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Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981

Public Law 97-48 · H.J.Res. 266 · 97th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Sep 30, 1981 · Economics and Public Finance

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseMethod not stated
  • SenateVoice vote
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.

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Summary

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

Amends the Second Liberty Bond Act to increase the temporary public debt limit by $599,800,000,000 for the period from May 21, 1981, through September 30, 1981.

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.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.

  1. Sep 30, 1981Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-48.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 29, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. FloorFloor · Previous third reading vitiated, as was the action the Senate took in agreeing to the committee amendment as amended. By Voice Vote.
  6. Jul 29, 1981FloorFloor · The committee amendment, as amended, agreed to. By Yea-Nay Vote. 89-11. Record Vote No: 239.Senate roll call 239
  7. Jul 28, 1981FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider amendments SU296 and SU297 tabled by Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 94-1. Record Vote No: 227.Senate roll call 227
  8. Jul 24, 1981FloorFloor · Subtitle C of Title III of the Committee Amendment (dealing with Employee Stock Ownership Provisions), as amended, agreed to. By Yea-Nay Vote. 93-1. Record Vote No: 220.Senate roll call 220
  9. Jul 6, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Finance Committee
  10. Jun 25, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Finance Committee
  11. May 21, 1981FloorFloor · Engrossed and Deemed Passed.
  12. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Finance Committee
  13. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.