Policy Library

7,020 documents

COVID-19 Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 2022: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-07 · Reports · 3,927 words · PDF available
[Summary suppressed.] Since March 2020, more than $400 billion has been appropriated for the domestic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health response to Department of Health and Human Servi...
The Department of Energy’s Appliance and Equipment Standards Program: Prioritization Options for Addressing the Rulemaking Backlog
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-07 · Reports · 11,050 words · PDF available
Since its inception, the Department of Energy (DOE) has administered programs for reducing energy consumption by influencing consumer choice and improving technology. Starting in 1975, Congress author...
Inflation in the U.S. Economy: Causes and Policy Options
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-06 · Reports · 20,433 words
The Federal Reserve (Fed) defines stable prices to be inflation (the general rise in the price of goods and services) of 2% annually. After decades of low inflation, inflation has been above the Fed’s...
Environmental, Social, and Governance Funds: SEC Proposed Names Rule Reform
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-06 · Resources · 1,603 words · PDF available
On May 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioners voted 3-1 to officially propose amendments to its “Names Rule” governing certain investment fund names. The proposed rulemak...
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks in U.S. Agriculture
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-06 · Resources · 1,399 words · PDF available
Agriculture and land-use activities continue to play a central role in the broader debate about energy and climate policy options in the United States and abroad. Such activities offer opportunities t...
White House Initiative to Advance the Bioeconomy, E.O. 14081: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-05 · Reports · 4,249 words · PDF available
The bioeconomy is the portion of the economy based on products, services, and processes derived from biological resources (e.g., plants and microorganisms). According to the McKinsey Global Institute,...
Medication Abortion: A Changing Legal Landscape
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-05 · Posts · 1,919 words · PDF available
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, questions have been raised about continued access to medication abortion, a pregnancy termination method involvi...
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-05 · Reports · 13,427 words
Carbon capture and storage (or sequestration)—known as CCS—is a process intended to capture man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) at its source and store it permanently underground. As one potential option fo...
Patents and Innovation Policy
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-03 · Reports · 10,819 words · PDF available
Encouraging scientific and technological innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness has been a long-standing interest of Congress and other federal policymakers. Motivated by the widely held view th...
Manufacturing USA: Advanced Manufacturing Institutes and Network
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-03 · Reports · 13,746 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. Manufacturing USA is a network of institutes focused on facil...
Ecosystem Restoration in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-03 · Reports · 12,207 words · PDF available
Congressional interest in ecosystem restoration focuses on federal activities for specific geographic regions, such as the Everglades, Chesapeake Bay, and the Great Lakes, as well as federal restorati...
Single-Family Market Rents and Institutional Investors
Congressional Research Service · 2022-10-03 · Resources · 1,783 words · PDF available
Rent increases for single-family (SF) detached residential property units accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The market demand and supply trends contributing to rising rents—and particularly th...
An Analysis of the Tax Treatment of Capital Losses
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-30 · Reports · 6,276 words
One reason for increasing the net capital loss limit against ordinary income is to restore the value of the loss limitation to its 1978 level. Under current law, long-term and short-term losses are ne...
Batson v. Kentucky and Federal Peremptory Challenge Law
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-30 · Reports · 12,978 words · PDF available
Parties in federal court—whether in civil or criminal trials—have two options to challenge potential jurors during jury selection: challenges for cause and peremptory challenges. Both types of challen...
Synthetic/Engineering Biology: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-30 · Reports · 12,441 words · PDF available
Synthetic biology, sometimes referred to as engineering biology, is the application of engineering principles and the use of systematic design tools to enable the reprogramming of cellular systems at ...
National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-30 · Resources · 1,409 words · PDF available
The National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center (NCBC), originally established by Congress in 2005 as the National Counter Proliferation Center (NCPC), is one of three mission centers within ...
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: FY2023 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-30 · Resources · 1,261 words · PDF available
Introduction The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the Department of the Interior (DOI), has a mission to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habi...
Religious Objections to Nondiscrimination Laws: Supreme Court October Term 2022
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-29 · Posts · 3,506 words · PDF available
The Supreme Court has been presented recently with multiple appeals from religious institutions that object to laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. A baker who objects t...
Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Introduction and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-29 · Reports · 13,287 words · PDF available
Geothermal power is a type of energy generation technology the United States can use to help meet its future energy needs. U.S. energy use is growing, end uses are changing, and the power grid is bein...
Farmer Mac and Its Board Members
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-29 · Resources · 1,111 words · PDF available
Overview The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) is a secondary market for agricultural mortgages. It purchases loans from originating lenders and provides other risk management too...
Medicare Graduate Medical Education Payments: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-29 · Resources · 1,442 words · PDF available
Medicare makes a significant investment in medical residency training (or graduate medical education, GME). It paid an estimated $16.2 billion in FY2020, primarily to hospitals. The Government Account...
Crypto Assets and Property of the Bankruptcy Estate: An Analysis
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-28 · Posts · 2,193 words · PDF available
As the effects of the recent sharp decline in cryptocurrency prices, or “crypto winter,” spread to the dockets of bankruptcy courts, those courts face a novel legal question: Are crypto account holder...
Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-28 · Reports · 9,806 words
Social Security’s receipts and expenditures are accounted for through two federal trust funds: the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance (DI) T...
The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate’s “Byrd Rule”
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-28 · Reports · 17,438 words
Reconciliation is a procedure under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by which Congress implements budget resolution policies affecting mainly permanent spending and revenue programs. The principal...
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 Implementation and Beyond
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-27 · Reports · 13,599 words · PDF available
On January 1, 2021, Congress passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA) as Division F of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2021 (P.L. 116-283). A...
Stewardship End Result Contracting: Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-27 · Resources · 1,378 words · PDF available
Stewardship end result contracting, often called stewardship contracting, is a Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contracting mechanism that allows these agencies to pursue land m...
The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Appropriations Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-26 · Reports · 12,629 words · PDF available
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a laboratory of the Department of Commerce, is mandated to provide technical services to facilitate the competitiveness of U.S. industry. NIS...
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the One-Stop Delivery System
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-26 · Reports · 17,819 words · PDF available
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA; P.L. 113-128), which succeeded the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) as the primary federal workforce development law, was enacted in ...
Forest Service: FY2022 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-26 · Resources · 1,359 words · PDF available
The Forest Service (FS) is responsible for managing 193 million acres of land in the National Forest System (NFS); conducting forestry research; and providing assistance to state, local, private, and ...
Funding for Wildfire Management: FY2022 Appropriations for the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-26 · Resources · 1,333 words · PDF available
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (FS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are responsible for wildfire response and management across the federal lands within their respective ...
Expired and Expiring Temporary Tax Provisions (Including “Tax Extenders”)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-23 · Reports · 13,169 words · PDF available
Numerous temporary tax provisions expired at the end of 2021, with other temporary tax provisions set to expire in 2022 or the coming years. Collectively, temporary tax provisions that are regularly e...
Is Possession of Cash Evidence of a Crime?
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-23 · Posts · 1,053 words · PDF available
Although possession of a large sum of cash may suggest criminal activity, police discovery of a substantial amount of currency is not enough alone to justify the government’s confiscation of the money...
Education Department Proposes New Title IX Regulations: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-23 · Posts · 2,847 words · PDF available
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) bars discrimination “on the basis of sex” in education programs that receive federal financial assistance. As explained in a previous Sidebar, t...
Homeownership: Tax Policy Options and Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-23 · Resources · 1,830 words · PDF available
This In Focus discusses three selected demand-side options and three selected supply-side options for potentially promoting homeownership. Pursuing any of the presented options would require careful c...
Injection and Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide: Federal Role and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-22 · Reports · 19,162 words · PDF available
For several decades, the federal government has funded efforts to explore the feasibility of mitigating the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) while burning fossil fuels as a source of energy. Carbon ...
Farm Bill Primer: Farm Safety Net Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-22 · Resources · 1,538 words · PDF available
The so-called federal “farm safety net” is a collection of programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provide risk protection and income support to farmers in the United S...
Removal Protections for Administrative Adjudicators: Constitutional Scrutiny and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-21 · Posts · 2,808 words · PDF available
Since the passage of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1946, administrative law judges (ALJs) across all federal agencies have enjoyed statutory removal protection. The Constitution, however, ...
The Clean Water Act at Fifty: Highlights and Lessons Learned from a Half Century of Transformative Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Testimony · 5,374 words · PDF available
Clean Water Act, CWA, water pollution, wastewater, Water Resources Reform and Development Act, America’s Water Infrastructure Act, AIWA, Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, WIFIA, Sewer O...
A Review of Diversity and Inclusion at America’s Largest Insurance Companies
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Testimony · 2,313 words · PDF available
Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction Part 1: Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Posts · 728 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar post is the first in a five-part series that discusses the bases and scope of U.S. admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Last year, a supply-chain bottleneck arose at the nation’s po...
Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction Part 2: Historical Background
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Posts · 816 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar post is the second in a five-part series that discusses the bases and scope of U.S. admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Last year, a supply-chain bottleneck arose at the nation’s p...
Public Banks: History and Recent Proposals
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Resources · 1,757 words · PDF available
Overview of Public Banks Banks are generally private enterprises chartered by state or federal regulators for the purposes of accepting deposits and making credit available to the communities they ser...
Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction Part 3: Territorial Scope
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Posts · 807 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar post is the third in a five-part series that discusses the bases and scope of U.S. admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Last year, a supply-chain bottleneck arose at the nation’s po...
Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction Part 4: Torts and Maritime Contracts or Services
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Posts · 1,187 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar post is the fourth in a five-part series that discusses the bases and scope of U.S. admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Last year, a supply-chain bottleneck arose at the nation’s p...
Federal Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction Part 5: Exclusivity of Federal Jurisdiction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Posts · 774 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar post is the fifth in a five-part series that discusses the bases and scope of U.S. admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Last year, a supply-chain bottleneck arose at the nation’s po...
Federal Financial and Budgetary Reporting: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-20 · Resources · 1,561 words · PDF available
Introduction To improve the transparency and integrity of the federal government and its activities, Congress has established in law an evolving framework for budgetary and financial reporting. This I...
The Bioeconomy: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-19 · Reports · 13,891 words · PDF available
The term bioeconomy refers to the share of the economy based on products, services, and processes derived from biological resources (e.g., plants and microorganisms). The bioeconomy is crosscutting, e...
Supreme Court Overturns HHS Regulation Reducing the Medicare Outpatient Drug Reimbursement Rate for 340B Hospitals
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-16 · Posts · 2,096 words · PDF available
On June 15, 2022, the Supreme Court unanimously decided American Hospital Association (AHA) v. Becerra, holding that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) lacked discretion to cut Medicare’...
Medicaid Coverage of Long-Term Services and Supports
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-15 · Reports · 16,707 words · PDF available
Long-term services and supports (LTSS) refer to a broad range of health and health-related services and supports needed by individuals who lack the capacity for self-care due to a physical, cognitive,...
North Korea: September 2022 Update
Congressional Research Service · 2022-09-15 · Reports · 10,422 words · PDF available
For more than 30 years, 16 Congresses and 6 presidential administrations have struggled with North Korea’s (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, or DPRK) advancing nuclear weapo...