Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act This bill requires finished pasteurized orange juice to contain at least 10% by weight of orange juice soluble solids (currently 10.5%), exclusive of the solids of any added optional sweetening ingredients.
Military Spouse Hiring Act This bill expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include the hiring of a qualified military spouse. (The WOTC permits employers who hire individuals who are members of a targeted group such as qualified veterans, ex-felons, or long-term unemployment recipients to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.) A qualified military spouse is any individual who is certified by the designated local agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.
Ruthie and Connie LGBTQ Elder Americans Act of 2022 This bill addresses matters related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals in certain federal programs serving older Americans, particularly by including an individual's LGBTQ status within the scope of the greatest social needs served by such programs.
Protecting Our Kids Act This bill makes various changes to federal firearms laws, including to establish new criminal offenses and to expand the types of weapons and devices that are subject to regulation. Among the changes, the bill generally prohibits the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals who are under 21 years of age; establishes new federal criminal offenses for gun trafficking and related conduct; establishes a federal statutory framework to regulate ghost guns (i.e., guns without serial numbers); establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels; subjects bump stocks to regulation under federal firearms laws; generally prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices; and requires the Department of Justice to report on the demographic data of persons who are determined to be ineligible to purchase a firearm based on a background check performed by the national instant criminal background check system.
Stop Iranian Drones Act This bill expands existing provisions requiring sanctions against individuals or entities that provide certain types of weapons to Iran. Specifically, the bill modifies the provisions by adding unmanned combat aerial vehicles to the list of weapons covered by the sanctions. The bill also requires the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on the identities of any Iranian entity that has attacked a U.S. citizen using an unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The President must designate any such entity as a foreign terrorist organization.
Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022 This bill authorizes and establishes procedures for federal courts to issue federal extreme risk protection orders. Additionally, the bill establishes grants to support the implementation of extreme risk protection order laws at the state and local levels, extends federal firearms restrictions to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, and expands related data collection. Extreme risk protection order laws, or red flag laws, generally allow certain individuals (e.g., law enforcement officers or family members) to petition a court for a temporary order that prohibits an at-risk individual from purchasing and possessing firearms. Among its provisions, the bill authorizes a family or household member, or a law enforcement officer, to petition for a federal extreme risk protection order with respect to an individual who poses a risk to themselves or others; directs the Department of Justice to establish a grant program to help states, local governments, Indian tribes, and other entities implement extreme risk protection order laws; extends federal restrictions on the receipt, possession, shipment, and transportation of firearms and ammunition to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders; and requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compile records from federal, tribal, and state courts and other agencies that identify individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders.
Protecting Infants from Formula Shortages Act of 2022 This bill imposes requirements on manufacturers of infant formula and medical foods for individuals with inborn errors of metabolism. A manufacturer of such a food must notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of any circumstance that is likely to lead to a meaningful disruption of the U.S. supply of the food, including a discontinuance or interruption of manufacturing. The manufacturer must submit the notification at least six months prior to the cause of the disruption or, if that is not possible, as soon as practicable. The FDA must provide the Department of Agriculture and appropriate organizations information about the cause of the disruption. The FDA must inform a person (an individual or entity) of their failure to comply with these notification requirements. If the failure continues for a certain time period, the person shall be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both. During a public health emergency, the FDA may impose additional conditions for such notifications and designate additional categories of food that are subject to the notification requirements. The bill also requires each manufacturer of such a food to develop and maintain a redundancy risk management plan that identifies and evaluates risks for each manufacturing establishment for the food.
Maddy summaryHR 301 would amend U.S. law to officially designate "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as the national hymn of the United States. This change would add the song's full composition (words and music) to Title 36 of the U.S. Code, replacing the current designation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the sole national anthem for formal recognition purposes. The bill directly affects federal law and official government ceremonies where the national hymn is performed, though it does not alter the status of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. The policy change is purely procedural, establishing a new official designation without impacting any other laws or rights.
Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health for Military Servicemembers Act or the MARCH for Military Servicemembers Act This bill repeals the restriction on utilizing Department of Defense funds and facilities for performing abortions. The restriction only allows such funds and facilities to be used for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life is endangered.
Affordability is Access Act This bill establishes several requirements relating to health insurance coverage of, and access to, over-the-counter contraceptives. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury to specify that private health insurance plans must cover over-the-counter contraceptives that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), even without a prescription. Under current law, private health insurance plans (with some exceptions) must cover FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, without cost-sharing requirements. The bill also prohibits retailers from interfering with an individual's access to oral contraceptives that are meant for routine, daily use and are FDA-approved for use without a prescription.
