Legislative Activity

This resolution supports the designation of May 4-10, 2025, as "National Small Business Week". It recognizes the significant role of over 34.5 million small businesses in the U.S. that contribute to the economy and provide over 59 million jobs. The resolution celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit, achievements, and resilience of small business owners and their employees.

This resolution recognizes April 2025 as "Community College Month" to celebrate the significant role of community colleges in providing accessible higher education, workforce training, and economic support across the United States. It acknowledges the affordability, diverse student population, and substantial economic contributions of these institutions, which serve millions of students and contribute billions to the national economy. The resolution highlights the importance of community colleges in meeting local and regional needs while driving economic prosperity.

The Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 prohibits discrimination in life, disability, and long-term care insurance against living organ donors. It clarifies that organ donation surgery qualifies as a serious health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act, ensuring job protection for donors. The Act also mandates updated educational materials from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the benefits, risks, and protections for living organ donors.

The "America the Beautiful Act" reauthorizes and expands the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund through 2033, increasing its funding to $2 billion. It prioritizes projects with private donations, mandates annual project lists to Congress, and allows fund allocation even without full-year appropriations. The act also focuses on promoting donation opportunities, managing cash donations, disposing of unneeded assets, and improving preventative maintenance.

This resolution urges the Secretary of Health and Human Services to withdraw a notice that reduces public notice and comment opportunities. It emphasizes the importance of public participation in the regulatory process, particularly for regulations impacting millions of Americans. The resolution supports maintaining existing practices that ensure input from various stakeholders when regulatory changes are proposed.

The Enhancing First Response Act aims to improve emergency communications and response. It mandates the FCC to issue reports and hold public hearings after major disasters to assess and improve network resilience and 911 outage reporting. The Act also directs the Office of Management and Budget to classify public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation and requires a report on the FCC's enforcement of Karis Law, which ensures direct dialing to 911 from multi-line phone systems.

This bill makes permanent the Department of Veterans Affairs' pilot program, allowing the VA to contract with non-VA physicians for disability examinations. It ensures that qualified contract physicians can conduct examinations across state lines, streamlining the process for veterans seeking benefits. The bill also requires a report to Congress on the program's impact on cost, timeliness, and thoroughness of examinations.

This resolution designates April 2025 as "Financial Literacy Month" to highlight the critical role of personal financial education and the repercussions of financial illiteracy. It acknowledges the significant number of unbanked and underbanked households, the struggles faced by people with disabilities, and the growing household debt in the U.S. The resolution encourages the government, schools, organizations, and individuals to promote financial literacy through various programs and activities during this month. It also emphasizes the positive impact of financial education on credit scores, retirement planning, and overall financial well-being.

This resolution recognizes the 153rd anniversary of Arbor Day, celebrating its role in promoting tree planting, civic engagement, and the sustainable management of working forests. It acknowledges the importance of forests as a nature-based solution to climate change and highlights the Arbor Day Foundation's contribution to urban forestry. The resolution encourages U.S. residents to participate in Arbor Day activities.

The Equality Act amends existing civil rights laws to explicitly include protections against discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas such as public accommodations, employment, housing, credit, and jury service. It clarifies and expands the definition of sex to include sex stereotypes, pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics, including intersex traits. The act ensures equal access to shared facilities and prohibits the use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to justify discrimination. Ultimately, the Equality Act aims to provide consistent and comprehensive protections against discrimination for LGBTQ individuals and women across various aspects of life.

The New England Coastal Protection Act prohibits the Department of Interior from issuing leases for oil and gas exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of New England. This includes the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The bill amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to include this prohibition.

The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to limit consumer reporting agencies from providing consumer reports to other entities for credit transactions involving residential mortgage loans. Exceptions are made for firm offers of credit or insurance, authorized access, or if the entity currently originates or services the consumer's mortgage, or is an insured depository institution or credit union holding a current account for the consumer. The act will take effect 180 days after enactment.

The Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act of 2025 (SAVES Act) directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a pilot program that awards grants to nonprofit organizations providing service dogs to veterans. These grants, up to $2,000,000 each, will support programs that offer service dogs to veterans with physical or mental health conditions, ensuring the dogs are provided at no cost to the veteran. The VA will also provide veterinary insurance for these service dogs and oversee the grant program's implementation. $10,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each of the five fiscal years following the establishment of the pilot program.

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2025 modifies the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by increasing the amount of expenses that can be claimed, adjusting the income phase-out ranges, and making the credit refundable. The bill increases the dollar limit on creditable expenses to $8,000 for one qualifying individual and $16,000 for two or more. It also adjusts the income level at which the credit begins to phase out and indexes it to inflation.

This resolution designates the week of April 19 through April 27, 2025, as "National Park Week" to recognize the importance of national parks for recreation, education, and economic contributions. It encourages people to visit and support these parks while acknowledging the role of the National Park Service in protecting these resources for future generations.

The "New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2025" amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to allow interstate shipment of meat and poultry products inspected under state programs. It authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee state meat and poultry inspection programs, enforce federal requirements, and report on the status of these programs. This act overrides state laws that restrict the sale of state-inspected meat and poultry products in interstate commerce, aiming to broaden market access for state-inspected producers.

The Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism Anti-Drilling Act of 2025 (COAST Anti-Drilling Act of 2025) prohibits the Department of Interior from issuing leases for oil, natural gas, or mineral exploration in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida Planning Areas. This prohibition applies to activities outlined in the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. This act amends Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025 makes the adoption tax credit refundable, allowing more families to benefit from it regardless of their tax liability. It also streamlines the process for verifying legal adoptions through standardized affidavits. These changes apply to taxable years after December 31, 2024, with provisions to carry forward any excess credit from the previous year.

The Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, receipt, or possession of devices that convert semiautomatic firearms into machine guns. It requires individuals who legally owned modified firearms before the enactment of the BUMP Act to register them. The act amends both title 18 of the U.S. Code and the Internal Revenue Code to include these devices under the regulatory scope of machine guns.

The "Tax Cut for Workers Act of 2025" expands the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for individuals without qualifying children by lowering the minimum age, eliminating the maximum age, and increasing credit and phaseout percentages. It also makes permanent the application of the EITC to U.S. possessions and allows taxpayers to elect to use prior year earned income when calculating the EITC if it results in a larger credit. These changes aim to provide additional tax relief to low- and moderate-income workers.