Policy Library

7,020 documents

Surface Transportation Funding and Programs Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94)
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-18 · Reports · 12,147 words
On December 4, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94). The act authorized spending on federal highway and public transportation pro...
Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2016
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-17 · Reports · 39,325 words
President Obama’s budget request for FY2016 included $145.694 billion for research and development (R&D), an increase of $7.625 billion (5.5%) over the estimated FY2015 R&D funding level of $138.069 b...
The Clean Power Plan (CPP): The Treatment of Biomass
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-12 · Resources · 1,541 words
The Clean Power Plan On August 3, 2015, the Obama Administration issued its final rule for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric power plants, commonly refe...
Is Biopower Carbon Neutral?
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-12 · Reports · 6,301 words
To promote energy diversity and improve energy security, Congress has expressed interest in biopower—electricity generated from biomass. Biopower, a baseload power source, can be produced from a large...
Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2016 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-12 · Reports · 12,028 words
Most of the funding for the activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) comes from discretionary appropriations provided each year in the annual appropriations acts, typically ...
Biopower: Background and Federal Support
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-12 · Reports · 9,944 words
Biopower—a form of renewable energy—is the generation of electric power from biomass feedstocks. In 2014, Biopower comprised about 1.6% of total U.S. electricity generation and accounted for close to ...
Senate Committee Rules in the 114th Congress: Key Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-08 · Reports · 9,514 words
Senate Rule XXVI establishes specific requirements for certain Senate committee procedures. In addition, each Senate committee is required to adopt rules to govern its own proceedings. These rules may...
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-03 · Reports · 11,232 words · PDF available
The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program provides health insurance to federal employees, retirees, and their dependents. This report provides a general overview of FEHB. It describes the s...
Post-Committee Adjustment in the Modern House: The Use of Rules Committee Prints
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-03 · Reports · 9,577 words
Floor proceedings in the U.S. House of Representatives often begin on the basis of legislation reported from committee. In some instances, adjustments to committee recommendations are made and a new l...
Highways and Highway Safety on Indian Lands
Congressional Research Service · 2016-02-02 · Reports · 6,425 words
Cars and trucks are the primary means of transportation on Indian lands, mostly rural areas that cover about 56 million acres. There are about 145,000 miles of roads, owned variously by tribal, federa...
Apprenticeship in the United States: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-29 · Reports · 2,177 words
Apprenticeship is a job training strategy that combines on-the-job training with related instruction, typically provided in a classroom setting. This report answers frequently asked questions about ap...
Senate Legislative Procedures: Published Sources of Information
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-28 · Reports · 813 words
The Senate publishes its rules, precedents, and other related information so that Senators and their staff have convenient access to the Senate’s legislative procedures and can gauge how those procedu...
Unmanned Aircraft Operations in Domestic Airspace: U.S. Policy Perspectives and the Regulatory Landscape
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-27 · Reports · 11,360 words
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), often referred to as “drones,” have become commonplace over the past few years. As UAS technology develops rapidly, the United States faces significant challenges in b...
Final Senate Action on U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations During a President’s Eighth Year in Office
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-27 · Reports · 5,731 words
This report, in light of continued Senate interest in the judicial confirmation process during a President’s final year in office, provides statistics related to Senate action on U.S. circuit and dist...
Methods of Estimating the Total Cost of Federal Regulations
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-21 · Reports · 17,273 words
Federal agencies issue thousands of regulations each year under delegated authority from Congress. Over the past 70 years, Congress and various Presidents have created a set of procedures agencies mus...
The Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund: Background and Current Status
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-19 · Reports · 13,388 words
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides benefits to nonelderly workers and their eligible dependents if the worker paid Social Security taxes for a certain number of years and is unable t...
The Glass-Steagall Act: A Legal and Policy Analysis
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-19 · Reports · 15,375 words
The phrase “Glass-Steagall” generally refers to the separation of commercial banking from investment banking. Congress effected a separation of commercial and investment banking through four sections ...
Budget Reconciliation Process: Timing of Committee Responses to Reconciliation Directives
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-19 · Reports · 8,385 words
When reconciliation directives (also referred to as reconciliation instructions) are included in an annual budget resolution, their purpose is to require committees to develop and report reconciliatio...
Omnibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-14 · Reports · 5,494 words
Omnibus appropriations acts have become a significant feature of the legislative process in recent years as Congress and the President have used them more frequently to bring action on the regular app...
Efforts to Reauthorize the America COMPETES Act: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-14 · Reports · 1,756 words · PDF available
America COMPETES Act. P.L. 110-69. America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act. America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. P.L. 111-3...
The Indian Health Service (IHS):An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-12 · Reports · 12,061 words
The IHS provides an array of medical services, including inpatient, ambulatory, emergency, dental, public health nursing, and preventive health care. The IHS does not have a defined medical benefit pa...
USDA’s “GIPSA Rule” on Livestock and Poultry Marketing Practices
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-07 · Reports · 20,664 words
The 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246) included new provisions that amended the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act) to give poultry and swine growers the right to cancel contracts, to require that poultry...
Minding the Data Gap: NOAA’s Polar-Orbiting Weather Satellites and Strategies for Data Continuity
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-07 · Reports · 5,413 words
Concerns have been raised in Congress about the possibility of a “data gap” in the polar-orbiting weather satellite coverage. A near-term data gap could occur if the currently operating polar-orbiting...
Big Data in U.S. Agriculture
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-06 · Reports · 7,560 words
Recent media and industry reports have employed the term big data as a key to the future of increased food production and sustainable agriculture. A recent hearing on the private elements of big data ...
The Motion to Recommit in the House of Representatives
Congressional Research Service · 2016-01-06 · Reports · 4,225 words
The motion to recommit provides a final opportunity for the House to affect a measure before passage, either by amending the measure or sending it back to committee. The motion to recommit is often r...
The Budget Control Act of 2011 as Amended: Budgetary Effects
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-29 · Reports · 10,260 words
Following a lengthy debate over raising the debt limit, the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25) was signed into law by President Obama on August 2, 2011. In addition to including a mechanism...
Western Water and Drought: Legislative Analysis of H.R. 2898 and S. 1894
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-23 · Reports · 25,885 words
Several western states are experiencing extreme or exceptional drought conditions. The persistence and intensity of the drought, which began in 2011 in some areas, has received considerable attention ...
Executive Agreements
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-21 · Infographics · 403 words
Secretary of State authorizes negotiation State Department periodically notifies S. Foreign Relations and H. Foreign Affairs Committees of significant agreements for negotiation. Congress may be consu...
Economic Effects of the FY2014 Shutdown
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-21 · Infographics · 367 words · PDF available
Prepared by Marc Labonte and Bisola Momoh For more information, see CRS Report R43292, The FY2014 Government Shutdown: Economic Effects, by Marc Labonte. Sources: Federal Employees out of work in Octo...
Department of Transportation (DOT): FY2016 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-21 · Reports · 7,933 words
On February 2, 2015, the Obama Administration proposed a $93.7 billion budget for the Department of Transportation (DOT) for FY2016. That is about $22 billion (31%) more than was provided in FY2015. T...
Ecosystem Restoration in the Puget Sound
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-17 · Resources · 1,467 words
Introduction The Puget Sound (the Sound), located in the state of Washington, is the second-largest estuary in the United States, covering 35,500 square kilometers, and the largest estuary in the coun...
Leverage Ratios in Bank Capital Requirements
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-09 · Resources · 1,664 words
This In Focus provides a summary of leverage ratios used in bank capital requirements. It also explains the concept of leverage and the rationale behind a leverage ratio. Leverage and the Financial C...
Chronic Homelessness: Background, Research, and Outcomes
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-08 · Reports · 27,631 words
Chronically homeless individuals are those who spend long periods of time living on the street or other places not meant for human habitation, and who have one or more disabilities, frequently includi...
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and ESEA Reauthorization: Summary of Selected Key Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-07 · Resources · 1,681 words
Congress has actively considered reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) during the 114th Congress, passing comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills in both the House (Stu...
Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act: Highlights of the Every Student Succeeds Act
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-04 · Reports · 10,959 words
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was last comprehensively amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; P.L. 107-110). Appropriations for most programs authorized by the ESEA...
Nuclear Waste Fund: Budgetary, Funding, and Scoring Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-03 · Testimony · 0 words
Nuclear Waste Fund, Nuclear Waste Policy Act, spent nuclear fuel, used nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, high-level nuclear waste, Yucca Mountain
U.S. Tax Court: A Brief Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-02 · Resources · 1,553 words · PDF available
The U.S. Tax Court is an Article I court created by Congress to hear tax disputes arising under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). This In Focus provides background information about the court. Creation...
The Lobbying Disclosure Act at 20: Analysis and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2015-12-01 · Reports · 20,474 words · PDF available
On December 19, 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton signed the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) into law (2 U.S.C. §1601, et seq.). In his comments when signing the law, President Clinton identifie...
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-30 · Resources · 1,591 words
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, as amended, (FMLA; P.L. 103-3) entitles eligible employees to unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical needs, with continuation of group hea...
Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-30 · Reports · 983 words
Budget reconciliation is a two-phase process, provided by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2 U.S.C. 601-688), as amended, that Congress may use to assure compliance wi...
Federal Real Property Data: Limitations and Implications for Oversight
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-25 · Reports · 5,774 words
The federal executive branch owns and leases more than 275,000 buildings, with annual operating costs in excess of $21 billion. Oversight of this portfolio of buildings has been a priority for recent ...
Reauthorization of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Act in the 114th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-20 · Reports · 6,185 words
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) collected livestock and meat price and related market information from meat packers on a voluntary basis under the au...
Taxation of Unemployment Benefits
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-16 · Reports · 2,306 words
Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Under tax law, unemployment compensation is a b...
Congressional Budget Resolutions: Historical Information
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-16 · Reports · 15,607 words
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, as amended; 2 U.S.C. 601-688) provides for the annual adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget each year. The congressional b...
The Family and Medical Leave Act: An Overview of Title I
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-16 · Reports · 12,165 words
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA; P.L. 103-3, as amended) entitles eligible employees to unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons, with continued group health p...
U.S. Grain Standards Act: Reauthorization in the 114th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-12 · Reports · 11,666 words
Under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA) of 1916, the federal government is authorized to establish official marketing standards (not health and safety standards) for grains and oilseeds, a...
The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases
Congressional Research Service · 2015-11-02 · Reports · 17,885 words
Congress has always restricted federal debt. The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 included an aggregate limit on federal debt as well as limits on specific debt issues. Through the 1920s and 1930s, Con...
Cargo Preferences for U.S.-Flag Shipping
Congressional Research Service · 2015-10-29 · Reports · 9,857 words
Long-standing U.S. policy has treated the U.S.-flag international fleet as a naval auxiliary to be available in times of war or national emergency. When the United States is involved in an extended mi...
State and Local Government Series (SLGS) Treasury Debt: A Description
Congressional Research Service · 2015-10-29 · Reports · 1,432 words · PDF available
On February 4, 2014, in anticipation of no increase in the statutory debt limit, the U.S. Treasury announced in a press release that it would suspend “sales of State and Local Government Series (SLGS)...
Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process
Congressional Research Service · 2015-10-20 · Reports · 7,851 words
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, as amended) created a process that Congress uses each year to establish and enforce the parameters for budgetary legislation. Enforcem...