FOCUS Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Federal Oversight of Construction Use and Safety Act or FOCUS Act This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to limit scope or size escalations for public building projects. GSA must also report to Congress on certain project scope and cost changes, public safety, and utilization of public buildings.
Specifically, GSA must not allow the scope or size of a project to increase or decrease by more than 10% without congressional approval.
GSA must report (1) when the estimated maximum cost increases by more than 5%, (2) when the scope or size of a project increases or decreases by more than 5%, (3) any safety incidents as a result of criminal or other activity impacting public safety in and around public buildings, and (4) public building utilization rates and locations of tenant agency activities near such buildings.
GSA must notify Congress upon accomplishing certain milestones for all congressionally approved projects.
GSA must also share space utilization information among federal agencies to coordinate consolidation and sharing of facilities.
The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to review and report on special use spaces (e.g., conference centers and fitness centers) in federal buildings to determine levels of utilization, opportunities for sharing, and other efficiencies.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on March 19, 2024. 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 20, 2024: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- 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 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 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?
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) introduced it on November 7, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 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 November 7, 2023, 1038 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 904 days ago, on March 20, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 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