Rep. Nancy Mace

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to add a new category of protected leave for employees (or family members) affected by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking. It entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specific needs like medical care, legal services, counseling, securing safe housing, or assisting family members with these issues. The leave can be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule, and employees may substitute accrued paid leave (vacation, sick days) for part of the unpaid FMLA leave period. Employers may require certification or accept a sworn statement if certification is pending, but the bill does not mandate paid leave.

Maddy summaryThis bill protects living organ donors from insurance discrimination by prohibiting life, disability, and long-term care insurers from denying coverage, raising premiums, or altering policy terms solely because someone donated an organ while alive. It also updates the Family and Medical Leave Act to include recovery from organ donation surgery as a qualifying health condition, allowing donors to take protected leave for this purpose. Additionally, the bill requires the Health and Human Services Secretary to update public educational materials about living donation benefits, risks, and insurance protections within six months of enactment. These changes directly affect living organ donors, insurers, employers, and healthcare systems by ensuring fair access to insurance and workplace leave.

Maddy summaryHR 2955, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, establishes a Federal Work Group to improve data collection and best practices for youth in residential programs (like therapeutic schools, treatment centers, and group homes). The Work Group, composed of federal agency representatives and diverse stakeholders, must develop national data standards, create risk assessment tools, and issue biennial reports with recommendations to enhance safety, reduce restraints, and expand community-based alternatives. It directly affects youth with mental health, substance use, or disability needs placed in these facilities, as well as agencies overseeing them. The bill also mandates a National Academies study to examine funding, oversight, and barriers to community care. These mechanisms aim to standardize data tracking and promote less restrictive, trauma-informed care for youth in residential programs.

Maddy summaryHR 2878 (CARE Act of 2023) requires federally funded research facilities (like those receiving NIH grants) to develop and publicly post adoption policies for dogs, cats, and rabbits no longer used in biomedical research. Key provisions mandate facilities to assess each animal’s health for adoption suitability, make reasonable efforts to place them through shelters, adoption organizations, or private arrangements, and publicly track adoption rates and outcomes. The bill directly affects over 240,000 companion animals used annually in U.S. research, ensuring transparency by requiring facilities to publish annual records on adoption numbers and euthanasia. It also provides legal immunity to facilities following these adoption policies, except for gross negligence.

Maddy summaryThe Employee Rights Act (HR 2700) amends key labor laws to strengthen employee rights in collective bargaining and privacy. It requires employers to use secret ballot elections for selecting bargaining representatives and to provide labor organizations with voter lists containing employee names and one form of contact information (chosen by the employee) within two business days of an election. The bill prohibits employers from using employee personal information for non-organizing purposes and mandates written authorization for using union dues on non-bargaining activities, with authorizations expiring after one year. Additionally, it clarifies joint employment standards to prevent misclassification and adds tribal sovereignty protections to labor law definitions.

Maddy summaryThis bill blocks the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and mortgage enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) from implementing new single-family mortgage credit fee changes announced on January 19, 2023. It specifically cancels the fee framework updates detailed in FHFA's January 19 announcement and related lender letters (LL-2023-01 and Bulletin 2023-1). The bill does not stop mortgage enterprises from using risk-based pricing for credit fees, which remains permitted. It directly affects the FHFA's authority and the mortgage pricing structure for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the Pentagon to obtain a clean audit of its finances. If the Department of Defense fails to get an unqualified audit (a "clean" opinion) for a department or agency, it triggers automatic spending cuts: 0.5% in the first year of failure and 1.0% in subsequent years. These cuts apply broadly across programs but exclude military personnel, National Guard, reserve forces, and the Defense Health Program. The President may temporarily waive cuts for national security reasons, but must justify the waiver to Congress. The goal is to link defense spending to financial accountability, using existing audit standards.

Maddy summaryThe College Transparency Act requires the National Center for Education Statistics to develop a secure, privacy-protected system that collects and organizes student-level data from colleges and universities. The system will track enrollment patterns, progression, completion rates, costs, financial aid, and post-graduation outcomes, with data disaggregated by characteristics like race, gender, program of study, and credential level. Colleges participating in federal financial aid programs must submit this data, while the system will provide the public with customizable summary information to help students and families make informed college decisions. The bill includes strict privacy protections, prohibiting collection of sensitive data like health information or exact addresses, and requires data minimization to only what's necessary for the system's purposes.

Clean Slate Act of 2023 This bill establishes a framework for sealing records related to certain federal criminal offenses. Courts must automatically seal records related to (1) a conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance or for any nonviolent offense involving marijuana, or (2) an arrest for an offense that does not result in a conviction. Additionally, an individual who meets certain criteria may petition to seal records related to a conviction for other nonviolent offenses.

Maddy summaryHR 2968, the COST Act of 2023, requires federal agencies and recipients of federal funds (including states, local governments, and research grantees) to publicly disclose specific funding details in program descriptions. It mandates stating the percentage and dollar amount of federal funding, plus the percentage and dollar amount from non-government sources in press releases, requests for proposals, and similar documents (excluding short social media posts). Agencies must also certify compliance in progress reports, and the Office of Management and Budget will annually review compliance and publish findings. The bill establishes a public reporting mechanism for non-compliant communications.