Small Business Emergency Relief Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary.
(LATEST SUMMARY) Small Business Emergency Relief Act - States that it is the policy of Congress to provide equitable relief to small business concerns which have fixed price Government contracts in cases where such concerns encounter significant unavoidable difficulties during performance because of the energy crisis or rapid and unexpected escalations of contract costs. Authorizes the head of any executive agency to terminate for the convenience of the Government any fixed-price contract between that agency and a small business concern upon a finding that (1) during the performance of the contract, the concern has experienced significant unanticipated cost increases directly affecting the cost of contract compliance; and (2) the conditions which have caused such cost increases were experienced generally by other small business concerns in the market at the same time and were not caused by negligence, underbidding, or other special management factors peculiar to that small business concern. Sets forth documentation required of small business concerns requesting relief under this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on October 9, 1974. 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 October 10, 1974: Referred to House 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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
WILLIAM HATHAWAY (D-ME) introduced it on June 11, 1974, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 3 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 June 11, 1974, 19084 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 18963 days ago, on October 10, 1974.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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