Veterans Accountability Act of 2013
Latest action. Supplemental report filed by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, H. Rept. 113-227, Part II.
Veterans Accountability Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report semiannually to the congressional veterans committees on covered travel made by VA employees while on official business. Defines covered travel as travel: (1) outside the United States or its territories, possessions, or territorial waters, if paid for by the VA or another element of the government; or (2) to any location, if paid for by any person or entity other than the government. Requires each report to include the name of each employee and the destination, purpose, duration, total cost, and identity of a payor other than the government.
Directs the Secretary to report each case of reportable infectious disease or condition (a disease or condition that a state requires to be reported) that occurs at a VA medical facility to the appropriate state entity and to report to the accrediting organization of such facility each case classified as a health-care-associated infection sentinel event. Requires the Secretary, upon a failure to report, to pay to a state the same penalty that a non-federal facility of such state would pay for a failure to report. Allows a state to file a civil action against the VA for the recovery of such amount. Requires the VA Inspector General to investigate and suspend and impose other appropriate administrative disciplinary action against a director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network who has failed to comply with such requirement.
Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to ensure that any visual recording made by the Secretary of a patient during the course of furnishing care through the VA is carried out only with the full and informed consent of that patient. Allows the Secretary to waive such requirement if the recording is made: (1) upon a determination by a physician or psychologist that the recording is medically necessary or necessary for the patient's safety, (2) pursuant to a warrant or order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (3) in a public setting where a person would not have a reasonable expectation to privacy (such as a waiting room or hallway) and the recording is for general security purposes not particularized to the patient.
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 September 25, 2013. 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 October 7, 2013: Supplemental report filed by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, H. Rept. 113-227, Part II.
- 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 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?
Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) introduced it on April 26, 2013. 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 April 26, 2013, 4885 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4721 days ago, on October 7, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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