What This Bill Does · Plain English
Summary · Congress.gov
Amtrak Transparency Act This bill increases Amtrak's open meeting and public disclosure requirements. Specifically, the Amtrak Board of Directors must comply with federal open meeting requirements under the Government in the Sunshine Act. In addition, at least 30 days prior to the board convening, the board must publicly post an announcement of the meeting and the anticipated meeting agenda. The board must also annually convene a meeting to which state departments of transportation with long-distance routes or state-supported routes are invited to participate. Further, Amtrak must publicly disclose the discretionary bonus compensation paid to an Amtrak officer or non-bargaining unit employee. Upon request, Amtrak must also disclose to a state or the State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee vendor agreements of $250,000 or more for certain services on state-supported routes.
Action Timeline
2025-01-21
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
2025-01-21
Introduced in Senate
Frequently Asked Questions
Did S.174 pass?
S.174 is still alive. Current stage: COMMITTEE. Pass likelihood: 33%.
What does S.174 do?
Amtrak Transparency Act This bill increases Amtrak's open meeting and public disclosure requirements. Specifically, the Amtrak Board of Directors must comply with federal open meeting requirements under the Government in the Sunshine Act. In addition, at least 30 days prior to the board convening, the board must publicly post an announcement of the meeting and the anticipated meeting agenda. The board must also annually convene a meeting to which state departments of transportation with long-distance routes or state-supported routes are invited to participate. Further, Amtrak must publicly dis…
Who sponsored S.174?
S.174 was sponsored by Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska).
Full Bill Text
119 S174 IS: Amtrak Transparency Act U.S. Senate 2025-01-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 174 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 21, 2025 Mrs. Fischer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To improve the transparency of Amtrak operations, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Amtrak Transparency Act . 2. Board of Directors meetings Section 24302 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking in an open meeting ; and (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows: (e) Meetings (1) Quorum A majority of the members serving on the Board who are eligible to vote shall constitute a quorum for doing business. (2) Notice; open meetings (A) Notice Not later than 30 days before convening any meeting of the Board, the Board shall post, on a publicly accessible website, an announcement of the meeting that includes the anticipated agenda for the meeting. (B) Open meetings All meetings of the Board shall comply with the requirements set forth in section 552b of title 5. (3) Annual meeting with States Not less frequently than annually, the Board shall convene a meeting to which the head of the Department of Transportation of each State traversed by a long-distance route or State-supported route, or the designee of such State official, shall be invited to participate. . 3. Discretionary bonus disclosure requirement Section 24303(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking The preceding sentence and inserting Amtrak shall publicly disclose the amount of each discretionary bonus paid to any officer or non-bargaining unit employee. The 2 preceding sentences . 4. Disclosure of vendor agreements Section 24315(h) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Upon request, Amtrak shall disclose to a State or the State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee, any vendor agreement valued at not less than $250,000 for services procured to implement a service on a State-supported route. .
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