Protect Seniors and Cut Waste Act
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, oversightCongress's review of how the executive branch carries out the laws it passed: hearings, document demands, investigations, and the spending power behind them.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) and Reform, the Budget, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Protect Seniors and Cut Waste Act
This bill prohibits the budgetary effects of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 from being counted for the purposes of determining whether a specified sequester occurs under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
(The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided funding to address the impact of COVID-19. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.)
The bill also modifies several other provisions related to COVID-19 spending. Among other modifications, the bill
provides supplemental appropriations for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to reimburse certain health care providers for health care related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to the coronavirus;
rescinds certain funds that were provided for payments to states, territories, and tribal governments to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from the COVID-19 public health emergency;
prohibits individuals who are incarcerated or unlawfully present in the United States from receiving 2021 recovery rebates; and
rescinds funds that were provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund.
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 18, 2021. 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 March 18, 2021: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, the Budget, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- 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 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 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?
Jason Smith (R-MO) introduced it on March 18, 2021, and 31 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 31 Republicans.
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 18, 2021, 2002 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2002 days ago, on March 18, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 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