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Bipartisan Budget Act Of 2018
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 is a federal statute concerning spending and the budget in the United States, that was signed into law by President Donald Trump on February 9, 2018. Delays in the passage of the bill caused a nine-hour funding gap. The bill is the third in a series that increased spending caps originally imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011; the first two were the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. Provisions The bill combined several provisions, including: * It included a continuing resolution (with short title Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018) lasting until March 23, 2018. * Spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 were increased for both defense and nondefense spending, although defense spending was increased more. The defense discretionary funding cap was increased by $80 billion in FY2018 and $85 billion in FY 2019, while the non-defense domestic discretionary spending ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Budget Control Act Of 2011
The Budget Control Act of 2011 () is a federal statute enacted by the 112th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011. The Act brought conclusion to the 2011 US debt-ceiling crisis. The law involves the introduction of several complex mechanisms, such as creation of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes called the "super committee"), options for a balanced budget amendment, and automatic budget sequestration. Provisions Debt ceiling: * The debt ceiling was increased by $400 billion immediately. * The President could request a further increase of $500 billion, which is subject to a congressional motion of disapproval which the President may veto, in which case a two-thirds majority in Congress would be needed to override the veto. This has been called the 'McConnell mechanism' after the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who first suggested it as part of another scheme. * The Pres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by both List of U.S. states and territories by area, area (after Alaska) and List of U.S. states and territories by population, population (after California). Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest; and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Houston is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas and the List of United States cities by population, fourth-largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second most pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lenders Mortgage Insurance
Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), also known as private mortgage insurance (PMI) in the US, is insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property. Typical rates are $55/mo. per $100,000 financed, or as high as $125/mo. for a typical $200,000 loan. Mortgage insurance in the US The annual cost of PMI varies and is expressed in terms of the total loan value in most cases, depending on the loan term, loan type, proportion of the total home value that is financed, the coverage amount, and the frequency of premium payments (monthly, annual, or single). The PMI may be payable up front, or it may be capitalized onto the loan in the case of single premium product. This type of insurance is usually only required if the downpayment i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Payment Advisory Board
The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, was to be a fifteen-member United States Government agency created in 2010 by sections 3403 and 10320 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was to have the explicit task of achieving specified savings in Medicare without affecting coverage or quality. Under previous and current law, changes to Medicare payment rates and program rules are recommended by MedPAC but require an act of Congress to take effect. The system creating IPAB granted IPAB the authority to make changes to the Medicare program with the Congress being given the power to overrule the agency's decisions through supermajority vote. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 repealed IPAB before it could take effect. Beginning in 2013, the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined in particular years the projected per capita growth rate for Medicare for a multi-year period ending in the second year thereafter (the "implementa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. Renewable energy often provides energy for electricity generation to a grid, air and water heating/cooling, and stand-alone power systems. Renewable energy technology projects are typically large-scale, but they are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries, where energy is often crucial in human development. Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification, which has several benefits: electricity can move heat or objects efficiently, and is clean at the point of consumption. In addition, electrification with renewable energy is more efficient and therefore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodiesel In The United States
Biodiesel is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states in the United States. As of 2005, it is more expensive than petroleum-diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities (in comparison to petroleum products and ethanol fuel). The total U.S. production capacity for biodiesel reached in 2007, although poor market conditions held 2007 production to about , according to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). In 2004, almost of commercially produced biodiesel were sold in the U.S., up from less than in 1998. U.S. biodiesel production hit an all-time high in 2015, its second record-breaking year in a row. EPA statistics show production of 1.813 billion gallons in 2015, up from the previous record of 1.74 billion gallons in 2014. Feedstock development A pilot project in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is producing fish oil biodiesel from the local fish processing industry in conjunction with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It is rarel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuel Cell Vehicle
A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate electricity generally using oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen. Most fuel cell vehicles are classified as zero-emissions vehicles that emit only water and heat. As compared with internal combustion vehicles, hydrogen vehicles centralize pollutants at the site of the hydrogen production, where hydrogen is typically derived from reformed natural gas. Transporting and storing hydrogen may also create pollutants. Fuel cells have been used in various kinds of vehicles including forklifts, especially in indoor applications where their clean emissions are important to air quality, and in space applications. The first commercially produced hydrogen fuel cell automobile, the Hyundai ix35 FCEV, was introduced in 2013, the Toyota Mirai followed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Motorcycles And Scooters
Electric motorcycles and scooters are plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery which drives one or more electric motors. Electric scooters are distinguished from motorcycles by having a step-through frame, instead of being straddled. Electric bicycles are similar vehicles, distinguished by retaining the ability to be propelled by the rider pedalling in addition to battery propulsion. Electric scooters with the rider standing are known as e-scooters. History 1895 to 1950 The early history of electric motorcycles is somewhat unclear. On 19 September 1895, a patent application for an "electrical bicycle" was filed by Ogden Bolton Jr. of Canton Ohio. On 8 November of the same year, another patent application for an "electric bicycle" was filed by Hosea W. Libbey of Boston. At the Stanley Cycle Show in 1896 in London, England, bicycle manufacturer Humber exhibited an electric tandem bicycle. Powered by a bank of storage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whistleblower Protection In The United States
A whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ... is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The Whistleblower Protection Act was made into federal law in the United States in 1989. Whistleblower protection laws and regulations guarantee freedom of speech in the United States, freedom of speech for workers and contractors in certain situations. Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation for disclosing information that the employee or applicant reasonably believes provides evidence of a violation of any law, rule, regulation, gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Of 2017
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), that amended the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Major elements of the changes include reducing tax rates for businesses and individuals, increasing the standard deduction and family tax credits, eliminating personal exemptions and making it less beneficial to itemize deductions, limiting deductions for state and local income taxes and property taxes, further limiting the mortgage interest deduction, reducing the alternative minimum tax for individuals and eliminating it for corporations, doubling the estate tax exemption, and cancelling the penalty enforcing individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Act is based on tax reform advocated by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration. The nonpartisan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endowment Tax
Endowment tax is the taxation of financial endowments that are otherwise not taxed due to their charitable, educational, or religious mission. Endowments can be up to several billion dollars at some universities, some charitable foundations, and some medical foundations. Endowment tax in the United States Excise tax on private foundation endowments Unlike nonprofit corporations classified as a public charity, private foundations in the United States are generally subject to a 1% or 2% excise tax on any net investment income. Federal changes in 2017 and 2018 As enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ... and amended by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, an excise tax of 1.4% on endowment income is levied on universities t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Therapy Cap
In 1997 the Balanced Budget Act established annual per-beneficiary Medicare spending limits, or therapy cap, for outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services covered under Medicare Part B. Facilities affected by the therapy cap include: private practice, physician offices, skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitations agencies, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities, critical access hospitals, and outpatient hospital departments. For 2014, the therapy cap amount is $1920 for physical therapy and speech pathology combined. A separate $1920 is allowed for occupational therapy services. Beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans are not subject to the therapy cap unless the plan chooses to apply the cap. Beginning in 1999, Congress placed repeated moratoria on the Therapy Cap through 2006. In 2006, an exception process was put into place through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The exception process allowed for addition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
