ACCESS 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 Environment.
Authorizing Critical Conservation and Enabling Sportsmen and Sportswomen Act or the ACCESS Act
This bill revises, reauthorizes, and establishes programs and entities regarding the conservation of wildlife and expanded access to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting on federal lands.
The bill makes permanent the authorizations for: (1) the program for the sale and exchange of public lands identified for disposal under approved land use plans, and (2) the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The bill revises requirements for appointment to the Board of Directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and reauthorizes the foundation through FY2022.
This bill reauthorizes through FY2022 the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and the multinational species conservation funds.
The Department of the Interior shall convene a panel of experts on great apes to identify the greatest needs and priorities for their conservation.
Certain federal departments and agencies shall implement activities to protect water and wildlife to control invasive species on the lands which they manage.
The bill establishes Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize competitions regarding wildlife related concerns.
The bill establishes the National Fish Habitat Board and provides for the designation of Fish Habitat Partnerships by it.
Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act
The bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to facilitate the construction and expansion of public target ranges.
The bill declares that federal lands shall be open to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, unless closed in accordance with this bill.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on November 30, 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 May 22, 2018: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment.
- 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?
MIKE THOMPSON (D-CA) introduced it on November 30, 2017, and 14 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 14 Democrats.
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 November 30, 2017, 3206 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3033 days ago, on May 22, 2018.
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