Do No Harm Act
Latest action · Feb 28, 2019 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 28, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Do No Harm Act
This bill prohibits the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specified federal laws or the implementation of such laws. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means.
Under the bill, RFRA is inapplicable to laws or the implementation of laws that
- protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964);
- require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave;
- protect collective activity in the workplace;
- protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or
- provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service.
The bill prevents RFRA from being used to deny (1) goods or services the government has contracted, granted, or made an agreement to provide to a beneficiary; or (2) a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.
In order for a person to assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
Cosponsors 33
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 28, 2019 to Sep 21, 2020, with 24 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-MD | Benjamin L. Cardin | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-CT | Christopher Murphy | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-RI | Jack Reed | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | Feb 28, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 28, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Feb 28, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1450 | Do No Harm Act | Related bill | Apr 8, 2019 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues.
- Civil actions and liability
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Crimes against women
- Disability and health-based discrimination
- Employee leave
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- First Amendment rights
- Government liability
- Health care coverage and access
- Housing discrimination
- Labor-management relations
- Religion
- Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
- Wages and earnings
- Youth employment and child labor
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 28, 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.