Policy Library

6,587 documents

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch: His Jurisprudence and Potential Impact on the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2017-03-08 · Reports · 73,600 words · PDF available
On January 31, 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Tenth Circuit) to fill the vacancy on the Supreme C...
Deficits and Debt
Congressional Research Service · 2017-03-06 · Resources · 1,537 words
Net deficits and debt are the primary short- and long-term measurements of federal budget performance, which represents a critical congressional responsibility. This In Focus summarizes debt, deficits...
Presentation of Legislation and the Veto Process
Congressional Research Service · 2017-03-01 · Infographics · 297 words
/ Presentation of Legislation and The Veto Process Presentation to the President Bills (H.R. or S.) or joint resolutions (H.J.Res. or S.J.Res.) that have passed both the House and Senate in identical ...
California Drought: Water Supply and Conveyance Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-28 · Resources · 1,338 words
Overview Despite recent rain, snowstorms, and severe flooding, portions of California—primarily the south-central coast and Southern California—continue to experience moderate to severe drought. (See ...
“Dear Colleague” Letters in the House of Representatives: Past Practices and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-22 · Reports · 9,362 words
The practice of one Member, committee, or office broadly corresponding to other Members, committee, or officers dates back to at least the 1800s. At least as early as 1913, this correspondence was lab...
Oil Sands and the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund: The Definition of “Oil” and Related Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-15 · Reports · 8,093 words
In 2005, the United States imported approximately 217 million barrels of oil-sands-derived crude oils from Canada. In 2015, that figure increased to 587 million barrels, accounting for approximately 2...
Harbor Deepening: Federal Studies and Construction Projects
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-15 · Resources · 1,304 words
Deep-draft coastal harbors handle a large volume of U.S. imports and exports. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is responsible for improving and maintaining federal navigation channels. An issu...
Discretionary Spending Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-08 · Reports · 19,279 words
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) authorized many new discretionary grant programs and provided each one with an authorization of appropriations—typically through FY2014 or FY2015—to carry them out. The A...
Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-07 · Reports · 13,617 words
Implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act, or ACA) is having a significant impact on federal mandatory—also known as direct—spending. Most of the projected ...
Proposals to Eliminate Public Financing of Presidential Campaigns
Congressional Research Service · 2017-02-07 · Reports · 2,579 words
Recent Congresses have debated whether or how to maintain the presidential public financing program, which consisted of financing for candidates and nominating conventions until 2014. The 113th Congre...
The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-30 · Reports · 8,314 words · PDF available
Congress maintains a strong interest in the health of U.S. manufacturing due to its central role in the U.S. economy and national defense. In 2012, in his FY2013 budget, President Obama proposed the c...
Endangered Species Act (ESA): The Exemption Process
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-27 · Reports · 12,096 words
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is designed to protect species from extinction, but it includes an exemption process for those unusual cases where the public benefit from an action is determined to o...
Considering Measures in the House Under the OneHour Rule
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-23 · Reports · 1,250 words
The fundamental rule of the House of Representatives governing debate is the one-hour rule. Clause 2 of Rule XVII states in part that no one shall “occupy more than one hour in debate on a question in...
Privileged Business on the House Floor
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-23 · Reports · 901 words
Privileged business is the legislative business of the House that Members have a right to call up for consideration on the floor when the House is not engaged in considering some other matter. Privile...
An Overview of the Housing Finance System in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-18 · Reports · 9,909 words · PDF available
When making a decision about housing, a household must choose between renting and owning. Multiple factors, such as a household’s financial status and expectations about the future, influence the deci...
Intergenerational Income Mobility
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-17 · Resources · 1,336 words
In a mobile society, individuals’ incomes and income rank rise and fall over time. Intergenerational income mobility describes these patterns across generations; specifically how children’s incomes in...
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF): History, Function, and Funding
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-17 · Reports · 3,773 words · PDF available
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) was chartered by Congress in 1984 to aid in the conservation of plants, animals, and ecosystems; many of its projects involve work with federal agencie...
Health Benefits for Members of Congress and Designated Congressional Staff: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-13 · Reports · 3,337 words
Many private- and public-sector firms offer employer-sponsored health insurance to their employees and contribute toward the cost of that insurance as part of the employee’s compensation package. The ...
The Excise Tax on High-Cost Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Estimated Economic and Market Effects
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-12 · Reports · 7,409 words
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended) included a provision to impose an excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage beginning in 2018 (...
Expanding Federal Support for Urban Agriculture
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-09 · Resources · 1,675 words
Over the past decade, food policy in the United States has addressed ongoing shifts in consumer preferences and producer trends that favor local and regional food systems. This has led to increased ag...
Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN)
Congressional Research Service · 2017-01-06 · Resources · 1,670 words
The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN or WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322) authorized a broad range of water resource and water quality activities when it was signed into law on Decembe...
Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-30 · Reports · 21,188 words
The individual states have been the primary regulators of insurance since 1868. Following the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, this system has operated with the explicit blessing of Congress, but has also ...
The Role of State Approving Agencies in the Administration of GI Bill Benefits
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-29 · Reports · 16,910 words
State Approving Agencies (SAAs) play an important role in the administration of GI Bill® benefits. GI Bill benefits provide educational assistance payments to eligible veterans and servicemembers and ...
Legal Services Corporation: Background and Funding
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-21 · Reports · 12,150 words
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is a private, nonprofit, federally funded corporation that helps provide legal assistance to low-income people in civil (i.e., noncriminal) matters. The primary re...
NASA: FY2017 Budget and Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-21 · Reports · 3,873 words
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act (P.L. 85-568) to conduct civilian space and aeronautics activities. It has four m...
U.S. International Corporate Taxation: Basic Concepts and Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-21 · Reports · 4,356 words
Recent deficit reduction and tax reform plans have included broad proposals to reform the U.S. international corporate tax system. These proposals have raised concerns over how changing the way Americ...
The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-16 · Reports · 9,125 words
Numerous federal, state, and local agencies share responsibilities for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply. Federal responsibility for food safety rests primarily with the Food and Drug Admi...
Special Minimum Wages for Workers with Disabilities: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-16 · Reports · 2,295 words
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as amended, sets the minimum wage for covered workers at $7.25 per hour. Section 14(c) of the FLSA permits certified employers to pay a worker with a disability th...
Implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA, P.L. 111-353)
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-16 · Reports · 10,022 words
Congress passed comprehensive food safety legislation in December 2010 (FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, P.L. 111-353), representing the largest expansion and overhaul of U.S. food safety a...
The FCC’s Rules and Policies Regarding Media Ownership, Attribution, and Ownership Diversity
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-16 · Reports · 12,767 words
From the earliest days of commercial radio, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its predecessor, the Federal Radio Commission, have encouraged diversity in broadcasting. This concern has r...
State Management of Federal Lands: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-16 · Reports · 5,537 words
The federal government owns roughly 640 million acres of land, about 28% of the 2.27 billion acres in the United States. This land is managed by numerous agencies, but four agencies administer about 9...
Financial Challenges of Operating Nuclear Power Plants in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-14 · Reports · 16,523 words
Some of the 60 operating nuclear power plants (comprising 99 nuclear reactors) in the United States have experienced financial stress in recent years due to a combination of low wholesale electricity ...
Commercial Space Industry Launches a New Phase
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-12 · Reports · 9,024 words · PDF available
Rockets, satellites, and the services they provide, once the domain of governments, are increasingly launched and managed by privately owned companies. Although private aerospace firms have contracted...
The National Space Council
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-12 · Reports · 6,391 words · PDF available
According to press reports, the Trump Administration may reestablish the National Space Council, a coordinating body in the Executive Office of the President that was last active in 1993. The National...
Generalized System of Preferences: Agricultural Imports
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-08 · Reports · 4,263 words
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) provides duty-free tariff treatment for certain products from designated developing countries. Agricultural imports under GSP totaled $2.6 billion in 2015, ...
Has the U.S. Government Ever “Defaulted”?
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-08 · Reports · 12,944 words
During recent debt limit episodes, federal officials have contended that if the debt limit were to constrain the government’s ability to meet its obligations, that would be an unprecedented blemish on...
Domestic Energy Challenges in the 21st Century
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-01 · Resources · 1,508 words
Overview Advances in technology have dramatically increased U.S. oil and natural gas production (Figure 1). This increase has important policy implications for energy markets, infrastructure, security...
The U.S. Trade Situation for Fruit and Vegetable Products
Congressional Research Service · 2016-12-01 · Reports · 8,697 words
Over the last decade, there has been a growing U.S. trade deficit in fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. Although U.S. fruit and vegetable exports totaled $6.3 billion in 2015, U.S. imports of ...
Drug Testing and Crime-Related Restrictions in TANF, SNAP, and Housing Assistance
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-28 · Reports · 18,035 words
Throughout the history of social assistance programs, administrators have attempted to limit access only to those families considered “worthy” of assistance. Policies about worthiness have included bo...
Federal Income Tax Treatment of the Family
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-23 · Reports · 14,735 words
Individual income tax provisions have shifted over time, first in increasing the burden on larger families, and then in decreasing it. These shifts were caused by changing tax code features: personal ...
Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-17 · Reports · 9,634 words
Concerns about the number of unauthorized (illegal) aliens residing in the United States have fostered considerable interest in the eligibility of noncitizens for U.S. Social Security benefits. The So...
Infrastructure Finance and Debt to Support Surface Transportation Investment
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-17 · Reports · 11,047 words
Investment in surface transportation infrastructure is funded mainly with current receipts from taxes, tolls, and fares, but it is financed by public-sector borrowing and, in some cases, private borro...
Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2006-2016
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-09 · Reports · 9,295 words
The length of time a congressional staff member spends employed in a particular position in Congress—or congressional staff tenure—is a source of recurring interest to Members, staff, and the public. ...
Staff Tenure in Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, 2006-2016
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-09 · Reports · 9,933 words
The length of time a congressional staff member spends employed in a particular position in Congress—or congressional staff tenure—is a source of recurring interest to Members, staff, and the public. ...
Internet Gambling: Policy Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-07 · Reports · 12,962 words · PDF available
Gambling, once widely outlawed, is now a regulated, taxed activity that is legal in some form—bingo, card games, slot machines, state-run lotteries, casinos, and even online—in all states except Hawai...
Land Exchanges: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Process and Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-07 · Reports · 8,068 words
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducts land exchanges with other land owners to acquire and dispose of land. The agency is authorized to conduct land exchanges under the Federal Land Policy and ...
Recent State Election Law Challenges: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-02 · Reports · 8,603 words
During the final months and weeks leading up to the November 8, 2016, presidential election, courts across the country have ruled in numerous challenges to state election laws. For example, there have...
Protecting Clean Air in National Parks and Wilderness Areas
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-02 · Resources · 1,397 words
In 1977, major amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) included provisions for the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) of air quality. The PSD provisions were enacted for several purposes, inc...
Compensated Work Sharing Arrangements (Short-Time Compensation) as an Alternative to Layoffs
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-01 · Reports · 8,501 words
Short-time compensation (STC) is a program within the federal-state unemployment insurance system. In states that have STC programs, workers whose hours are reduced under a formal work sharing plan ma...
Social Services Block Grant: Background and Funding
Congressional Research Service · 2016-11-01 · Reports · 10,640 words
The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. ...