First Step Implementation Act of 2021
Latest action · Jul 12, 2021 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 98.
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.
- IntroducedMar 25, 2021
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
First Step Implementation Act of 2021
This bill makes various changes related to federal sentencing law and requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish procedures to ensure the prompt release and accuracy of employment-related background check records.
The bill
- allows certain reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to be applied retroactively to offenders who committed their offenses on or before December 21, 2018;
- permits a court, in certain circumstances, to grant safety valve relief (i.e., impose a sentence without regard to the statutory mandatory minimum penalty for certain drug offenses) for an otherwise eligible defendant who does not meet the requirement pertaining to criminal history;
- permits a court to reduce a sentence imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile if the defendant has served at least 20 years of the sentence;
- establishes a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses; and
- requires DOJ to establish and enforce procedures to ensure that records exchanged for employment-related background checks are promptly released and accurate.
Cosponsors 12
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 25, 2021 to May 19, 2022, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-IA | Chuck Grassley | Original | Mar 25, 2021 |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-GA | Jon Ossoff | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-RI | Sheldon Whitehouse | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Nov 16, 2021 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Dec 6, 2021 | |
| R-MS | Roger F. Wicker | Feb 3, 2022 | |
| R-MO | Roy Blunt | Apr 25, 2022 | |
| R-WY | Cynthia M. Lummis | May 19, 2022 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | May 19, 2022 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 12, 2021Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Durbin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
- Jul 12, 2021Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 98.
- Jun 10, 2021Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Mar 25, 2021Introduced in Senate
- Mar 25, 2021Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S1820-1826)
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3510 | First Step Implementation Act of 2021 | Identical bill | Nov 1, 2022 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Crime victims
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Criminal justice information and records
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
- Evidence and witnesses
- Government information and archives
- Judicial review and appeals
- Juvenile crime and gang violence
- Lawyers and legal services
- Personnel records
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 12, 2021Reported to Senate
- Mar 25, 2021Introduced 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.