Policy Library

7,020 documents

Sexual Harassment and Assault at School: Divergence Among Federal Courts Regarding Liability
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-07 · Posts · 2,088 words · PDF available
Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), schools that receive federal financial assistance are liable for a “deliberately indifferent” response to the sexual harassment and assau...
The Evolution of Marijuana as a Controlled Substance and the Federal-State Policy Gap
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-07 · Reports · 56,109 words · PDF available
Marijuana is a psychoactive drug that generally consists of leaves and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant. Its history dates back thousands of years, but in the United States it became popular as a ...
Medicare Trigger
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-07 · Reports · 6,481 words
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA; P.L. 108-173) requires the Medicare Board of Trustees to provide in its annual reports, starting with the 2005 report, ...
National Park System: Establishing New Units
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-06 · Reports · 3,967 words
The National Park System includes 423 diverse units administered by the National Park Service (NPS) in the Department of the Interior. Units generally are added to the National Park System by acts of ...
A Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court? Legal Questions and Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-06 · Posts · 2,016 words · PDF available
The Code of Conduct for United States Judges (the Code) is a set of ethical canons that the Judicial Conference of the United States (Judicial Conference) has adopted to promote public confidence in t...
Antitrust Issues in Labor Markets
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-06 · Posts · 2,978 words · PDF available
The typical antitrust case involves sellers in a product market. For example, rival manufacturers might conspire to fix the price of memory chips. A tobacco giant may monopolize the cigarette industry...
National Flood Insurance Program: The Current Rating Structure and Risk Rating 2.0
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-04 · Reports · 8,980 words · PDF available
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for residential properties in the United States, with more than 5 million policies in over 22,000 communit...
Payroll Taxes: An Overview of Taxes Imposed and Past Payroll Tax Relief
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-04 · Reports · 13,589 words · PDF available
A payroll tax is generally a tax levied on the wages or earnings of workers. Federal payroll taxes are the second-largest federal revenue source, after individual income taxes, raising $1.3 trillion (...
How Climate Change May Affect the U.S. Economy
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-04 · Reports · 11,100 words · PDF available
There is general consensus within the scientific community that human activities have increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and that the increased concentrations have contributed t...
Overview of Federal Hate Crime Laws
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-01 · Reports · 33,223 words · PDF available
Incidents such as the fatal shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, the killing of a counter-protester at the 2017 “Unite the Right Rally” in Cha...
Surprise Billing: Independent Dispute Resolution Process
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-01 · Resources · 1,827 words · PDF available
This In Focus summarizes statute and interim final rule (IFR) regulations to describe the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process available to insurers and out-of-network providers in certain sur...
Federal Civil Action for Disclosure of Intimate Images: Free Speech Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-01 · Posts · 1,929 words · PDF available
On March 15, 2022, Congress authorized a federal civil claim relating to the disclosure of intimate images as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. The new cause of action, which takes ef...
An Economic Perspective on Wealth Taxes
Congressional Research Service · 2022-04-01 · Resources · 1,634 words · PDF available
The idea of imposing a tax on individual wealth has appeared in policy debates with increasing frequency. Proponents of a wealth tax have primarily argued that such a tax would achieve three objective...
Preparing for the Next Farm Bill
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-31 · Reports · 25,266 words · PDF available
The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. Although freestanding legislation or components of other major laws sometimes create or change agric...
Skills Gaps: A Review of Underlying Concepts and Evidence
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-31 · Reports · 25,159 words · PDF available
Employer reports of job vacancies left unfilled due to a lack of adequately skilled applicants have spanned U.S. industries for decades, and have often raised concerns among some Members of Congress a...
Build Back Better Act (BBBA) Health Coverage Provisions: House-Passed and SenateReleased Language
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-30 · Reports · 33,071 words · PDF available
This report provides information about House-passed and Senate-released Build Back Better Act (BBBA) provisions related to private health insurance, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Pro...
Small Business Administration Microloan Program
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-30 · Reports · 13,852 words
The Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Microloan program provides direct loans to nonprofit intermediary lenders to provide “microloans” of up to $50,000 to small businesses and nonprofit child c...
SBA Office of Advocacy: Overview, History, and Current Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-30 · Reports · 9,854 words · PDF available
The Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) is an “independent” office within the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that advances “the views and concerns of small businesses before Congress, the White Ho...
Social Security: How Do Children Qualify for Benefits?
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-30 · Resources · 1,808 words · PDF available
Social Security is a federal work-related program designed to protect insured workers and their eligible family members from the loss of earnings due to the worker’s retirement, disability, or death. ...
The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (Part 9)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Posts · 928 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar Post is the last in a nine-part series that discusses certain “methods” or “modes” of analysis that the Supreme Court has used to interpret provisions of the Constitution. This nint...
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine: Judicial Minimalism (Part 1 of 3)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Posts · 1,144 words · PDF available
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10719, The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (Part 9)) is a set of rules the Supreme Court has dev...
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine: The Last Resort Rule (Part 2 of 3)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Posts · 1,028 words · PDF available
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10719, The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (Part 9)) is a set of rules the Supreme Court has dev...
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine: The Constitutional-Doubt Canon (Part 3 of 3)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Posts · 1,215 words · PDF available
The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10719, The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: The Constitutional Avoidance Doctrine (Part 9)) is a set of rules the Supreme Court has dev...
Space Weather: An Overview of Policy and Select U.S. Government Roles and Responsibilities
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Reports · 13,731 words · PDF available
Space weather refers to conditions on the sun, in the solar wind, and within the extreme reaches of Earth’s upper atmosphere. In certain circumstances, space weather may pose hazards to space-borne an...
Mark-to-Market Taxation of Capital Gains
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-29 · Resources · 1,784 words · PDF available
Capital gains are subject to tax only when realized upon sale of an asset. The tax does not apply to gain on assets passed on at death, due to tax rules that apply to capital gains realized by heirs. ...
Private Equity and Capital Markets Policy
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-28 · Reports · 9,172 words · PDF available
Private equity (PE) is a type of private fund, meaning a fund that generally pools money from institutional and individual investors that meet certain criteria indicating they are more sophisticated a...
Bureau of Reclamation: FY2022 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-28 · Resources · 1,104 words · PDF available
Overview The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior, is responsible for construction and operation of hundreds of large dams and water diversion structures in the ...
U.S. Nationals and Foreign Military Service
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-28 · Resources · 1,815 words · PDF available
Background International law grants rights to and imposes duties upon a neutral state during an armed conflict between belligerent nations. One of these duties is that neutral states shall not furnish...
Expedited Removal of Aliens: An Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-25 · Resources · 1,643 words · PDF available
Non-U.S. nationals (aliens) who do not meet requirements governing their entry or continued presence in the United States may be subject to removal. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establish...
Farm Bill Primer: U.S. International Food Assistance Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-25 · Resources · 1,306 words · PDF available
The U.S. government administers international food assistance programs that aim to alleviate hunger and improve food security around the world. Some of these programs provide emergency assistance to p...
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2022
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-24 · Reports · 18,060 words · PDF available
On May 28, 2021, the Joseph R. Biden Administration released its annual budget request for FY2022, including a $90.80 billion budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The request ...
The Fourth Amendment and the Internet: Legal Limits on Digital Searches for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-24 · Posts · 2,595 words · PDF available
Various federal statutes criminalize the production, distribution, solicitation, and possession of “child pornography,” defined in part as “any visual depiction” of sexually explicit conduct involving...
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) on Health Care Employment and Vaccinations and Testing for Large Employers
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-24 · Reports · 10,104 words
On June 21, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgated an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the prevention of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes...
U.S. Export Controls and China
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-24 · Resources · 1,733 words · PDF available
Since 2018, Congress and the executive branch have revised—through legislation, regulation, and licensing practices—the U.S. export control system that regulates dual-use exports (goods and technology...
FEMA Hazard Mitigation: A First Step Toward Climate Adaptation
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-23 · Reports · 12,597 words · PDF available
With the increasing severity and frequency of natural disasters, attributed at least in part to climate change, policymakers often view mitigation funding as a way to control disaster-related spending...
Medicare Payment for Rural or Geographically Isolated Hospitals, 2022
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-23 · Infographics · 632 words · PDF available
/ Medicare Payment for Rural or Geographically Isolated Hospitals Medicare pays most acute-care hospitals under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS). Some IPPS hospitals receive payment adj...
Stratospheric Ozone Treaties and the Kigali Amendment: Ratification Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-23 · Posts · 2,223 words · PDF available
For at least four decades, the United States has been engaged in global efforts to protect the earth’s stratospheric ozone layer. The stratospheric ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation that...
Crude Oil Windfall Profits Taxes: Background and Policy Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-23 · Resources · 1,521 words · PDF available
Recent increases in gasoline prices and reports of high profits from large oil companies have contributed to congressional interest in a crude oil windfall profits tax. What Are Windfall Profits? Wind...
Using Retirement Account Features for Short-Term Savings
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-23 · Resources · 1,440 words · PDF available
Introduction Workers can often use retirement savings for unexpected expenses. However, policymakers have expressed an interest in helping workers save for emergencies in ways that do not draw down th...
The LIBOR Transition
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-21 · Resources · 1,728 words · PDF available
LIBOR is a key benchmark interest rate underpinning many financial contracts, but it is being discontinued between December 2021 and June 2023. This In Focus discusses efforts to transition away from ...
Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-21 · Reports · 7,124 words · PDF available
Delegates, representing territories that had not yet achieved statehood, have served in the House since the late 1700s. In the 20th century, the concept of delegate grew to include representation of t...
Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management: An Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-21 · Resources · 1,633 words · PDF available
Introduction A supply chain consists of the system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources that provide products or services to consumers. Like other types of goods, a global ...
State-Administered IRA Programs: Overview and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-18 · Resources · 1,640 words · PDF available
Overview While Congress addresses retirement security at the national level and establishes federal pension and other savings incentives, several states have enacted or implemented state-administered ...
Questioning Judicial Nominees: Legal Limitations and Practice
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-17 · Reports · 27,729 words · PDF available
The U.S. Constitution vests the Senate with the role of providing “advice” and granting or withholding “consent” when a President nominates a candidate to be an Article III judge—a federal judge poten...
The Law of War and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-16 · Posts · 2,104 words · PDF available
In the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many countries condemned the action as a violation of international law governing when countries may use force against one another....
Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience: Countering Russian and Other Nation-State Cyber Threats
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-16 · Resources · 1,484 words · PDF available
The United States and its allies have levied economic sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Many observers fear Russian state or state-sponsored cyberattacks against U.S. critica...
Methane Emissions: A Primer
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-16 · Resources · 1,555 words · PDF available
Methane: The Chemical Methane is the world’s simplest hydrocarbon, with a chemical formula of CH4 (one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen). It is gaseous under normal atmospheric conditions an...
Social Security Retirement Benefit Claiming Age
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-15 · Resources · 1,486 words · PDF available
Background Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members, as well as to the family members of deceased workers. The Social Security full retire...
Children and the Internet: Legal Considerations in Restricting Access to Content
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-14 · Reports · 9,918 words · PDF available
Throughout the internet’s history, the medium’s effect on children has been a recurring topic of interest to legislators and the public. In the internet’s early days, much attention focused on childre...
Amendments Between the Houses: Procedural Options and Effects
Congressional Research Service · 2022-03-14 · Reports · 18,584 words
The House and Senate must agree to the same measure with the same legislative language before a bill can be presented to the President. To resolve differences between House and Senate versions of legi...