Rep. Erin Houchin

Maddy summaryThe Providing for Life Act of 2023 is a comprehensive legislative package with multiple provisions affecting family support services. It extends the child tax credit to unborn children (with specific requirements), creates a new Social Security-funded parental leave benefit for parents with certain work history, and requires biological fathers to pay for medical expenses related to pregnancy and delivery. The bill also mandates colleges to provide pregnant students with information about resources (excluding abortion services), provides grants for community-based maternal mentoring programs, and expands support for pregnancy resource centers. The bill directly affects taxpayers, parents, pregnant students, and social service organizations, with provisions aimed at supporting families during pregnancy, childbirth, and early child-rearing.

Maddy summaryHR 5224 reauthorizes the Missing Children's Assistance Act through fiscal year 2028, updating definitions and expanding services to better address child sexual exploitation. It adds specific terms like "sextortion" and "sexting" to clarify key concepts, and requires the Administrator to manage the CyberTipline for reporting missing children and exploitation. The bill mandates new data collection on children missing from state care, including those likely victims of sex trafficking, and increases annual funding authorization from $40 million to $49.3 million. These changes directly affect child welfare agencies, law enforcement, and organizations working with missing or exploited children by improving reporting systems, recovery support, and data transparency.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to require states receiving federal workforce development funds to prioritize programs based on evidence of effectiveness. Specifically, states must describe in their plans how they will give highest priority to "high-evidence" programs (proven through multiple rigorous studies), followed by "moderate-evidence" programs, and then "low-evidence" programs. The bill defines these evidence tiers clearly, requiring states to fund interventions shown to produce positive results in well-conducted studies or credible research. This directly affects state workforce agencies managing federal grants under WIOA.

Maddy summaryHR 4956 establishes a 32-member advisory committee composed entirely of farmers and ranchers to study how Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulations impact agriculture. The committee will examine specific issues like the prior-converted farmland exemption, common farming practices not covered by current exemptions, inconsistent regulatory rulings, and how to create clearer rules for jurisdictional waters. It must submit a report with recommendations to federal agencies and congressional committees within one year, focusing on improving WOTUS regulations for farmers. The bill does not change existing regulations but creates a formal process for farmer input.

Preserving Family Farms Act of 2023 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase to $13 million (currently, $750,000) the limitation on the special use valuation for farmland or other trades or businesses for estate tax purposes. The increased amount is adjusted for inflation for estates of decedents dying after 2023.

Maddy summaryThis bill directs the U.S. Treasury to mint commemorative coins marking the Marine Corps' 250th anniversary in 2025. It authorizes three coin types: $5 gold coins (max 50,000), $1 silver coins (max 400,000), and half-dollar coins (max 750,000), with surcharges of $35, $10, and $5 respectively. The surcharge proceeds will fund the Marine Corps Heritage Center's educational programs, with no net cost to taxpayers as the Treasury must recover all minting costs through the surcharges. The coins can only be issued during 2025, and the Treasury must ensure all costs are covered before distributing funds to the Heritage Foundation.

Maddy summaryHR 4644, the "No Expensive, Stifling Governance Act of 2023," allows companies to exclude certain shareholder proposals from voting materials if they address issues like environmental or social policies (often called ESG proposals) and either: (1) the company has already implemented similar policies, (2) the proposal duplicates another submitted proposal, or (3) it received low voter support in prior votes (under 10-40% depending on how many times it was previously voted on). The bill also blocks the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from enforcing a related rule about shareholder proposals. This directly affects companies deciding which proposals reach shareholders and shareholders seeking to influence corporate policies on issues like sustainability. The law aims to reduce what it terms "expensive, stifling" governance processes by limiting repeated or low-support proposals.

Maddy summaryHR 3941, the Schools Not Shelters Act, prohibits public schools and colleges receiving federal funds from using their facilities to house non-admitted immigrants. This applies to all K-12 public schools and institutions of higher education that accept federal financial assistance. The rule is a condition for receiving such funding, with exceptions for emergency shelter during specified disasters (like fires or floods). The bill does not restrict schools from using facilities for educational purposes or other non-immigrant-related housing.

Maddy summaryHRES 597 is a procedural resolution that establishes rules for debating two separate bills in the House of Representatives. It allows for 1 hour of debate (equally divided) on H.R. 3935 (which would reauthorize the FAA and aviation programs) and H.R. 3941 (which would prohibit using public schools or colleges to shelter undocumented immigrants). The resolution waives objections to these bills and sets specific procedures for amendments, including limiting debate time and designating who may offer changes. This resolution does not change the content of the bills themselves but streamlines their consideration process.

Maddy summaryHR 4721, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, makes a permanent the 20% tax deduction for eligible small business owners under Section 199A of the tax code. This provision directly affects pass-through business owners (like S-corps, partnerships, and sole proprietorships) who qualify for the deduction. The bill achieves this by removing the temporary expiration language (subsection (i)) from the existing tax code provision. The key change is ending the need for annual congressional extensions of this deduction, providing long-term tax certainty for small businesses.