Legislative Activity

This bill designates May 5-9, 2025, as "Teacher Appreciation Week," recognizing the contributions of public school teachers and their support for various educational initiatives. It acknowledges teachers' dedication to improving education through innovative methods and emphasizes the importance of their involvement in shaping education policies. The bill encourages leaders to engage with teachers, ensuring their insights are included in classroom policies.

This resolution supports the designation of "National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week" to recognize the vital contributions of specialized instructional support personnel (SISP) in schools. SISP, including counselors, social workers, and therapists, provide crucial services that support students' academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being. The resolution encourages increased awareness and support for SISP at all levels, highlighting their role in improving student outcomes, mental health, and school safety. It also promotes the sharing of best practices related to specialized instructional support.

This bill aims to increase access to high-quality, affordable infant and toddler child care, particularly for student parents at community colleges and minority-serving institutions, by establishing federal grants to support child care services on campuses and in communities. It expands eligibility for childcare assistance, increases federal matching payments to states, and requires colleges to inform students with dependents about dependent care allowances for federal student aid. These measures collectively support parents in completing their education, strengthen the early childhood education workforce, and improve the quality of care for young children.

This resolution expresses the House of Representatives' view that paraprofessionals and education support staff are critical to schools and deserve fair compensation, benefits, and working conditions that allow them to thrive professionally and personally. It advocates for livable wages, affordable healthcare, paid leave, professional development, safe working environments, and a voice in school policies for these essential employees. The resolution also encourages employers to engage in good faith negotiations and refrain from actions that undermine workers' rights during labor disputes. This resolution does not override any existing collective bargaining agreements that provide more favorable terms for paraprofessionals and education support staff.

The "Save Our Small Farms Act of 2025" aims to improve and expand the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program and Whole Farm Revenue Protection to better support small and diversified farms. It streamlines the application process, offers premium discounts for transitioning to whole farm plans, and increases compensation for adverse weather events. The act also develops a single index insurance policy to protect farmers from income losses due to specific weather conditions, with a focus on accessibility and reduced paperwork for small-scale and underserved producers. Finally, it removes the $1,500,000 liability limitation.

The "Feed Hungry Veterans Act of 2025" amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, expanding SNAP eligibility for disabled veterans. It includes veterans with a 60% or higher disability rating, those with multiple disabilities totaling 70% or higher with one at 40%, those catastrophically disabled, and those under 65 receiving certain pensions. These changes will take effect on October 1, 2030.

The "Caring for Survivors Act of 2025" increases dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses of veterans. It changes the calculation of benefits to be based on 55 percent of a specified monthly compensation rate and includes a provision to ensure those receiving benefits based on a veteran's death before January 1, 1993, receive the greater of their current amount or the newly calculated amount. The Act also modifies the requirements for survivor benefits related to veterans who die while having a total disability rating, reducing the required period of disability from 10 to 5 years, and proportionally reducing benefits for those rated totally disabled for less than 10 years.

The RAISE Act of 2025 introduces a refundable tax credit for eligible teachers, offering $1,000 plus additional amounts for teachers in qualifying schools with high student poverty levels. It also increases the tax deduction for educators' expenses to $500 and expands eligibility to include early childhood educators. Additionally, the Act amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to provide mandatory funding to support local educational agencies that maintain or increase teacher salaries, with a portion reserved for teacher salary incentive grants. These grants can be used for various programs aimed at strengthening the teaching profession and improving educator skills.

The "All Access Act of 2025" ensures Members of Congress can access any public building during regular hours by showing their official ID. Access outside of normal business hours requires a 12-hour advance notice to the building head. This act defines "Member of Congress" as a Representative or Senator.

This resolution declares racism a public health crisis, citing significant racial inequities in health outcomes and the impact of historical and contemporary racism. It supports local declarations of racism as a public health crisis and commits to establishing a national strategy to address health disparities, dismantle systemic racism, advance reforms for equitable health policies, and promote efforts to improve social determinants of health for all racial and ethnic minorities. The resolution calls on the nation to uphold the principle that all individuals are created equal with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The "Caring for All Families Act" expands the definition of family members under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include domestic partners, in-laws, adult children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and other individuals with close family-like relationships, allowing employees to take leave to care for them. It also allows employees to take additional leave for parental involvement in children's or grandchildren's education and extracurricular activities, and to meet family wellness needs, with certain limitations on the amount of leave that can be taken for these purposes. These provisions apply to both private-sector and federal employees.

The "Caring for Survivors Act of 2025" increases dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses of veterans. Additionally, it modifies the requirements for survivor benefits for veterans who were totally disabled at the time of death, reducing the required period of disability from 10 to 5 years, and introduces proportional compensation for disability periods less than 10 years.

The "Department of Education Protection Act" prevents the Department of Education from using already allocated funds to reorganize in ways that would decentralize, reduce staff, or alter the Department's responsibilities, structure, authority, or functions as they existed on January 1, 2025. This act ensures that the Department of Education continues to focus on boosting student success and equal access through its established offices and institutes.