Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
This bill requires the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to establish and maintain a publicly available website containing copies of all congressionally mandated reports. The website must feature, in addition to certain descriptive information related to such reports: (1) the ability to retrieve a report through specified types of searches; (2) a means for downloading reports individually or in bulk; (3) an electronic means for federal agencies to submit reports to the GPO, as required by the bill; and (4) in tabular form, a list of all reports that can be searched and sorted by time frame or submission status.
The Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance to federal agencies on the bill's requirement for agencies to submit copies of congressionally mandated reports and related information to the GPO. With respect to each report, the relevant federal agency may redact or withhold certain information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and other laws.
The Library of Congress must submit to the GPO a list of all congressionally mandated reports that are required to be submitted during a year as soon as practicable, but no later than April 1 of the following year. The list shall be provided in an open format and must include specified identifying and otherwise descriptive information.
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 12, 2018. 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 12, 2018: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- 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?
Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced it on September 12, 2018, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 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 September 12, 2018, 2920 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2920 days ago, on September 12, 2018.
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