(3) APPLICATIONS
FOR
GRANTS.—The Sec-
retary shall prescribe the form and content of appli-
cations required for grants under this section.
(d) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES.—
(1) COST-SHARING.—The Secretary may re-
quire the recipient of a grant under this section to
defray a specific level of its operating expenses for
business incubator services out of funds available
from sources other than the Federal Government.
(2) ADDITIONAL
TERMS
AND
CONDITIONS.—
The Secretary, in awarding a grant, may impose any
other terms and conditions for the use of the pro-
ceeds of the grant that the Secretary determines ap-
propriate for carrying out the purpose of this section
and to protect the interests of the United States, in-
cluding the requirement that entities providing busi-
ness incubator services that receive a grant under
this section develop a plan for ultimately becoming
self-sufficient.
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) BUSINESS
INCUBATOR
SERVICES.—The
term ‘‘business incubator services’’ includes profes-
sional and technical services necessary for the initi-
ation and initial sustainment of operations of a
newly established business, including such services
as the following:
(A) LEGAL SERVICES.—Legal services, in-
cluding aid in preparing corporate charters,
partnership agreements, and basic contracts.
(B) 
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
SERV-
ICES.—Services in support of the protection of
intellectual property through patents, trade-
marks, or otherwise.
(C) TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.—Services in
support of the acquisition and use of advanced
technology, including the use of Internet serv-
ices and web-based services.
(D) PLANNING.—Advice on—
(i) strategic planning; and
(ii) marketing, including advertising.
(2) SMALL BUSINESS AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSI-
NESS.—
(A) SECRETARY TO PRESCRIBE.—The Sec-
retary shall prescribe the definitions of the
terms ‘‘small business’’ and ‘‘medium-sized
business’’ for the purpose of this section.
(B) SMALL BUSINESS STANDARDS.—In de-
fining the term ‘‘small business’’ for the pur-
pose of this section, the Secretary shall apply
the standards applicable for the definition of
the term ‘‘small-business concern’’ under sec-
tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632).
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Commerce.
(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe
regulations for the grant program administered under this
section.
(g) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated for the Department of
Commerce to carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal
year 2002, and $200,000,000 for each fiscal year there-
after.
SEC. 5. STUDY OF RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPITAL
NEEDS.
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study of the infrastructure of, the
venture capital available for investment in, and the pro-
grams of the Federal Government that are designed to as-
sist the rural areas of the United States, and shall evalu-
ate how the infrastructure, venture capital, and programs
could be better used to enhance the rural areas, including
through a focus on expanding economic development and
small business loan and grant programs to include
projects related to tourism and agriculture.
(b) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later than 6
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General shall prepare and submit a written report
that contains the results of the evaluation required by sub-
section (a) to the following committees of the Congress:
(1) The Committee on Agriculture of the House
of Representatives.
(2) The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry of the Senate.
(3) The Committee on Energy and Commerce
of the House of Representatives.
(4) The Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate.
(5) The Committees on Small Business of the
House of Representatives and the Senate.
SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE ELECTED
OFFICIALS 
PRIOR 
TO 
DISLOCATION 
OF
WORKERS.
Section 3(a)(2) of the Worker Adjustment and Re-
training Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(a)(2)) is
amended by inserting ‘‘Federal, State, and’’ after ‘‘the
unit of’’.
SEC. 7. SUBMISSION OF H–1B LABOR CONDITION APPLICA-
TION AT SAME TIME AS CLASSIFICATION PE-
TITION.
Section 212(n)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(1)) is amended by adding at the
end the following: ‘‘The application under this paragraph
shall be submitted by an employer at the same time as
the classification petition is filed under section 214 relat-
ing to the H–1B nonimmigrants who are the subject of
the application.’’.
SEC. 8. EXCLUSION FROM INCOME OF SEVERANCE PAY-
MENT AMOUNTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended
by redesignating section 139 as section 140 and by insert-
ing after section 138 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 139. SEVERANCE PAYMENTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual,
gross income shall not include any qualified severance pay-
ment.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount to which the exclu-
sion under subsection (a) applies shall not exceed $25,000
with respect to each separation from employment de-
scribed in subsection (c)(1)(B).
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED SEVERANCE PAYMENT.—For pur-
poses of this section—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified sever-
ance payment’ means any payment received by an
individual if—
‘‘(A) such payment was paid by such indi-
vidual’s employer on account of such individ-
ual’s separation from employment, and
‘‘(B) such separation was in connection
with a reduction in the work force of the em-
ployer.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Such term shall not include
any payment received by an individual if the aggre-
gate payments received with respect to the separa-
tion from employment exceed $150,000.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code
is amended by striking the item relating to section 139
and inserting the following new items:
‘‘Sec. 139. Severance payments.
‘‘Sec. 140. Cross references to other Acts.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2000.
given the term ‘small employer’ by section
4980D(d)(2).
‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT ZONE.—For purposes
of this section—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘devel-
opment zone’ means any area—
‘‘(I) which is nominated under
the procedures defined in sections
1400E(a)(1)(A) and 1400E(a)(4) for
renewal communities;
‘‘(II) which the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development des-
ignates as a development zone, after
consultation with the Secretary of
Commerce;
‘‘(III) which has a population of
not less than 5,000 and not more
than 150,000;
‘‘(IV) which has a poverty rate
not less than 20 percent (within the
meaning of section 1400E(c)(3)(C));
‘‘(V) which has an average an-
nual rate of job growth of less than 2
percent during any 3 years of the pre-
ceding 5-year period; and
‘‘(VI) which, during the period
beginning January 1, 1990 and end-
ing with the date of the enactment of
this section, has a net out-migration
of inhabitants, or other population
loss, from the area of at least 2 per-
cent of the population of the area dur-
ing such period.
‘‘(ii) NUMBER
OF
DESIGNATIONS.—
The Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment may not designate more than
100 development zones.
‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULES FOR DETERMINING
AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—For purposes of applying
this subpart to wages paid or incurred to any
qualified small business employee—
‘‘(i) subsection (a) shall be applied by
substituting ‘20 percent of the qualified
first, second, third, fourth, or fifth year
wages’ for ‘40 percent of the qualified first
year wages’, and
‘‘(ii) in lieu of paragraphs (2) and (3)
of subsection (b), the following definitions
and special rule shall apply:
‘‘(I) 
QUALIFIED
FIRST-YEAR
WAGES.—The term ‘qualified first-
year wages’ means, with respect to
any individual, qualified wages attrib-
utable to service rendered during the
1-year period beginning with the day
the individual begins work for the em-
ployer.
‘‘(II) QUALIFIED
SECOND-YEAR
WAGES.—The term ‘qualified second-
year wages’ means, with respect to
any individual, qualified wages attrib-
utable to service rendered during the
1-year period beginning on the day
after the last day of the 1-year period
with respect to such individual deter-
mined under subclause (I).
‘‘(III) QUALIFIED
THIRD-YEAR
WAGES.—The term ‘qualified third-
year wages’ means, with respect to
any individual, qualified wages attrib-
utable to service rendered during the
1-year period beginning on the day
after the last day of the 1-year period
with respect to such individual deter-
mined under subclause (II).
‘‘(IV) QUALIFIED FOURTH-YEAR
WAGES.—The term ‘qualified fourth-
year wages’ means, with respect to
any individual, qualified wages attrib-
utable to service rendered during the
1-year period beginning on the day
after the last day of the 1-year period
with respect to such individual deter-
mined under subclause (III).
‘‘(V) 
QUALIFIED
FIFTH-YEAR
WAGES.—The term ‘qualified fifth-
year wages’ means, with respect to
any individual, qualified wages attrib-
utable to service rendered during the
1-year period beginning on the day
after the last day of the 1-year period
with respect to such individual deter-
mined under subclause (IV).
‘‘(VI) ONLY
FIRST
$15,000
OF
WAGES
PER
YEAR
TAKEN
INTO
AC-
COUNT.—The amount of the qualified
first, second, third, fourth, and fifth
year wages which may be taken into
account with respect to any individual
shall not exceed $15,000 per year.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for
the employer after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 10. NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP.
The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act
(7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘SEC. 381P. NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNER-
SHIP.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) AGENCY
WITH
RURAL
RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES.—The term ‘agency with rural responsibilities’
means any executive agency (as defined in section
105 of title 5, United States Code) that—
‘‘(A) implements Federal law targeted at
rural areas, including—
‘‘(i) the Act of April 24, 1950 (com-
monly known as the Granger-Thye Act)
(64 Stat. 82, chapter 9);
‘‘(ii) the Intergovernmental Coopera-
tion Act of 1968 (82 Stat. 1098);
‘‘(iii) section 41742 of title 49, United
States Code;