Sister City Transparency Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Sister City Transparency Act
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to study the activities of sister city partnerships involving foreign communities in countries that received a score of 45 or less on Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index. A sister city partnership is a formal agreement between a U.S. community and a foreign community that is recognized by Sister Cities International and that is operating within the United States.
Among other elements, the required study must (1) identify oversight practices that U.S communities implement to mitigate the risks of foreign espionage and economic coercion within sister city partnerships, (2) assess the extent to which U.S. communities ensure transparency regarding sister city partnership contracts and activities, and (3) review the range of activities conducted within sister city partnerships.
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 11, 2021. 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 11, 2021: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- 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?
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced it on March 11, 2021, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 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 March 11, 2021, 2009 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2009 days ago, on March 11, 2021.
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