THIS SEARCH     THIS DOCUMENT     THIS CR ISSUE     GO TO
Next Hit        Forward           Next Document     New CR Search
Prev Hit        Back              Prev Document     HomePage
Hit List        Best Sections     Daily Digest      Help
                Doc Contents      

The FCC shall take all actions necessary to complete the processing of applications for licenses or other authorizations for facilities that would provide services cover ed by the Satellite Home Viewers Improvement Act (Public Law 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501), specifically to deliver multi-channel video services inclu ding all local broadcast television station signals and broadband services in < center>

[Page: H11185]  GPO's PDF

   The Senate report language with respect to a broadcast industry code of conduct for the content of programming is incorporated by reference.

   Federal Maritime Commission

   SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   The conference agreement includes $15,500,000 for the salaries and expenses of the Federal Maritime Commission, instead of $14,097,000 as proposed in the House bill and $16,222,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment.

   Federal Trade Commission

   SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   The conference agreement includes a total operating level of $147,154,000 for the Federal Trade Commission, instead of $134,807,000 as proposed in the House bill and $159,500,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. The conference agreement assumes that, of the amount provided, $145,254,000 will be derived from fees collected in fiscal year 2001 and $1,900,000 will be derived from estimated unobligated fee collections available from fiscal year 2000. These actions result in a final appropriation of $0. Any use of remaining unobligated fee collections from prior years are subject to the reprogramming requirements outlined in section 605 of this Act.

   The conference agreement adopts by reference the Senate report language on slotting allowances, identity theft and Internet fraud.

   Appropriations for both the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are financed with Hart-Scott-Rodino Act pre-merger filing fees. Section 630 of this Act modifies the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to establish a three-tiered fee structure that increases the filing threshold for a merger transaction from $15,000,000 to $50,000,000. Both the House bill and the Senate-reported amendment included in the Federal Trade Commission's appropriation language similar language to create a three tiered fee structure and raise the filing threshold to $35,000,000. It is anticipated that the increase in the filing threshold will reduce the number of mergers requiring review by approximately 50 percent. This should allow the Commission to focus more resources on the review of complex mergers and non-merger activities such as consumer protection.

   Legal Servi ces Corpo ration

& nbsp;  PAYMENT TO THE LEGAL SERVI CES CORPO RATION

&n bsp;  The conference agreement includes $330,000,000 for the payment to the Legal Servi ces Corpo ration, inst ead of $300,000,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment, and $275,000,000 as proposed in the House bill. The conference agreement provides $310,000,000 for grants to basic field programs and independent audits, $10,800,000 for management and administration, $2,200,000 for the Office of Inspector General, and $7,000,000 for client self-help and information technology. The conference agreement also includes $31,625,000 for civil legal assis tance under the Violence Against Woman Act programs funded under Title I of this Act. In addition, according to LSC-released statistics, grantees received over $605,000,000 of funding during 1999.

   Within the amounts provided for management and administration, the Corporation is ex pected to hire at least seven investigators for the Compliance and Enforcement Division to investigate field grantees' compliance with the regulations grantees agreed to abide by when accepting Federal funding.

   The conference agreement adopts by reference the House report language on class action suits and the Senate report language on travel.

   ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION--LEGAL SERVI CES CORPO RATION

&n bsp;  The conference agreement includes language to continue the terms and conditions included under this section in the fiscal year 2000 Act, as proposed in both the House bill and the Senate-reported amendment.

   Marine Mammal Commission

   SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   The conference agreement includes $1,700,000 for the salaries and expenses of the Marine Mammal Commission, as proposed in both the House bill and the Senate-reported amendment.

   Securities and Exchange Commission

   SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   The conference agreement includes $422,800,000 for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), instead of $392,624,000 as proposed in the House bill and $489,652,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. The conference agreement includes bill language appropriating separate amounts from offsetting fee collections from fiscal years 1999 and 2001, as proposed in both the House bill and the Senate-reported amendment. The conference agreement appropriates $295,000,000 from fees collected in fiscal year 1999, and $127,800,000 from fees to be collected in fiscal year 2001.

   The conference agreement provides for the Commission's adjustments to base and requested program increases for additional staff, information systems, and a special pay rate. Within the increased funding provided for information systems, the Commission shall identify $2,000,000 for additional information systems support to help investigate and prosecute Internet fraud cases, as described in the Senate report. The conference agreement does not include language in Title VI of this Act, nor additional funding above the request under this heading, as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment, for the exemption of the SEC from Federal pay regulations.

   Any offsetting fee collections in fiscal year 2001 in excess of $127,800,000 will remain available for the Securities and Exchange Commission in future years through the regular appropriations process.

   The conference agreement includes, by reference, language in the Senate report on the Office of Economic Analysis, the implementation of a new fee collection system, recommendations for increased civil penalties, and the need to educate investors regarding Internet securities fraud.

   Small Business Administration

   SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   The conference agreement provides an appropriation of $331,635,000 for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Salaries and Expenses account, instead of $304,094,000 as proposed in the House bill and $143,475,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. The conference agreement does not split funding for non-credit business assistance programs into a separate account, as proposed in the budget request and the Senate-reported amendment, but rather includes funding for such programs under this account.

   In addition, the conference agreement includes $37,000,000 for programs related to the New Markets Venture Capital Program subject to the authorization of that program, including $7,000,000 for BusinessLINC and $30,000,000 for technical assistance.

   The conference agreement includes language, as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment, allowing SBA to use five percent, or not to exceed $3,000,000, of increased collections of delinquent non-tax debt to reimburse for qualified expenses of such collections. The House bill did not contain language on this matter.

   In addition to amounts made available under this heading, the conference agreement includes $129,000,000 for administrative expenses under the Business Loans Program account. This amount is transferred to and merged with amounts available under Salaries and Expenses. The conference agreement also includes an additional $108,354,000 for administrative expenses under the Disaster Loans Program account, which may under certain conditions be transferred to and merged with amounts available under Salaries and Expenses. These conditions are described under the Disaster Loans Program account.

   The conference agreement provides a total of $166,541,000 for SBA's regular operating expenses under this account. This amount includes $2,000,000 for expenses of the HUBZone program, and $8,000,000 for systems modernization initiatives to continue the improvement of SBA's management and oversight of its loan portfolio. This amount also includes $2,000,000 to assist the SBA in transforming its workforce to meet changes in the way its programs are carried out. The SBA shall submit a plan, prior to the expenditure of resources provided for systems modernization and workforce transformation, in accordance with section 605 of this Act.

   The conference agreement includes the following amounts for non-credit programs:

   $88,000,000

   3,600,000

   20,000,000

   3,750,000

   500,000

   12,000,000

   694,000

   750,000

   3,100,000

   3,100,000

   1,100,000

   4,000,000

   5,000,000

   500,000

   3,500,000

   15,000,000

   30,000,000

   7,000,000

   500,000
Total

   202,094,000

   Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs).--Of the amounts provided for SBDCs, the conference agreement includes $2,000,000 to continue the SBDC Defense transition program, and $1,000,000 to continue the Environmental Compliance Project, as directed in the House report. In addition, the conference agreement includes language, similar to that proposed in the Senate-reported amendment under ``Non-Credit Business Assistance Programs'' making funds for the SBDC program available for two years.

   National Veterans Business Development Corporation. --The conference agreement includes language, as proposed in the House bill, designating $4,000,000 for the National Veterans Business Development Corporation. nter>

[Page: H11186]  GPO's PDF

   Microloan Technical Assistance.--The conference agreement includes $20,000,000 for the Microloan Technical Assistance program. Should savings occur during fiscal year 2001 in this account, the SBA may propose to allocate an additional amount for the Microloan Technical Assistance program through the regular reprogramming process. The SBA was unable to obligate approximately $3,500,000 allocated to this program in fiscal year 2000, which was transferred to the Business Loans Program account.

   The conference agreement adopts language included in the House report directing the SBA to fully fund LowDoc Processing Centers, and to continue activities assisting small businesses to adapt to a paperless procurement environment.

   NON-CREDIT BUSINESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

   The conference agreement adopts the approach in the House bill of not including funding under a separate heading for the non-credit business assistance programs of the SBA. Instead, funding for these programs is included under ``Salaries and Expenses'', as in previous years. The Senate-reported amendment included $153,690,000 for such programs under this separate account.

   OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

   The conference agreement provides $11,953,000 for the SBA Office of Inspector General, instead of $10,905,000 as proposed in the House bill and $13,000,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment.

   An additional $500,000 has been provided under the administrative expenses of the Disaster Loans Program account to be made available to the Office of Inspector General for work associated with oversight of the Disaster Loans Program. The conference agreement does not include direction provided in the Senate report.

   BUSINESS LOANS PROGRAM ACCOUNT

   The conference agreement includes $294,410,000 under the SBA Business Loans Program Account, instead of $269,300,000 as proposed in the House bill, and $296,200,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. The conference agreement includes language, as proposed in the House bill, making $45,000,000 of the amount included for guaranteed loans available for two fiscal years. The Senate-reported amendment did not contain a similar provision. Within the amount provided, $22,000,000 shall be available only for the New Markets Venture Capital Program, subject to the enactment of authorizing legislation in fiscal year 2001.

   The conference agreement includes $2,250,000 for the costs of direct loans, instead of $2,500,000 as proposed in the House bill and $2,600,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. The conferees understand that $300,000 in carryover is available for the Microloan Direct Loan Program, and, together with the appropriated amount, will support an estimated fiscal year 2001 program level of over $28,400,000.

   Not including the funding provided for the New Markets Venture Capital Program, the conference agreement includes $141,160,000 for the costs of guaranteed loans, including the following programs:

   7(a) General Business Loans.--The conference agreement provides $114,960,000 in subsidy appropriations for the 7(a) general business guaranteed loan program, instead of $114,500,000 as proposed in the House bill and $134,000,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment. When combined with an estimated $14,000,000 in available carryover balances and recoveries, this amount will subsidize an estimated fiscal year 2001 program level of up to $10,400,000,000, assuming a subsidy rate of 1.24%. In addition, the conference agreement includes a provision, as proposed in both the House bill and the Senate-reported amendment, requiring the SBA to notify the Committees in accordance with section 605 of this Act prior to providing a total program level greater than $10,000,000,000.

   Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC).--The conference agreement provides $26,200,000 for the SBIC participating securities program as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment, instead of $23,300,000 as proposed in the House bill. This amount will result in an estimated total program level of $2,000,000,000 in fiscal year 2001. No appropriation is required for the SBIC debentures program, as the program will operate with a zero subsidy rate in fiscal year 2001.

   The conference agreement includes required language, as proposed in the House bill, limiting the 504 CDC and the SBIC debentures program levels, instead of similar language in the Senate-reported amendment.

   In addition, the conference agreement includes $129,000,000 for administrative expenses to carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs as proposed in the House bill, instead of $130,800,000 as proposed in the Senate-reported amendment, and makes such funds available to be transferred to and merged with appropriations for Salaries and Expenses.

   DISASTER LOANS PROGRAM ACCOUNT

   The conference agreement includes a total of $184,494,000 for this account, of which $76,140,000 is for the subsidy costs for disaster loans and $108,354,000 is for administrative expenses associated with the disaster loans program. The House bill proposed $140,400,000 for loans and $136,000,000 for administrative expenses. The Senate-reported amendment provided $142,100,000 for loans and $139,000,000 for administrative expenses.

   For disaster loans, the conference agreement assumes that the $76,140,000 subsidy appropriation, when combined with $71,000,000 in carryover balances and $10,000,000 in recoveries, will provide a total disaster loan program level of $900,000,000.

   The conference agreement includes language, as proposed in the House bill, designating amounts for direct and indirect administrative expenses, and allowing appropriations for indirect administrative costs to be transferred to and merged with appropriations for Salaries and Expenses under certain conditions. The conference agreement includes $98,000,000 for direct administrative expenses instead of $125,646,000 as proposed in the House bill, and $9,854,000 for indirect administrative expenses as proposed in the House bill. The amount provided for direct administrative expenses, when combined with an estimated $26,000,000 in carryover balances, will provide the requested level for this activity. The conference agreement includes a provision that any amount in excess of $9,854,000 to be transferred to Salaries and Expenses from the Disaster Loans Program account for indirect administrative expenses shall be treated as a reprogramming of funds under section 605 of this Act, as proposed in the House bill. In addition, any such reprogramming shall be accompanied by a report from the Administrator on the anticipated effect of the proposed transfer on the ability of the SBA to cover the full annual requirements for direct administrative costs of disaster loan-making and -servicing.

   Of the amounts provided for administrative expenses under this heading, $500,000 is to be transferred to and merged with the Office of Inspector General account for oversight and audit activities related to the Disaster Loans program.

   ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION--SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

   The conference agreement includes a provision providing SBA with the authority to transfer funds between appropriations accounts as proposed in the House bill, instead of a similar provision in the Senate-reported amendment.

   State Justice Institute

THIS SEARCH     THIS DOCUMENT     THIS CR ISSUE     GO TO
Next Hit        Forward           Next Document     New CR Search
Prev Hit        Back              Prev Document     HomePage
Hit List        Best Sections     Daily Digest      Help
                Doc Contents