SURE Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 319.
Strengthening and Updating Resources and Equipment Act or the SURE Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to permit grants awarded under the State Homeland Security Grant Program or the Urban Area Security Initiative to be used for maintenance agreements, user fees, or sustainment costs for purchased equipment related to preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to acts of terrorism.
Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from imposing any time limitation, including any fiscal year limitation, on a grant recipient using a grant awarded under that Program or Initiative to maintain and sustain equipment that had been purchased with a prior fiscal year grant awarded under that Program or Initiative. Makes this Act applicable to grants under the Program or Initiative made on or after October 1, 2008.
Amends the Initiative to require a high-risk urban area, in its application for an Initiative grant, to include the amount of the award it plans to allocate to maintain and sustain target capabilities, including equipment, that have been supported with prior fiscal year funds awarded under the Program or Initiative. Requires the state, in its application for a Program grant, to include the amount of awards it plans to allocate to maintain and sustain target capabilities, including equipment, that have been supported with prior fiscal year funds awarded under the Program or Initiative.
Requires the Administrator to: (1) issue guidance defining costs eligible to be paid with grants under the Program or Initiative for equipment maintenance agreements, user fees, sustainment costs, and any other equipment-related costs, as the Administrator determines is appropriate; (2) review and update such guidance as necessary; and (3) brief the congressional homeland security committees before issuing any guidance, or announcing the award of any grant, under the Program or Initiative.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on July 22, 2010. 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 22, 2010: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 319.
- 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 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 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?
Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) introduced it on October 15, 2009, and 26 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 25 Democrats, 1 Republican.
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 October 15, 2009, 6174 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5894 days ago, on July 22, 2010.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 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