Illinois Congressional Bills

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 5401: Pay Our Troops Act of 2026

HR 5401, the Pay Our Troops Act of 2026, ensures military personnel, civilian Defense workers, and supporting contractors receive pay during government funding gaps in fiscal year 2026. It appropriates emergency funds for active-duty service members, reserves, and their supporting personnel (including Coast Guard staff under DHS) if regular appropriations aren't enacted by the end of the fiscal year. The bill provides necessary pay and allowances during any period when full-year funding is unavailable, covering both active service and support roles. Funding expires when regular appropriations are passed, a funding resolution is enacted, or January 1, 2027, whichever comes first. This is a procedural measure to prevent pay delays for military and support staff during fiscal year 2026 funding lapses.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

Jennifer A. Kiggans (R) · 210 co-sponsors

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 5376: Impacts and Outcomes for Health Career Training Act

This bill requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study the employment and earnings outcomes of participants in health career training programs funded through existing grants. It mandates that at least 4% of annual funding for these programs must cover rigorous evaluations of their short-, medium-, and long-term impacts. The study will assess how well these training initiatives prepare participants for careers in health fields, directly affecting current and future grant recipients. The requirement takes effect on October 1, 2025.

Topics ✓ Healthcare

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 5372: DEMO Act

HR 5372, the DEMO Act, creates federal grants to fund 3-year demonstration projects helping low-income individuals (under 138% of the federal poverty level) with arrest or conviction records enter health professions careers. The bill requires participating states to have policies allowing health credentials despite records and mandates projects to provide legal assistance, job training, and post-employment support. Grants require applicants to demonstrate partnerships with organizations experienced in supporting people with criminal records and to target high-demand, well-paying health jobs. The legislation appropriates $10 million for fiscal year 2026 and mandates evaluations to measure outcomes like credential attainment and job placement.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 5370: To provide low-income individuals with opportunities to enter and follow a career pathway in the health professions, and for other purposes.

The Pathways to Health Careers Act creates federal grants to help low-income individuals (with family income up to 200% of the Federal poverty level) enter health profession careers. It funds training programs that include adult basic education, career coaching, child care, transportation, and legal assistance for people with arrest or conviction records. The bill specifically supports two demonstration projects: one helping individuals with criminal records enter health careers, and another focused on training doulas and midwives for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. Programs must provide structured career pathways to recognized health profession credentials and include support services like case management. The bill requires evaluations to assess effectiveness in addressing workforce shortages and improving participant outcomes.

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

Danny K. Davis (D) · 17 co-sponsors

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 5390: FAMILY Act

The FAMILY Act would establish a national paid family and medical leave insurance program that provides wage replacement benefits for workers needing time off for caregiving or medical reasons. It defines "qualified caregiving" to include caring for a family member with a serious health condition, personal medical needs, or recovery from violence (including domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking). Benefits would be calculated based on earnings, with a minimum monthly benefit of $580 and maximum of $4,000, administered by a new Office of Paid Family and Medical Leave within the Social Security Administration. Eligible individuals would need to have worked for at least 8 quarters in the previous year and file an application with required documentation, while existing state paid leave programs would continue to operate alongside this federal program.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

Rosa L. DeLauro (D) · 207 co-sponsors

passed · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 3767: Health Professionals Scholarship Program Improvement Act of 2025

HR 3767, the Health Professionals Scholarship Program Improvement Act of 2025, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to guarantee full-time clinical employment contracts for scholarship participants within 90 days of completing their training. These contracts must be at VA facilities with the highest need, offering competitive salaries and benefits consistent with VA standards. The bill mandates biannual reports to Congress on implementation until September 30, 2027, to track compliance with the new employment requirement. This directly affects health professionals who complete VA scholarship programs by ensuring post-graduation job placement. The key mechanism is the mandatory 90-day employment guarantee for participants, replacing previous processes.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment ✓ Veterans

passed · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 3400: TRAVEL Act of 2025

This bill creates a program to assign traveling physicians to provide healthcare services to veterans residing in U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It allows the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assign physicians for up to one year at VA facilities in these territories, requiring coordination with local medical providers to ensure quality care. Physicians assigned under this program would receive a relocation or retention bonus similar to existing federal employee incentives. The bill directly affects veterans in U.S. territories and VA healthcare operations there.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Veterans

passed · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 2034: Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act

This bill modifies the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship program for veterans. It reduces the maximum months of scholarship use from 60 to 45 and lowers the required benefit usage threshold from 90% to 67.5% for certain veterans. The changes prioritize veterans who have used the most months of their regular education benefits and those pursuing STEM degrees. Veterans must now exhaust all their regular education benefits under Chapter 33 before accessing this scholarship, as specified in new subsection (d)(5). The bill directly affects veterans using education benefits to pursue STEM fields.

Topics ✓ Education ✗ Veterans

passed · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 1402: TICKET Act

The TICKET Act requires ticket sellers and resellers to clearly show the total price (including all fees) before purchase, ban selling tickets before having them in hand, and mandate refunds for canceled or postponed events. It prohibits misleading claims like "official" tickets unless authorized, and forces clear refund policies for consumers. The law applies to all event ticket sellers - both primary issuers and secondary platforms - for concerts, sports, and theater events with over 200 seats. Key changes include upfront price transparency, a ban on speculative sales, and standardized refund rules for cancellations or postponements. The Federal Trade Commission will enforce these rules and report on related laws within six months.

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 491: Equal COLA Act

Equal COLA Act This bill applies a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for annuities paid under the Federal Employees Retirement System that is equal to the increase in inflation, regardless of the amount of the increase. Specifically, for any year in which the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased over the previous year, the COLA amount shall be increased by the change in the CPI from the previous year. Current law applies an adjustment equal to the change in CPI only if the change is 2% or less. If the change is between 2% and 3%, the adjustment is limited to 2%. If the change is more than 3%, the adjustment is limited to 1% less than the change.

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 492: Saving the Civil Service Act

Saving the Civil Service Act This bill generally prohibits changes to the classification of positions in the competitive service and excepted service unless certain conditions are met. (Competitive service positions are subject to competitive examination while excepted service positions are appointed under one of five schedules. Competitive service positions have notice and appeal requirements for adverse actions that are not applicable to most excepted positions, including those of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character under Schedule C.) On October 21, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that placed executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, under a new Schedule F in the excepted service. The order was subsequently revoked by President Joe Biden. The bill prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in a schedule in the excepted service as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules. Additionally, agencies may not (1) transfer occupied positions from the competitive or excepted service into Schedule C without the consent of the Office of Personnel Management, or (2) transfer employees in the excepted service to another schedule or transfer employees in the competitive service to the excepted service without employee consent.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Illinois · House Sep 16, 2025

HR 493: FAIR Act

Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act or the FAIR Act This bill modifies pay rates for federal employees in 2026. Specifically, the bill increases rates under the statutory pay systems and for prevailing rate employees by 3.3% and increases locality pay by 1%.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

Illinois Congressional Bills

Bill results