21st Century Cures Act
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-255.
(This measure has not been amended since the House agreed to the Senate amendment with amendment on November 30, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
21st Century Cures Act
DIVISION A--21ST CENTURY CURES
21st Century Cures Act
TITLE I--INNOVATION PROJECTS AND STATE RESPONSES TO OPIOID ABUSE
(Sec. 1001) This bill provides funding for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Innovation Projects, which include the Precision Medicine Initiative and the BRAIN Initiative. The NIH must submit a work plan to Congress that describes and justifies the projects.
(Sec. 1002) This bill provides funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) activities required by this bill. The FDA must submit a work plan to Congress that describes and justifies the activities.
(Sec. 1003) This bill provides funding for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to states to address the opioid abuse crisis.
(Sec. 1004) The budgetary effects of this division of this bill are excluded from PAYGO scorecards.
TITLE II--DISCOVERY
Subtitle A--National Institutes of Health Reauthorization
(Sec. 2001) This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the NIH through FY2020.
(Sec. 2002) The NIH must support prize competitions to fund areas of biomedical science that could realize significant advancements or improve health outcomes.
Subtitle B--Advancing Precision Medicine
(Sec. 2011) HHS is encouraged to carry out a Precision Medicine Initiative to address disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In implementing the initiative, HHS must implement secure data sharing and ensure inclusion of a broad range of participants.
(Sec. 2012) The bill revises provisions regarding disclosure by researchers of the identifiable, sensitive information of research subjects. HHS must prohibit researchers from disclosing such information from federally funded research to persons not connected to the research, with exceptions. Researchers may apply to have other research covered by this prohibition.
(Sec. 2013) HHS may exempt identifiable information collected for biomedical research from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
(Sec. 2014) The NIH may require recipients of grants or cooperative agreements to share scientific data.
The summary continues for 330 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 "Public Law" stage on December 13, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on December 13, 2016: Became Public Law No: 114-255.
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?
Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) introduced it on January 6, 2015, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 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.
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
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law