United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2025
Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act or the SPEED Act This bill limits the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and modifies the environmental review of major federal actions under NEPA to generally limit the number of federal actions that trigger NEPA review and to expedite the review process. For example, the bill redefines major federal actions , including to specify that an agency may not determine that an action is a major federal action based solely on the provision of federal funds. It also excludes from the requirement for NEPA review certain proposed agency actions that have already been reviewed under another federal, state, or tribal environmental review statute that meets the requirements of NEPA. The bill directs an agency, when preparing an environmental document for a proposed agency action, to consider only those effects proximately caused by the immediate project or action under consideration. Agencies may not consider effects that are speculative, attenuated from the project or action, separate in time or place from the project or action, or in relation to separate projects or actions. The bill modifies the requirement for agencies to prepare an environmental assessment to apply to agency actions that are not likely to have a reasonably foreseeable significant effect on the quality of the human environment. (Currently, the requirement only applies to actions that do not have such an effect.) The bill makes a variety of other modifications to NEPA, including by limiting judicial review of NEPA cases.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2025
Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act or the SCORE Act This bill provides a framework for the compensation of student athletes for the use of their name, image, or likeness (NIL). This includes addressing certain elements of the court approved agreement to settle the In re College Athlete NIL Litigation (i.e., House settlement ). Specifically, the bill statutorily prohibits institutions, conferences, or interstate intercollegiate athletic associations (e.g., the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)) from restricting the ability of a student athlete to enter an NIL agreement. The bill also requires institutions of higher education that generate $20 million or more in annual revenue from the institution's intercollegiate athletics activities to (1) provide counseling and medical benefits to student athletes, and (2) establish and maintain at least 16 varsity sports teams. Further, the bill authorizes interstate intercollegiate athletic associations to establish rules with respect to athletic eligibility, transfers, recruitment, and the disclosure of NIL agreements. Under the bill, student athletes may not be considered employees of an institution, conference, or interstate intercollegiate athletic association. The bill also preempts state laws with respect to compensation, payments, benefits, employment status, eligibility, and academic standards applicable to student athletes. Compliance with the provisions of this bill is considered lawful under federal and state antitrust laws.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2025
Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act or the PAPA Act of 2025 This bill limits how Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data may be used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government agencies. The bill also establishes disclosure requirements for certain user fees imposed on general aviation aircraft at public-use airports and limits the purposes for which the fees may be used. As background, ADS-B transmits information (e.g., location and weather information) between aircraft and air traffic control. The bill prohibits a person or government agency from using ADS-B data to identify an aircraft in order to impose a charge on the aircraft owner or operator. The bill also specifies that air traffic controllers may only use ADS-B data to assist in tracking aircraft and improving air traffic safety and efficiency, or for other purposes determined appropriate by the Department of Transportation after notice and public comment. Further, the bill prohibits any federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal official from initiating an investigation (excluding a criminal investigation) of a person based exclusively on ADS-B data. Under current law, this prohibition only applies to the FAA. In addition, owners and operators of public-use airports must publicly disclose financial information about certain expenses and cost estimates for airside safety projects (e.g., runway or taxiway safety improvements) prior to charging landing or takeoff fees for general aviation aircraft (e.g., aircraft used for personal, recreational, or flight training purposes). Further, any revenue from these fees may only be used for airside safety projects.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2025
Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2025 This bill repeals provisions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) that limit, for purposes of Medicare participation, self-referrals by newly constructed or expanded physician-owned hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2025
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 various federal grants for state, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and service providers to support individuals who reenter the community following a period of incarceration. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes the following: grants for adult and juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects; grants for family-based substance abuse treatment programs; grants to evaluate and improve educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; grants for career training education; the offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration program; and grants to nonprofit organizations for community-based mentoring and transitional services.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2025
Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act This bill provides for permanent coverage under Medicare of certain pharmacist services. Specifically, the bill provides for permanent coverage of testing and treatment services provided by pharmacists relating to (1) COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat); and (2) other public health needs in relation to a declared public health emergency. (Similar authorities were temporarily granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency.) Such services must be provided in accordance with the applicable state laws governing pharmacists' scope of practice.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2025
Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 This bill expands federal enforcement of criminal offenses related to organized retail and supply chain crime. The term organized retail and supply chain crime includes criminal offenses involving the interstate transportation of stolen property, the sale or receipt of stolen goods, or theft from an interstate or foreign shipment that is committed by, in coordination with, or at the instruction of an organization. First, with respect to criminal offenses involving the interstate transportation of stolen property or the sale or receipt of stolen goods, the bill broadens the scope of conduct that qualifies as offenses by allowing prosecutions to be based on the aggregate value of stolen items over a 12-month period. Additionally, the bill makes the offenses predicate offenses (i.e., underlying offenses) for prosecutions under the federal money laundering statute and authorizes the criminal forfeiture of any property obtained from the proceeds of an offense. Second, with respect to criminal offenses involving theft from an interstate or foreign shipment, the bill also makes an offense an underlying offense for prosecution under the federal money laundering statute and authorizes the criminal forfeiture of any associated property. Third, the bill expands the federal money laundering statute to include offenses involving general-use prepaid cards, gift certificates, or store gift cards. Finally, the bill temporarily establishes a center within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate federal law enforcement activities related to organized retail and supply chain crime.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2025
Save Our Sequoias Act This bill provides for the conservation of giant sequoia trees ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) in California. Specifically, it provides statutory authority for the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition and outlines the coalition's duties. The coalition must submit a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment and annually update it. The information from the assessment must be made available so the information can be integrated into certain other plans. The coalition must also create and maintain a website that contains the assessment, educational materials, searchable information about individual giant sequoia groves, and a searchable database to track the status and costs of reforestation and rehabilitation activities. In addition, the bill declares an emergency on certain public lands and allows officials to carry out protection plans during the emergency to respond to the threat of wildfires, insects, and drought. The emergency expires after seven years. The Department of the Interior must develop and implement a Giant Sequoia Reforestation and Rehabilitation Strategy. Finally, the bill establishes a variety of programs and funds to support the conservation of giant sequoias.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
CBO Scoring Accountability Act This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide additional cost estimates and reports regarding major legislation that has been enacted into law. Under the bill, major legislation is any bill or joint resolution that would be projected to result in outlays of mandatory spending or receipts of federal revenue equal to or greater than 0.25% of the current projected gross domestic product of the United States for that year. For the first 10 years after major legislation has been enacted into law, the bill requires CBO to annually prepare and make publicly available an analysis of the results of carrying out the provisions of the legislation. The analysis must include an estimate of the costs and the change in federal revenue as a result of the legislation, a comparison of the current and previous estimates of the costs and change in revenue, and any applicable updates to the estimates. The bill also requires CBO to submit reports to Congress that explain any discrepancy between the actual and estimated costs and change in revenue that is greater than or equal to 10%.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Comprehensive Alternative Response for Emergencies Act of 2025 or the CARE Act of 2025 This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a five-year model that provides for Medicare payment for ground ambulance services that do not result in the transport of the patient. Under the model, Medicare payment may be furnished for ground ambulance services when an ambulance is dispatched in response to an emergency medical call but the ambulance does not end up transporting the patient. Payment rates under the model must generally align with the payment rates that apply when there is an actual transport. The Government Accountability Office must report on the general access of Medicare beneficiaries to emergency medical services, including the impact of the model on beneficiary access and outcomes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
This resolution supports the designation of Second Chance Month to promote awareness of unnecessary legal and social barriers that prevent individuals with criminal records from becoming productive members of society.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 This bill imposes penalties on certain persons (individuals and entities) if the President determines that the Russian government or a person acting at Russia's direction is involved with (1) refusing to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine; (2) violating a negotiated peace agreement; (3) initiating another invasion of Ukraine; or (4) overthrowing, dismantling, or seeking to subvert the Ukrainian government. If the President makes such a determination, the bill requires certain actions including the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides defense items to the Russian armed forces; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported from Russia into the United States to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the Department of the Treasury must impose property-blocking sanctions on any financial institution organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia, and any financial institution that engages in transactions with those entities; and the Department of Commerce must prohibit the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or in Russia of any U.S.-produced energy or energy product.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2025
Tipped Employee Protection Act This bill modifies the definition of a tipped employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to exclude consideration of an employee's duties when determining if the employee is a tipped employee. Under current law, tipped employees may be paid less than the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 an hour), but the total of their cash wage and tips must be at least equal to the federal minimum wage. Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is currently a worker who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. The bill broadens the definition of tipped employee to include any worker who receives tips and other cash wages for a work period at a rate that is at least the federal minimum wage, without regard to the duties of the employee. Under the bill, the work period is a work period that is determined by the employer.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2025
Protecting Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services Act of 2025 This bill extends the specialized rate increase for Medicare payment of ground ambulance services in rural areas for an additional three years (until January 1, 2028).
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2025
Lowering Egg Prices Act of 2025 This bill permits unrefrigerated surplus eggs originally intended for hatching to be repurposed for use in pasteurized liquid egg products intended for consumption. Under current regulations, most eggs intended for consumption must be refrigerated within 36 hours of being laid. The bill would exempt from this requirement surplus broiler hatching eggs (eggs originally intended to be hatched and raised for meat) that are repurposed for sale to an egg breaker (a facility that sells liquid egg to food manufacturers). (Broiler hatching eggs are generally held at a warmer temperature than other eggs in order to facilitate incubation. Because these eggs are not refrigerated, current regulations prohibit the sale of any surplus broiler hatching eggs to egg breakers for use in liquid egg products. Liquid egg products distributed for consumption are separately required under current law to be pasteurized, or treated to destroy bacteria.) The bill also requires the Food and Drug Administration to revise the refrigeration requirement to permit surplus broiler hatching eggs held at temperatures suitable for hatching chicks to be sold to egg breakers for processing as liquid egg products.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2025
Safe Routes Act of 2025 This bill directs the Department of Transportation to waive vehicle weight limits for covered logging vehicles, thus allowing logging vehicles to travel on interstate highways in certain circumstances. The term covered logging vehicle means a vehicle that (1) is transporting raw or unfinished forest products, including logs, pulpwood, biomass, or wood chips; (2) is traveling a distance not greater than 150 air miles on interstate highways from origin to a storage or processing facility; and (3) meets state legal weight tolerances and vehicle configurations for transporting raw or unfinished forest products within the state boundaries in which the vehicle is operating.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2025
ESA Amendments Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 the Endangered Species Act and generally narrows protections provided under the act. The bill directs the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to submit a National Listing Work Plan that establishes a five-year schedule and plan for addressing listing of endangered or threatened species and designation of critical habitats for such species. Under the plan, the bill gives the Services flexibility on the timing of acting on listing petitions and eliminates the requirement for the Services to act within 12 months on listing petitions. The bill limits what land may be designated as critical habitat for an endangered or threatened species. It also limits protections provided to threatened species and allows a state to regulate the recovery of such species if the Services determine the state's proposed recovery strategy would conserve the species. The bill provides statutory authority for Conservation Benefit Agreements, which allow private landowners to voluntarily enter agreements to reduce threats to candidate species in exchange for being allowed to continue their operations if the species is later listed. The bill also modifies the permitting process for certain other voluntary conservation agreements, including by exempting incidental take permits (e.g., permits to harm or kill a species) from environmental review requirements. The bill also makes a variety of other changes to the act, including limiting consultation requirements, judicial review, and awards for attorneys’ fees in certain cases.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2025
Dentist and Optometric Care Access Act of 2025 or the DOC Access Act of 20 25 This bill prohibits private health insurance plans from setting rates for items and services, except for dental cleanings, provided by a doctor of optometry, of dental surgery, or of dental medicine (or an employer of such a doctor) for which the plan does not pay a substantial amount. Additionally, an agreement between a plan and such a doctor for limited scope dental or vision benefits may last longer than two years only with the prior acceptance of the doctor for each term extension. Plans also may not restrict such a doctor's choice of laboratories or suppliers. Such doctors may elect to waive the application of the payment amount and choice of laboratories provisions of this bill. The bill does not supersede state laws regarding health insurers and dental or vision benefit plans.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2025
North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to recognize the individuals and communities that provided financial and other support for the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2025
Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025 This bill imposes sanctions on certain foreign persons (individuals and entities) that are involved in Iran's petroleum sector as well as certain associated persons. The bill also requires or authorizes actions to facilitate the enforcement of sanctions on Iran. Specifically, the bill requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person that, after the bill's enactment, knowingly engages in any transaction related to the processing, export, or sale of oil, condensates, gas, liquefied natural gas, or other petrochemical products in whole or in part from Iran. The President must also impose sanctions on certain foreign persons associated with a sanctioned individual or entity. For example, the President must sanction the subsidiaries and corporate officers of a sanctioned business. The bill provides certain exceptions to these sanctions, including specifying that sanctions do not apply to the importation of goods or to conducting or facilitating transactions for humanitarian assistance. The Department of State must establish an interagency working group that shall seek to establish a multilateral contact group to coordinate international efforts to enforce sanctions on Iran. The bill expands the State Department rewards program to authorize a reward payment to any individual who furnishes information leading to the identification of a person (1) subject to sanctions under this bill, or (2) that has attempted or is attempting to evade sanctions under this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Collision Avoidance Systems Act of 2025 This bill allows for the use of a pulsating light system for vehicle braking. Specifically, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 108 (Standard 108) must be deemed to allow for the use of a pulsating light system on covered vehicles (i.e., passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, and motorcycles). The Department of Transportation must issue regulations to update Standard 108 to (1) include performance-based standards for pulsating light systems, and (2) allow for the use of the systems on motor vehicles. As background, Standard 108 regulates all automotive lighting, signaling, and reflective devices. Under the bill, a pulsating light system includes a system for a high-mounted stop lamp in which the lamp pulses rapidly no more than four times and for no more than 1.2 seconds when the brake of the vehicle is applied and then converts to a continuous light (as a normal stop lamp) until the brake is released.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
This concurrent resolution declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
This resolution supports the designation of National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Week. It also celebrates the 90th anniversary of New Farmers of America (NFA), which served Black vocational agriculture students in segregated public schools until NFA and FFA became one organization in 1965. The resolution also commemorates the 75th anniversary of the federal charter for the Future Farmers of America.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2025
Give Kids a Chance Act of 2025 This bill expands the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) authority with respect to research on rare pediatric diseases, including by permitting the FDA to take enforcement action against drug sponsors that fail to satisfy pediatric study requirements and by reauthorizing programs that support pediatric research. Specifically, the bill modifies requirements relating to molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations to permit research on new drugs in combination with active ingredients that have already been approved, provided certain conditions are met; permits the FDA to take enforcement action against drug sponsors that fail to comply with pediatric study requirements, if such sponsors demonstrated a lack of due diligence in satisfying the requirement; renews the FDA’s authority to award priority review vouchers to sponsors of new products intended to treat rare pediatric diseases through September 30, 2029; and reauthorizes through FY2027 certain funding for the National Institutes of Health to support priority pediatric research. The bill also provides statutory authority for the FDA’s interpretation of the orphan drug exclusivity period. The bill specifies, consistent with FDA regulations, that the seven-year market exclusivity period for drugs for rare diseases or conditions (i.e., orphan drugs) prohibits the approval of the same drug for the same approved use or indication with respect to the disease or condition. (In Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Becerra , a court rejected the FDA’s interpretation and held that orphan drug exclusivity extends to all uses or indications for the disease or condition.)
![Official portrait of Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000821_200.jpg)