Good Samaritan Assessment Act of 2016
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)
Good Samaritan Assessment Act of 2016
(Sec. 3) This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to submit a report about the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP's) review of state and local Good Samaritan laws that exempt from criminal or civil liability any individual who administers an opioid overdose reversal drug or device or who contacts emergency services providers in response to an overdose. The report must: (1) address the extent to which the ONDCP has reviewed such Good Samaritan laws, including any findings related to the potential effects of such laws; (2) describe the ONDCP's efforts to encourage enactment of such laws; and (3) provide a compilation of such Good Samaritan laws in effect in states.
(Sec. 4) For purposes of the report, "opioid" means any drug, including heroin, having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having such addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability.
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 10, 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 May 11, 2016: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- 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?
Frank Guinta (R-NH) introduced it on April 26, 2016. 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 April 26, 2016, 3789 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3774 days ago, on May 11, 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