PREVENT Pandemics Act
Latest action. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act or the PREVENT Pandemics Act
This bill sets out programs and activities primarily to address public health preparedness and response.
Specifically, the bill establishes a legislative task force to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic and a White House office to advise on pandemic preparedness and response. It also revises authorities, programs, and other aspects of the Department of Health and Human Services and associated agencies to support preparedness and response activities at all levels of government.
Other matters addressed in the bill include
grants related to health disparities and for centers for public health preparedness;
collection and dissemination of public health data (e.g., genomic sequencing of pathogens);
workforce programs for public health and related fields;
the safety and availability of the blood supply;
research concerning viruses and other pathogens with pandemic potential, vaccines and other medical countermeasures, and the long-term health effects of COVID-19;
biosafety and security related to biological agents and toxins;
national security, privacy and information security, and foreign influence in biomedical research;
the administration of the Strategic National Stockpile; and
domestic manufacturing of medical countermeasures.
The bill also modifies the regulation of medical products with a particular focus on expediting the development and approval of medical countermeasures. Additional areas of focus include strengthening medical product supply chains and supporting innovation in, for example, clinical trial designs.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 10, 2022. 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 March 15, 2022: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- 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 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced it on March 10, 2022, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 March 10, 2022, 1645 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1640 days ago, on March 15, 2022.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 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