Legislative Activity

This resolution recognizes the 90th anniversary of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), honoring its historic legacy founded by Mary McLeod Bethune. It celebrates NCNW's continued dedication to advocating for racial justice, gender equality, and community empowerment across the nation. The bill commends the organization's ongoing work in strengthening families, expanding opportunity, and promoting health equity.

The Housing Crisis Response Act of 2025 is a comprehensive bill making major federal investments across four key areas to address the national housing crisis. It allocates over $78 billion to create, preserve, and repair affordable housing, expand rental assistance, and improve housing accessibility and efficiency. The Act also introduces significant new programs to boost first-time and first-generation homeownership through downpayment assistance and new mortgage products. Finally, it provides funding to strengthen HUD administration and build the capacity of local housing organizations.

This bill, the International Financial Access Improvements Act, enhances reporting requirements on how countries combat narcotics-related money laundering in the President's annual report. It mandates that the Treasury Secretary consult on and produce a separate volume of the report detailing money laundering issues for specific Congressional committees. Furthermore, the Secretary of the Treasury must report on steps being taken to ensure more consistent Bank Secrecy Act examinations across relevant agencies.

This act mandates that recipients of certain federal housing and community development funds must create and maintain a publicly accessible, searchable online database of all undeveloped land they own. This requirement takes effect starting October 1, 2026.

The Urban and Rural Diabetes Initiative Act establishes a new grant program to improve diabetes treatment access in medically underserved urban and rural areas. This funding supports eligible health providers in offering comprehensive diabetes care, including routine treatment, education, and specialized services like eye and foot care. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will award these grants, ensuring equitable distribution across both urban and rural communities.

The Head Start Shutdown Protection Act of 2025 ensures that states, local governments, or school districts are reimbursed for any of their own funds used to keep Head Start and Early Head Start programs operational during a lapse in federal appropriations. This legislation protects these vital early childhood education services from disruption caused by government shutdowns. By guaranteeing reimbursement, the Act encourages local entities to maintain program continuity without bearing the financial burden.

The Justice for Exonerees Act aims to increase financial relief for individuals who have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned. This bill raises the maximum compensation award from $\$50,000$ to $\$70,000$. Furthermore, it mandates that this award amount will be automatically adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation.

The HIV Prevention Now Act secures **\$2.165 billion** in dedicated funding for the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention for Fiscal Year 2026. This appropriation is specifically earmarked to support the center's prevention programs and activities. This funding is supplemental to, and cannot be transferred from, other existing appropriations.

The PrEP and PEP are Prevention Act mandates that essential HIV prevention services, including FDA-approved medications like PrEP and PEP, must be covered at no cost to the patient across private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. This law eliminates financial barriers such as deductibles, copays, and prior authorization requirements for these preventive treatments and necessary related care. The goal is to ensure universal, barrier-free access to critical HIV prevention tools.

This resolution formally honors Paul Kawata for his decades of dedicated service and unwavering commitment to health equity. It recognizes his profound impact as a leader in the fight against the HIV epidemic, specifically championing communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community. The bill celebrates his role in shaping national policy and advocating for justice, inclusion, and dignity for marginalized populations.

The Strengthening Housing Supply Act of 2025 amends the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to explicitly allow federal funds to be used for the **new construction of affordable housing**. This change broadens the eligible uses for CDBG funds while maintaining existing requirements that the housing benefits low- and moderate-income persons. These new provisions only apply to funds appropriated by Congress after the Act's enactment.

The Ending Homelessness Act of 2025 aims to significantly reduce homelessness by making housing choice vouchers an entitlement program starting in 2029 and immediately expanding the voucher supply for extremely low-income families. The bill also prohibits housing discrimination based on source of income and establishes new, dedicated funding streams for emergency relief and supportive services under the McKinney-Vento Act. Finally, it repeals certain ineligibility criteria for housing assistance and sets priorities for funding based on local policies that encourage affordable housing and decriminalize homelessness.

The American Access to Banking Act aims to streamline the process for launching new financial institutions by simplifying application reviews and improving capital raising efforts. It establishes dedicated support systems, including caseworkers and mentorship programs, to guide applicants through regulatory hurdles. Furthermore, the bill mandates federal regulators to develop public engagement plans to better coordinate with state regulators and industry stakeholders. Ultimately, this legislation seeks to foster the creation of new banks while maintaining strong investor and consumer protections.

This bill, officially titled the Aligning SEC Regulations for the World Bank’s International Development Association Act, exempts securities issued or guaranteed by the International Development Association (IDA) from most standard registration and disclosure requirements under federal securities laws. While generally exempt, the IDA must still file appropriate reports with the SEC, subject to the Commission's oversight. This exemption takes effect after 30 days, unless the Treasury Secretary certifies that the IDA is providing aid to countries supporting international terrorism.

The Employee Paycheck and Small Business Protection Act significantly increases federal deposit insurance coverage for business operating accounts, establishing a special, high limit of up to $100 million per institution. This measure aims to protect the liquidity of businesses, non-profits, and municipalities by ensuring their essential transaction funds are fully insured. Additionally, the bill creates a temporary government guarantee program for these accounts, which can be activated during times of economic instability to maintain financial confidence. The relevant agencies are tasked with developing and implementing these new permanent and temporary insurance frameworks within strict deadlines.

The Medicaid Breast Cancer Access to Treatment Act expands Medicaid eligibility to cover certain individuals who have had breast or cervical cancer. This legislation also mandates that Medicaid coverage must include breast reconstruction surgery following a medically necessary mastectomy. These changes aim to ensure comprehensive care and remove financial barriers for cancer survivors under the program.

The Medicare Breast Reconstruction Access and Information Act mandates that suppliers performing medically necessary mastectomies must inform patients about their Medicare coverage for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. This information must be provided and documented in the patient's medical file before the surgery takes place. Failure to comply will result in Medicare withholding payment for the mastectomy procedure.

This Act directs the SEC to expand its support for small businesses seeking capital, with a specific focus on traditionally underrepresented groups. The SEC must now provide targeted educational materials and host outreach events for businesses owned by women or minorities, those in rural areas, or those impacted by natural disasters. Additionally, the bill mandates annual meetings between the SEC and state securities commissions to improve coordination in supporting small business capital formation.

The Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2025 establishes a new HUD grant program to provide downpayment and closing cost assistance to first-time, first-generation homebuyers. Funds will be distributed to states and eligible entities based on need and the number of qualified buyers in their area. Assistance is capped per buyer and requires mandatory homeownership counseling, with strict rules governing eligible mortgages and primary residency requirements.

The CLASS Act of 2025 aims to protect students' rights in legal disputes with institutions of higher education. It prohibits mandatory arbitration clauses in student enrollment agreements and forbids colleges receiving federal aid from requiring students to waive their right to sue the institution. These provisions will take effect one year after the Act is officially enacted.