This report describes the mandatory retirement provisions for certain “non-dual-status” military technicians contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65), discusses the stated rationale behind the policy, and quantifies the impact it will likely have on individual technicians.

None

This report discusses contribution of technological advancement to economic growth and productivity increases. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private-sector technological development.

This report provides background information regarding the especially high gasoline prices in the upper Midwest during the late spring and early summer of 2000. While the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the possibility of collusion, several identifiable factors have contributed to this localized situation. Contributors to the higher prices appear to be problems at two pipelines supplying the area with gasoline, the use of ethanol-only reformulated gasoline in Chicago and Milwaukee, and the high price and low supply of crude oil. The crude oil situation has uniform nationwide impact. Wholesale prices in the Chicago spot market began to decline during the week of June 19 and have fallen by 40 cents per gallon at this writing. This report will be updated as events warrant

Steep increases in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels have prompted some Members of Congress to seek to ease the effects on households and businesses. Interest has focused on possible repeal or suspension of the levying of all or part of the federal excise taxes on those fuels. Current market conditions and the small amount of tax relief incorporated in most proposals, however, raise uncertainty as to whether prices to individuals and businesses would fall and whether any price decline would be meaningful to consumers. A reduction in transportation fuel taxes would result in a decrease in spending for transportation trust-fund-supported federal programs, unless Congress designated alternate sources of funding for these programs. As a result of the structure of the federal programs the effects of a fuel tax repeal on federal transportation programs would not necessarily be immediate, but depending on the length/scope of the repeal or suspension, they could be substantial.

Among the civil service retirement issues addressed in bills introduced thus far in the 106th Congress are the correction of retirement coverage errors for federal employees assigned to the wrong retirement system; immediate eligibility for federal employees to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); improved portability of pension benefits; and repeal of the temporary increase in employee retirement contributions that was mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Other bills would expand TSP eligibility to include members of the armed services; improve pension coverage for temporary and part-time federal employees; and designate several categories of federal employees as law enforcement officers for purposes of determining their retirement benefits.

None

This report provides Hazardous materials transportation safety - federal program and legislative issues.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county has recourse when an elected official closes his or her office for all part of a workday for reasons no related to "bad weather, repairs, and the like," and related questions (RQ-0158-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether donated endowment and scholarship funds may be transferred from the control of a university to that of its private foundation (RQ-0178-JC)

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed proposed revisions to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to clean up polluted waters, focusing on: (1) the reasonableness of EPA's economic analyses for the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act; and (2) whether EPA's determinations under the two proposed regulations were adequately supported."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed economic assistance provided by the United States under the Compact of Free Association, focusing on the: (1) use of the Compact funding by the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; (2) progress made by both nations in advancing economic self-sufficiency; (3) role of Compact funds in supporting economic progress; and (4) amount of accountability over Compact expenditures."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system for protecting the rights and welfare of veterans who volunteer to participate in research at VA medical centers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the quality of care in nursing homes, focusing on: (1) progress in improving the detection of quality problems during annual surveys; (2) how the prevalence of identified problems has changed; (3) the status of efforts to strengthen states' complaint investigation processes and federal enforcement policies; and (4) additional activities occurring at the federal level to improve oversight of states' quality assurance activities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year (FY) 2001 budget request, focusing on: (1) the 2000 tax filing season; (2) IRS' FY 2001 budget request and supporting documentation; and (3) GAO's reviews of various IRS activities, including those related to information systems and IRS' reorganization."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its investigation of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) negotiated settlements of large overpayments to three Medicare providers between 1991 and July 1999."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the implementation of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program's evaluation process and fiscal year (FY) 2001 funding proposals, focusing on the: (1) refinements made to FTA's evaluation and rating process since 1999; (2) means by which New Starts projects were selected for FTA's FY 2001 New Starts report and budget request; and (3) impact of FTA's recommendations on its New Starts commitment authority."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Marine Corps' development of the 155mm lightweight howitzer, focusing on: (1) whether the program is on schedule; (2) whether costs have increased and if there is sufficient funding; (3) what the extent of design changes is and how these changes have affected system testing; and (4) what effect the exclusive production of the howitzer by a foreign contractor could have on the Marine Corps' and Army's ability to maintain the weapon following its procurement, particularly during wartime."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Restructuring and Reform Act's personnel flexibility provisions, focusing on: (1) IRS' implementation of these provisions; and (2) any tax administration concerns that may have arisen in relation to implementation."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on narrowband personal communications services competitive bidding. GAO noted that: (1) the rule modifies FCC's existing narrowband Personal Communications Services (PCS) rules; (2) the rule eliminates the narrowband PCS spectrum aggregation limit and adopts partitioning and disaggregation rules; and (3) FCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule with one exception."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) efforts to validate a petition on whether to continue the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Pork Promotion Program, focusing on: (1) the problems AMS encountered in its process to validate the pork petition and AMS' plans to improve the validation process; (2) factors that led to the USDA Secretary's decision to order the referendum; and (3) whether the USDA Secretary has the authority to order a referendum and whether USDA can use appropriated funds to pay its cost."