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HR 4502 114th Congress House

Pullman Act

Official title: To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow for a stay of Federal district court actions pending resolution of unsettled and ambiguous questions of State law, and for other purposes.

Introduced: February 10, 2016 See on congress.gov
Law Civil actions and liabilityConstitution and constitutional amendmentsFederal appellate courtsJurisdiction and venue
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State and local courtsState and local government operations
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This bill died when the 114th Congress ended
It never became law before the 114th Congress (2015–2016) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 29, 2016
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Feb 9, 2016
Introduced in House
Feb 9, 2016
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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 Latest action February 29, 2016

Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Pullman Act

This bill amends the federal judicial code to allow federal district courts, when a civil action involves a challenge to an unsettled and ambiguous question of state law on federal constitutional grounds, to:

  • stay the action, pending resolution of the question of state law, if its resolution could avoid the need to reach or materially change the federal constitutional issue and there are adequate means under state law to resolve the unsettled state law question; and
  • certify the question to the appropriate court of that state.

Federal appeals courts shall have jurisdiction of appeals from federal district court interlocutory orders that refuse to stay such actions.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Republican 2
R
Fleischmann, Charles J. "Chuck"
Tennessee · Feb 10, 2016
 R
Wilson, Joe
South Carolina · Feb 10, 2016
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4502: Pullman Act. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-4502/
MLA
"H.R. 4502: Pullman Act." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-4502/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 4502, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-4502/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 4502: Pullman Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-4502/)
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