Good Samaritan Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary.
Good Samaritan Act - Declares: (1) that any physician, registered nurse, or aircraft employee who, in good faith and with a reasonable belief that immediate medical attention is necessary, renders emergency care to an injured or ill person aboard an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States shall not be liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission by such individual in rendering such care, except for any act or omission amounting to gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct; and (2) that any such individual shall not be liable for any such act or omission in rendering continued emergency care to the injured or ill person during transportation from the aircraft to a medical facility for further treatment or care.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 2, 1978. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 2, 1978: Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 95th Congress (1977-78), 633 of the 19,387 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CARL PURSELL (R-MI) introduced it on February 2, 1978. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 2, 1978, 17752 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17752 days ago, on February 2, 1978.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 95th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1979 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers