GIVE Act of 2005
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Good Samaritan Liability Improvement and Volunteer Encouragement Act of 2005 (GIVE Act of 2005) - Exempts from liability for acts or omissions: (1) disaster relief volunteers; (2) employers or business partners of disaster relief volunteers; (3) hosts or enabling persons, entities, or organizations; and (4) governmental and intergovernmental entities for donations of disaster relief goods.
Specifies limits to punitive and non-economic damages for willful, knowing, or reckless misconduct based on the actions of disaster relief volunteers and governmental or intergovernmental donors.
Provides for: (1) judicial review of allegations; (2) supplemental disaster declarations by the President, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or the Secretary of Homeland Security; and (3) state election for nonapplicability of a provision of this Act to certain civil actions in state court.
Amends the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 with respect to liability protection for actions of volunteers generally.
Exempts persons from civil liability relating to any injury or death involving: (1) donations of equipment to nonprofit organizations; or (2) use of facilities, a motor vehicle or aircraft provided to nonprofit organizations.
Provides for judicial review of allegations
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 21, 2005. 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 September 21, 2005: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- 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 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 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?
John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced it on September 21, 2005, and 10 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 9 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 September 21, 2005, 7659 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7659 days ago, on September 21, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 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