United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2025
Spotted Lanternfly Research and Development Act This bill includes combatting the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) as a Department of Agriculture (USDA) high-priority research and extension area and reauthorizes other USDA research and extension initiatives. The bill specifically allows grants for developing and disseminating research-based tools and treatments to combat the spotted lanternfly, which is an invasive species native to Asia that feeds on a wide range of crops and plants (e.g., grapes, apples, hops, walnuts, and hardwood trees). Further, the bill reauthorizes USDA grants to support competitive specialized research and extension activities, including high-priority areas, through FY2030. The bill also specifically reauthorizes through FY2030 the Pulse Crop Health Initiative; the Comprehensive Food Safety Training Network; pollinator protection research and extension grants; increased USDA capacity and infrastructure to address and conduct research on colony collapse disorder and other pollinator issues; and a USDA-conducted nationwide honey bee pest, pathogen, health, and population status surveillance program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2025
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for qualifying hospitals, including hospitals in rural areas and health professional shortage areas. The bill provides for an additional increase of 2,000 positions per fiscal year from FY2026-FY2032; during this period, each hospital may receive up to 75 additional positions in total under the bill and current law. Additionally, one-third of the positions that are made available under the bill must be allocated to hospitals that are already operating above applicable resident limits. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on strategies to increase the diversity of the health professional workforce, including with respect to representation from rural, low-income, and minority communities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2025
Fair Representation Act This bill requires ranked-choice voting (a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference) in certain federal elections and requires the use of multi-member districts in certain states. It also outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting. Specifically, the bill requires states to use ranked-choice voting in elections for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. The Election Assistance Commission must make payments to states to implement ranked-choice voting. The bill generally requires (1) that states entitled to six or more Representatives establish districts such that three to five Representatives are elected from each district, and (2) that states entitled to fewer than six Representatives elect all Representatives on an at-large basis. The bill also sets forth criteria for congressional redistricting, including by (1) requiring congressional districts to comply with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and (2) prohibiting the use of a redistricting plan that was drawn with the intent (or has the effect of) materially favoring or disfavoring any political party. The bill creates judicial remedies if a state fails to enact a final congressional redistricting plan. In particular, if a state fails to enact such a final plan by the applicable deadline, then a three-judge district court shall have the exclusive authority to develop and publish the congressional redistricting plan for the state. The bill also includes a provision to prevent states from redistricting more than once following an apportionment (i.e., mid-decade redistricting).
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2025
Freedom to Move Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation to award competitive five-year grants (i.e., Freedom to Move Grants) to states, local governments, transit agencies, and nonprofit organizations in both rural and urban areas to cover the lost fare revenue for fare-free public transportation and improve public transportation. Grants must be used to support (1) implementing a fare-free transit program; and (2) efforts to improve public transportation, particularly in underserved communities, such as costs associated with efforts to provide more safe, frequent, and reliable bus service, including bus stop safety and accessibility improvements, and pedestrian and bike shelters.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2025
Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2025 This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to maintain a list of certain chemicals incidentally present in cosmetics, known as nonfunctional constituents , that are harmful to human health or the environment. The bill also imposes certain testing and disclosure requirements on cosmetics brand owners (i.e., entities bringing cosmetics to market) and suppliers of cosmetics, packaging, and ingredients. For each listed nonfunctional constituent, the FDA must identify the ingredient or cosmetic in which the constituent is known or reasonably expected to be present. The FDA must also (1) accept petitions to add substances to the list, (2) issue guidance for industry related to testing and detecting such nonfunctional constituents, and (3) establish a committee to provide advice on creating the list and developing the required industry guidance. Within a year of a nonfunctional constituent being added to the list, a supplier of an ingredient or cosmetic must test for that constituent and provide a brand owner the results and other information before selling the ingredient or cosmetic to the brand owner. A supplier of an ingredient or cosmetic must provide additional information about the item upon a brand owner's request. Brand owners and other entities in the supply chain of a cosmetic must maintain records with information about the suppliers of ingredients and raw materials used in their cosmetics and provide such information to the FDA upon request. The bill also imposes civil penalties for entities that violate this bill's provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2025
Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act of 2025 This bill establishes programs and requirements to address the effects of harmful chemicals in cosmetics on consumers and salon workers, particularly in communities of color, and subjects synthetic braids to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Specifically, the FDA must establish safety standards for synthetic braids. Synthetic braids that do not meet such standards must be labeled with a specified warning. The bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct (or award grants for) research on harmful chemicals most commonly found in cosmetics marketed to and used by women and girls of color and professional nail, hair, and beauty salon workers. HHS must publish reports summarizing this research, including recommendations for reducing potentially unsafe exposures. In addition, the FDA must award grants to support the development of alternative, safer chemicals that may be used in place of harmful chemicals in cosmetics. HHS must also establish, through grants to eligible entities, national resource centers on beauty justice and salon worker health and safety to educate consumers and salon workers, respectively, about harmful chemicals in cosmetics. Finally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration must require manufacturers and importers of professional cosmetic products to make safety data sheets available in multiple languages for cosmetics that include certain hazardous chemicals. Employers, including salon operators, must make the relevant safety data sheet available to any employee exposed to a product subject to this requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2025
Cosmetic Hazardous Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2025 This bill requires cosmetic products to be labeled with a full list of their ingredients, including fragrance and flavor ingredients, and imposes other disclosure and labeling requirements related to certain potentially harmful ingredients. A cosmetic product that fails to meet such requirements may not be sold. Under current law, a cosmetic product’s packaging must generally include a list of its ingredients, but fragrance or flavor ingredients may be listed as fragrance or flavor in lieu of listing specific ingredient names. Within two years of the bill’s enactment, a cosmetic product's labeling or packaging must include a full list of its ingredients, including fragrance and flavor ingredients. Further, if the cosmetic includes certain ingredients, its labeling or packaging must also contain a specified statement directing consumers to the brand owner's website for information on health impacts of the product’s ingredients. Ingredients that trigger this requirement include those identified on specified lists of harmful or potentially harmful chemicals, such as chemicals identified as carcinogenic by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Food and Drug Administration must maintain a public list of all such ingredients. Within one year of enactment, a brand owner must disclose certain information on its website for each of its cosmetic products, including a full list of ingredients; the functional purpose served by each fragrance or flavor ingredient; and if any ingredient is identified on the specified lists of harmful or potentially harmful chemicals, a link to the relevant list.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2025
This resolution expresses the sense that adaptations to and protections from extreme weather conditions must be developed and deployed rapidly and equitably, with consideration for the physical and mental health needs of current and future generations of young people.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2025
This resolution provides a special rule for consideration of H.R. 185 and amends that bill to direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make publicly available certain records related to Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. Under H.R. 185, as amended by the resolution, DOJ must publicly disclose all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in its possession that relate to Epstein or Maxwell. The records include unclassified records referring or relating to Epstein's detention and death; flight logs of aircraft owned or used by Epstein; individuals named in connection with Epstein’s criminal activities, civil settlements, or immunity or plea agreements; immunity deals, sealed settlements, or plea bargains of Epstein or his associates; entities with ties to Epstein’s trafficking or financial networks; and internal Department of Justice communications concerning decisions to investigate or charge Epstein or his associates. However, under the amended bill, DOJ may withhold or redact portions of records with written justification that such portions contain (1) victims' personally identifiable information; (2) child sexual abuse materials; (3) images of death, physical abuse, or injury; (4) information which would jeopardize an active federal investigation or prosecution; or (5) classified information. DOJ may not withhold or redact records on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity. Further, within 15 days of completing the required disclosures, DOJ must provide Congress with a report listing all categories of records released and withheld, all redactions made and their legal basis, and all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2025
This resolution expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineworker is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)