S 578 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019

Introduced Feb 27, 2019 Originated Senate Became Public Law 116-250 Sponsor Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI

Latest action · Dec 22, 2020 Became Public Law No: 116-250.

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 27, 2019
Passed SenateDec 2, 2020
Passed HouseDec 8, 2020
To the PresidentDec 11, 2020
Became lawDec 22, 2020Public Law 116-250

Summary

ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019

This bill eliminates the five-month waiting period for disability benefits under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a progressive neurodegenerative disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord). Under current law, individuals must wait five months after becoming disabled before their disability insurance benefit payments may begin.

Recorded votes 1

Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.

Roll call	Question	Result	Date
Senate 250	On Passage of the Bill S. 578	Bill Passed96–1	Dec 2, 2020

Cosponsors 67

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 27, 2019 to Oct 1, 2020; 39 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-MN	Amy Klobuchar	Original	Feb 27, 2019
I-ME	Angus S. King Jr.	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MD	Benjamin L. Cardin	Original	Feb 27, 2019
I-VT	Bernard Sanders	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-LA	Bill Cassidy	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NY	Charles E. Schumer	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MD	Chris Van Hollen	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-DE	Christopher A. Coons	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NJ	Cory A. Booker	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MI	Debbie Stabenow	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-CA	Dianne Feinstein	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-AL	Doug Jones	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MA	Edward J. Markey	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MA	Elizabeth Warren	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-RI	Jack Reed	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NV	Jacky Rosen	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NH	Jeanne Shaheen	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-OR	Jeff Merkley	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-AR	John Boozman	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-LA	John Kennedy	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-MT	Jon Tester	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-CA	Kamala D. Harris	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-ND	Kevin Cramer	Original	Feb 27, 2019
I-AZ	Kyrsten Sinema	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-AK	Lisa Murkowski	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-FL	Marco Rubio	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-AZ	Martha McSally	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-CO	Michael F. Bennet	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-SD	Mike Rounds	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-VT	Patrick J. Leahy	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-CT	Richard Blumenthal	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NJ	Robert Menendez	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-MS	Roger F. Wicker	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-MO	Roy Blunt	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-WV	Shelley Moore Capito	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-OH	Sherrod Brown	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-ME	Susan M. Collins	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-NC	Thom Tillis	Original	Feb 27, 2019
R-AR	Tom Cotton	Original	Feb 27, 2019
D-NY	Kirsten E. Gillibrand		Feb 28, 2019
D-NV	Catherine Cortez Masto		Mar 25, 2019
R-GA	Johnny Isakson		May 16, 2019
R-NC	Richard Burr		May 23, 2019
R-IN	Mike Braun		Jun 13, 2019
R-OK	James Lankford		Jun 18, 2019
D-HI	Mazie K. Hirono		Jun 18, 2019
D-MN	Tina Smith		Jun 19, 2019
R-MO	Josh Hawley		Jun 27, 2019
D-NH	Margaret Wood Hassan		Sep 9, 2019
R-GA	Kelly Loeffler		Jan 9, 2020
R-UT	Mitt Romney		Jan 14, 2020
D-WI	Tammy Baldwin		Jan 14, 2020
D-WA	Patty Murray		Jan 15, 2020
D-IL	Richard J. Durbin		Jan 15, 2020
R-IA	Joni Ernst		Jan 21, 2020
D-HI	Brian Schatz		Jan 28, 2020
R-ID	James E. Risch		Feb 12, 2020
D-CT	Christopher Murphy		Mar 2, 2020
D-IL	Tammy Duckworth		Mar 3, 2020
D-WA	Maria Cantwell		Mar 5, 2020
D-NM	Martin Heinrich		Mar 5, 2020
R-OK	James M. Inhofe		Jun 4, 2020
R-MT	Steve Daines		Jun 4, 2020
R-ID	Mike Crapo		Jun 17, 2020
R-IN	Todd Young		Jun 17, 2020
R-TN	Lamar Alexander		Jun 24, 2020
R-ND	John Hoeven		Oct 1, 2020

Committees 1

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

Chamber	Committee	What it did
Senate	Finance Committee	Referred Feb 27, 2019Discharged Dec 2, 2020

Actions 17

Everything that happened, newest first.

Dec 22, 2020Signed by President.
Dec 22, 2020Became Public Law No: 116-250.
Dec 11, 2020Presented to President.
Dec 8, 2020Mr. Larson (CT) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
Dec 8, 2020Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H6988-6991)

Show all 17 actions

In the Congressional Record 6

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 H7138	Steve Scalise R-LA	Dec 10, 2020
Senate · Extensions	Debate and remarks E1121, S7323	Anna G. Eshoo D-CA, Robert P. Casey Jr. D-PA	Dec 9, 2020
House	Debate and remarks H6988–H6991Text printed H6988	Danny K. Davis D-IL, David N. Cicilline D-RI, Gus M. Bilirakis R-FL, Gwen Moore D-WI, James R. Langevin D-RI, John B. Larson D-CT, Judy Chu D-CA, Lloyd Doggett D-TX, Mike Quigley D-IL, Peter T. King R-NY, Seth Moulton D-MA, Steve Scalise R-LA, Tom Reed R-NY	Dec 8, 2020
House	Debate and remarks H6844	Steny H. Hoyer D-MD, Steve Scalise R-LA	Dec 4, 2020
Senate	Debate and remarks S7157, S7163–S7165, S7169, S7173Text printed S7164Amendments S7157, S7182Recorded votes S7163, S7164enactGrassley amendment (increase overpayment collection threshold for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits)	Chuck Grassley R-IA (amendment), Mike Braun R-IN, Mike Lee R-UT, Mitch McConnell R-KY, Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI, Tom Cotton R-AR	Dec 2, 2020

Show all 6 days

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.

CRS reports 5

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

About this bill 1

Products that name it in their title: its number, its law number or one of its short titles.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
IN11551	The ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019 (S. 578) Archived	Insight	Dec 7, 2020

Also cite it 4

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
RL30920	Social Security: Major Decisions in the House and Senate Since 1935	Report	Jan 22, 2025
LSB10550	Federal Regulation of Alien Employment and Preemption over State Laws	Insight	Nov 4, 2020
R45268	Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2019 Archived	Report	Aug 7, 2019
R45844	FY2019 Disaster Supplemental Appropriations: Overview Archived	Report	Jul 30, 2019

Amendments 1

Amendments offered to this bill.

Amendment	Description	Offered by	Status
SA 2689	To increase the overpayment collection threshold for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits.	Chuck Grassley R-IA	Amendment SA 2689, under the order of 12/01/20, not having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, was not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 48 - 49. Record Vote Number: 249.

Related bills 1

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

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 1407	ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019	Related bill	Feb 27, 2019

Titles 5

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

Official Title as Introduced: A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month waiting period for disability insurance benefits under such title for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Short Titles as Passed House: ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019
Short Title(s) as Introduced: ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019
Short Title(s) as Passed Senate: ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019
Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text: ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Social Welfare.

Text 3

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

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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.