Legislative Activity

The SHINE for Autumn Act of 2025 aims to significantly improve federal support for state-level stillbirth research and data collection. It authorizes grants for states to enhance surveillance, track risk factors, and build local capacity for analyzing stillbirth data, provided the information remains de-identified. Furthermore, the bill mandates the development of standardized guidelines and educational materials regarding stillbirth awareness and risk factors, developed in consultation with experts and bereaved families.

The Courtney Wild Reinforcing Crime Victims’ Rights Act significantly strengthens the rights of crime victims in federal and D.C. cases, expanding their involvement from the moment an offense is suspected. This bill mandates explicit rights for victims to confer with prosecutors regarding case resolutions, such as plea bargains, and provides clearer pathways for victims to seek legal counsel and enforce their rights in court. Furthermore, it establishes new administrative oversight within the DOJ to handle complaints regarding violations of these expanded victim rights.

The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2025 mandates that colleges receiving federal funds update their policies to explicitly prohibit and detail procedures for addressing harassment based on protected characteristics, including technology-facilitated abuse. The bill also establishes a competitive grant program, funded up to $50 million annually, to support campus efforts in harassment prevention, training, and support services. This legislation adds new requirements without superseding existing civil rights protections.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025 mandates that the Secretary of Transportation establish a rule requiring AM broadcast radio receivers to be installed as standard equipment in new passenger motor vehicles. This requirement aims to ensure public access to AM radio signals, which are often used for emergency alerts. The bill also directs a GAO study on the effectiveness of AM radio within the national emergency alert system compared to other technologies. Finally, the Act preempts state and local laws on this matter and includes a sunset provision eight years after enactment.

The "Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act" expands Medicare coverage to include FDA-approved multi-cancer early detection screening tests starting in 2028. It defines the criteria for these tests, sets payment guidelines, and establishes age and frequency limitations for coverage. The bill ensures that existing cancer screening coverage remains unaffected and allows for waivers of limitations based on recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

This bill expresses the disapproval of Congress regarding a recent rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concerning the integrity and affordability of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Utilizing the Congressional Review Act, this measure immediately cancels the specific CMS regulation. Consequently, the proposed changes to marketplace rules will not take effect.

The FAMILY Act establishes a national Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program administered by a new office within the Social Security Administration. This program provides monthly benefits to eligible individuals who take time off for qualified caregiving reasons, including serious health conditions or victims of violence. The Act also sets forth detailed eligibility requirements, benefit calculation formulas, and job protection guarantees for employees utilizing the leave. Finally, it creates a funding mechanism to support existing state-level paid leave programs that meet federal standards.

This act establishes the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program to correct historical errors where Jewish service members killed in WWI and WWII were mistakenly buried under non-Jewish grave markers overseas. The American Battle Monuments Commission will contract with a nonprofit organization to identify these "covered members" and contact their survivors over a five-year period. The legislation also extends a deadline related to certain pension payments.

The FAIR Act of 2025 invalidates pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class action waivers for employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights claims. This law restores the right for individuals to pursue these disputes in court or through collective legal action. The provisions apply to all covered disputes arising on or after the date the Act is enacted.

This proposed constitutional amendment grants Congress and the states the authority to establish reasonable limits on campaign spending by candidates and outside groups to ensure fair elections. It allows for different spending regulations for individuals versus corporations or other entities. Crucially, this new power cannot be used to restrict the freedom of the press.

This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives opposing the implementation of the proposed Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. The House believes this model would severely undermine beneficiary access to necessary healthcare by significantly expanding prior authorization requirements in traditional Medicare. It urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to terminate the plan due to concerns over patient access and the poor track record of private entities managing these reviews.

This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must immediately halt its pilot program utilizing artificial intelligence to determine Medicare coverage. Congress is urging CMS to stop using AI in coverage decisions to ensure seniors' access to critical healthcare is not jeopardized. Furthermore, the resolution requires CMS to review any coverage decisions made under the suspended pilot program.

This resolution expresses support for designating September 9, 2025, as "National Firearm Suicide Prevention Day." The goal is to raise awareness about the growing crisis of firearm suicides across the United States. It emphasizes that safe and secure firearm storage is a critical component of suicide prevention efforts. The resolution encourages professionals to discuss gun safety and suicide prevention with their patients.

The Food Date Labeling Act of 2025 establishes national standards for food date labels, requiring manufacturers to use specific phrases like "**BEST If Used By**" for quality and "**USE By**" for discard dates, if they choose to include them. This legislation standardizes labeling language across different food products overseen by the USDA and FDA. The Act also ensures that non-compliant labeling is treated as misbranding under existing federal food laws. Manufacturers will have two years from enactment to comply with these new federal labeling requirements.

The Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act aims to strengthen the Social Security system through two main avenues. Title I mandates the creation of a new Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers to be used for calculating future cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Title II modifies contribution rules by counting a small portion of wages and self-employment income earned above the current base limit after 2025, and it adjusts the benefit formula to potentially increase benefits based on these surplus earnings. These changes are designed to ensure COLAs more accurately reflect senior spending and to increase revenue for the system.

The Keep Seniors Fed Act makes technical amendments to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 regarding how income is calculated for food assistance eligibility. Specifically, it mandates that income received under Title II of the Social Security Act must now be counted when determining eligibility for benefits. These changes will take effect 90 days after the bill is signed into law.

The Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act mandates that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must now provide abortion care, counseling, and related medication as part of the medical services offered to eligible veterans and certain other beneficiaries. This legislation formally amends existing VA health care provisions to include these reproductive health services.

The Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act of 2025 repeals specific prior reconciliation health provisions. This bill significantly expands eligibility for the Premium Tax Credit by eliminating the 400% Federal Poverty Level income cap. It also updates the subsidy calculation formula to ensure a smoother, linear adjustment of assistance across various income levels.

The Restoring Essential Healthcare Act repeals an outdated ban that prevented Medicaid from making payments to certain healthcare providers. This legislation ensures that these previously prohibited entities will now be reimbursed for medical services rendered between the enactment of the original ban and the passage of this Act. In short, it restores payment eligibility and retroactively covers past services.

The Protect Our Hospitals Act aims to restore previous regulations concerning Medicaid provider taxes by repealing a specific section of Public Law 11921. This action effectively nullifies recent changes, returning the rules governing how states tax Medicaid providers to their original status.