VA Construction and Lease Authorization, Health, and Benefits Enhancement Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Military Personnel.
VA Construction and Lease Authorization, Health, and Benefits Enhancement Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into Veterans Care Agreements with certain providers to furnish hospital care, medical services, or extended care to eligible veterans if: (1) furnishing such care and services at VA facilities or under otherwise authorized contracts or sharing agreements with non-VA facilities is impracticable or inadvisable because of the veteran's medical condition, the travel involved, or the nature of the care or services required; and (2) the hospital care or medical services are not otherwise available from a non-VA health care provider.
The VA shall ensure that each VA medical facility and community based outpatient clinic hosts a community meeting on improving VA health care.
The VA shall begin a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of using wellness-based programs to complement veterans pain management and related health care services.
As part of the VA's hiring process for health care providers, the VA shall require from each medical board that licensed the provider information on any license violation and any settlement agreement for a medical disciplinary charge.
The VA shall provide information on any violation of a medical license by a VA health care provider to each medical board licensing that provider.
The VA may carry out specified major medical facility projects in California, Maryland, and Washington. Project appropriations are authorized.
The VA may carry out specified major medical facility leases in Michigan, Alabama, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, California, Montana, Georgia, Maine, and North Carolina.
The Veterans' Benefits Programs Improvement Act of 1991 is amended to: (1) authorize the VA to sell Pershing Hall, in Paris, France, and transfer to the purchaser all right, title, and interest of the United States in the property; and (2) direct the VA to return to the entity from which the United States acquired Pershing Hall any personal property in the VA's possession, including memorabilia regarding General Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I.
The summary continues for 6 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 "Introduced in House" stage on May 19, 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 June 9, 2016: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
- 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?
Jeff Miller (R-FL) introduced it on May 19, 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 May 19, 2016, 3766 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3745 days ago, on June 9, 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