HR 4444 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act

Introduced Sep 20, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Paul A. Gosar R-AZ

Latest action · Dec 15, 2020 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 533.

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.

IntroducedSep 20, 2019
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act

This bill directs the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for its customers.

WAPA must publicly display on its website a database of specific information dating back to FY2008, including

rates charged to customers for power and transmission services, listed by power system;
the amount of capacity or energy sold by power system; and
a detailed accounting of its expenditures and costs by region and for the headquarters office.

Additionally, WAPA must annually update the information it provides on the website. The updates must include specified details regarding changes to the information, the reasons for the changes, and the amount of unobligated balances retained.

The pilot project shall terminate in seven years.

Cosponsors 13

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Sep 20, 2019.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-AZ	Andy Biggs	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-AZ	Ann Kirkpatrick	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-UT	Ben McAdams	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-AZ	David Schweikert	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-AZ	Debbie Lesko	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-NV	Dina Titus	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-CA	Doug LaMalfa	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-CA	Jared Huffman	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-CO	Ken Buck	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-IA	Steve King	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-CA	Tj Cox	Original	Sep 20, 2019
R-CA	Tom McClintock	Original	Sep 20, 2019
D-AZ	Tom O'Halleran	Original	Sep 20, 2019

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Natural Resources Committee	Referred Sep 20, 2019Markup Feb 12, 2020Reported Dec 15, 2020
	Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee	Referred Oct 2, 2019Discharged Feb 12, 2020

Actions 8

Everything that happened, newest first.

Dec 15, 2020Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 116-649.
Dec 15, 2020Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 533.
Feb 12, 2020Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged.
Feb 12, 2020Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Feb 12, 2020Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
Oct 2, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Sep 20, 2019Introduced in House
Sep 20, 2019Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

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

H. Rept. 116-649

Congressional Budget Office cost estimate

Feb 24, 2020H.R. 4444, Western Area Power Administration Transparency ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on February 12, 2020

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3. (Commerce Clause) The Commerce Clause give Congress the power to ``regulate commerce . . . among several states''. If the matter in question is not purely a local matter or if it has an impact on inter-state commerce, then it falls within the power of Congress. National Federal of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012).

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 152, September 20, 2019, page H7866.

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 1931	Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act	Related bill	Oct 23, 2019
HR 2371	Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act	Reintroduction of	Feb 8, 2018

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To require the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for customers, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act
Short Title(s) as Reported to House: Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Energy.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Dec 15, 2020Reported in House
Sep 20, 2019Introduced in House

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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.