b. a. Pension plan administration (ERISA) C. Defined benefit plans Employer stock ownership plans (ESOPs) Tax administration and procedures Installment sales d. e. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. Tax treatment of artist's contributions Independent newspapers Annuities Property of certain Indian tribes Note: This is not an all-inclusive list, as there are several other minor tax bills and proposals that the staff will be working on this year (as more hearings are scheduled by the tax committees). OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT Salaries and Expenses Appropriation Language to For salaries and expenses necessary carry out the provisions of the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-484), including reception and representation expenses (not to exceed $1,500 of appropriated funds and no restrictions on Trust Fund), and rental of space in the District of Columbia, [$11,000,000] $14,200,000; Provided, that none of the funds in this Act shall be available for salaries and expenses of any employee of the Office of Technology Assessment in excess of [130] 160 staff employees, except that this limitation shall not prevent staff appointments to maintain an operating balance to accommodate for completion and commencement of projects. Summary of Request Congress appropriated $11,000,000 for FY 1980. In addition OTA has requested $284,000 for the general pay raise effective October, 1979. The Technology Assessment Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-484) established the Office of Technology Assessment, within and responsible to the legislative branch of the Government, to provide technical expertise in order to anticipate, examine, and broadly understand the implications of technology as it acts in, for, and on society. Resources provided to the Congress by OTA are a recognition by the Congress of the importance of independent sources of timely, objective, and pertinent information to enable anticipation and consideration of the opportunities, as well as the problems, presented by the increasingly pervasive influence of technology in our society. Major assessments typically require about one to two years and in excess of $400,000 to complete. Funding of these assessments has been dependent upon annual appropriations since FY 1979, whereas previously some no-year funding was provided. Since an assessment is seldom carried out within a single fiscal year, funding usually requires appropriations from two or more years. The carrying out of a continuing series of major formal assessment projects at OTA (20 to 30 per year) enables it to also provide a variety of special analyses and services to the Congress, utilizing information from prior and on-going studies. Financial Management Most OTA assessments are made in response to specific Committee requests. Furthermore, Committee needs are frequently not discernable a year or more in advance. Therefore, it is neither possible nor desirable at this time for OTA to make detailed plans for a large number of specific assessments for FY 1981. At the same time, we have the experience of prior years and rising influence of technology in policy issues to guide us in terms of the likely number and general type of assessments that will be requested. This experience leads us to a total budget figure and a basis for an estimated division of effort between OTA's three line divisions. -1 (61) Experience has led the Technology Assessment Board to establish guidelines, based on the director's recommendation, for the partition of funds between fixed costs, assessment studies, and planning, proposal development and special responses to Congressional or TAB requests. This procedure enables the director to allocate resources in a way that guarantees the continuity of critical staff expertise in key areas of technology, and also to better manage the activities of planning, proposal development, and special responses. Commencing in FY 1980 the director will submit quarterly statements to the Board on the status of all projects. In addition, other management procedures are being instituted to assure that proposed budgets milestones and scope of work are mutually compatible. This includes more work in the development of the proposal prior to its submission to the Technology Assessment Board and tighter management during the execution of each project. Requests for assessments must be approved by the Board prior to commencing work. Since requests invariably exceed resources a number of requests must be deferred, modified, or otherwise handled. Sometimes accommodation can be made by modifying an ongoing assessment, in which case the Board must consider and approve such modification. |