Legislative Activity

This bill recognizes March 2025 as National Women's History Month, celebrating the historical contributions of women and the women's suffrage movement. It acknowledges key figures and milestones in women's rights, such as the first women's rights convention, the 19th Amendment, and influential leaders like Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony. The resolution supports the month's goals and honors those who promote women's history education.

The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2025 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct research on the effects of wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes. This includes identifying smoke exposure compounds, creating standard testing methods, building a database of natural smoke compound levels, developing risk assessment tools, and studying compounds that can protect grapes from smoke. The act authorizes $6,500,000 to be appropriated each year from 2026 through 2030 for these activities.

The "Mental Health Research Accelerator Act of 2025" introduces a tax credit for expenses related to translational research on neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric conditions. This credit aims to encourage the development of new treatments and devices for central nervous system disorders by offering a 25% tax credit for qualifying research expenses, subject to national limits and allocation based on scientific merit. The tax credit is available from 2026 through 2035, with specific funding amounts allocated for each year. This credit is designed to promote public-private partnerships and the repurposing of existing drugs while ensuring that expenses are not used for other research credits.

The Disaster Resiliency and Coverage Act of 2025 aims to increase household disaster resilience through a grant program for pre-disaster mitigation activities, tax exclusions for state-based catastrophe loss mitigation payments and certain emergency agricultural assistance, and a tax credit for disaster mitigation expenditures. The grant program will provide funds to states and tribal governments for mitigation activities on individual homes in high-risk disaster areas, while the tax exclusions and credit offer financial relief and incentives for individuals and agricultural producers affected by disasters. This act seeks to encourage proactive measures to protect homes and businesses from the impact of future disasters.

The "Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025" authorizes the EPA Administrator to award grants to air pollution control agencies for programs that help communities prepare for and lessen the impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat. It establishes Centers of Excellence for research on the public health effects of these events and directs the Administrator to conduct further research and develop interventions. The Act also creates a grant program for states, local governments, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to develop and implement community plans to reduce the effects of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.