Policy Library

6,587 documents

The Charitable Deduction for Individuals: A Brief Legislative History
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-26 · Reports · 8,436 words · PDF available
This report provides a brief history of the major legislative changes to the charitable deduction that have occurred over the past 100 years, focusing on changes to the amount that taxpayers could ded...
An Economic Analysis of the Mortgage Interest Deduction
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-25 · Reports · 15,261 words · PDF available
This report provides an economic analysis of the mortgage interest deduction. Although other tax benefits for homeowners exist, the deduction for mortgage interest is arguably the most well-known tax ...
U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-25 · Reports · 13,474 words
The economic and trade relationship with Mexico is of interest to U.S. policymakers because of Mexico’s proximity to the United States, the extensive trade and investment relationship under the North ...
Veterans Accredited Representatives: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-25 · Reports · 3,903 words · PDF available
Veterans accredited representatives are individuals accredited by the Office of General Counsel (OGC) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to help veterans, their survivors, and their dependents...
Development and Regulation of Medical Countermeasures for COVID-19 (Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Treatments): Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-25 · Reports · 15,263 words · PDF available
In recent months, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread globally, with the United States now reporting the highest number of cases of any country in the world. Currently, there a...
“No-Knock” Warrants and Other Law Enforcement Identification Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-23 · Posts · 2,602 words · PDF available
In the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody, some Members of Congress have expressed interest in passing legislation that would alter the policing practices of feder...
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Overview of the Agency and Major Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-23 · Reports · 17,620 words · PDF available
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the federal agency primarily responsible for supporting community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment and preven...
Capital Markets Volatility and COVID-19: Background and Policy Responses
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-19 · Reports · 10,255 words · PDF available
Capital markets provide major sources of financing and investment for American businesses and investors by facilitating the creation and trading of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and shares of inv...
Supreme Court: DACA Rescission Violated the APA
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-18 · Posts · 2,368 words · PDF available
On June 18, 2020, in the case Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, the Supreme Court held in a five-to-four decision that the reasoning the Department of Homelan...
The North American Development Bank
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-18 · Resources · 1,330 words · PDF available
Introduction The North American Development Bank (NADB) is a binational financial institution created and funded by Mexico and the United States. The NADB provides loans and grants to public and priva...
Supreme Court Rules Title VII Bars Discrimination Against Gay and Transgender Employees: Potential Implications
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-17 · Posts · 2,476 words · PDF available
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a decision in a series of cases brought by gay and transgender workers alleging that their employers violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Titl...
Congress’s Power Over Appropriations: Constitutional and Statutory Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-16 · Reports · 43,222 words · PDF available
A body of constitutional and statutory provisions provides Congress with perhaps its most important legislative tool: the power to direct and control federal spending. Congress’s “power of the purse” ...
Environmental Effects of Battery Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-16 · Reports · 18,557 words · PDF available
Increased deployment of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and other alternative-fueled vehicles in the United States could have a variety of effects on energy security, the economy, and the environment...
Congress’s Power Over Appropriations: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-16 · Resources · 1,745 words · PDF available
A number of constitutional and statutory provisions provide Congress with perhaps its most important legislative tool: the power to direct and control federal spending. This In Focus summarizes releva...
CO2 Underground Injection Regulations: Selected Differences for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Geologic Sequestration
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-16 · Resources · 1,531 words
Underground injection and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been proposed as a solution for mitigating CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from stationary sources burning fossil fuels. In this process...
The Elder Justice Act: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-15 · Reports · 11,205 words · PDF available
Elder abuse is a complex issue. As such, it often leads to calls for a multifaceted policy response that combines public health interventions, social services programs, and law enforcement. To address...
Reforming Patterns of Unconstitutional Policing: Enforcement of 34 U.S.C. § 12601
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-15 · Posts · 2,527 words · PDF available
In the early 1990s, bystander video footage of Los Angeles police beating, clubbing, and stomping on black motorist Rodney King sparked national outrage, protests, and rioting. In response, Congress p...
Federal Police Oversight: Criminal Civil Rights Violations Under 18 U.S.C. § 242
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-15 · Posts · 2,878 words · PDF available
The May 2020 death of George Floyd in police custody and subsequent nationwide protests against the use of force by law enforcement have sparked heightened interest in Congress’s ability to prevent an...
Potential COVID-19 Impacts on Health Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs) and Recent Health FSA Changes
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-15 · Resources · 1,780 words · PDF available
Health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) are an optional benefit employers may offer that allow employees to set aside money, on a tax-advantaged basis, to pay for certain out-of-pocket medical ex...
Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-12 · Reports · 10,044 words
Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members and to the family members of deceased workers. Those benefits were initially exempt from federal ...
Repairs and Alterations Backlog at the General Services Administration
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-12 · Reports · 7,890 words · PDF available
The General Services Administration (GSA), often referred to as “the government’s landlord,” provides workspace for 1.2 million federal employees across more than 50 federal agencies. Half of the spac...
COVID-19: Remote Voting Trends and the Election Infrastructure Subsector
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-10 · Reports · 9,146 words · PDF available
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the systems and assets used to administer elections as a critical infrastructure subsector in 2017. The federal elections policy framework—includin...
The FUTURE Act (P.L. 116-91): Amendments to the Higher Education Act and Internal Revenue Code
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-09 · Reports · 5,250 words · PDF available
In December 2019, Congress enacted and the President signed the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act (FUTURE Act; P.L. 116-91). The law primarily addresses three hig...
COVID-19 Electric Utility Disconnections
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-09 · Reports · 4,187 words · PDF available
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many utilities, local governments, and state governments have implemented policies to suspend disconnections for nonpayment, known as disconnection moratoria. The...
Are Antifa Members Domestic Terrorists? Background on Antifa and Federal Classification of Their Actions
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-09 · Resources · 1,640 words · PDF available
On May 31, 2020, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that the United States will be designating “antifa”—this term is applied to an organization of loosely affiliated individuals who describe...
Three Strikes, You’re Out: Supreme Court to Consider Limit on Prisoner Litigation
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-08 · Posts · 2,436 words · PDF available
UPDATE: The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez on June 8, 2020. The full Court agreed that “[t]he text of Section 1915(g)’s three-strikes provision refers to any dismissal for ...
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FY2021 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-08 · Resources · 1,263 words · PDF available
Since FY2006, Congress has funded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bills. Released February 10, 2020, the President’s bu...
Withdrawal from the World Health Organization: Legal Basis and Implications
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-05 · Posts · 1,880 words · PDF available
On May 30, 2020, President Trump announced that he plans to terminate the United States’ relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). This Sidebar assumes that “terminate” means to withdraw ...
HIPAA, Telehealth, and COVID-19
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-05 · Posts · 1,899 words · PDF available
In recent years, health care providers have increasingly turned to technology to provide remote health care services to patients (i.e., “telehealth”). This use of telehealth has only become more impor...
Medicare Coverage of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Addiction
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-04 · Resources · 1,538 words · PDF available
Medicare covers certain reasonable and necessary services provided by Medicare-enrolled health care practitioners for treating substance abuse disorders, such as alcoholism and opioid and other drug a...
The Universal Service Fund and COVID-19: The FCC and Industry Response
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-04 · Resources · 1,737 words · PDF available
The need for social distancing, due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has led to an increase in remote working, distance learning, and telemedicine—activities that depend on connect...
Future Force Structure Requirements for the United States Navy
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-04 · Testimony · 16,283 words · PDF available
Navy, force structure, requirements, shipbuilding, shipyard, procurement, industrial base, China.
Fiscal Federalism: Theory and Practice
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-03 · Reports · 9,796 words · PDF available
The field of fiscal federalism studies how to divide responsibilities (including finances) among federal, state, and local governments to improve economic efficiency and achieve various public policy ...
Paid Family and Medical Leave: Current Policy and Legislative Proposals in the 116th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-03 · Reports · 14,020 words · PDF available
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA; P.L. 103-3, as amended) is the primary federal policy governing family and medical leave. Under FMLA, eligible workers are provided with a federal entit...
Testing, Testing, (Phase) 1-2-3: Legal Considerations for Clinical Trials of Potential COVID-19 Vaccines
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-02 · Posts · 2,270 words · PDF available
In the race to develop a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, several pharmaceutical companies, governments, and educational institutions around the world have begun testing their potential CO...
WIFIA Program: Background and Recent Developments
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-02 · Resources · 1,655 words · PDF available
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 authorized the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program to promote development of and private investment in water infrastr...
Social Security, Deficits, and Debt
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-01 · Resources · 1,681 words · PDF available
Social Security is a self-financing program that covers an estimated 178 million workers and will provide monthly benefits to about 64 million beneficiaries in 2020. The Social Security program is com...
Pharmaceutical Patenting Practices: A Legal Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-01 · Resources · 1,646 words · PDF available
Pharmaceutical manufacturers frequently obtain intellectual property (IP) rights in their products. IP law provides exclusive rights in a particular invention or product for a certain time period, pot...
What Role Might the Federal Government Play in Law Enforcement Reform?
Congressional Research Service · 2020-06-01 · Resources · 1,505 words · PDF available
Over the past few years, several high-profile police-involved shootings and alleged instances of excessive force have generated congressional interest in state and local policing. Congressional intere...
Digital Contact Tracing Technology: Overview and Considerations for Implementation
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-29 · Resources · 1,378 words · PDF available
Background “Contact tracing” is a public health measure used to control disease spread. Trained public health workers assist patients with an infectious disease recall their close contacts within a gi...
COVID-19: Federal Travel Restrictions and Quarantine Measures
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-28 · Posts · 1,745 words · PDF available
In response to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the federal government has taken several actions to deter persons with potential COVID-19 infection from entering the country. ...
Supreme Court Permits Retroactive Punitive Damages Against Sudan in Terrorism Cases
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-28 · Posts · 1,307 words · PDF available
More than two decades after the U.S. embassies bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, some plaintiffs who alleged that Sudanese support of Al Qaeda contributed to the attacks have won the opportunity to obt...
CFIUS: New Foreign Investment Review Regulations
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-28 · Resources · 1,741 words · PDF available
Overview On January 13, 2020, the Department of the Treasury issued final regulations to implement key parts of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) (Title XVII, P.L. 115-232)...
Spectrum Interference Issues: Ligado, the L-Band, and GPS
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-28 · Resources · 1,655 words · PDF available
On April 20, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously approved a controversial application by Ligado Networks, a U.S. satellite communications company, to deploy a terrestrial nat...
New Title IX Sexual Harassment Regulations Overhaul Responsibilities for Schools
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-27 · Posts · 2,267 words · PDF available
The Department of Education (ED) published new regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) on May 19, 2020. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex i...
Summary and Analysis of S. 2657, the American Energy Innovation Act
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-27 · Reports · 37,073 words · PDF available
Issues in the 116th Congress reflect the ongoing debate over the federal role in energy policy, particularly related to research and development (R&D), development of fossil and renewable energy on fe...
Time Is Time, but Money Is Money
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-26 · Posts · 1,125 words · PDF available
Introduction In United States v. Saccoccia, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (First Circuit) recently refused to vacate a 1993 judgment ordering Stephen Saccoccia—who is servin...
Presidential Removal of IGs Under the Inspector General Act
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-22 · Posts · 1,932 words · PDF available
President Trump has recently removed or replaced a number of acting and permanent Inspectors General (IGs), including the Intelligence Community IG, the State Department IG, and acting IGs at the Depa...
Data on Multiemployer Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-22 · Reports · 8,692 words · PDF available
Multiemployer defined benefit (DB) pension plans are private-sector pensions sponsored by more than one employer and maintained as part of a collective bargaining agreement. In DB pension plans, parti...
The Federal Role in Groundwater Supply
Congressional Research Service · 2020-05-22 · Reports · 12,990 words · PDF available
Groundwater, the water in aquifers accessible by wells, is a critical component of the U.S. water supply. It is important for both domestic and agricultural water needs, among other uses. Nearly half ...