Private Pensions – Multiemployer Plans and PBGC Face Urgent Challenges, GAO-13-428T, March 5, 2013 “The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) financial assistance to multiemployer plans continues to increase, and plan insolvencies threaten PBGC’s multiemployer insurance fund. As a result of current and anticipated financial assistance, the present value of PBGC’s liability for plans that are… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
CRS – Public Access to Data from Federally Funded Research
Public Access to Data from Federally Funded Research: Provisions in OMB Circular A-110. Eric A. Fischer, Senior Specialist in Science and Technology. March 1, 2013 “The results of scientific studies are often used in making government policy decisions. While the studies are often published, traditional federal research funding policies did not require the data on… Continue Reading
CRS – Federal Financial Reporting: An Overview
Federal Financial Reporting: An Overview, Meredith A. Levine, Analyst in Government Organization and Management. February 27, 2013 “Federal financial reportingdefined here as the process of recording retrospective executive department-level financial and performance informationcan provide both a snapshot of the governments financial health at a given moment in time, as well as an accounting of its… Continue Reading
Census – Megacommuters: 600,000 in U.S. Travel 90 Minutes and 50 Miles to Work
“About 8.1 percent of U.S. workers have commutes of 60 minutes or longer, 4.3 percent work from home, and nearly 600,000 full-time workers had “megacommutes” of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles. [See the report – Mega Commuting in the U.S.] The average one-way daily commute for workers across the country is 25.5 minutes,… Continue Reading
Report – Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges
Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges, February 2013 “To inform the development of the state health insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, this checklist identifies key coverage, affordability and access issues that are important for women. Based on lessons learned from womens health research and the Massachusetts experience,… Continue Reading
SIGR – Projects Financed with Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Audit, Government Agencies Cannot Fully Identify Projects Financed with Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds (SIGIR 13-006), March 6, 2013 “Following the 2003 intervention in Iraq and the fall of Saddam Husseins regime, the United States initiated a major relief and reconstruction program to stabilize the… Continue Reading
European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) what you need to know
“The European Union regulation on derivatives, central counterparties (CCPs) and trade repositories introduces new requirements to improve transparency and reduce the risks associated with the derivatives market. EMIR also establishes common organisational, conduct of business and prudential standards for CCPs and trade repositories. EMIR imposes requirements on all types and sizes of entities that enter… Continue Reading
EPIC Prevails in Social Media Monitoring FOIA Suit
“EPIC has obtained a court order and an opinion in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, requiring the agency to turn over more documents about the monitoring of social media and Internet media organizations. EPIC had previously obtained several hundred pages of documents, revealing that the agency monitors the… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Medicare Advantage, Select Agent Program
Medicare Advantage – Substantial Excess Payments Underscore Need for CMS to Improve Accuracy of Risk Score Adjustments, GAO-13-206, Jan 31, 2013 Overlap and Duplication – Federal Inspections of Entities Registered with the Select Agent Program, GAO-13-154, Jan 31, 2013 Continue Reading
OATs: Open Access Textbooks
OATs: Open Access Textbooks: “The OATs Libguide provides access to descriptions and links to known initiatives and organizations that support the development and promotion of Open Access textbooks, and to OA and low-cost e-books and textbook catalogs and databases.” [Gerry McKiernan] Continue Reading
Fed Vice Chair Speech – Challenges Confronting Monetary Policy
Vice Chair Janet L. Yellen At the 2013 National Association for Business Economics Policy Conference, Washington, D.C. March 4, 2013 – Challenges Confronting Monetary Policy “…the Federal Reserve initiated a new asset purchase program last September, extending it in December, under which the Federal Reserve is currently buying agency-guaranteed MBS at a pace of $40… Continue Reading
Fed Governor Speech on Ending "Too Big to Fail"
Governor Jerome H. Powell At the Institute of International Bankers 2013 Washington Conference, Washington, D.C., March 4, 2013 Ending “Too Big to Fail” – “Today I will discuss “too big to fail” and the ongoing work since the financial crisis to end it. More than three years into this effort, there have been sweeping reforms… Continue Reading
