EQUAL Act
Latest action · Feb 24, 2023 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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 17, 2023
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act or the EQUAL Act
This bill eliminates the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
Currently, different threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine (e.g., 28 grams of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder cocaine) trigger the same statutory criminal penalties.
This bill eliminates the lower quantity thresholds for crack cocaine offenses. Under the bill, the same threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine trigger the same statutory criminal penalties.
The change applies to future cases and cases pending on the date of enactment. With respect to past cases, the bill authorizes resentencing of a defendant who was convicted or sentenced for a crack cocaine offense before the date of enactment.
Cosponsors 22
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 17, 2023 to Nov 14, 2024; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NE | Don Bacon | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Mar 22, 2023 | |
| D-TX | Marc A. Veasey | Mar 22, 2023 | |
| R-SC | Nancy Mace | Mar 22, 2023 | |
| R-CA | Tom McClintock | Mar 22, 2023 | |
| D-CO | Jason Crow | Mar 23, 2023 | |
| R-KY | Thomas Massie | Mar 23, 2023 | |
| R-AL | Barry Moore | Apr 19, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Apr 19, 2023 | |
| R-SD | Dusty Johnson | Apr 28, 2023 | |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | Apr 28, 2023 | |
| R-OK | Stephanie I. Bice | May 9, 2023 | |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | May 9, 2023 | |
| D-MD | David J. Trone | Jul 26, 2023 | |
| R-NY | Michael Lawler | Jul 26, 2023 | |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Feb 15, 2024 | |
| R-OR | Lori Chavez-DeRemer | Feb 15, 2024 | |
| D-TX | Jasmine Crockett | Sep 25, 2024 | |
| D-NY | Daniel S. Goldman | Nov 13, 2024 | |
| D-VA | Abigail Davis Spanberger | Nov 14, 2024 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Feb 17, 2023 |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Feb 17, 2023 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Feb 24, 2023 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 24, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Feb 17, 2023Introduced in House
- Feb 17, 2023Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 169, no. 33, February 17, 2023, page H854.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 524 | EQUAL Act | Identical bill | Feb 16, 2023 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To eliminate the disparity in sentencing for cocaine offenses, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- EQUAL Act
- Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 17, 2023Introduced in House
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.
