Civics Secures Democracy Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Civics Secures Democracy Act
This bill provides resources to expand educational programs in American civics and history, including by establishing grant and fellowship programs and reauthorizing various programs.
First, the bill authorizes the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to states, qualified nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education (IHEs), and qualified researchers to support and expand access to civics and history education.
Next, the bill establishes a fellowship program to diversify the civics and history education workforce.
In addition, the bill reauthorizes through FY2027 and revises the American History for Freedom grant program. The bill renames the program as the American Civics Education Program.
The bill revises the grant program to authorize ED to award grants to IHEs once every three years to establish or strengthen academic programs to promote American political thought and history; the history, achievements, and impact of American representative democracy and constitutional democracies globally; and the means of participation in political and civic life. IHEs may use grants to support additional activities, such as collaborating with federal or state humanities programs and using open educational resources.
Further, the bill reauthorizes through FY2022 and revises the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund and the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund.
Finally, the bill requires the National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics and history to be administered every two years to certain grade levels.
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 22, 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 22, 2021: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 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?
Christopher Coons (D-DE) introduced it on March 22, 2021, 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 22, 2021, 1998 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1998 days ago, on March 22, 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