VA Scheduling Accountability Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)
VA Scheduling Accountability Act
(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that each VA medical facility annually certifies that it is in full compliance with all provisions of law and regulations relating to scheduling appointments for veterans hospital care and medical services. The VA may not waive any applicable provision of such laws or regulations.
If unable to make such certification, the facility shall provide the VA with an explanation of noncompliance and a description of compliance actions being taken. If a facility does not make a certification for any year, each covered official may not receive specified awards or bonuses during the subsequent year. A covered official is the: (1) director, (2) chief of staff, (3) associate director, (4) associate director for patient care, and (5) deputy chief of staff.
(Sec. 3) The VA shall ensure that its directives and policies apply to, and are implemented by, each VA office or facility in a standardized manner, including at the local level.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House without amendment" stage on May 24, 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 25, 2017: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 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 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?
Jackie Walorski (R-IN) introduced it on January 12, 2017, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 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 January 12, 2017, 3575 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3442 days ago, on May 25, 2017.
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