VA CLEAR Act of 2019
Latest action · Jan 16, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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 16, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Department of Veterans Affairs Contract, Leadership, and Ensuring Accountability and Reform Act of 2019 or the VA CLEAR Act of 2019
This bill addresses oversight of financial processes of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and also requires implementation of systems for maintaining specified records.
Among other elements, the bill requires the VA to
- include specified elements in contracts it enters for services (e.g., measurable metrics to ascertain the performance of the provider of the service),
- submit a justification and plan for contracts for services that would incur an obligation of more than $2 billion,
- contract with a third party to review and audit the VA's financial processes and provide recommendations for improvement, and
- submit a justification for requests for supplemental appropriations.
Additionally, the Inspector General of the VA and the Government Accountability Office must complete a review of a contract for services that would result in the VA incurring an obligation of more than $2 billion.
The bill authorizes the Inspector General of the VA, in the performance of the functions assigned to such office, to subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses.
Finally, the bill requires the VA to implement a centralized system to maintain and record completed reviews of administrative investigation boards, and the Veterans Health Administration must implement a centralized system for tracking instances where the VA has referred a clinician to a state's licensing board because of behavior or clinical outcomes.
Cosponsors 6
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jan 16, 2019.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
| D-CO | Michael F. Bennet | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Jan 16, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 16, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Jan 16, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Accounting and auditing
- Appropriations
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Evidence and witnesses
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Health information and medical records
- Health personnel
- Medical ethics
- Performance measurement
- Public contracts and procurement
- Veterans' medical care
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 16, 2019Introduced 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.
