SOAR Reauthorization Act
Latest action. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-525.
Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act or the SOAR Reauthorization Act
This bill amends the District of Columbia Code to prohibit the Department of Education from limiting the number of eligible students receiving District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) scholarships, and from preventing otherwise eligible students from participating in the OSP because of:
whether or not the student attended a private school for pre-elementary education in the previous school year; or
whether or not the individual previously received a scholarship or participated in OSP, or was a member of the control group used by the Institute of Education Sciences to carry out previous OSP evaluations.
An eligible nonprofit organization's application for an OSP grant must include how it will ensure that it utilizes internal fiscal and quality controls.
Priorities for the award of scholarships to eligible students are modified to give priority to students who, in the preceding school year, attended a school identified as low-achieving according to the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) (currently certain elementary or secondary schools identified for improvements, corrective action, or restructuring).
OSP-participating schools must:
conduct criminal background checks on school employees who have direct and unsupervised interactions with students, and
comply with all requests for data and information regarding certain reporting requirements.
Participating private schools must be provisionally or fully accredited or in the process of seeking accreditation.
The Department must make OSP funds available to eligible entities receiving a grant for administrative expenses and parental education and assistance, including streamlining of the application process.
Previously unobligated OSP funds must be used to award new scholarships to students.
The current OSP evaluation procedures under the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) are terminated and replaced with those specified in this Act.
The Department may withhold specified OSP funds provided to the DC Mayor for DC public and charter schools for noncompliance with SOAR requirements.
Funds provided under this Act to support DC public charter schools may be directed to the OSSE, which may transfer them to subgrantees that are:
The summary continues for 4 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 8, 2015. 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 4, 2015: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-525.
- 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced it on October 8, 2015, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 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 October 8, 2015, 3990 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3963 days ago, on November 4, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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