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Sentencing Guidelines Act of 1986

Public Law 99-363 · H.R. 4801 · 99th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jul 11, 1986 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Rep. Peter Rodino (D-NJ-10)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • 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.

Sentencing Guidelines Act of 1986 - Amends the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 to direct the United States Sentencing Commission to issue general policy statements concerning: (1) modification of probation terms; (2) fine imposition; and (3) modification of terms or conditions of supervised release.

Provides that the maximum prison term of a guideline range issued by the Commission cannot exceed the minimum term by more than the greater of 25 percent or six months. States that if the minimum term of such range is 30 years or more, the maximum term may be life imprisonment.

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. 15 actions.

  1. Jul 11, 1986Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 99-363.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Jul 1, 1986PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Jun 26, 1986FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Judiciary Committee
  6. Jun 4, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
  7. Jun 3, 1986FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  8. May 28, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  9. May 20, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  10. May 14, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  12. CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  14. May 13, 1986CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  15. 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.