InsideGov
Congress · Laws

Autism CARES Act of 2014

Public Law 113-157 · H.R. 4631 · 113th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Barack Obama (D) on Aug 8, 2014 · Health

Sponsor: Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ-4)

Cosponsors (86): Rep. Michael Doyle,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

Report a correction

Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2014 or the Autism CARES Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate an official to oversee national autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research, services, and support activities. Directs the official to implement such activities taking into account the strategic plan developed by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (the Interagency Committee) and ensure that duplication of activities by federal agencies is minimized.

Extends through FY2019: (1) the developmental disabilities surveillance and research program; (2) the autism education, early detection, and intervention program; and (3) the Interagency Committee.

(Sec. 3) Includes support for regional centers of excellence in ASD and other developmental disabilities epidemiology as a purpose of grants or cooperative agreements.

(Sec. 4) Requires information and education activities to be culturally competent. Allows a lead agency coordinating activities at the state level to include respite care for caregivers. Allows the use of research centers or networks for the provision of training in respite care and for research to determine practices for interventions to improve the health of individuals with ASD.

(Sec. 5) Revises responsibilities of the Interagency Committee concerning:

• inclusion of school- and community-based interventions in the Committee summary of advances,

• monitoring of ASD research and federal services and support activities,

• recommendations to the Director of the National Institutes of Health regarding the strategic plan,

• recommendations regarding the process by which public feedback can be better integrated into ASD decisions,

• strategic plan updates and recommendations to minimize duplication, and

• reports to the President and Congress.

Revises Interagency Committee membership requirements to specify additional federal agencies that might be represented and to modify the non-federal membership.

(Sec. 6) Modifies requirements for reports by the Secretary on ASD activities. Adds a requirement for a report to Congress concerning young adults with ASD and the challenges related to the transition from existing school-based services to those available during adulthood.

(Sec. 7) Authorizes appropriations to carry out the developmental disabilities surveillance and research program, the education, early detection, and intervention program, and the Interagency Committee for FY2015-FY2019.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

Report a correction

Related bills

1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • S. 2449Related bill

    Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2014

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

Report a correction

Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 18 actions.

  1. Aug 8, 2014Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 113-157.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Aug 4, 2014FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Aug 1, 2014FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Jul 31, 2014FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Jun 25, 2014CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. Jun 24, 2014FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  8. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4631.
  9. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  10. FloorFloor · Mr. Pitts moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  11. Jun 23, 2014CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 365.
  12. CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 113-490.
  13. Jun 10, 2014CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  14. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  15. Jun 9, 2014CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  16. May 16, 2014CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
  17. May 9, 2014CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  18. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

Report a correction

Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

Report a correction

Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.