FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019
Latest action. ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Trone asked unanimous consentDoing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 1075, a bill originally introduced by Representative Elijah Cummings, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.
FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019
This bill revises the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process for certain students. Specifically, the Department of Education must allow students to complete FAFSA as independent students under special circumstances.
It also requires financial aid administrators to provide those students with a final determination regarding their assistance in the same manner as, and by no later than the date that, they provide other provisionally independent students with that determination.
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 7, 2019. 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 January 30, 2020: ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Trone asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 1075, a bill originally introduced by Representative Elijah Cummings, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.
- 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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD) introduced it on February 7, 2019, and 23 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 23 Democrats.
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 7, 2019, 2772 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2415 days ago, on January 30, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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
- HouseIntroduced, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers