Private Flood Insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the main source of primary flood insurance coverage in the United States, collecting over $4.6 billion in premiums, fees, and surcharges for over five mi...
Education Stabilization Fund Programs Funded by the CARES Act, CRRSAA, and ARPA: Background and Analysis
From March 2020 through March 2021, the enactment of three laws provided increasing levels of federal funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education primarily through the Education Sta...
Elections and Voting: Policy and Legal Issues for the 118th Congress
Traditionally, the federal government’s role in campaigns and elections primarily includes regulating campaign finance, protecting voting rights, and supporting states in election administration. Cong...
Introduction to Financial Services: Accounting and Auditing Regulatory Structure, U.S. and International
This In Focus provides an overview of how accounting and auditing standards are created and regulated in the private sector, the federal government, and state and local governments. Different accounti...
Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status
The Secretary of the Treasury, through the U.S. Mint, is statutorily authorized to issue specific denominations of circulating coins (31 U.S.C. §5112). Currently, the United States has six circulating...
Redesigning Circulating Quarters, Half Dollars, and Dollar Coins: Current and Future Designs
In January 2021, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-330) was enacted. The legislation authorizes the redesigns of the circulating quarter dollar, half dollar, and $1 coins...
Congressional Involvement in the Design of Circulating Coins
In April 1792, the Coinage Act (1 Stat. 246) established the United States Mint. Pursuant to the act, Congress prescribed various aspects of the design of circulating coins. For example, the Coinage A...
Bridging the Digital Divide: Broadband Workforce Considerations for the 118th Congress
As classrooms, workplaces, and social activities migrated online during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the digital divide—the gap between those who have access to broadband (i.e., h...
Back in Action, the U.S. Sentencing Commission to Resolve Circuit Splits on Controlled Substances and Sentencing Reductions
In 1984, Congress revolutionized federal sentencing. That year, Congress established the U.S. Sentencing Commission (the Commission) as an independent agency within the judicial branch and directed it...
The OPEN Government Data Act: A Primer
The Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary Government Data Act—also called the OPEN Government Data Act (Title II of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 [FEBPA], P.L. 115-435)...
FCC’s National Broadband Map: Implications for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program
Access to high-speed internet (i.e., broadband) has been a focus of congressional interest for decades as a significant—and growing—number of daily activities are conducted online. Some areas of the U...