PREPARE Act
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 Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications.
Promoting Resilience and Efficiency in Preparing for Attacks and Responding to Emergencies Act or the PREPARE Act
This bill revises programs and activities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Office of Emergency Communications of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Office of Health Affairs of DHS. Specifically, the bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to:
revise requirements for and reauthorize the Urban Area Security Initiative,
require states receiving homeland security grants to submit to FEMA certain threat and risk assessments,
expand the allowable uses of homeland security grant funds to include enhancing medical preparedness and cybersecurity,
require FEMA to implement a uniform process for using grant funds to purchase certain equipment or systems,
update the National Incident Management System at least once every five years,
expand requirements relating to cyber preparedness,
require FEMA to establish a major metropolitan area counterterrorism training and exercise grant program,
revise duties of the Chief Medical Officer of DHS, and
require DHS to establish a medical countermeasures program.
DHS may establish a Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium to provide training to emergency response providers from rural communities.
FEMA must provide updates on the management of the Chemical, Ordnance, Biological, and Radiological Training Facility of the Center for Domestic Preparedness.
DHS may not implement the National Preparedness Grant Program or change the location or reporting structure of the Office of Emergency Communications without prior authorization from Congress.
FEMA must: (1) designate a chief management official for the agency, (2) report on efforts to modernize its grants and financial information technology systems, and (3) update its strategic human capital plan in 2018 and the next five succeeding years.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 15, 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 June 28, 2017: Referred to the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications.
- 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?
Daniel Donovan (R-NY) introduced it on June 15, 2017, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 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 June 15, 2017, 3374 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3361 days ago, on June 28, 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