Legislative Activity

The Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization, Protection, and Extension (HOPE) Act extends enhanced premium tax credits for health insurance through 2027, making coverage more affordable for eligible individuals. The bill also establishes significant new guardrails and penalties to prevent fraud in health insurance enrollment through the Exchanges. Finally, it extends the annual open enrollment period for the 2026 plan year.

The Bill to Outlaw Wounding of Official Working Animals Act of 2025 (BOWOW Act) establishes new immigration consequences for harming animals used in federal law enforcement. This legislation makes noncitizens inadmissible to the U.S. and subject to deportation if they have committed acts that violate federal laws against harming these working animals.

This bill, the Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization, Protection, and Extension (HOPE) Act, modifies premium tax credit rules for health insurance coverage through 2027 and significantly strengthens consumer protections against fraudulent enrollment practices by agents and brokers. It establishes new civil and criminal penalties for providing false enrollment information and mandates verification processes to ensure consumer consent and accurate coverage. The legislation also extends the 2026 open enrollment period and requires Exchanges to notify individuals of their premium tax credit value before enrollment.

The Fostering the Future for American Children and Families Act aims to improve career readiness for current and former foster youth. It mandates a comprehensive study on existing job training and apprenticeship programs serving this population. Furthermore, the bill establishes a grant program to expand access to industry-aligned technical training and modernizes how existing education vouchers can be used for short-term, credential-granting opportunities.

This Act requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a comprehensive border threat assessment on the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. Following this assessment, the Secretary must submit a strategic plan detailing how to counter the identified threats along the nation's borders. The legislation aims to enhance security by focusing federal efforts against this specific transnational criminal organization.

The National Strategy for School Security Act of 2025 mandates the creation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure K-12 schools from terrorism threats. This strategy, developed by the Secretary of Homeland Security in collaboration with the Secretary of Education, must detail all federal security programs, identify vulnerabilities, and outline goals for improvement. The strategy must be submitted to Congress within one year and updated annually through 2033.

The Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act establishes grant programs to build pipelines that train and place more mental health providers in low-income schools. It also creates a student loan repayment program for providers who commit to working in these underserved districts for five years. The bill aims to improve student support ratios by increasing the number of school counselors, psychologists, and social workers in high-need areas. Finally, it mandates a study to develop future criteria for identifying areas with mental health provider shortages.

This bill, the Supporting Tours Across Years (STAY) Act, requires the Department of Defense to submit a report analyzing options for reducing the frequency of permanent military moves (PCS) and sea-shore rotations. The report must assess the costs, potential savings, and impacts on military families, while identifying opportunities for longer, more stable assignments. Ultimately, it seeks recommendations for policy changes to implement reduced rotation schedules without harming mission readiness.

The Newborns Essentials Support Toolkit (NEST) Act establishes a program to purchase and distribute essential supply kits to mothers recovering from childbirth and their newborn infants. These kits will contain necessary supplies, educational materials on maternal health resources, and information on federal support programs. The legislation reserves federal funds from 2026 through 2030 to award grants to nonprofit entities for the nationwide distribution of these kits, prioritizing areas of greatest need.

The LAB Personnel Act of 2025 aims to stabilize the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) laboratory workforce by prohibiting workforce reductions or hiring freezes within their forensic and related positions. This measure ensures continuity in critical laboratory functions, such as forensic chemistry and digital examination. However, the Act preserves the Attorney General's authority to manage personnel based on misconduct or performance issues.

The Agricultural Cooperative Energy Savings Act of 2025 expands eligibility for certain USDA programs by including agricultural cooperatives with fewer than 2,500 employees. This amendment modifies the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to broaden access to these federal resources for a wider range of agricultural cooperatives.

This resolution expresses strong Congressional support for the Republic of Kazakhstan's accession to the Abraham Accords, marking it as the first Central Asian nation to join. The bill highlights the strategic and economic benefits for participating nations, including investment, technology, and tourism. It encourages both Israel and Kazakhstan to deepen their bilateral ties and urges other nations to normalize relations with Israel. Ultimately, this measure supports the expansion of the Accords to promote regional peace and prosperity.

This resolution expresses the sense of Congress recognizing the strategic value of the long-standing partnership between the United States and India, founded on shared democratic values and mutual interests. It highlights the deep cooperation across defense, technology, counterterrorism, and economic ties. The bill encourages the expansion of this relationship to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Headstones for Honor Act expands VA eligibility for official headstones, markers, or medallions to include graves of certain enslaved individuals who accompanied service members and those who performed military functions despite being legally barred from service due to discrimination. This legislation ensures recognition for these historically overlooked contributors to military efforts. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is required to establish regulations for implementation within one year of enactment.

This bill mandates an annual increase in compensation rates for veterans with service-connected disabilities and for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. Effective December 1st each year, these rates will automatically rise by the same percentage as the Social Security Act benefit increase. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is required to publish these adjusted compensation and dependency/indemnity rates annually.

The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act aims to better identify and support veterans within the criminal justice system. It establishes a pilot program managed by the Attorney General and the VA to provide grants to state prisons and local jails for improving veteran documentation. This effort is intended to connect incarcerated veterans with necessary benefits and increase referrals to veterans treatment courts.

This bill temporarily extends and modifies the enhanced premium tax credit for health insurance through 2027. It also introduces significant changes to Medicare Advantage risk adjustment by requiring the use of two years of diagnostic data starting in 2026. Finally, the legislation aims to reduce fraudulent enrollment in health plans by increasing civil and criminal penalties for agents and brokers and establishing new consumer protection and oversight processes.

The Total Force Family Education Act expands eligibility for Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools to dependents of certain reserve component members. This provision applies when the service member is on active duty orders for an accompanied permanent change of station. Eligible dependents will be automatically enrolled if space is available at the school located at the member's permanent installation.

The Save Our Ships Act establishes the Historic Naval Ship Preservation Grant Program within the Department of the Interior. This program will provide competitive grants to support the physical preservation of historic military vessels for public education. The grants can also fund workforce development programs related to maritime careers. The legislation authorizes $5 million annually for the program starting in fiscal year 2026.

This resolution expresses support for National Adoption Day and Month by promoting national awareness of adoption and the children awaiting permanent families. It highlights the significant number of children in foster care waiting for adoption and encourages all Americans to consider providing a safe, permanent, and well-being-focused home for these children. The resolution supports various avenues for achieving permanency, including reunification, kinship care, and adoption.