Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017
Latest action. Second clotureThe Senate's only procedure for ending debate over objection. Most legislation needs 60 votes; nominations need a simple majority.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on the conference committeeA temporary House-Senate panel that negotiates one compromise text when the chambers pass different versions of a measure.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 135. (consideration: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S5229-5240; text: CR S5239)
Highlights:
This bill provides FY2017 appropriations for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies and provides FY2016 supplemental appropriations to respond to the Zika virus.
The bill includes four divisions:
the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017;
the Zika Response and Preparedness Appropriations Act, 2016;
the Zika Vector Control Act; and
Rescissions of Funds. Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017
This division provides FY2017 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military construction, military family housing, the U.S. share of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program, and base closures and realignments.
The division also provides appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans benefit and health care programs, Departmental Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration.
Related agencies and programs funded in the division include the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; the Armed Forces Retirement Home; and the Cemeterial Expenses of the Army, including Arlington National Cemetery.
The division includes both mandatory and discretionary funding. It increases FY2017 discretionary funding for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs above FY2016 levels, including an increase for the VA and a decrease for Military Construction.
The division includes provisions that:
permit the VA to pay for fertility treatments, counseling, and adoption expenses for veterans with certain service-connected disabilities;
establish additional procedures and protections for VA whistle-blowers;
and prohibit funds from being used for: (1) constructing, renovating, or expanding a facility for the purpose of housing individuals detained at U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and (2) closing or transferring the facility.
Zika Response and Preparedness Appropriations Act, 2016
This division provides FY2016 supplemental appropriations to the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and State to respond to the Zika virus.
The division permits the funds to be used for the duration of FY2017, designates the funds as emergency requirements, and sets forth congressional reporting and notification requirements.
Zika Vector Control Act
The summary continues for 220 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 "Conference report filed in House" stage on June 22, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Second cloture on the conference report not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 135. (consideration: CR S5229-5240; text: CR S5239)
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on September 6, 2016: Second cloture on the conference report not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 135. (consideration: CR S5229-5240; text: CR S5239)
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 has no outstanding steps 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?
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced it on May 27, 2015. 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 May 27, 2015, 4124 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3656 days ago, on September 6, 2016.
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
- HouseSecond cloture on the conference report not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 46. Record Vote Number: 135. (consideration: CR S5229-5240; text: CR S5239)
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action