United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2025
Healthy Food Financing Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes and provides specified funds for the Department of Agriculture's Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) through FY2030 and for each fiscal year thereafter. As background, HFFI provides loans, grants, and technical assistance resources to eligible healthy food retailers and food supply chain enterprises to improve and support access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food in urban and rural underserved communities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2025
Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a grant program to support operating projects for public transportation and related service improvements, particularly in underserved communities and areas of persistent poverty. Specifically, the bill requires DOT to allocate funding under the program for urbanized areas, states, and Indian tribes that are recipients of funds under either the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA's) Urbanized Area Formula Funding program or Formula Grants for Rural Areas program. Eligible recipients may use funding for operating costs associated with projects that improve public transportation service for transit-dependent populations and support increased transit ridership (e.g., service expansion, information technology enhancements, and workforce development). DOT must apportion the funding so that recipients receive funds that are proportional to their share of operating costs. The bill also provides for an increased federal cost share for operating assistance for projects or programs carried out in areas of persistent poverty or underserved communities. DOT must set up a multimodal access measurement interface for public agencies to aid transit agencies in determining and reporting on access to jobs and essential services. A grant recipient must (1) report specific information to the FTA for inclusion in the National Transit Database, and (2) survey transit riders and non-riding residents regarding transit service improvements. Further, the bill expands the purposes of the public transportation programs to include supporting public transportation's role in combating climate change through growing/retaining transit ridership.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2025
Increasing Investor Opportunities Act This bill allows a closed-end fund—a portfolio of pooled assets with a limited number of shares traded on an exchange—to increase its investment in private investment funds. Specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission is prohibited from limiting the sale or listing of securities of a closed-end fund that invests in private investment funds. This bill also apples to a closed-end company treated as a business development company.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2025
Small Entity Update Act This bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study approaches to reduce the impact of SEC rules on small businesses and other small entities, make appropriate recommendations, and revise applicable rules. Specifically, the bill requires the SEC to evaluate the current definition of small entity with respect to SEC rules. Under the bill, the SEC must provide specific and detailed recommendations to Congress on how the SEC can revise the definition of small entity to (1) align with specified statutory goals, including reducing unnecessary burdens on small entities; and (2) expand the number of entities covered. In addition, the SEC must adjust for inflation every five years any dollar amounts used to define small entities. The SEC must also revise the applicable rules to implement these recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2025
Assault Weapons Ban of 2025 This bill makes it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). The prohibition does not apply to a firearm that is (1) manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, except for certain shotguns; (2) permanently inoperable; (3) an antique; (4) only capable of firing rimfire ammunition; or (5) a rifle or shotgun specifically identified by make and model. The bill also exempts from the prohibition the following, with respect to a SAW or LCAFD: importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments; importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and possession by a retired law enforcement officer. The bill permits continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW, which must be securely stored. A licensed gun dealer must conduct a background check prior to the sale or transfer of a grandfathered SAW between private parties. The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD. Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification. Newly manufactured SAWs and LCAFDs must display the date of manufacture. The bill also allows a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender a SAW or LCAFD under a buy-back program.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2025
Equality Act This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity with respect to businesses, employment, housing, federally funded programs, and other settings. Specifically, the bill expands Title II and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit public accommodations and federally funded programs, respectively, from discriminating based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It also includes stores, transit services, recreational facilities, and establishments that provide health care, accounting, or legal services as public accommodations under Title II. The bill also expands Title IV (desegregation of public schools) and Title VII (employment discrimination) to specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity. (The Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII's prohibition of employment discrimination based on sex also prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.) The bill similarly expands the Fair Housing Act (discrimination in public and private housing) to include sexual orientation and gender identity. It also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity by creditors and with respect to jury selection. The bill defines sex for purposes of the aforementioned provisions to include sex stereotypes, pregnancy, childbirth, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2025
Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act This bill limits the circumstances in which credit reporting agencies may provide consumer credit reports to third parties in connection with residential mortgage transactions. Specifically, the bill prohibits a credit reporting agency from providing a consumer's credit report to a third party in connection with a residential mortgage transaction unless the transaction consists of a firm offer of credit or insurance and (1) the third party provides documentation certifying that it has the consumer's consent; or (2) the third party has originated a mortgage on behalf of the consumer, is a current mortgage loan servicer to the consumer, or has a current specified banking relationship with the consumer. These provisions take effect 180 days after the bill's enactment.
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 · 9 April 2025
Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act of 2025 This bill generally prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, receipt, or possession of a device that is primarily designed, or redesigned, to increase the rate of fire when attached to a semiautomatic firearm; a device, part, or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a firearm; or a semiautomatic firearm that has been modified to materially increase the rate of fire or to approximate the action or rate of fire of a machine gun. Additionally, the bill adds to the list of firearms subject to regulation under the National Firearms Act semiautomatic firearms that have been modified to materially increase the rate of fire or approximate the action or rate of fire of a machine gun.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Religious Workforce Protection Act This bill allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to extend the nonimmigrant visa status of certain religious workers. Under current law, if specified conditions are met, nonimmigrant religious workers may receive a visa for a period not to exceed five years. The bill allows DHS to grant an extension until the individual’s application for adjustment of status to permanent resident or an immigrant visa has been processed and a decision has been made. To be eligible for the extension, the individual must be (1) the beneficiary of a certain type of immigrant petition, and (2) eligible for such immigrant status absent the application of certain numerical limitations. Such individuals who have pending adjustment of status applications are also granted certain job flexibilities, such as the ability to change employers. Individuals who have previously departed the U.S. due to the expiration of their visa are exempt from the one-year foreign residence requirement to renew their visa.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2025
Federal Firearm Licensee Act This bill establishes new security requirements and expands recordkeeping and reporting requirements for federally licensed dealers, importers, and manufacturers of firearms (i.e., federal firearms licensees, or FFLs). The bill also broadens the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to administer federal firearms laws and enforce violations. Specifically, bill requires FFLs to implement and comply with a plan to secure their business premises, conduct quarterly physical checks of their business inventories, maintain video surveillance of the area where firearms are sold or transferred, and initiate firearms-related background checks for employees. Additionally, the bill requires FFLs to report to the ATF any inventory firearm that is lost, stolen, or unaccounted for and to notify the ATF about default-proceed transactions (i.e., allowable firearm transfers to an unlicensed person prior to the completion of a background check when the submitted background check remains incomplete after three business days). Finally, the bill removes limits on the ATF's authority to conduct activities related to the administration of federal firearms laws. It enhances the ATF's inspection authority, including by removing the limit on the number of annual compliance inspections (currently, one), requiring inspections of high-risk FFLs, and authorizing an additional 650 investigators. Finally, the bill directs the ATF to deny an application for a federal firearms license if it would endanger public safety or if the applicant is unlikely to comply with the law.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Freedom in School Cafeterias and Lunches Act or the FISCAL Act This bill revises requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to require that schools offer plant-based milk. Under current law, schools must provide a substitute for fluid milk for students whose disability restricts their diet (on receipt of a written statement from a licensed physician). Schools may also substitute a nondairy beverage for fluid milk for students who have an identified medical or other special dietary need (on receipt of a written statement from a medical authority or a student's parent or legal guardian). The bill eliminates the exceptions and documentation requirements. Instead, schools participating in the school lunch program must offer all students a plant-based milk option that is consistent with (1) the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines, or (2) USDA-established nutritional standards if the milk is not included under those guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Protect America's Workforce Act This bill nullifies the Executive Order titled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs (issued on March 27, 2025), which excludes specified executive agencies and subdivisions from the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. The statute authorizes federal employees' participation in collective bargaining and enforces collective bargaining rights. The bill also specifies that a covered collective bargaining agreement in place as of March 26, 2025, shall have full force and effect through the stated term of the agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Reentry Act of 2025 This bill allows for Medicaid payment of medical services furnished to an incarcerated individual during the 30-day period preceding the individual's release. The Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Payment and Access Commission must report on specified information relating to the accessibility and quality of health care for incarcerated individuals, including the impact of the bill's changes.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2025
This resolution expresses support for the goals and ideals of Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a painful condition in which the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2025
Food Secure Strikers Act of 2025 This bill allows certain striking workers and their households to maintain their eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Specifically, the bill provides that a household that would otherwise be eligible to participate in SNAP is eligible for benefits if any member of the household is on strike because of a labor dispute. Current law generally prohibits a household from participating in SNAP if any member of the household is on strike unless the household was eligible for SNAP immediately prior to the strike. Also, under current law, households are not eligible for an increased SNAP allotment as a result of the decreased income of a striking member of the household. The bill expands SNAP eligibility for households with striking workers by repealing both of these restrictions. The bill also allows a government employee who is dismissed for striking and their household to maintain SNAP program eligibility. Specifically, current law prohibits certain individuals who voluntarily and without good cause quit a job from participating in SNAP. Further, a federal, state, or local government employee who participates in a strike against the government that results in their dismissal is considered to have voluntarily quit without good cause. The bill eliminates the provision that considers the dismissed government employee to have voluntarily quit without good cause, thereby allowing the employee and their household to maintain SNAP program eligibility if they are otherwise eligible for the program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2025
Raise the Age Act of 2025 This bill establishes new restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals under 21 years of age. Specifically, this bill makes it unlawful for a licensed gun dealer, importer, manufacturer, or collector to sell or deliver a semiautomatic center-fire rifle or semiautomatic center-fire shotgun that has (or has the capacity to accept) an ammunition feeding device with a capacity of more than five rounds to an individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21. The prohibition does not apply if the individual under age 21 is a full-time law enforcement officer or active-duty member of the Armed Forces. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report on the operation of its public access line, including a description of information sharing protocols and recommendations for improving such protocols.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2025
This joint resolution provides that the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, was ratified by three-fourths of the states and is therefore a valid constitutional amendment, regardless of any time limit that was in the original proposal. The Equal Rights Amendment was originally proposed to the states in 1972. The original proposal included a deadline for ratification of March 22, 1979; Congress subsequently extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Although the requisite 38 states have ratified the amendment, three of these states did so after the deadlines, and five states subsequently rescinded their ratifications. The status of the amendment has been the subject of litigation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2025
Feed Hungry Veterans Act of 2025 This bill expands eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for certain disabled veterans, including those determined to be catastrophically disabled. In addition, those disabled veterans who are eligible for SNAP under this bill are exempt from the general SNAP work registration and employment and training requirements. The bill takes effect on October 1, 2030.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2025
Access to Small Business Investor Capital Act This bill allows a registered investment company to exclude from the calculation of acquired fund fees and expenses those incurred indirectly from investment in a business development company. Acquired fund fees and expenses is a required line item on a fund's fee schedule that provides the operating expenses of the fund.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2025
Medicare Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefit Act of 2025 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of dental, vision, and hearing care. Coverage includes (1) routine dental cleanings and exams, basic and major dental services, emergency dental care, and dentures; (2) routine eye exams, eyeglasses, and contact lenses; and (3) routine hearing exams, hearing aids, and exams for hearing aids. With respect to such care, the bill establishes special payment rules, limitations, and coinsurance requirements.
