Economic Disaster Community Assistance Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs.
Economic Disaster Community Assistance Act - Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 by adding title VI: Emergency Economic Disaster Community Relief. Establishes within the Department of Commerce an Office of Aid to Economic Disaster Communities, to carry out the purposes of this Act. Authorizes the President to designate as an economic disaster community, any area without regard to political or geographic boundaries where: (1) the average unemployment rate for at least three consecutive months is 150 percent of the average national unemployment rate for the preceding calendar year; (2) the current unemployment rate exceeds the national unemployment rate for the prior month and has increased by at least 100 percent within the past 12 months; or (3) the current unemployment rate is at least six percent and there are such other critical economic conditions as the President determines to warrant assistance under this Act. Directs the appointment of Federal and State coordinating officers for areas designated economic disaster communities. Authorizes all Federal agencies to assist such areas by making available real property, personnel, equipment, and other resources. Authorizes the President, with the concurrence of the Director of the Office, to direct any Federal agency charged with the administration of a Federal grant-in-aid program to modify conditions for assistance in order to facilitate the delivery of aid to economic disaster communities. Establishes a separate Federal Economic Recovery Fund within the Treasury. Directs the heads of Federal agencies and the Director of the Office to select existing Federal grant-in-aid and loan and loan guarantee programs to be assisted by the fund. Authorizes the allocation of fund monies for certain other purposes, including: (1) loans to individuals and businesses to enable them to meet mortgage payments; (2) unrestricted grants to States and local governments to implement local initiatives and projects designed to relieve unemployment and stimulate the economy but which are not eligible for existing grants; (3) grants to accelerate Federal, State, or local projects; (4) relocation assistance for unemployed individuals and their families; (5) unemployment assistance; (6) housing assistance; (7) grants to States and local governments to enable them to pay the State share of other Federal grant-in-aid programs; and (8) grants or loans to nonprofit organizations and loan guarantees to private profitmaking organizations for job creation and holding major employers in the area. Directs that areas designated as economic disaster communities shall remain eligible for assistance under this Act for at least one year after which time benefits will be phased out if the area no longer meets eligibility criteria.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 18, 1979. 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 January 18, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs.
- 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 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 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?
CARDISS COLLINS (D-IL) introduced it on January 18, 1979. 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 January 18, 1979, 17402 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17402 days ago, on January 18, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 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