This report explains Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), with an analysis of the five major factors affecting the calculation of a payment to a given county. It also describes the effects of certain legislative changes to PILT in 2009 and 2012.

This report contains a series of charts and tables that depict the position of manufacturing in the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics.

This report discusses veterans' employment trends and programs. The first section presents data on veterans' employment outcomes, identifying recent trends, and discussing issues to consider when interpreting veterans' employment data. The following sections present brief discussions of existing programs that provide employment-related services to veterans. These services are divided into (1) general programs that are broadly available to veterans, (2) programs that target veterans with service-connected disabilities, and (3) competitive grant programs that provide additional employment-related services to veterans but may be limited in scope or availability.

This report provides an overview of the Small Business Administration (SBA) business loan guaranty programs.

This report discusses elements of the greenhouse gas (GHG) controversy, providing background on stationary sources of GHG pollution and identifying options Congress has at its disposal to address GHG issues, including: (1) resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act; (2) freestanding legislation; (3) the use of appropriations bills as a vehicle to influence EPA activity; and (4) amendments to the Clean Air Act, including legislation to establish a new GHG control regime.

This report begins with a discussion of the technology used by Aereo and FilmOn X that permit subscribers to watch live broadcast television as well as already-aired programming. It then examines the public performance right in the Copyright Act and discusses the interpretation of the transmit clause and public performance right by the courts in the Aereo and FilmOn cases. The report concludes with a brief overview of future litigation by these parties and related legislative proposals in the 113th Congress.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To encourage private-sector employers to sponsor new pension plans and U.S. workers to save for retirement, federal law authorizes a variety of tax incentives, such as the ability to defer taxes on contributions to qualified plans until the funds are distributed, up to certain limits. Since 2000, the dollar amount of these limits has increased over time. However, from 2009 through 2011, the number of new pension plans formed each year in the private sector remained relatively flat, and was below the levels reported previously for 2003 through 2007. Specifically, from 2009 through 2011, private-sector employers sponsored about 81,000 new pension plans, including 75,000 defined contribution (DC) plans and 6,000 defined benefit (DB) plans. DC plans with fewer than 100 participants accounted for about 90 percent of all new plan growth over this period. Moreover, the net change in the number of pension plans over this period was negative, with the number of terminated plans more than offsetting new plan formation by nearly 34,000 plans. Over the 3-year span from 2009 through 2011, private-sector employers terminated about 106,000 DC and 9,000 DB plans. Overall, there were about 52,000 …

This report discusses the legislative branch appropriations bill that provides funding for the Senate, House of Representatives, Joint Items, Capitol Police, Office of Compliance, Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Library of Congress (LOC) -- including the Congressional Research Service (CRS) -- Government Printing Office (GPO), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Open World Leadership Center.

This report discusses the federal government funding for mental illness and surrounding issues, such as mental health courts and mental health collaboration programs.

This report describes and analyzes the United States Fire Administration's (USFA's) FY2013 budget proposal, as well as related information and legislation.

This report discusses the firefighting activities that are traditionally the responsibility of states and local communities. The report also talks about the funding for firefighters, which is provided mostly by state and local governments. However, during the 106th Congress, many in the fire community asserted that local fire departments require and deserve greater support from the federal government.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC), which are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs. Compared to the standard or default approach of annual contracting, MYP and BBC have the potential for reducing weapon procurement costs by several percent.

This report provides an overview of the various legal authorities governing aliens' right to counsel--as that term is broadly understood--in removal proceedings.

This report is a review of the Community Development Fund (CDF) account's funding history from FY2000 to FY2013, as well as current funding in FY2014. It includes a discussion of the three primary components of the CDF account: CDBG formula grants; CDBG-related set-asides and earmarks; and CDBG-linked supplemental and special appropriations.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, and gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether Code of Criminal Procedure article 59.06 authorizes a district attorney to use asset forfeiture funds in specific circumstances (RQ-1166-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs over implementation of the at-risk development setasides under the low income housing tax credit program in Government Code sections 2306.6702(a)(5) and 2306.6714 (RQ-1167-GA).

This report discusses bills addressing genetic discrimination in health insurance and employment; personalized medicine; the patenting of genetic material; and the oversight of clinical laboratory tests (in vitro diagnostics), including genetic tests.

This report discusses background on nuclear weapon pit production, pit fabrication options, analytical chemistry options, and related questions for Congress. It shows that many options are available for making 80 pits per year (ppy), but it cannot determine which, if any, could support that capacity because data do not exist on how much MAR and space are needed for AC and pit fabrication for 80 ppy.

This report provides an overview of prohibiting mental health records under current federal law, and distinguishes those records from other types of mental health information that would not disqualify an individual from purchasing a firearm. This report also provides an overview of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and discusses potential issues arising from state and federal medical privacy laws that may impede states' efforts to submit prohibiting mental health records to NICS.

This report analyzes the FY2015 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While this report makes note of many budgetary resources provided to DHS, its primary focus is on funding approved by Congress through the appropriations process.

This report surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto.

This report gives an overview of the history of Special Weapons and Tactics teams, which are estimated to be deployed 45,000 times each year in the U.S. The report also discusses the "1033 Program" which authorizes federal and state law enforcement agencies to receive excess materials from Department of Defense stocks for use in counter-drug or counter-terrorism activities.

This report describes Social Security trust fund investment practices under current law.