SOAR Reauthorization Act
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 564.
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on April 25, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act or the SOAR Reauthorization Act
(Sec. 2) This bill repeals the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program School Certification Requirements Act, as contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016.
(Sec. 3) The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) is amended to limit its focus to students in the lowest-performing Washington, DC, elementary and secondary schools.
(Sec. 4) The Department of Education (ED) shall not limit the number of eligible students receiving Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) scholarships, or prevent otherwise eligible students from participating in the OSP because of:
the type of school the student previously attended;
whether or not the individual previously received the scholarship or participated in OSP, including one previously awarded a scholarship who did not use it; or
was a member of the control group used by the Institute of Education Sciences to carry out previous OSP evaluations.
(Sec. 5) An eligible nonprofit organization's application for an OSP grant must include how it will ensure:
the financial viability of a participating school in which 85% or more of enrolled students receive and use an opportunity scholarship,
utilization of internal fiscal and quality controls and compliance with financial reporting requirements.
(Sec. 6) Priorities for the award of scholarships are modified to give priority to:
students who in the preceding school year attended a low-achieving elementary or secondary school, and
certain students regardless of whether they have attended a private school.
(Sec. 7) OSP-participating schools must:
ensure that participating students are taught core subject matter by a teacher with a baccalaureate or equivalent degree,
conduct criminal background checks on school employees who have direct and unsupervised interactions with students, and
comply with all requests for data and information regarding certain reporting requirements.
Participating private schools must be provisionally or fully accredited or in the process of seeking accreditation.
The summary continues for 11 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
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 April 29, 2016. 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 July 14, 2016: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 564.
- 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced it on April 12, 2016, and 16 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 15 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 12, 2016, 3803 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3710 days ago, on July 14, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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