WORKS Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Withdrawing from Overburdensome Reviews and Keeping us Safe Act or the WORKS Act
This bill addresses provisions related to federal-aid highways and bridges, emergency and disaster relief, firearms, and environmental reviews.
Among other things, the bill
authorizes emergency relief funds to be used to pay for projects to improve the resiliency of federal-aid highways and bridges, including to improve drainage;
provides grants for local communities to develop disaster preparedness and disaster response plans that include the use of bicycles;
establishes a competitive grant program to provide assistance to local government entities for bollard installation projects designed to prevent pedestrian injuries and acts of terrorism in areas utilized by large numbers of pedestrians;
requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow an individual to possess a firearm in an area of a water resources development project if it is not prohibited by law; and
directs the Department of Transportation to complete expedited environmental reviews of tribal transportation safety projects.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 18, 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 October 18, 2019: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
- 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?
Kevin Hern (R-OK) introduced it on October 18, 2019. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 18, 2019, 2519 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2519 days ago, on October 18, 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