Legislative Activity

This resolution recognizes May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, celebrating the significant contributions of these communities to the history and culture of the United States. It acknowledges key historical milestones and achievements, while also addressing past discrimination and ongoing challenges faced by these communities. The resolution aims to honor the diverse heritage and resilience of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, highlighting their importance in enriching and strengthening the nation.

This resolution condemns President Trump's attacks on the freedom of the press, citing specific instances of disparaging remarks, exclusion of media outlets, and actions against news organizations. It reaffirms the United States' commitment to protecting freedom of the press as vital for democracy and government accountability. The resolution expresses concern that these actions set a dangerous precedent, endangering journalists and emboldening authoritarian regimes, and calls for the release of imprisoned USAGM journalists.

This resolution expresses support for designating May 5, 2025, as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, acknowledging the ongoing crisis and need for increased awareness, resources, and updated research. It calls on the public to remember the lives lost and support the victims' families, while also urging the Department of Justice to conduct a new study to update statistics on this critical issue.

This resolution supports the designation of May 2025 as "Renewable Fuels Month" to recognize the benefits of renewable fuels. It highlights the positive impact of biofuels on the economy, job creation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and decreasing reliance on foreign oil. The resolution acknowledges the role of renewable fuels in lowering fuel prices, supporting rural communities, and reducing the carbon footprint of the United States.

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 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 "Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2025" aims to ensure students are fully informed about their loan obligations by enhancing pre-loan counseling with personalized debt and income estimates, and requiring students to confirm the exact loan amount they need. It also mandates quarterly statements during periods of non-payment, detailing loan balances, interest rates, and the benefits of making payments to reduce accruing interest. These changes are designed to promote responsible borrowing and minimize repayment difficulties.

The Net Price Calculator Improvement Act sets minimum standards for net price calculators at higher education institutions, requiring them to display clear and comprehensive cost and aid information. It mandates that calculators provide individualized net prices, total program costs, and breakdowns of financial aid, while also protecting user data. The Act also enables the Department of Education to develop a universal net price calculator, allowing students to easily compare costs across multiple institutions using a single tool. Finally, the Act requires consumer testing and congressional reporting to ensure the calculator's effectiveness and promote awareness of net price calculators, especially among middle school, high school, and low-income students.

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 "Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2025" aims to provide students with clear and standardized information about college costs and financial aid. It mandates the Department of Education to develop a standard "Financial Aid Offer" form with consistent terminology, ensuring that colleges present cost information, grants, scholarships, net price, and loan details in a transparent format. Colleges receiving federal aid must use this standard form and terminology in all financial aid communications. This act seeks to empower students and families to make informed decisions about financing higher education.

This resolution expresses support for designating April 1-30, 2025, as "Fair Chance Jobs Month" to promote the hiring of formerly incarcerated individuals. It aims to address the systemic barriers and stigmas that these individuals face when seeking employment, housing, healthcare, and nutrition. The resolution supports initiatives to remove obstacles to fair-chance hiring, expand job training programs, educate employers, and foster collaboration between various stakeholders to improve opportunities for returning citizens and communities affected by mass incarceration.

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.

**Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025 Summary:** This bill aims to expand and improve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program by updating state allocation formulas, reforming tenant eligibility requirements, and modifying credit eligibility rules. It also focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for Native Americans and in rural areas. Additionally, the bill updates terminology in the Internal Revenue Code to replace "low-income" with "affordable" when referring to housing tax credits, and promotes data sharing and discourages discriminatory land use policies to enhance transparency and effectiveness.

The Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2025 aims to support smaller meat and poultry establishments by providing resources for food safety planning, increasing the federal share of state inspection expenses, and expanding interstate shipment opportunities. It also establishes a grant program to enhance processing resilience and career training programs to develop a skilled workforce in the meat and poultry processing sector. The act focuses on improving the capacity and safety of local processing facilities, ensuring a more resilient and diversified meat supply chain.

The Arctic Refuge Protection Act of 2025 designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System. This act amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, providing increased protection to this area.

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 SAFE Act of 2025 amends the Animal Health Protection Act to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to negotiate agreements with foreign governments regarding regionalization, zoning, and compartmentalization in response to animal disease outbreaks that significantly threaten United States exports. These negotiations should consider global research advances. The Act clarifies that it does not limit the United States Trade Representative's ability to negotiate trade agreements.

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 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 Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act aims to improve mental health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups through increased funding, research, and culturally competent training and outreach programs. It mandates a study on mental health disparities, promotes best practices in healthcare training, requires a national outreach strategy, and allocates additional funds to the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The bill reauthorizes and expands grant programs to prioritize entities serving high proportions of racial and ethnic minority groups.