WASHINGTON — Here’s a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.
Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed the following bills: the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act (H.R. 259), to create an online repository for certain reporting requirements for recipients of federal disaster assistance; the Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act (H.R. 388), to eliminate the SEC’s leasing authority; and the Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act (H.R. 449), to amend the Small Business Act to increase transparency.
House
ASSESSING GOVERNMENT JOB APPLICANTS: The House has passed the Chance to Compete Act (H.R. 159), sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., to change the hiring system for the federal government’s civil service jobs by prioritizing skills-based assessments of an applicant’s qualifications. Foxx said the current system, by over-emphasizing academic qualifications, “seriously undermines the federal workforce’s ability to serve the American people in both a proper and efficient manner.” The vote, on Jan. 24, was 422 yeas to 2 nays.
YEAS
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-3rd
DISCLOSING LAWSUIT SETTLEMENTS: The House has passed the Settlement Agreement Information Database Act (H.R. 300), sponsored by Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., to require federal government agencies to release to the public information about consent decrees and settlement agreements they have reached with litigants. Palmer said: “Citizens have a right to access the federal government’s records and operations to facilitate oversight of the public business.” The vote, on Jan. 24, was unanimous with 425 yeas.