United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2025
Community Services Block Grant Improvement Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program through FY2032 and makes certain changes to the program and associated eligibility requirements. The CSBG program supports various antipoverty activities, primarily through formula-based allotments to states, tribes, and territories, the majority of which must be made available in grants to eligible local entities. Specifically, the bill permanently sets the measure of eligibility for services, assistance, or resources provided directly to individuals or families under the program at 200% of the poverty line. (Under current law, the eligibility measure is temporarily set at 200% of the poverty line, an increase from the previous measure of 125% of the poverty line.) The bill also makes certain changes to the permitted uses of funding, including by allowing CSBG funds to be used to facilitate low-income individuals’ and communities’ access to high-speed broadband, digital literacy training, technical support, and other services. States may also use certain funds allocated for training and technical assistance to assist eligible entities in responding to statewide and regional conditions that create economic insecurity, including emergency conditions. The bill also expands requirements for the plans that states must submit to the Department of Health and Human Services in order to receive CSBG funds (e.g., transparency assurances), and sets deadlines by which states must make funds available to eligible entities. Finally, the bill repeals a provision that allowed states to use CSBG funds to offset revenue losses associated with state charity tax credits.
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 · 28 April 2025
Protecting America's Workers Act This bill expands the coverage of requirements governing workplace safety and health to include protection for federal, state, and local government employees. However, the bill does not cover working conditions otherwise covered by federal requirements for mine safety and health. The bill revises requirements governing worker protection, including by expanding protections for whistle-blowers, such as protections for employees who refuse to perform work because they reasonably believe the work would result in serious injury or illness and for employees who aid inspections; directing employers to furnish a hazard-free place of employment to all individuals performing work, not just employees; directing employers to report work-related deaths or certain injuries, illnesses, or hospitalizations; establishing rights for victims, or representatives of victims, with respect to inspections or investigations of work-related bodily injuries or deaths; and setting the permitted period for employers to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations while citations for the violations are being contested. The bill also revises enforcement and oversight of workplace safety, including by increasing civil and criminal penalties for certain violations, requiring the Department of Labor to investigate fatalities or significant incidents in the workplace, expanding enforcement requirements relating to state occupational safety and health plans, expanding requirements for workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and requiring Labor to provide training programs concerning employee rights and employer responsibilities.
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
No Tax Breaks for Union Busting (NTBUB) Act This bill excludes from the tax deduction for ordinary and necessary business expenses amounts paid or incurred to influence employees with respect to labor organizations or labor organization activities. The bill also imposes information reporting requirements related to such expenses and imposes penalties for failure to comply. Under the bill, amounts paid to influence employees with respect to labor organizations include amounts paid (including wages and other costs) in connection with an action that results in a complaint or settlement related to an unfair labor practice or a finding of interference, influence, or coercion related to railway employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively; for any meeting or training attended by employees and at which labor organizations are discussed; and that require certain employer disclosures and financial reporting. (Some exceptions apply.) The bill requires employers to file a return reporting certain information related to expenses paid to influence employees with respect to labor organizations and imposes a penalty for noncompliance. The amount of the penalty is the greater of (1) $10,000, or (2) $1,000 multiplied by the number full-time equivalent employees. Additional penalties apply for violations that continue for more than 90 days. The bill also imposes information reporting requirements on persons conducting activities on behalf of another person to influence employees with respect to labor organizations. The bill allows certain penalties for noncompliance with the reporting requirements to be waived if noncompliance is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025 This bill increases student access to free school lunches and breakfasts under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Specifically, the bill expands program eligibility to include students in households with income at or below 224% of the federal poverty level. (Currently, students in households with income at or below 130% are eligible.) The bill also eliminates the reduced price school lunch and breakfast programs and prohibits USDA from providing reimbursements for reduced price programs. States may use Medicaid participation data to directly certify students for free school meals. (Direct certification allows schools to approve meals without the need for a separate application for children who receive assistance under other programs.) Under current law, states may apply to participate in a USDA demonstration project to directly certify children for free and reduced price meals based on household income data acquired through Medicaid. Further, the bill increases the number of free meals a school in a high-poverty area may be reimbursed for at the free-meal rate under the Community Eligibility Provision. (This provision allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts to offer free meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting separate applications.) Specifically, the bill increases from 1.6% to 2.5% the reimbursement multiplier, which is used to calculate how many meals USDA will reimburse the school for at the free meal rate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act This bill requires the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program to identify deceased members of the Armed Forces who were Jewish and buried in a U.S. military cemetery located outside of the United States under a marker indicating the member was not Jewish. The program must contact survivors and descendants of such members. The ABMC must seek to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to carry out the program during the first 10 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2025
Keep STEM Talent Act of 2025 This bill addresses issues relating to non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) with advanced degrees in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field, including exempting certain such individuals from direct limitations on the number of immigrant visas granted per year. To be exempt from the annual numerical limitations on immigrant visas, the individual must (1) have earned a master's level or higher degree in certain STEM fields while in the United States attending an accredited higher education institution, (2) be employed (or have an offer) to perform work directly related to the degree and earn higher than the median wage for that occupation, and (3) meet certain labor certification requirements. The bill also allows an individual seeking a nonimmigrant F-1 (student) visa for an advanced STEM degree to obtain the nonimmigrant visa even if the individual seeks lawful permanent resident status. (Generally, an individual may be denied a nonimmigrant visa if the individual actually intends to seek immigrant status, unless dual intent is allowed for that visa.) Under this bill, to be approved for an F-1 visa for an advanced STEM degree, the applicant must apply for the visa before beginning the advanced degree program. The bill also requires an individual who is inside the United States and applying for an F-1 visa for an advanced STEM degree to undergo the same vetting (e.g., verifying academic credentials and undergoing background checks) as an individual applying from outside the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
New Producer Economic Security Act This bill establishes the New Producer Economic Security Program within the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to provide funding and grants to help new farmers, ranchers, and forest owners. Specifically, the FSA must make competitive grants to, enter into cooperative agreements with, or provide other capital support to eligible entities (e.g., state or local governments, Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education). These entities must provide direct assistance to qualified farmers, ranchers, and forest owners (e.g., those who have not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 consecutive years or are economically disadvantaged). The bill specifically excludes from assistance any foreign-based or foreign-owned corporation. The direct assistance may include payments to qualified beneficiaries to acquire real property (including air rights and water rights), secure clear title on heirs' property, and improve or remediate land, water, and soil. Eligible entities may also use grants (1) to provide direct assistance to qualified beneficiaries in assessing, purchasing, acquiring, or retaining eligible land; (2) for activities designed to support farm establishment and long-term viability; and (3) to provide technical assistance. The FSA must establish a stakeholder committee, and in collaboration with the committee, develop a process for evaluating and selecting applications submitted by eligible entities. The stakeholder committee must include perspectives reflecting the complexity of the rural and urban U.S. agricultural landscapes and the wide variety of agricultural production models.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and similar sectors. Specifically, Labor must issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires certain employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence. The standard applies to employers in the health care sector, in the social service sector, and in sectors that conduct activities similar to those in the health care and social service sectors. Among other elements, the standard must require each employer to (1) develop a workplace violence prevention plan, (2) promptly investigate incidents of workplace violence, and (3) provide relevant training and education to employees. The bill requires certain hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to comply with this standard as a condition of Medicare participation.
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 · 31 March 2025
Trucker Bathroom Access Act This bill expands access to restroom facilities for certain commercial truck drivers, including drayage truck operators. Drayage truck operator means the driver of any in-use on-road vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 33,000 pounds operating on or transgressing through port or intermodal rail yard property for the purpose of loading, unloading, or transporting cargo, including containerized, bulk, or break-bulk goods. Specifically, the bill requires certain retailers, warehouses, and other establishments to give commercial truck drivers access to existing restroom facilities when they are loading or delivering cargo, or waiting to load or transport cargo. Further, operators of marine terminals, including port authorities, must provide drayage truck operators with (1) access to existing restrooms, (2) additional restrooms if necessary, and (3) parking while accessing such restrooms.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Hot Foods Act of 2025 This bill expands the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to permit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Connecting Our Medical Providers with Links to Expand Tailored and Effective Care or the COMPLETE Care Act This bill increases payments and establishes certain requirements to support integrated behavioral health services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill increases payments for integrated behavioral health services that are provided by physicians under Medicare for 2027-2029, with payments increased by 175% in 2027, 150% in 2028, and 125% in 2029. The bill provides funds for FY2025-FY2029 for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to contract with entities to provide technical assistance to primary care practices that want to adopt models for behavioral health integration.
![Official portrait of Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001315_200.jpg)