A bill to establish a pilot program on partnership agreements to construct new facilities for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Latest action. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-707.
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a program under which it may enter into up to five partnership arrangements with a state or local authority, a tax exempt non-profit corporation, a limited liability corporation, a private entity, a donor, or other non-federal entity to conduct:
super construction projects (a project for the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a medical facility involving a total expenditure of more than $100 million);
major medical facility projects (a project for the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a medical facility involving a total expenditure of more than $10 million, excluding an acquisition by exchange); or
major construction projects to construct a new cemeteries or to develop additional gravesites or columbarium niches at existing cemeteries.
The VA may select projects for which: (1) Congress has appropriated partial funding or the VA has identified a need through its long-range capital planning process by listing it on the Major Construction Strategic Capital Investment Planning priority list included in the annual budget submitted to Congress by the President, and (2) a non-federal entity has entered into or is willing to enter into a formal agreement with the VA to independently finance or donate an acceptable amount of project funds at no additional cost to the federal government.
One of the non-federal entity partnership agreements shall be a project to design, finance, and construct a new ambulatory care center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Each partnership agreement shall require the partner entity to:
conduct necessary environmental and historic preservation due diligence, comply with local zoning requirements, and obtain any permits required for construction;
use construction standards required of the VA when designing and building the project, except to the extent the VA determines otherwise; and
establish a Board of Directors to oversee the project.
The VA shall include in the annual budget submitted to Congress by the President information regarding any projects conducted under this bill during the preceding year.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 19, 2016. 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 29, 2016: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-707.
- 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?
Deb Fischer (R-NE) introduced it on May 19, 2016. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 May 19, 2016, 3766 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3725 days ago, on June 29, 2016.
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