Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018
Latest action · May 22, 2018 Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
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.
- IntroducedJan 11, 2018
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018
This bill provides for additional disaster-recovery assistance and other assistance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with respect to infrastructure, health care, agriculture, education, economic development, and environmental remediation, among other sectors. Specifically, regarding both territories, the bill:
- provides for the use of certain emergency assistance to rebuild electric grids;
- establishes grant programs to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy;
- subject to oversight requirements, increases funding for transportation infrastructure, telecommunications systems, housing, and community development;
- increases funding for Medicaid and Medicare;
- temporarily increases social-services block-grant allotments;
- increases funding for, and otherwise revises, rural and agricultural programs;
- increases funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs;
- provides for aid to the Head Start program, elementary and secondary education programs, and higher education programs;
- increases funding for training and employment services;
- modifies provisions concerning unemployment assistance, taxation, and federal permitting;
- increases funding for economic and community development programs;
- increases funding for environmental remediation;
- requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to submit to Congress a disaster-relief plan; and
- otherwise modifies provisions related to emergency funding and disaster-recovery assistance.
In addition, the bill:
- extends Medicaid waiver authority to all territories, provides for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital allotments to the territories, and otherwise revises the Medicaid and Medicare programs with respect to the territories;
- provides for health-insurance coverage for individuals residing in territories without health exchanges;
- extends participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Supplemental Security Income Program to all territories;
- modifies provisions concerning the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit with respect to the territories; and
- modifies provisions concerning the application of certain workers' protections in Puerto Rico.
Cosponsors 21
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 11, 2018 to Oct 5, 2018; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-FL | Darren Soto | Original | Jan 11, 2018 |
| D-NY | Joseph Crowley | Original | Jan 11, 2018 |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Original | Jan 11, 2018 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| D-WI | Gwen Moore | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| D-GU | Madeleine Z. Bordallo | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Val Butler Demings | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Jan 22, 2018 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Jan 22, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Jan 30, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Feb 6, 2018 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Feb 6, 2018 | |
| D-NM | Ben Ray Luján | Feb 7, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Feb 23, 2018 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Apr 23, 2018 | |
| D-IL | Luis V. Gutierrez | Apr 23, 2018 | |
| D-GA | John Lewis | Apr 25, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Oct 5, 2018 |
Committees 9
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 22, 2018Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
- Jan 16, 2018Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
- Jan 16, 2018Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
- Jan 12, 2018Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
- Jan 12, 2018Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
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.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 164, no. 7, January 11, 2018, page H170.
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. 115-72 | THE HISTORIC 2017 HURRICANE SEASON: IMPACTS ON THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS104 pages | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Mar 12, 2018 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R45263 | Puerto Rico—Status of Electric Power Recovery Archived | Report | Jul 10, 2018 |
Related bills 12
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 185 | Territorial Economic Growth and Recovery Act of 2017 | Related bill | Jan 3, 2017 |
| HR 186 | United States Virgin Islands College Access Act of 2017 | Related bill | Jan 3, 2017 |
| HR 261 | Puerto Rico Medicare Part B Equality Act | Related bill | Jan 25, 2017 |
| S 2026 | Improving the Treatment of the U.S. Territories Under Federal Health Programs Act of 2017 | Related bill | Oct 26, 2017 |
| S 2041 | Rebuilding Resilient Energy Systems Act of 2017 | Related bill | Oct 31, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To provide additional disaster recovery assistance for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2018
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Emergency Management.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Agricultural education
- Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
- Alternative and renewable resources
- American Samoa
- Aviation and airports
- Child care and development
- Child health
- Child safety and welfare
- Community life and organization
- Congressional oversight
- Credit and credit markets
- Digital media
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Economic development
- Education programs funding
- Electric power generation and transmission
- Elementary and secondary education
- Emergency Management
- Emergency planning and evacuation
- Employment and training programs
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Energy assistance for the poor and aged
- Energy efficiency and conservation
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Floods and storm protection
- Food assistance and relief
- Forests, forestry, trees
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Government studies and investigations
- Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Health facilities and institutions
- Health personnel
- Higher education
- Historic sites and heritage areas
- Hospital care
- Housing and community development funding
- Hybrid, electric, and advanced technology vehicles
- Income tax credits
- Infrastructure development
- Internet and video services
- Internet, web applications, social media
- Livestock
- Low- and moderate-income housing
- Marine and inland water transportation
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- Mental health
- Military facilities and property
- Natural disasters
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Parks, recreation areas, trails
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- Prescription drugs
- Public housing
- Public transit
- Public utilities and utility rates
- Puerto Rico
- Railroads
- Roads and highways
- Rural conditions and development
- School administration
- Sex and reproductive health
- Small business
- Solid waste and recycling
- Student aid and college costs
- Student records
- Tax treatment of families
- Teaching, teachers, curricula
- Telephone and wireless communication
- Transportation programs funding
- U.S. territories and protectorates
- Unemployment
- Veterans' medical care
- Virgin Islands
- Wages and earnings
- Water quality
- Watersheds
- Women's health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 11, 2018Introduced 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.
