Legislative Activity

This resolution expresses support for designating June 2025 as "National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Month" and June 27, 2025, as "National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Day." The goal is to raise public awareness, combat the stigma surrounding Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), and encourage timely treatment for service members and veterans. It recognizes the significant impact of combat stress and supports ongoing efforts by the DoD and VA to educate the public and improve care.

The Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act updates and continues funding for federal programs addressing tick-borne diseases. This legislation modifies the composition of the Vector-Borne Disease Strategy Group and adjusts the authorized funding levels for the national strategy and local health department support through fiscal year 2030.

The Farmers First Act of 2025 aims to enhance mental health support for agricultural producers. This legislation increases funding for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network and mandates the inclusion of dedicated crisis lines within its services. Furthermore, it formalizes partnerships between network recipients and various certified healthcare providers to improve access to mental health and substance use treatment.

The Child Care for Working Families Act establishes comprehensive federal programs to guarantee access to high-quality, affordable child care for young children of working families. It mandates significant investments to stabilize the child care workforce by requiring higher provider pay and sets strict caps on costs for parents based on income. Additionally, the bill creates a framework for universal, free preschool for three- and four-year-olds and extends service hours and raises compensation for Head Start staff.

The Consumer Online Payment Transparency and Integrity Act establishes strict new rules to protect consumers from deceptive automatic renewal and free trial charges. It mandates that businesses must obtain express, informed consent before billing for renewals and provide clear, easy cancellation methods upfront. Violations of these consent and disclosure requirements will render the renewal void, requiring full refunds, and will be enforced by the FTC as unfair business practices.

This concurrent resolution officially recognizes the significance of equal pay and highlights the persistent wage disparity faced by Black women compared to White, non-Hispanic men. It designates July 10, 2025, as Black Women's Equal Pay Day to draw attention to the economic losses caused by this gap. The resolution underscores that closing this disparity is vital for the economic stability and wealth-building of Black women and their families.

The GLOBE Act of 2025 establishes a comprehensive U.S. policy to promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI people globally. It mandates increased State Department reporting on international abuses, implements sanctions against foreign individuals responsible for such violations, and directs foreign assistance to support LGBTQI rights defenders. Furthermore, the Act reforms immigration procedures to better protect LGBTQI asylum seekers and ensures non-discrimination for LGBTQI U.S. citizens serving abroad.

The VISIBLE Act mandates that federal immigration officers (CBP and ICE) clearly display their agency and name/badge number on their outermost clothing during all public-facing enforcement activities. This law aims to increase transparency and public trust by ensuring officers are easily identifiable from a distance. The Department of Homeland Security must report annually to Congress on compliance rates and disciplinary actions taken for violations. Furthermore, the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will investigate public complaints regarding these new identification standards.

This resolution officially recognizes June 2025 as LGBTQ Pride Month to honor the history, struggles, and significant contributions of the LGBTQ community in the United States. It acknowledges past and ongoing discrimination while celebrating key legal milestones toward equality. The Senate encourages the nation to use this month to learn about inequality and celebrate the community's achievements both domestically and globally.

The Break the Cycle of Violence Act establishes a comprehensive federal strategy to reduce community violence through non-carceral, evidence-based interventions. Title I creates a new grant program within HHS to fund local violence intervention programs focused on high-risk individuals and trauma-responsive care. Title II authorizes $1.5 billion in Department of Labor grants to fund year-round job training and workforce development specifically for opportunity youth in high-violence areas. Overall, the bill directs significant federal resources toward community-led solutions that prioritize public health, economic opportunity, and violence reduction.

The LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2025 bans the use of a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity as a justification or mitigation for committing a violent crime in federal court. This legislation aims to eliminate "panic defenses" that wrongly suggest a person's identity can excuse criminal behavior. The bill also mandates an annual report from the Attorney General detailing federal prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals.

The Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act of 2025 is a legislative update designed to modernize the Internal Revenue Code by ensuring gender-neutral language is used when referencing married taxpayers and their spouses. This bill systematically replaces outdated gendered terms like "husband and wife" or "his" with inclusive terms such as "married couple" and "spouse." The changes are purely linguistic, ensuring consistency across tax rules without altering any existing tax liabilities or deductions.

The Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025 establishes a rigorous new vetting process for companies seeking federal funding from the High-Cost Universal Service Fund to build broadband networks. This legislation requires the FCC to create rules ensuring applicants prove they possess the necessary technical expertise, financial stability, and operational capacity before receiving awards. The review will heavily weigh an applicant's past performance in government broadband programs. Additionally, the Act imposes significant minimum penalties for early defaults on funding commitments.

The Refund Equality Act of 2025 extends the deadline for certain legally married couples to amend past tax returns filed separately before September 16, 2013, based on Revenue Ruling 2013-17. This allows these couples to now file jointly for those years, extending the statute of limitations for filing the joint return and claiming related refunds or credits. These extensions are strictly limited to changes resulting from recognizing their marital status for federal tax purposes.

This resolution expresses the Senate's support for the rights and freedoms of LGBTQI+ individuals across the United States. It recognizes key Supreme Court victories that advanced equality while acknowledging the ongoing need for federal legislation to combat discrimination. The bill specifically supports designating June 26th as "LGBTQI+ Equality Day" to commemorate these legal milestones.

The 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2025 aims to prevent the proliferation of untraceable firearms manufactured using 3D printing technology. This legislation makes it illegal to intentionally distribute digital files or instructions online that can program a device to manufacture a complete firearm or key firearm components. The goal is to preserve existing gun tracing capabilities and enhance public safety against the threat of ghost guns.

The Head Start for Our Future Act amends federal work-study rules to explicitly allow students to use their funds for child development and early learning services, such as supporting Head Start programs. This legislation ensures that institutions placing work-study students in these roles guarantee program compliance with existing Head Start Act requirements. Furthermore, it establishes specific supervision rules for work-study students in Head Start and Early Head Start, mandating that they must always be supervised by paid staff and cannot count toward required staff-to-child ratios.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act amends the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to modernize regulations around online data collection, use, and deletion for children and teens. It expands the definition of personal information, requires verifiable consent for data collection and usage, and prohibits individual-specific advertising to children and teens. The Act also mandates FTC reports on mobile app oversight and enforcement, a GAO study on teens' privacy using financial technology, and includes a severability clause.

The Open App Markets Act aims to foster competition by prohibiting large companies that control both an operating system and an app store from unfairly favoring their own services. This bill prevents these "covered companies" from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems or from leveraging sensitive business data to benefit their own competing apps. Furthermore, it mandates that these companies allow users greater choice in setting default apps and installing software from alternative sources, while preserving necessary security and privacy exceptions. Enforcement will be handled by the FTC, State Attorneys General, and developers who suffer harm will have the right to sue for damages.

The Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2025 significantly increases federal oversight and penalties for licensed firearms dealers. This bill allows for more frequent compliance inspections, raises maximum prison sentences for license violations, and grants the Attorney General new authority to deny licenses based on public safety concerns. Furthermore, it mandates stricter recordkeeping enforcement and requires the ATF to report on the implementation of these new measures.