Serving our Rural Veterans Act of 2017
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Serving our Rural Veterans Act of 2017
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay for the training and employment of Veterans Health Administration medical residents and interns at a covered facility, which includes: (1) a VA facility; (2) a facility operated by an Indian tribe, a tribal organization, or the Indian Health Service; (3) a federally-qualified health center; or (4) a community health center. (Currently, such payments are authorized only for VA facilities.)
The VA shall carry out an eight-year pilot program to establish or affiliate with graduate medical education residency training programs at not more than four facilities. The VA shall reimburse each participating facility for the costs of:
curriculum development;
recruitment, training, supervision, and retention of residents and faculty;
accreditation of education programs;
faculty salaries attributable to program activities; and
other expenses relating to providing medical education under the program.
A program participant: (1) shall agree to one year of obligated service at a covered or a VA facility for each year of partipation in the program, (2) who fails to satisfy the obligated service period shall be liable to the United States for a prorated portion of the amount paid for program participation, and (3) during the period of obligated service, shall be eligible for participation in the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program and the VA Education Debt Reduction Program.
A covered facility for pilot program purposes means a facility: (1) operated by an Indian tribe, a tribal organization, or the Indian Health Service that has an existing reimbursement agreement with the VA; and (2) located in a rural or remote area.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 27, 2017. 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, 2017: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced it on June 27, 2017, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 27, 2017, 3362 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3362 days ago, on June 27, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers