Legislative Activity

The Biomanufacturing Excellence Act of 2025 aims to bolster U.S. leadership in biotechnology by establishing a National Biopharmaceutical Center of Excellence. This Center will accelerate manufacturing innovation, strengthen domestic supply chains, and ensure adherence to quality standards. It will also facilitate crucial workforce training to support the growing biomanufacturing sector.

This bill amends the Social Security Act to establish new requirements for Medicare Advantage plans regarding how often they can overturn initial denials of coverage following prior authorization requests. Specifically, it mandates contract termination for plans whose rate of reversed prior authorization denials exceeds 25% in a given year. This measure aims to curb excessive initial denials by Medicare Advantage organizations.

This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from using appropriated funds to automatically enroll individuals into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. It ensures that enrollment in an MA plan only occurs when an individual actively makes that choice, rather than it being the default option.

The Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 aims to strengthen domestic food security by repealing specific sections of a prior reconciliation act. This action effectively revives the original laws that were previously amended by the repealed provisions. The bill seeks to revert existing agricultural and food-related statutes to their pre-amendment status.

This bill mandates that all advertisements for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans must clearly disclose key statistics regarding their prior authorization denial rates. Specifically, ads must include the total number of denials, the number of denials later overturned upon reconsideration, and the average time taken for those reversals. This aims to provide consumers with crucial transparency about plan utilization management practices before enrollment.

This bill, the International Human Rights Defense Act of 2025, establishes a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Peoples within the Department of State. It codifies U.S. policy to actively combat international criminalization, violence, and discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals worldwide. The legislation also mandates enhanced reporting on these abuses in annual human rights reports and authorizes assistance to support related protection efforts abroad.

The SEMI Investment Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand and extend the advanced manufacturing investment credit. This legislation redefines "advanced manufacturing facility" to explicitly include facilities producing semiconductors, semiconductor equipment, and a broad range of qualifying semiconductor materials. Crucially, the bill extends the availability period for this investment credit through the end of 2031.

The Veterans with ALS Reporting Act requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a comprehensive report to Congress on the prevalence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) among veterans. This report must detail current support resources, identify gaps, and propose plans for reducing ALS incidence and improving clinical trial access for affected veterans. The VA will also be required to continuously track ALS rates using the CDC's existing registry.

The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act aims to better identify and support veterans within the criminal justice system. It establishes a pilot program managed by the Attorney General and the VA to provide grants to state prisons and local jails for improving veteran documentation. This effort is intended to connect incarcerated veterans with necessary benefits and increase referrals to veterans treatment courts.

The Veterans Earned Education Act expands the eligibility for service members to transfer Post-9/11 educational assistance benefits to their dependents. This change modifies existing service requirements, specifically adding pathways for individuals who have completed at least 17 years of service or who are retired under specific Armed Forces chapters to transfer these educational benefits. The legislation broadens the scope of who can transfer these earned benefits to family members.

The Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act mandates that the Comptroller General review the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care budget submissions for fiscal years 2026 through 2028. Following each review, the Comptroller General must report the findings to relevant Congressional committees. This process aims to increase transparency and oversight of the VA's medical care funding requests.

The Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act of 2025 establishes strict new standards for the use of non-deadly force by federal immigration personnel, requiring proportionality and de-escalation efforts. The bill mandates identification requirements, restricts the use of certain crowd-control equipment, and imposes new body camera and detailed reporting mandates. Furthermore, it creates affirmative duties for officers to intervene against excessive force and requires annual training on these new policies.

The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) continue to operate without interruption in fiscal year 2026 if standard appropriations are delayed. If funding lapses, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to use funds from the Treasury to provide benefits and reimburse state agencies. This special funding remains in effect until full appropriations are enacted or until September 30, 2026.

The Home for the Brave Act of 2025 ensures that veterans' disability compensation and dependency/indemnity compensation are not counted as household income by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This change will positively affect eligibility and the calculation of housing assistance benefits for veterans and their families.

The Community Investment and Prosperity Act aims to boost community welfare by increasing existing investment limits for financial institutions. Specifically, this legislation raises the statutory investment cap from 15% to 20% within relevant sections of the Revised Statutes and the Federal Reserve Act. This adjustment is intended to encourage greater investment activity.

This bill, the Accelerating Home Building Act, authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award grants to local entities. These grants will help eligible entities select pre-reviewed construction designs for use in building mixed-income, low-rise or mid-rise housing structures. The goal is to speed up housing approvals by utilizing designs already vetted for local building codes, though the funds cannot be used for actual construction.

This resolution designates October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month to highlight the widespread and devastating impact of intimate partner violence across all demographics. It recognizes the urgent need to eliminate domestic violence and supports increased funding for intervention and prevention programs. The resolution underscores the severe physical, emotional, and economic toll this abuse takes on individuals, families, and communities.

The RESTRAIN Act prohibits the United States from conducting any explosive testing of nuclear weapons or any other nuclear explosion, effective in fiscal year 2026 and beyond. This legislation specifically bans the use of authorized funds for such testing. However, the Act explicitly allows for the continuation of subcritical nuclear tests.

The Births in Custody Reporting Act of 2025 mandates that states receiving federal funding must quarterly report detailed, anonymized data to the Attorney General regarding pregnant individuals and those who have given birth in state or local custody. This data includes pregnancy testing, prenatal care, birth outcomes, and the use of restraints during these periods. States failing to comply face potential reductions in federal funding, and the Attorney General must make all reports public and conduct a study on improving inmate care.

The American Energy Independence and Affordability Act is a comprehensive bill designed to lower energy costs by extending and adjusting key tax incentives across energy production, efficiency, and clean vehicle adoption. It stabilizes support for renewable energy manufacturing, extends deadlines for energy-efficient building credits, and ensures consumer incentives for electric vehicles remain available through 2032. Overall, the legislation aims to provide long-term certainty for energy investments and consumer adoption of cleaner technologies.