Legislative Activity

The Tipped Worker Protection Act aims to eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped employees by phasing out the tip credit system, ensuring all workers eventually receive the standard federal minimum wage. The bill also establishes strict new rules regarding tip pooling, mandates employee voting to create or change pooling systems, and prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employee tips. Furthermore, it clarifies what constitutes a tip, including certain mandatory service charges, and updates penalties for illegal tip retention.

The Accurate Mental Health Resources for Our Servicemembers Act of 2025 mandates that each military branch thoroughly review and update all online suicide prevention and behavioral health resources on installation websites by August 1, 2027. This ensures servicemembers have access to current and accurate contact information and links. Following the updates, military department heads must formally certify compliance to Congress.

This Concurrent Resolution affirms the importance of equal physical access to federally funded facilities for all Americans, especially people with disabilities. It recognizes that current infrastructure often fails to meet the needs of the growing population of people with disabilities. The resolution reaffirms support for existing accessibility laws like the ADA and pledges to use universal design principles in future federal projects. Ultimately, it calls for the removal of existing barriers to ensure full societal participation.

The CARE for Kids Act of 2025 streamlines access to free and reduced-price school meals for vulnerable children. It expands automatic direct certification eligibility for children in foster care, kinship guardianship, or receiving adoption assistance. The bill also ensures that a child's meal eligibility status is maintained when transferring between school districts or when entering the care of a relative. These changes aim to reduce administrative burdens and ensure consistent food access for children facing housing or custody instability.

The EQIP Improvement Act of 2025 revises the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) by adjusting payment limits for various conservation practices, including setting a 40% cost-share cap for certain infrastructure projects. The bill also lowers a separate payment limitation from $\$450,000$ to $\$150,000$. Furthermore, it establishes a new annual reporting requirement for the Secretary of Agriculture to detail EQIP spending by practice category and producer size.

The School Violence Prevention Act establishes a new, comprehensive grant program to fund evidence-based violence prevention initiatives in high-risk communities. These grants will support partnerships between schools and community organizations to implement trauma-informed programs focused on youth development, social skills, and connecting students with mental health resources. The bill mandates rigorous evaluation of these programs to measure their impact on student success and overall community safety.

The See the Board Act establishes a new federal grant program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This program aims to fund nonprofit organizations that provide free, on-site eye care services, including exams and glasses, directly to students in public elementary and secondary schools. The goal is to improve student access to necessary vision care through mobile or portable clinics.

The SNAP Administrator Retention Act of 2025 aims to improve staffing and retention for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by setting new minimum pay standards for state administrators based on comparable federal salaries. If states adopt these standards and have their pay structure approved, the federal government will cover 100% of their administrative personnel costs. This increased federal funding must supplement, not replace, existing state spending on SNAP administration.

This resolution officially designates the week of May 5 through May 9, 2025, as "Teacher Appreciation Week" to honor the dedication of public school teachers nationwide. It recognizes the crucial support teachers offer for key educational policies, including funding for students with disabilities and loan forgiveness programs. Furthermore, the bill affirms that teachers must have a voice in shaping federal, state, and local education policy.

This resolution supports designating the week of April 28 through May 2, 2025, as "National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week." It recognizes the vital role of over one million school-based professionals, such as counselors, social workers, and nurses, in supporting student learning and well-being. The bill commends these staff for providing essential prevention and intervention services that create safe and supportive learning environments. Ultimately, it encourages policymakers to recognize and promote the importance of these personnel for improving overall educational outcomes.

The Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act establishes significant grant programs to improve access to high-quality infant and toddler care, prioritizing student parents at community colleges and minority-serving institutions. It also amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant to expand eligibility for college students seeking assistance and incentivizes states to increase reimbursement rates for infant and toddler care. Finally, the bill mandates that schools proactively inform student parents about the dependent care allowance available through federal financial aid applications.

This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that paraprofessionals and education support staff deserve fair compensation, comprehensive benefits, and improved working conditions. It highlights the critical role these essential workers play in supporting millions of students nationwide. Ultimately, the bill calls for livable wages, job security, safe workplaces, and meaningful input into school policies for these staff members.

The Save Our Small Farms Act of 2025 aims to strengthen support for small, diverse, and underserved farmers by streamlining disaster assistance and insurance programs. It simplifies participation in the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and creates new incentives for transitioning to Whole Farm Revenue Protection. Furthermore, the bill mandates the research and development of a new, streamlined "single index insurance policy" to protect against losses caused by specific severe weather events.

The Feed Hungry Veterans Act of 2025 expands eligibility for certain food assistance benefits for veterans. It updates the criteria for veterans based on service-connected disability ratings and adds specific categories of disabled or pensioned veterans who will now qualify. These changes are scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2030.

The Caring for Survivors Act of 2025 aims to increase financial support for surviving spouses of veterans. This bill raises the monthly Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) payment rate for surviving spouses. Additionally, it lowers the required duration of total disability rating before death from ten years to five years for survivors to qualify for certain DIC benefits. If the disability period was between five and ten years, the benefit amount will be proportionally adjusted.

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.