Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
Latest action · Feb 14, 2017 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.
- IntroducedFeb 14, 2017
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act
This bill amends the Equal Access to Justice Act and the federal judicial code to require the Administrative Conference of the United States to create and maintain online searchable databases with information about the attorney's fees and other expenses awarded to prevailing parties other than the United States in certain: (1) agency-conducted adversary adjudication proceedings, and (2) civil action court cases (excluding tort cases) or settlement agreements to which the United States is a party.
With respect to each award, the information must include: (1) the name of the agency involved, (2) the name of each party to whom the award was made, (3) a description of the claims, (4) the amount of the award, and (5) the basis for finding that the position of the agency concerned was not substantially justified. Under current law, the awards are made unless the position of the agency was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust.
Cosponsors 10
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 14, 2017 to Dec 13, 2018; 4 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-IA | Chuck Grassley | Original | Feb 14, 2017 |
| R-ID | James E. Risch | Original | Feb 14, 2017 |
| R-AZ | Jeff Flake | Original | Feb 14, 2017 |
| R-WY | Michael B. Enzi | Original | Feb 14, 2017 |
| R-AZ | John McCain | Mar 21, 2017 | |
| R-ID | Mike Crapo | Mar 21, 2017 | |
| R-UT | Mike Lee | May 10, 2017 | |
| R-LA | John Kennedy | Jul 10, 2017 | |
| R-GA | David Perdue | Feb 28, 2018 | |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Dec 13, 2018 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Judiciary Committee | Referred Feb 14, 2017 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 14, 2017Introduced in Senate
- Feb 14, 2017Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 217 | Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act | Reintroduced Bill | Jan 24, 2019 |
| HR 1033 | Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act | Identical bill | Feb 28, 2017 |
| HR 3668 | SHARE Act | Related bill | Sep 18, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require 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
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 14, 2017Introduced in Senate
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.
