Rail Maintenance Improvement and Employment Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Rail Maintenance Improvement and Employment Act - Provides, under the provisions of the Emergency Job and Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974, that the Secretary of Transportation is authorized from funds appropriated and made available under such Act to provide financial assistance to common carriers engaged in transportation by railroad for wages of persons employed in programs and projects to maintain and improve their rights-of-way and structures, including mainline tracks, sidetracks adjacent thereto, roadbed, culverts, fills, tunnels, and other structures. Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance for any program or project under this Act only upon application by the carrier under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary. Requires that the Secretary not provide financial assistance for any program or project under this Act unless it is determined under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary that the program or project: (1) will not result in the displacement of currently employed workers (including partial displacement such as reduction in the hours of overtime work or wages or employment benefits); and (2) will not result in the substitution of Federal for other funds in connection with work that could otherwise be performed by the carrier during the twelve months following application by the carrier. Provides that persons employed under such program or project shall be paid wages at rates in accordance with existing applicable labor agreements. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, on such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, to make loans on behalf of the United States to common carriers engaged in transportation by railroad to be used for equipment, materials, and supplies necessary for rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving their rights-of-way and structures, including mainline tracks, sidetracks adjacent thereto, roadbed, culverts, fills, tunnels, and other structures. Requires that the maturity date of any loan including all extensions and renewals thereof, shall not be later than thirty years from its date of issuance. Authorizes the appropriation of $500,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 13, 1975. 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 March 13, 1975: Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
- 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 94th Congress (1975-76), 588 of the 21,097 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
DAVID EVANS (D-IN) introduced it on March 13, 1975. 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 March 13, 1975, 18856 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 18856 days ago, on March 13, 1975.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 94th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1977 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