To require the Chief of the Forest Service to make the Forest Service First and Second Generation Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) units available to units of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve that have the aircraft capability and pilot and crew member training adequate for utilizing such firefighting systems to help alleviate the shortage of air tankers to fight wildfires.
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 Conservation, Energy, and Forestry.
Requires the Chief of the Forest Service to make the eight Forest Service First Generation Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS I) units available, without compensation, to units of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve that have C-130H aircraft configured to contain such an MAFFS I unit and adequate pilot and crew member training in its use to fight wildfires.
Directs the Chief to make the nine Forest Service Second Generation Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS II) units immediately available, without compensation, to specified units of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve in Wyoming, North Carolina, Colorado, and California.
Prohibits the Chief from procuring air tankers to fight wildfires from a foreign government without certifying that MAFFS air tanker support available from units of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve is being fully utilized or is insufficient to address wildfires on National Forest System land.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 19, 2012. 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 27, 2012: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry.
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
ELTON GALLEGLY (R-CA) introduced it on June 19, 2012, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
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 June 19, 2012, 5243 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5235 days ago, on June 27, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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