Transparency in Government Act of 2015
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Transparency in Government Act of 2015
Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Rules of the House of Representatives to expand disclosure requirements for the personal financial information of Members of Congress and for foreign travel, gifts, earmarks, and representational allowances.
Requires the Comptroller General to study the effect of written requests by Members of Congress to executive agencies to carry out and provide funding for projects and activities.
Requires each congressional committee to: (1) post on its website the schedule for public hearings and markups conducted by each committee, and (2) submit to the Clerk of the House of Representatives a complete list of all public hearings and markup schedules of the committee and its subcommittees for posting on the House website.
Requires the Clerk and the Secretary of the Senate to: (1) post on their respective websites voting record information for each Member of Congress; and (2) establish an advisory Congressional Data Task Force to recommend data standards for the creation, exchange, and publication of congressional information.
Requires that, to the extent practicable, all bills, resolutions, orders, and votes be created, exchanged, and published in searchable electronic formats.
Public Access to Congressional Research Service Reports Resolution of 2015 or the Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Resolution of 2015
Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in consultation with the Congressional Research Service (CRS), to establish and maintain a centralized, searchable, bulk downloadable, electronic database consisting of CRS issue briefs, reports, authorization of appropriation products and appropriation products, and similar material intended or available for general congressional distribution.
Exempts from public disclosure confidential information or any document that is the product of a confidential research request made by a Member, officer, employee, or office of the House of Representatives and that is not intended for distribution.
Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act
Directs the Attorney General to establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force, which shall have primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
The summary continues for 11 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 16, 2015. 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 April 21, 2015: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
- 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced it on March 16, 2015, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 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 March 16, 2015, 4196 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4160 days ago, on April 21, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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