GSA Act of 2013
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Government Spending Accountability Act of 2013 or the GSA Act of 2013 - Requires each federal agency to post on its public website detailed information on employee presentations at conferences, including: (1) the prepared text of any verbal presentation; and (2) any visual, digital, video, or audio materials presented, including photographs, slides, and audio-visual recordings. Allows a waiver of such requirement for reasons of national security.
Limits to $500,000 the amount that any agency may spend to support a single conference. Allows an agency head to waive such limitation for a specific conference after making a determination that a higher expenditure is justified as the most cost-effective option to achieve a compelling purpose. Requires the agency head to report to the appropriate congressional committees on any waiver granted and the justification for such waiver.
Prohibits an agency from paying the travel expenses for more than 50 employees stationed in the United States to attend any international conference, unless the Secretary of State determines that attendance of such employees is in the national interest, or the agency head determines that attendance for such employees is critical to the agency's mission. Requires the Secretary and the agency head to report to the appropriate congressional committees on any waiver granted and the justification for such waiver.
Requires each agency to post on its public website quarterly reports on each conference that costs more than $10,000 for which the agency paid travel expenses during the preceding 3 months that include:
itemized expenses, including travel, lodging, meal expenses, and any other agency expenditures to support the conference; the primary sponsor of the conference; the location and date of the conference; an explanation of how participation at the conference by agency employees advanced the mission of the agency; the title of any employee or other individual whose travel or conference expenses were paid by the agency; the total number of individuals whose travel or conference expenses were paid by the agency; and for a conference for which the agency was the primary sponsor, a statement that: (1) describes the cost to the agency of selecting the specific conference venue and why such location was selected, (2) demonstrates the cost efficiency of the location, (3) provides a cost benefit analysis of holding a conference rather than conducting a teleconference, and (4) describes any financial support or assistance from a private entity used to pay or defray the costs of the conference and a certification from the agency head that no conflict of interest resulted from accepting such support or assistance.
The summary continues for 2 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 "Passed House amended" stage on July 31, 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 August 1, 2013: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- 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?
JO EMERSON (R-MO) introduced it on January 18, 2013, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 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 January 18, 2013, 4983 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4788 days ago, on August 1, 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