Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform, and Accountability Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (text of measure as introduced: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S145-146)
Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform, and Accountability Act - Amends Rule XVI (Appropriations and Amendments to General Appropriations Bills) of the Standing Rules of the Senate to revise procedures for consideration of points of order on appropriations bills.
Makes it out of order to consider in the Senate: (1) new or general legislation or any unauthorized appropriation included in an appropriation bill; (2) any amendment to an appropriation bill with the effect of adding an unauthorized appropriation to it; or (3) any unauthorized appropriation included in any amendment between the chambers, or any amendment to such an amendment, in relation to a general appropriation bill.
Amends Rule XLIV (Congressionally Directed Spending and Related Items), which makes it out of order to vote on the adoption of a conference report in the Senate unless it is available on a publicly accessible congressional website at least 48 hours before such vote. Specifies that such website availability must be in a searchable format.
Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require a recipient of federal funds to disclose any registered lobbyist to whom the recipient paid money to lobby on behalf of such funding, including the amount of such funds.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 6, 2009. 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 6, 2009: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (text of measure as introduced: CR S145-146)
- 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 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 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?
RUSSELL FEINGOLD (D-WI) introduced it on January 6, 2009, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 5 Republicans, 1 independent.
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 6, 2009, 6456 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 6456 days ago, on January 6, 2009.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 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
- SenateIntroduced, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers