Bill 110-S-1710 — Government Operations / General
Subject: Economics and public finance

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 - Makes appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related agencies for FY2008. Title I: Department of Labor - Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2008 - Makes appropriations for FY2008 to the Department of Labor for: (1) the Employment and Training Administration, including training and employment services; (2) community service employment for older Americans; (3) federal unemployment benefits and allowances; (4) state unemployment insurance and employment service operations; (5) advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund and the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund; (6) employment and training program administration; (7) the Employee Benefits Security Administration; (8) the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; (9) the Employment Standards Administration; (10) certain special benefits, including ones for disabled coal miners; (11) the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Fund; (12) the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund; (13) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (14) the Mine Safety and Health Administration; (15) the Bureau of Labor Statistics; (16) the Office of Disability Employment Policy; (17) departmental management; (18) the Office of Jobs Corps; (19) veterans employment and training; and (20) the Office of Inspector General. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds and transfers of funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 101) Prohibits use of Job Corps funds under this title to pay individual compensation at a rate in excess of Executive Level I. (Sec. 102) Allows not more than 1% of discretionary funds for the current fiscal year for the Department of Labor in this Act to be transferred between a program, project, or activity. Prohibits any increase of any such program, project, or activity by more than 3% by any such transfer. (Sec. 103) Prohibits funds under this Act from being obligated or expended to procure goods mined, produced, manufactured, or harvested or services rendered, in whole or in part, by forced or indentured child labor in industries and host countries already identified by the Department of Labor prior to enactment of this Act, in accordance with a specified executive order. (Sec. 104) Authorizes appropriations to the Denali Commission to conduct job training of the local workforce where Denali Commission projects will be constructed. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit to the Committees on Appropriations not later than July 1, 2008, an operating plan that outlines the planned allocation by major project and activity of FY2008 funds made available for the provision of employment and training services. (Sec. 106) Specifies certain job training grants to be awarded competitively. (Sec. 107) Prohibits funds made available in this or any other Act from being used to finalize or implement regulations under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, or the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002, until legislation reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act or the Trade Adjustment Act is enacted. (Sec. 109) Prohibits funds appropriated in this title from being used to carry out competitive sourcing activities at the Department of Labor under OMB Circular A-76 until 60 days after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports to Congress on the use of competitive sourcing at the Department of Labor. (Sec. 110) Requires the Secretary of Labor to: (1) revise, not later than June 20, 2008, regulations related to the usage of belt haulage entries in underground coal mines to require that such entries not be used to ventilate active working places of underground coal mines without prior approval from the Assistant Secretary of Labor; and (2) issue, not later than June 15, 2008, regulations requiring installation of rescue chambers in the working areas of underground coal mines. (Sec. 111) Prohibits recipients of employment and training funds from using such funds to pay the salary and bonuses of an individual at a rate in excess of Executive Level II, with an exception for specified vendors. Title II: Department of Health and Human Services - Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2008 - Makes appropriations for FY2008 to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for: (1) the Health Resources and Services Administration; (2) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); (3) the National Institutes of Health (NIH); (4) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; (5) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; (6) the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; (7) the Administration for Children and Families; (8) the Administration on Aging; and (9) the Office of the Secretary. (Sec. 211) Prohibits the use of funds for voluntary family planning projects unless an award applicant certifies that it encourages family participation in the decision of minors to seek family planning services and that it provides counseling to minors on how to resist attempts to coerce minors into engaging in sexual activities. (Sec. 212) Prohibits the use of funds to carry out the Medicare Advantage program if the Secretary of HHS denies participation in such program to an otherwise eligible entity because it will not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or provide referrals for abortions. (Sec. 213) Prohibits any provider of voluntary planning services under the Public Health Service Act from being exempt from any state law requiring notifications or the reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, or incest. (Sec. 214) Prohibits the use of funds to withhold substance abuse funding from a state that fails to enforce state laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18 if such state certifies to the Secretary that it will commit additional funds to ensure compliance with such laws. Sets forth requirements for states that miss the retailer compliance rate goal established by the Secretary. (Sec. 215) Allows the Secretary to exercise certain authority in order to carry out international health activities during FY2008. (Sec. 222) Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to the Delta Health Alliance to solicit and fund proposals from local governments, hospitals, health care clinics, academic institutions, and rural public health-related entities and organizations for research development, educational programs, health care services, job training, and planning, construction, and equipment of public health-related facilities in the Mississippi Delta region. Title III: Department of Education - Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2008 - Makes appropriations for FY2008 to the Department of Education for: (1) education for the disadvantaged; (2) impact aid; (3) school improvement programs; (4) Indian education; (5) innovation and improvement activities; (6) safe schools and citizenship education; (7) English language acquisition and language enhancement; (8) special education; (9) rehabilitation services and disability research; (10) special institutions for persons with disabilities, including the American Printing House for the Blind, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Gallaudet University; (11) career, technical, and adult education; (12) certain student financial assistance programs, as well as federal administrative expenses for such programs (setting a maximum individual Pell Grant amount); (13) specified higher education programs; (14) Howard University; (15) the college housing and academic facilities loans program; (16) the historically Black college and university capital financing program account; (17) the Institute of Education Sciences; and (18) departmental management, including program administration, the Office for Civil Rights, and the Office of the Inspector General. Sets the maximum individual Pell Grant amount at $4,310 during award year 2008-2009. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 301) Prohibits the use of funds to transport teachers or students in order to: (1) overcome racial imbalance in any school; or (2) carry out a racial desegregation plan. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the use of funds to require, directly or indirectly, the transportation of any student to a school other than the school nearest the student's home, except, for a student requiring special education, to the school offering such special education, in order to comply with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Declares that such a prohibited indirect requirement of transportation of students includes the transportation of students to carry out a plan involving the reorganization of the grade structure of schools, the pairing of schools, or the clustering of schools, or any combination of grade restructuring, pairing or clustering. Exempts the establishment of magnet schools from such prohibition. (Sec. 303) Prohibits the use of funds to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in public schools. (Sec. 304) Allows the transfer between appropriations of not more than 1% of discretionary funds for the current fiscal year for the Department of Education in this Act. Prohibits any increase of any such appropriation by more than 3% by any such transfer. (Sec. 305) Prohibits the use of funds to promulgate, implement, or enforce any revision to the regulations in effect on June 1, 2007, regarding the recognition of accrediting agencies or associations under the Higher Education Act of 1965, until legislation specifically requiring such revision is enacted. (Sec. 306) Considers five specified Illinois school districts to be local educational agencies (LEAs) for purposes of the Impact Aid program, which compensates LEAs for the financial burden of federal activities affecting their school districts. Considers federally connected students in such districts to be attending schools in one such district, North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, for the purpose of making that district eligible for Impact Aid. Conditions such treatment on the agreement of the five school districts to apportion such assistance equitably among all five of them, and to use it only for direct educational services. Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY2008 to: (1) the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled; (2) the Corporation for National and Community Service, for domestic volunteer service programs and the Office of Inspector General; (3) the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (4) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (5) the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (6) the Institute of Museum and Library Services; (7) the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; (8) the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (9) the National Council on Disability; (10) the National Labor Relations Board; (11) the National Mediation Board; (12) the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (13) the Railroad Retirement Board, including its Office of Inspector General; and (14) the Social Security Administration, including payments to the Social Security trust funds, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program, and the Office of Inspector General. Defines "qualified student loan," with respect to national service education awards, as any loan determined by an institution of higher education to be necessary to cover a student's cost of attendance at such institution and made, insured, or guaranteed directly to a student by a state agency, in addition to other meanings under the National and Community Service Act. Allows funds made available under the National and Community Service Act to assist entities in placing applicants with disabilities to be provided to any entity that receives a grant under such Act. Requires the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service (IG) to: (1) conduct random audits of the grantees that administer activities under the AmeriCorps programs; (2) levy sanctions in accordance with standard IG audit resolution procedures; and (3) obtain reimbursements in the amount of any misused funds from any grantee that has been determined to have committed any substantial violation of the requirements of such programs. Requires the Corporation for National and Community Service, for FY2008, to make any significant changes to program requirements or policy only through public notice and comment rulemaking. Prohibits, for FY2008 and during any grant selection process, an officer or employee of the Corporation from knowingly disclosing any covered grant selection information regarding such selection, directly or indirectly, to any person other than an authorized officer or employee of the Corporation. Allows, subject to certain notification requirements, not more than 1% of discretionary funds appropriated for the Corporation for National and Community Service to be transferred between activities identified in the committee report accompanying this Act. Prohibits any increase of such activity by more than 3% by any such transfer. Title V: General Provisions - Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 501) Authorizes the Secretaries of Labor, of Health and Human Services, and of Education to transfer unexpended balances of prior appropriations to accounts corresponding to current appropriations provided in this Act, to be used for the same purpose, and for the same periods of time, for which they were originally appropriated. (Sec. 505) Bars use of funds to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug. (Sec. 507) Prohibits the expenditure of funds appropriated in this Act, and in any trust fund to which funds are appropriated in this Act, for: (1) any abortion; or (2) health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion. (Sec. 508) Declares that such prohibition does not apply: (1) if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. Declares that nothing in this section shall be construed as: (1) prohibiting the expenditure by a state, locality, entity, or private person of state, local, or private funds (other than Medicaid matching funds); or (2) restricting the ability of any managed care provider from offering abortion coverage or the ability of a state or locality to contract separately with such a provider for such coverage with state funds (other than Medicaid matching funds). Bars the availability of funds to a federal agency or program, or to a state or local government, if it subjects any institutional or individual health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions. (Sec. 509) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for: (1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under certain federal regulations and the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 510) Bars the use of funds for activities promoting the legalization of any drug or other substance included in schedule I of the schedules of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, except for normal and recognized executive-congressional communications. Makes such limitation inapplicable when there is significant medical evidence of a therapeutic advantage to the use of such drug or other substance or that federally sponsored clinical trials are being conducted to determine therapeutic advantage. (Sec. 511) Bars the use of funds to promulgate or adopt any final standard under the Social Security Act providing for, or providing for the assignment of, a unique health identifier for an individual (except in an individual's capacity as an employer or a health care provider), until legislation is enacted specifically approving the standard. (Sec. 512) Bars the obligation or expenditure of funds to enter into or renew a contract with an entity if: (1) it is otherwise a contractor with the United States and is subject to the requirement regarding submission of an annual report to the Secretary of Labor concerning employment of certain veterans; and (2) it has not submitted the required report for the most recent applicable year. (Sec. 513) Prohibits the transfer of funds made available in this Act to any federal department, agency, or instrumentality, except pursuant to an appropriation Act. (Sec. 514) Prohibits the availability of certain funds designated to carry out the Library Services and Technology Act from being made available to certain libraries covered by such Act, as amended by the Children's Internet Protection Act, unless such libraries have made the required certifications of such Act. (Sec. 515) Prohibits the availability of certain funds designated to carry out part D of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 from being made available to certain elementary or secondary schools covered by such Act, as amended by the Children's Internet Protection Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, unless the local educational agency (LEA) with responsibility for such covered school has made the required certifications. (Sec. 516) Prohibits the use of funds to enter into an arrangement with a nongovernmental financial institution to serve as disbursing agent for benefits payable under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. (Sec. 518) Prohibits the use of funds to: (1) request that a candidate for appointment to a federal scientific advisory committee disclose his or her political affiliation or voting history or the position he or she holds with respect to political issues not directly related to and necessary for the work of the committee involved; or (2) disseminate scientific information that is deliberately false or misleading. (Sec. 519) Requires the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to submit a report to Congress on the number and amount of contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements exceeding $100,000 that are awarded by the Departments on a non-competitive basis (not including grants awarded on a formula basis). (Sec. 520) Allows the use of funds to conduct human embryonic stem cell research as long as such cells were derived prior to June 15, 2007, and certain criteria are met.