GSA Act of 2012
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 2012 or the GSA Act of 2012 - 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.
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.
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.
Requires each agency to post on its public website quarterly reports on each conference for which the agency paid travel expenses during the preceding three months.
Limits agency travel expenses for FY2013-FY2017 to 70% of the aggregate amount of such expenses for FY2010. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish guidelines for determining what expenses constitute travel expenses for purposes of the ceiling imposed on such expenses. Exempts from such limitation military travel expenses.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on September 11, 2012. 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 September 12, 2012: 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
Joe Walsh (R-IL) introduced it on April 25, 2012, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 6 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 April 25, 2012, 5251 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5111 days ago, on September 12, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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