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![Official portrait of Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000145_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
2,637 records where Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act This bill increases federal criminal penalties for providing or attempting to provide a cell phone to an individual who is incarcerated at a prison.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
This bill applies the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) to the Lytton Rancheria of California. Additionally, the bill authorizes the Department of the Interior to acquire and take land into trust for the benefit of the tribe under the IRA. Land taken into trust shall be part of the tribe's reservation. A 2009 Supreme Court case, Carcieri v. Salazar , decided that Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the IRA was enacted in 1934. This bill (1) affirms the applicability of the IRA to the Lytton Rancheria of California, thereby deeming the tribe to be under federal jurisdiction as of June 18, 1934, for purposes of the IRA; and (2) authorizes Interior to take land into trust for the benefit of the tribe.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
Empowering Families in Special Education Act This bill establishes a notification requirement related to an individualized education program (IEP). (Generally, IEPs are individualized plans to ensure that a child with a disability receives a free appropriate public education.) Under current law, states and local educational agencies (LEAs) must convene a team to develop an IEP. The composition of the team that develops the IEP is outlined in current law and allows for other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child (including related services personnel, as appropriate) to participate in this team. This bill requires the LEA that serves the child to notify the child's parents of their right to include these other individuals with knowledge or special expertise on the child's IEP team.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
This resolution recognizes Black History Month as an opportunity to reflect on U.S. history and to commemorate the contributions of African Americans. It calls for the United States to (1) honor the contribution of pioneers who helped to ensure its legacy; and (2) move forward as a nation "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
Ethan's Law This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels. At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm. An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture. At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
Edward J. Dwight, Jr., Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2025 This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Edward J. Dwight, Jr., the first African American astronaut candidate in the United States, in recognition of his historic service to the United States, his example of excellence during times of struggle and overt racism, and his contributions in art and Black history.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
This resolution designates February 24-February 28, 2025, as Public Schools Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2025
Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 This bill recognizes and settles the water rights of the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation in California. It also establishes and provides funding for a settlement trust fund. Specifically, the bill authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the tribe, the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, and the Tule River Association, thus satisfying claims to water rights in California. Additionally, the bill outlines the tribe's water rights, including the right to divert and use 5,828 acre-feet of water per year from the South Fork Tule River. Next, the bill establishes and provides funding for the Tule River Indian Tribe Settlement Trust Fund. Amounts deposited in this trust fund shall be made available to the tribe for water development projects. The bill also transfers specified lands, including a portion of federal lands in the Sequoia National Forest, into trust for the benefit of the tribe. The bill outlines waivers, releases, and retentions of claims by the tribe and the United States under the settlement agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2025
Preserving Life-saving Access to Specialty Medicines in America Act or the PLASMA Act This bill phases-in certain price adjustments for plasma-derived products under the Medicare prescription drug benefit's Manufacturer Discount Program. Current law requires manufacturers of covered drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit to provide a 10% discount for covered drugs during the initial coverage phase (i.e., before a beneficiary reaches the out-of-pocket spending threshold) and a 20% discount during the catastrophic coverage phase (i.e., after a beneficiary reaches the out-of-pocket spending threshold). The bill phases-in discounts for plasma-derived products over several years, starting with a 1% discount in 2026 for both the initial and catastrophic coverage phases, and ending with a 10% discount beginning in 2030 for the initial coverage phase and a 20% discount beginning in 2032 for the catastrophic coverage phase.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 20 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 · 20 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 2025
Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act of 2025 This bill provides for the establishment of at least seven regional wildland fire research centers to improve the understanding of wildland fire through coordinated research and development. Specifically, the Department of Commerce, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Forest Service, must establish regional centers at institutions of higher education and land-grant colleges and universities in seven specified regions. Institutions must be selected to host regional centers through a competitive process. Among other priorities, regional centers must develop technologies and tools to understand, monitor, and predict wildland fire, test and operate models to support land management decision-making, and improve the understanding of post-fire risks (e.g., flash flooding). Regional centers must coordinate their research with one another and with other wildland fire research entities, and must make their work and data fully and openly available. The bill also establishes a national coordination board to develop technological research priorities and science, data management, and sharing protocols in cooperation with each regional center. The national board must coordinate the activities of regional centers and other research institutions to avoid unnecessary duplication. Further, the bill establishes an advisory board at each regional center to advise on research goals and activities, assist with dissemination of research outputs, and ensure coordination of research between regional centers and federal and state land management agencies in the relevant region. Finally, the bill sets forth certain reporting requirements with respect to the regional centers’ progress.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 2025
Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2025 This bill prohibits the detention or imprisonment of an individual based solely on an actual or perceived protected characteristic of the individual. The term protected characteristic includes each of the following: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and any additional characteristic that the Department of Justice determines to be a protected characteristic.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2025
CHAMPVA Children's Care Protection Act of 2025 This bill provides that a child shall be eligible for medical care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) until the child's 26th birthday, regardless of the child's marital status.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025 This bill provides statutory authority for the requirement that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights take into consideration the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA's) working definition of antisemitism when reviewing or investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. According to the IHRA's working definition, antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act of 2025 This bill expands the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) producer indemnity and compensation program to include compensation for all poultry growers and layers located in an APHIS-determined control area, which may include non-infected poultry. Currently, APHIS provides indemnity and compensation to producers to remove animals classified as affected, suspect, or exposed to diseases of concern, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). An APHIS-determined control area consists of both an infected zone and a buffer zone. Under the bill, APHIS must compensate all owners of poultry growing or laying facilities within a control area, which may include facilities that are located in the buffer zones and have non-infected poultry. Further, the bill establishes a new compensation payment formula that requires payments to be based on the owner’s average income from the five most recent flocks.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
First Rhode Island Regiment Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the First Rhode Island Regiment, collectively, in recognition of their dedicated service during the Revolutionary War.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act of 2025 This bill modifies and reauthorizes various Department of Energy (DOE) programs related to quantum research and development and establishes several new, related research programs. Specifically, the bill expands the scope of DOE’s quantum information science research program to include research, development, and demonstration on quantum information science, engineering, and technology. Among other requirements, DOE must (1) establish an early-stage research and development program in high-performance quantum computing; (2) study quantum science, engineering, and technology supply chain needs; and (3) establish a university-led trainee program to address quantum workforce development needs. The bill also reauthorizes the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers and the Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology program through FY2030. Further, the bill modifies DOE’s quantum network infrastructure program to require research related to the development of (1) quantum network and entanglement distribution protocols or applications, and (2) high-efficiency room-temperature photon detectors for quantum photonic applications. Finally, the bill establishes an instrumentation and infrastructure program to maintain U.S. leadership in quantum information science, engineering, and technology; develop domestic quantum supply chains; and provide resources for the broader scientific community. In carrying out the program, DOE must develop, design, build, purchase, and commercialize specialized equipment, laboratory infrastructure, and state-of-the-art instrumentation. In coordination with industry and institutions of higher education, DOE must support the development of quantum foundries focused on meeting the device, hardware, software, and materials needs of the scientific community and the quantum supply chain.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Driver Reimbursement Increase for Veteran Equity Act of 2025 or the DRIVE Act of 2025 This bill increases the mileage reimbursement rate available to beneficiaries for travel to or from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities in connection with vocational rehabilitation, required counseling, or for the purpose of examination, treatment, or care. Specifically, the bill makes the reimbursement rate for such travel equal to or greater than the mileage reimbursement rate for government employees using private vehicles when no government vehicle is available. The bill also requires the VA to ensure that an allowance based on mileage is paid not later than 90 days after the request is properly submitted to the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Age 21 Act This bill raises the minimum age to purchase a large capacity ammunition feeding device or semiautomatic assault weapon from 18 to 21 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Wildfire Resilience Through Grazing Research Act This bill expands the high-priority research and extension areas at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to include the research and development of ungulate grazing land management techniques to promote wildfire mitigation, fuel reduction, and post-fire recovery. (An ungulate is a hooved grazing mammal.) Specifically, the bill allows USDA to provide grants to land-grant institutions for supporting the research and development of wildfire-related ungulate grazing land management techniques that improve soil health and are compatible with activities that protect against adverse environmental effects. This includes compatibility with activities that protect against the spread of invasive plant species and disease, soil erosion, water quality degradation, and watershed degradation. The grants to land-grant universities may also be used to disseminate information to public and private landowners, land managers, and livestock owners regarding these wildfire-related grazing land management techniques and compatible activities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2025
Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act This bill provides statutory authority for the requirement for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to include a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy in its National Drug Control Strategy. This strategy must include measures for preventing the illegal trafficking of drugs through the Caribbean region into the United States, including measures to combat drug trafficking and drug-related violent crime in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The bill also revises ONDCP's authorization to (1) add definitions for state and for United States to specify that its authorization includes U.S. territories and possessions, and (2) revise the definition for supply reduction to ensure that the National Drug Control Strategy includes efforts to disrupt the financial networks of drug trafficking organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2025
Credit Union Board Modernization Act This bill revises the required frequency of meetings held by a credit union's board of directors. Specifically, new credit unions and credit unions with a low soundness rating must meet monthly. All other credit unions must hold at least six meetings annually, with at least one meeting held during each fiscal quarter. Currently, all credit union boards must meet at least once a month.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2025
National Plan for Epilepsy Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national plan, form an advisory council, and take other actions to address epilepsy. The requirements sunset on December 31, 2035. Specifically, the bill requires HHS to carry out a National Plan for Epilepsy to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure epilepsy. In carrying out the plan, HHS must implement activities such as coordinating research and services across all federal agencies and soliciting public comments. Also, HHS must establish an Advisory Council on Epilepsy Research, Care, and Services. The advisory council must report to HHS and Congress every two years with an evaluation of federally funded efforts. Additionally, HHS must annually report to Congress with recommended actions based on its assessments of the nation’s progress on epilepsy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
Protecting Sensitive Locations Act This bill prohibits immigration enforcement actions within 1,000 feet of a sensitive location except in exigent circumstances, such as the imminent risk of death, violence, or physical harm to any person. Sensitive locations include health care facilities; schools and school bus stops; places that provide assistance for people such as children, pregnant women, and abuse victims; child care facilities; places that provide disaster or emergency services; places of worship; courthouses and lawyers’ offices; facilities used as polling places; certain labor union facilities; and public assistance offices. The prohibition shall apply to Department of Homeland Security officers and agents, as well as state employees pursuing immigration enforcement actions. If an enforcement action is carried out in violation of this prohibition (1) no information resulting from the action may be entered into the record in a resulting removal proceeding, and (2) the affected individual may move to immediately terminate such a proceeding. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall annually report to Congress about enforcement actions taken at sensitive locations in the preceding year.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025 This bill requires or authorizes certain actions related to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The bill requires the Department of Justice to appoint an assistant U.S. attorney in each judicial district to coordinate and supervise the investigation and prosecution of various crimes related to postal services (for example, assault on a postal service employee, breaking into a post office, or obstruction of mails). The bill also requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend sentencing guidelines to provide that the assault or robbery of a postal employee shall be treated the same as the assault of a law enforcement officer. Additionally, the bill authorizes appropriations for the USPS to install high security collection boxes and replace older versions of the universal mailbox key with electronic versions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
Alternatives to Prevent Addiction In the Nation Act or the Alternatives to PAIN Act This bill reduces cost-sharing and prohibits the imposition of certain utilization requirements under the Medicare prescription drug benefit for certain non-opioid pain management drugs. Specifically, the bill requires such drugs to be covered without a deductible and to be placed on the lowest cost-sharing tier (if any). The bill also prohibits the imposition of prior authorization requirements (i.e., requiring prior approval from a plan) or step therapy requirements (i.e., requiring the use of alternative drugs before a drug is covered under a plan) with respect to such drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
This resolution supports the designation of Career and Technical Education Month to celebrate career and technical education across the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2025
Love Lives On Act of 2025 This bill extends entitlement for various benefit programs and services for surviving spouses of deceased members of the Armed Forces or veterans. The bill provides that the remarriage of a surviving spouse must not bar the furnishing of dependency and indemnity compensation or special pension benefits to such spouse. Additionally, the Department of Defense may not terminate the payment of an annuity for a surviving spouse under the Survivor Benefit Plan solely because the surviving spouse remarries. The bill also expands the definition of a dependent under TRICARE to include a remarried widow or widower whose subsequent marriage has ended due to death, divorce, or annulment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2025
This resolution condemns Russia's nuclear escalatory rhetoric and implied threats on the potential use of nuclear weapons in the context of its invasion of Ukraine. The resolution also (1) condemns Russia's purported suspension of participation in the New START Treaty, (2) emphasizes the value of arms control agreements between the United States and Russia, and (3) calls on the administration to continue pursuing nuclear arms control and risk reduction with Russia and China.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2025
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2025
Access to Counsel Act of 2025 This bill provides various protections for covered individuals subject to secondary or deferred inspections when seeking admission into the United States. Covered individuals include U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) in possession of a visa, returning asylees, and refugees. The Department of Homeland Security must ensure that a covered individual subject to secondary or deferred inspection has a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel and certain related parties, such as a relative, within an hour of the start of the secondary inspection and as necessary during the inspection process. The counsel and related party must be allowed to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, including by providing evidence and information to the examining immigration officer. A lawful permanent resident subject to secondary or deferred inspection may not abandon lawful permanent resident status until the individual has had a meaningful opportunity to seek advice from counsel, unless the individual voluntarily and knowingly waives in writing this opportunity to seek counsel's advice.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2025
National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act or the NO BAN Act This bill imposes limitations on the President's authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States. It also prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions, such as whether to issue an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, unless there is a statutory basis for such discrimination. The President may temporarily restrict the entry of any aliens or class of aliens after the Department of State determines that the restriction would address specific and credible facts that threaten U.S. interests such as public safety. The bill also imposes limitations on such restrictions, such as requiring the President, State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to (1) only issue a restriction when required to address a compelling government interest, and (2) narrowly tailor the suspension to use the least restrictive means to achieve such an interest. Before imposing a restriction, the State Department and DHS shall consult with Congress. The State Department and DHS shall report to Congress about the restriction within 48 hours of the restriction's imposition. If such a report is not made, the restriction shall immediately terminate. Individuals or entities present in the United States and unlawfully harmed by such a restriction may sue in federal court. The bill transfers the authority to suspend the entry of aliens traveling to the United States on a commercial airline that failed to comply with regulations related to detecting fraudulent travel documents from the Department of Justice to DHS.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2025
Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 This bill extends and modifies the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, including by extending payments made to states and counties containing federal land through FY2026, providing for payments for FY2024 and FY2025, extending the authority of counties to initiate projects using such funds through FY2028, and extending the authority to initiate projects proposed by resource advisory committees through FY2028.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2025
Muhammad Ali Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammad Ali. There is authorized to be charged against the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this bill. Sums received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized by this bill shall be deposited into that fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2025
Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025 This bill expands the regulation of .50 caliber rifles under federal firearms laws and authorizes new civil remedies for certain violations. Firearms that are trafficked from the United States to Mexico are often routed to transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), including cartels. In recent years, TCOs increasingly use .50 caliber rifles in attacks on Mexican security forces. In 2025, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos , the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars a civil lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. firearms manufacturers and one U.S. firearms distributor for costs associated with gun violence in Mexico. (The PLCAA limits the civil liability of firearms manufacturers and sellers for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.) This bill generally criminalizes the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of .50 caliber rifles under the Gun Control Act and subjects .50 caliber rifles to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act. Additionally, the bill criminalizes the sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition to foreign individuals or entities designated as significant foreign narcotics traffickers or as part of their networks and sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). Finally, the bill creates an exception under the PLCAA to allow civil lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or sellers that knowingly sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition to a foreign individual or entity designated and sanctioned under the Kingpin Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2025
This resolution affirms the centrality of the U.S. Agency for International Development for advancing the national security interests of the United States, including by promoting global stability and mitigating threats abroad before they reach the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2025
Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act of 2025 This bill excludes from gross income, for federal income tax purposes, payments received from a state catastrophe loss mitigation program by an individual for the purpose of making improvements to the individual’s property that mitigate the impact of certain disasters. Under current law, individuals may exclude from gross income, for federal income tax purposes, payments received under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act or the National Flood Insurance Act (as in effect on April 15, 2005) for hazard mitigation. (Some exceptions apply.) Further, under current law, such payments do not increase the basis of the property for which the payments are made. The bill allows a similar exclusion from gross income for certain payments received by an individual from a program established by a state (or any political subdivision or instrumentality of the state), a joint powers authority, or an entity that was established by the state to provide essential or basic property insurance and is regulated by the state. Under the bill, such payments must be for making improvements to the individual’s property for the sole purpose of reducing damage that would be done to the property by a windstorm, earthquake, flood, or wildfire. Finally, the bill provides that such payments from a state catastrophe loss mitigation program do not increase the basis of the property for which the payments are made.