Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
Latest action · May 7, 2014 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 1, 2013
- Passed HouseMay 6, 2014
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act - Amends the Equal Access to Justice Act and the federal judicial code to require the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States to report to Congress annually on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded to prevailing parties other than the United States in certain administrative proceedings and civil action court cases (excluding tort cases) to which the United States is a party, including settlement agreements.
Requires that such reports: (1) describe the number, nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved in the controversy, and any other relevant information that may aid Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards; and (2) be made available to the public online.
Directs the Chairman to create and maintain online a searchable database containing specified information with respect to each award including the name of the agency involved, the name of each party to whom the award was made, the amount of the award, and the basis for finding that the position of the agency concerned was not substantially justified.
Directs the head of each agency (including, with respect to court cases, the Attorney General [DOJ] and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts) to provide the Chairman all information requested to produce such reports.
Cosponsors 7
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 1, 2013 to Mar 13, 2014; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-GA | Doug Collins | Original | Aug 1, 2013 |
| D-FL | Joe Garcia | Original | Aug 1, 2013 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | Aug 1, 2013 |
| D-OR | Kurt Schrader | Oct 16, 2013 | |
| R-MT | Steve Daines | Oct 16, 2013 | |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Mar 13, 2014 | |
| R-UT | Rob Bishop | Mar 13, 2014 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Aug 1, 2013Markup Feb 5, 2014Reported May 6, 2014 |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred Oct 15, 2013Discharged Feb 4, 2014 | |
| Senate | Judiciary Committee | Referred May 7, 2014 |
Actions 13
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 7, 2014Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- May 6, 2014Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 113-434.
- May 6, 2014Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 322.
- May 6, 2014Mr. Chabot moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- May 6, 2014Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3430-3433)
- May 6, 2014DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2919.
- May 6, 2014Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3430-3431)
- Feb 5, 2014Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Feb 5, 2014Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
- Feb 4, 2014Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Discharged.
- Oct 15, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
- Aug 1, 2013Introduced in House
- Aug 1, 2013Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H3430–H3433Text printed H3430 | Cynthia M. Lummis R-WY, Doug Collins R-GA, Steve Chabot R-OH, Steve Cohen D-TN, Steve Daines R-MT | May 6, 2014 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Feb 27, 2014H.R. 2919, Open Book on Equal Access to Justice ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on February 5, 2014
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H5346.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 113-10 | HEARING TO REVIEW THE IMPACTS OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND RELATED LITIGATION ON NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM MANAGEMENT102 pages | Agriculture Committee | Mar 26, 2013 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2770 | Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act | Related bill | Jul 31, 2014 |
Titles 4
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require annual reports to Congress on, and the maintenance of databases on, awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
- Short Titles as Passed House
- Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 7, 2014Referred in Senate
- May 6, 2014Engrossed in House
- May 6, 2014Reported in House
- Aug 1, 2013Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
