STARTER 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 Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, Technology, and Efficient Review Act or the STARTER Act
This bill addresses provisions related to federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, innovation, and resiliency programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Among other provisions, the bill
extends FY2020 enacted levels through FY2025 for federal-aid highway, transit, and safety programs;
requires DOT to provide competitive grants for projects to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles on the federal-aid highway system;
authorizes DOT to modify loan interest rates under the transportation infrastructure finance and innovation (TIFIA) program for borrowers impacted by COVID-19 (i.e. coronavirus disease 2019);
specifies that projects that provide access to hospitals and health care providers in areas of limited public transportation options are eligible to be carried out as public transportation research projects;
creates a public awareness campaign to reduce instances of driving while under the influence of prescription and over-the-counter medications;
directs DOT to promulgate regulations to implement an apprenticeship program for licensed commercial motor vehicle drivers under the age of 21;
establishes new competitive grant programs to spur innovation of connected vehicle applications into practical and effective operational deployments, and to test the safe integration of automated driving system technologies into the on-road transportation system; and
addresses projects to improve the resiliency of federal-aid highways and bridges on and off the National Highway System.
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 18, 2020. 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 19, 2020: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- 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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
SAM GRAVES (R-MO) introduced it on June 18, 2020, and 23 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 23 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 June 18, 2020, 2275 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2274 days ago, on June 19, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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