Surface Transportation Safety Act of 2003
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 Highways, Transit and Pipelines.
Surface Transportation Safety Act of 2003 - Amends Federal highway provisions to include within the definition of "safety improvement project" a project that installs or maintains fluorescent, yellow-green signs at pedestrian or bicycle crossings or school zones. Authorizes the payment from apportioned funds for the entire cost of construction projects involving the maintenance of protective devices at railway-highway crossings. Provides for biennial (currently, annual) reports by each State to the Secretary of Transportation on progress being made to implement the railway-highway crossings program. Requires each State to identify roadway safety improvement needs for hazardous locations, sections, and elements which may constitute a danger to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Authorizes the Secretary to approve as a project under the hazard elimination program any safety improvement project that reduces the likelihood of crashes involving road departures, intersections, pedestrians, bicycles, older drivers, or construction work zones. Makes funds available for: (1) police assistance for traffic and speed management in construction work zones; (2) installation of barriers between construction work zones and traffic lanes for the safety of motorists and workers; or (3) compilation and analysis of data. Directs the Secretary to: (1) transmit to specified congressional committees biennial reports on the results of the hazard elimination program; and (2) issue regulations to decrease the likelihood of worker injury and maintain the free flow of vehicular traffic by requiring workers whose duties place them on or in close proximity to a Federal-aid highway to wear high visibility garments. Authorizes such regulations to require other worker-safety measures.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 25, 2003. 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 February 26, 2003: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines.
- 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 108th Congress (2003-04), 498 of the 8,623 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 5.8 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?
JACK QUINN (R-NY) introduced it on February 25, 2003, and 38 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 Democrats, 35 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 February 25, 2003, 8599 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 8598 days ago, on February 26, 2003.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 108th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2005 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