Legislative Activity

The Rivers Law amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act to implement new mandatory safety standards for funded child care providers. This legislation prohibits the operation of swimming pools on child care premises. Furthermore, it requires all covered facilities to install alarms on all doors and windows for enhanced security.

The Restore Trust in Congress Act establishes strict new rules prohibiting Members of Congress and their immediate families from owning or trading specific financial assets, referred to as "covered investments," while in office. Covered individuals must divest existing prohibited holdings within a set timeframe or face significant financial penalties, including fines and forfeiture of profits. The legislation aims to eliminate conflicts of interest arising from personal financial trading while serving in federal office.

The Union Participation for All Act completely repeals the section of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 that prohibited certain individuals from holding office in labor organizations. This legislation removes a long-standing ban, opening up leadership positions within unions to a wider range of people. The bill also makes minor conforming amendments to ensure other reporting requirements align with the repeal.

The Dont STEAL Act ensures employees are paid at least the highest amount guaranteed by their contract or federal/state law. It strengthens the Fair Labor Standards Act by establishing new criminal penalties, including potential prison time, for employers who willfully commit wage theft exceeding $1,000. Furthermore, fines collected from these new criminal penalties will fund the Department of Labor's enforcement efforts.

The Land of the Free Act of 2025 repeals a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that previously made certain protected speech activities grounds for making an alien deportable. This legislation removes a specific restriction, ensuring that engaging in protected speech will no longer be a basis for removal from the United States under that provision.

The Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2025 aims to protect consumers by prohibiting grocery stores from charging "grossly excessive" prices for food items. The bill also bans stores from adjusting prices based on personal tracking data, such as facial recognition, and requires clear signage if facial recognition technology is used. Furthermore, it mandates that large physical grocery stores must use printed signs instead of electronic shelf labels for displaying prices.

The Warehouse Worker Protection Act establishes new federal standards to increase transparency and fairness for warehouse workers at large companies by mandating disclosure of performance quotas and monitoring data. It guarantees mandatory paid rest breaks, strengthens protections against using quotas to suppress organizing efforts, and introduces new federal ergonomics and safety standards under OSHA. The bill creates a new Department of Labor office to enforce these provisions and invalidates mandatory pre-dispute arbitration for related claims.

The Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act mandates that Members of Congress and their immediate families divest from or place specific stock holdings into qualified blind trusts to prevent conflicts of interest. The bill also establishes new civil penalties for failing to comply with existing stock trading disclosure laws (the STOCK Act). Furthermore, it requires that congressional financial disclosure forms be made publicly available online in a searchable, machine-readable format.

The Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act of 2025 repeals specific prior reconciliation health provisions. This bill significantly expands eligibility for the Premium Tax Credit by eliminating the 400% Federal Poverty Level income cap. It also updates the subsidy calculation formula to ensure a smoother, linear adjustment of assistance across various income levels.

The Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Act of 2025 immediately enacts the final rule on gas pipeline leak detection and repair issued by PHMSA in January 2025. This legislation fast-tracks these new federal safety standards into effect upon signing. Furthermore, it preserves the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to implement even stricter future safety regulations for gas pipelines.

The Click to Cancel Act of 2025 officially codifies the Federal Trade Commission's "click-to-cancel" rule into federal law. This mandates that businesses provide consumers with a simple, online method to cancel subscriptions. Violations of this new law will be enforced by the FTC using its existing authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The Restoring Essential Healthcare Act repeals an outdated ban that prevented Medicaid from making payments to certain healthcare providers. This legislation ensures that these previously prohibited entities will now be reimbursed for medical services rendered between the enactment of the original ban and the passage of this Act. In short, it restores payment eligibility and retroactively covers past services.

The EATS Act of 2025 significantly updates eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by removing previous restrictions that often disqualified students. This legislation explicitly includes bona fide students enrolled at least half-time in recognized educational programs as eligible participants for food assistance. These changes take effect on January 2, 2026.

The Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025 aims to shield consumers from the negative impact of medical bills on their financial standing. This legislation prohibits the reporting of any adverse information related to medical debt on consumer credit reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Furthermore, it bans lenders from using a consumer's medical debt history when making decisions about granting credit.

The Ethics in Energy Act of 2025 prohibits covered electric and natural gas utilities from passing the costs of political influencing activities onto their customers through rate requests. The Act mandates that FERC establish new accounting rules to segregate these "covered expenses" and requires utilities to submit detailed annual reports on all such political spending. Utilities found to have wrongly charged ratepayers for these expenses will face significant financial penalties, with collected funds split between customer rebates and enforcement.

The Protected Time Off Act establishes a federal minimum standard for earned paid annual leave, requiring employers to grant employees at least one hour of paid time off for every 25 hours worked, up to 80 hours annually. This law specifies how leave is accrued, used, and rolled over, while protecting employees from retaliation for exercising these rights. It also ensures that existing state laws or agreements that provide more generous leave benefits remain in effect. Enforcement mechanisms are established, largely mirroring those under the Fair Labor Standards Act, allowing both government investigation and direct employee lawsuits.

The Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act aims to significantly reform the detention of pregnant and postpartum noncitizens by establishing a presumption against their detention. This bill strictly limits the use of physical restraints on pregnant detainees and mandates comprehensive reproductive healthcare access. Furthermore, it requires detailed quarterly and annual reporting on the treatment and outcomes of pregnant individuals in custody.

The End Polluter Welfare Act of 2025 is a comprehensive bill designed to eliminate financial support for the fossil fuel industry across the federal government. It achieves this by terminating numerous tax incentives, increasing royalties on federal energy leases, and blocking federal funding for fossil fuel projects through various agencies. Ultimately, the Act aims to shift financial burdens onto polluters while redirecting federal support toward cleaner energy initiatives.

This bill, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, updates the eligibility requirements for creating records of lawful admission for long-term residents. It replaces a fixed entry date with a new standard requiring applicants to have resided in the U.S. for at least seven years prior to applying. These revised provisions will take effect 60 days after the Act is enacted.

The Restoring Artistic Protection Act of 2025 (RAP Act) seeks to limit the admissibility of a defendant's creative or artistic expression in court proceedings. This bill adds a new rule to the Federal Rules of Evidence, generally banning the use of a defendant's art as evidence against them. The government can only introduce such evidence if it meets strict exceptions requiring clear and convincing proof that the art directly relates to the facts of the case and possesses unique evidentiary value. If admitted, the court must provide specific instructions to the jury regarding its consideration.