Consumer-Style Protections for Small Businesses: Issues and Options for Congress
Small businesses rely on financing to manage their finances, increase inventory, and expand their business operations. Small business lending from banks remains well below pre–Great Recession levels, ...
Reauthorization of the U.S. Fire Administration and of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Programs
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) is the lead federal agency on fire safety, fire data collection management, public fire education, fire research, and fire service training. It was established in t...
Defense Primer: Military Commissaries and Exchanges
The Department of Defense (DOD) offers certain quality-of-life benefits to military members, their families, and retirees. The general purpose of these benefits is to attract, retain, and support mora...
Over-The-Counter Monograph Drug User Fee Program (OMUFA) Reauthorization
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, P.L. 116-136) was signed into law. The CARES Act added Section 505G to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (F...
U.S. Employment-Based Immigration Policy
Each year, the United States grants lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, or green cards, to about 140,000 foreign workers and their family members. These employment-based (EB) immigrants are part o...
How Is Primary Energy Defined and Used?
A fundamental consideration in energy policy debates is the amount of primary energy—from oil, coal, nuclear power, renewables, and other resources—produced and consumed in the United States and throu...
Paying for Drinking Water: Background and Issues for Congress
For decades, the affordability of drinking water services has been a concern of Congress, dating back to the 1974 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Over time, system costs to maintain o...
How to Define Mass Shootings: Potential Policy Implications
There is no single, widely accepted definition of a mass shooting. Instead, there is a group of numerous, disparate, and uncoordinated definitions of a mass shooting. Various entities, however, have o...
Defense Primer: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
Advanced technology plays a critical role in ensuring U.S. national security. To maintain technological superiority on the battlefield, the Department of Defense (DOD) relies on scientific and technic...
AUKUS Nuclear Cooperation
On August 7, 2024, President Joseph Biden submitted to Congress an “Agreement among the Government of Australia, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Gov...
The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (H.R. 82): Background for Congress
The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (H.R. 82) was introduced by Representative Garret Graves on January 9, 2023. S. 597, a companion bill, was introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown on March 1, 2023...
Defense Primer: Military Installations Management
The Department of Defense (DOD) and the three military departments—the Army, Navy, and Air Force—maintain distinctive organizational structures, policies, and programs for managing their installations...
Reference Table: Expiring Provisions in the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (TCJA, P.L. 115-97)
SUMMARY SUPRESSED...JUST FOR SEARCH
A variety of temporary changes enacted as part of P.L. 115-97, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), are scheduled to expire. Many TCJA provisi...