Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2017
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2017
This bill provides for additional disaster-recovery assistance and other assistance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with respect to infrastructure, health care, agriculture, education, economic development, and environmental remediation, among other sectors. Specifically, regarding both territories, the bill:
provides for the use of certain emergency assistance to rebuild electric grids;
establishes several grant programs to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy;
subject to specified oversight requirements, increases funding for transportation infrastructure, telecommunications systems, housing, and community development;
increases funding for the Medicaid and Medicare programs;
temporarily increases social-services block-grant allotments;
increases funding for, and otherwise revises, rural and agricultural programs;
increases funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs;
provides for aid to the Head Start program, elementary and secondary education programs, and higher education programs;
increases funding for training and employment services;
modifies provisions concerning the earned-income tax credit, the child tax credit, and unemployment assistance;
increases funding for economic and community development programs;
increases funding for environmental remediation; and
otherwise modifies provisions related to emergency funding and disaster-recovery assistance.
In addition, the bill:
extends Medicaid waiver authority to all territories, provides for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital allotments to the territories, and otherwise revises the Medicaid and Medicare programs with respect to the territories;
extends participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to all territories;
modifies provisions concerning the application of certain workers' protections in Puerto Rico; and
requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a long-term disaster-relief plan with respect to Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on November 28, 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 November 28, 2017: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- 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?
Bernard Sanders (I-VT) introduced it on November 28, 2017, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 7 Democrats.
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 November 28, 2017, 3208 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3208 days ago, on November 28, 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