Legislative Activity

The Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act mandates that health plans cover medically necessary diagnosis and treatment for congenital anomalies or birth defects affecting the eyes, ears, teeth, mouth, or jaw. This coverage must apply to outpatient and inpatient care, including necessary dental and orthodontic support, unless the procedure is purely cosmetic. These new requirements take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

This resolution formally recognizes the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4, 2025. It reaffirms the United States' long-standing leadership and commitment to eliminating deadly landmines and unexploded ordnance globally. The bill calls on the U.S. government to continue funding humanitarian demining projects and prioritize the clearance of contaminated areas worldwide. It also specifically honors the sacrifices of communities affected by explosive remnants in Southeast Asia.

The Winter Recreation Small Business Recovery Act of 2025 officially recognizes "snow drought"—a severe lack of snow due to dry conditions or warm temperatures—as a qualifying disaster for small business assistance. This legislation directs the Small Business Administration to establish rules for this new disaster designation within 90 days. Furthermore, it mandates a review of federal resources and recommendations for strengthening small businesses against future snow shortages.

This Act mandates the Department of Labor to establish comprehensive, enforceable standards for preventing workplace violence in healthcare and social service settings. It requires covered employers to develop and implement written prevention plans, conduct risk assessments, provide thorough training, and maintain detailed incident logs. The legislation also amends the Social Security Act to ensure facilities receiving Medicare funds comply with these new federal workplace safety requirements.

The Women's Retirement Protection Act aims to address the significant retirement savings gap disproportionately affecting women by strengthening spousal protections in defined contribution plans. The bill mandates new consent requirements for distributions and beneficiary changes to safeguard a spouse's interest in retirement assets. Furthermore, it establishes grant programs to boost financial literacy for women and specifically assist low-income women and survivors of domestic violence in securing their rightful retirement benefits via court orders.

The Farmland Security Act of 2025 significantly strengthens oversight of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land. It imposes severe penalties, potentially up to 100% of the land's value, on foreign-owned shell corporations that fail to disclose land ownership properly. The bill also mandates increased government auditing, specialized training for local staff, and annual reporting to Congress on foreign land use trends and impacts.

The "Carried Interest Fairness Act of 2025" changes the tax treatment of certain partnership interests, especially those related to investment management services. It reclassifies certain capital gains as ordinary income for partners providing these services, modifies the valuation and tax implications of partnership interests transferred for services, and introduces stricter rules to prevent tax avoidance. This act aims to ensure that income derived from investment management is taxed at ordinary income rates rather than more favorable capital gains rates. It also includes provisions addressing qualified dividend income, gains from qualified small business stock, and the treatment of income from special purpose acquisition companies.

The Dairy Business Innovation Act of 2025 amends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to increase funding for dairy business innovation initiatives. It raises the allocated amount from $20,000,000 to $36,000,000, supporting further development and innovation in the dairy industry.

The "COOL Online Act" requires online sellers to clearly disclose the country of origin for products that require origin marking under existing tariff laws, as well as the country where the seller's primary business is located. Certain products, like food, drugs, and used items, are excluded, as are small sellers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will enforce these rules, and retailers have some protection from liability if they rely in good faith on incorrect information provided by a third party.