Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019
TITLE I--AUTHORIZATIONS
(Sec. 101) This bill extends the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve program through FY2021.
(Sec. 102) The Coast Guard is authorized an end-of-year strength for active duty personnel of 44,500 for FY2020-FY2021.
(Sec. 103) The budgetary effects of this bill are to be determined in accordance with the procedures established in the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
TITLE II--COAST GUARD
(Sec. 201) The bill (1) requires the Coast Guard to make a determination of satisfactory service regarding the grade in which an officer is retired; (2) provides authority to retire an officer to a lower grade if such officer committed misconduct in a lower grade than that held at the time of retirement; (3) provides that a retired grade determination is administratively final on the day an officer is retired and may not be reopened, with specified exceptions; and (4) removes gender-specific terminology from Coast Guard provisions.
(Sec. 202) The Coast Guard must appoint an officer who is in a grade above captain as Director of Congressional Affairs.
(Sec. 203) The bill increased monetary limitations for the Coast Guard to settle admiralty claims and claims for damage to Coast Guard property.
(Sec. 204) The bill provides authority for Coast Guard officers to opt out of promotion board consideration in limited circumstances.
(Sec. 205) The Coast Guard may temporarily promote officers with critical skills and serving in certain positions.
(Sec. 206) Members of the Coast Guard may be inactivated from active duty to meet personal or professional needs and then returned to the service at the end of such period.
(Sec. 207) The bill requires that Coast Guard long-term major acquisition plans include costs to operate and sustain vessels and aircraft.
(Sec. 208) The Coast Guard must improve its employment skills verification, accuracy of certificates of training and skills and its responsiveness to certification requests for its members.
(Sec. 209) The bill specifies reporting requirements for the Coast Guard regarding gender diversity, including requiring a biennial report that includes an analysis of its recruitment and retention of women and gender-based limitations on career opportunities.
The summary continues for 74 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" stage on July 24, 2019. 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 July 25, 2019: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- 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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 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?
PETER DEFAZIO (D-OR) introduced it on June 21, 2019, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 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.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 21, 2019, 2638 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2604 days ago, on July 25, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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