans covering employees of colleges and universities, (3) limit contributions that employees may elect to make before taxes to their retirement plan, (4) coordinate salary deferrals made to the TIAA-CREF plan with the limits on Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), and (5) under certain circumstances, impose a 15 percent excise tax on early withdrawals.
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Title
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The 55-MPH national speed limit
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The national automotive speed limit of 55 MPH was enacted in 1974 as an energy saving measure and was kept in place when highway fatalities dropped sharply upon its implementation. A recent NAS study endorsed the speed limit generally, but suggested that it might be modified on rural portions of interstate highways. Legislation is pending in Congress that would allow the States to raise the limit on rural interstates; President Reagan has now endorsed this concept.
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Title
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The U.S. business cycle: Selected economic relationships
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This report breifly examines the relationship between selected economic time series and the U.S. business cycle., This report presents a series of selected economic indicators and their relationship to the U.S. business cycle. Six times series are presented: real Gross National Product (GNP), the M2 measure of the money stock, the civilian unemployment rate, and private domestic nonfinancial debt. Each time series is plotted quarterly beginning in the first quarter of 1948 through the third quarter of 1986. In each case the series are divided into time intervals of roughly equal length. In each chart the business cycle peaks and troughs as indicated. Table 1 below lists the U.S. business cycle reference dates.
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Title
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The Dow Jones industrial average
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The DowJones Industrial Average is the oldest and most commonly known index of the day-to-day overall price performance of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This stock price index has undergone much change since its inception. This report examines the evolution of the stock index's components, and method of calculation. It also briefly addresses the issue of the index's usefulness.
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Title
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The earned income tax credit (EITC)
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the amount of money that persons who work and have a dependent child can have subtracted from their income tax, or have refunded to them if the credit is larger than their tax liability. This paper gives a history of the credit, discusses recent changes in law that index the credit to price inflation, describes how the credit is derived, compares the credit with other welfare programs, and provides summary statistics on the credit.
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Title
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Legislative history of 1986 restriction on United States military involvement in Nicaragua
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This report sets forth the legislative history of the prohibition on the use of United States military advisers and combat troops within Nicaragua. Enacted as part of the military construction title of this year's continuing resolution, Pub. L. No. 99-500, which also authorized lethal and humanitarian assistance to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance, or Contras, the provision represents a legislative attempt to clarify United States policy on the matter and ensure effective adherence to Administration statements that United States troops will not be so introduced.
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Title
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The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings and department of education programs
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This paper describes the application of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, P.L. 99-177, popularity called "Gramm-Rudman-Hollings," to programs administered by the Department of Education, particularly, it will focus on provisions establishing "emergency powers to eliminate deficits in excess of maximum deficit amounts." All of the programs within the Department's jurisdiction are subject to the automatic spending reduction provisions of this law. Two programs are subject to special treatment, the Guaranteed Student Loan and the Vocational Rehabilitation State grant program. The remaining programs are subject to a uniform percentage reduction, estimated to be 4.3 percent for FY 1986.
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Title
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Real earnings in America: 1947-1985
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This report presents estimates of real earnings (i.e., earnings adjusted for inflation) from 1947 to 1985. While average real earnings increased by 60.6 percent between 1947 and 1972, average real earnings decreased by 13.5 percent between 1972 and 1985. This report also presents estimates of real spendable earnings (i.e., earnings adjusted for inflation, Federal tax payments, and social security contributions) and the changes in these earnings.
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Title
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P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act: Its development, implementation, and current issues
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, is generally regarded as a landmark in the establishment of educational equality for school-age handicapped children in the United States. This paper, written upon the 10th anniversary of the enactment of P.L. 94-142, examines the law's background, development, and implementation, and discusses issues before Congress on its future.
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Title
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The impact of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ...: on selected federal research and development agencies and programs
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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This report examines the impact of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, on the FY86 budget of selected research and development (R&D) programs. The analysis of the report focuses on the likely scope of reprogramming, and its potential impact on each program or agency in general. The qualitative program analysis also tried to determine what research areas were likely to suffer most under Gramm-Rudman-Hollings and if the different R&D agencies planned to cut the number of research grans or the size of each grant and how either action might affect their programs.
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