Community Empowerment for Mitigated Properties Act of 2017
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 309.
Community Empowerment for Mitigated Properties Act of 2017
(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to issue guidance regarding the acquisition of property for open space as a hazard mitigation measure under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which shall include:
a process by which the state hazard mitigation officer appointed for such acquisition shall, within 60 days after an applicant for assistance enters into the acquisition agreement, provide written notification to each affected local government that includes the location and a description of the acquisition, the state-local assistance agreement for the hazard mitigation grant program, and a copy of the deed restriction; and
recommendations for entering into and implementing a memorandum of understanding between local governments and covered entities that allows an affected local government to use and maintain the open space created by such a project, consistent with such Act and all adjoining property and subject to the notification of the adjoining property, so long as the maintenance cost is borne by the local government, and to maintain the open space pursuant to standards exceeding any local government standards defined in the agreement with FEMA.
A "covered entity" includes the grantee or subgrantee receiving assistance for an open space project, the state in which such project is located, and the applicable regional administrator of FEMA.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on November 21, 2017. 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 November 21, 2017: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 309.
- 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Brian Babin (R-TX) introduced it on March 27, 2017, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 27, 2017, 3454 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3215 days ago, on November 21, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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