Sen. Elizabeth Warren

College for All Act of 2025 This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Specifically, the bill provides funding to enable states and tribal colleges and universities, through a federal-state partnership, to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities, and (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education and tribal colleges and universities. The bill provides funding to enable private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to eliminate tuition and required fees for eligible students. The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student, increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants, allowing students to use their awards to cover living and nontuition expenses, and expanding eligibility to Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and who entered the United States before the age of 16) and students with other immigration statuses. Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to eligible states and tribal colleges and universities for improving student outcomes. The bill reauthorizes through FY2035 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2029 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

Maddy summaryThe SMART Prices Act (S 1836) changes how Medicare negotiates drug prices. It increases the number of drugs eligible for negotiation from 15 to 50 per year starting in 2028, shortens the time drugs must be the sole source for eligibility from 7 to 3 years, and adjusts price ceiling percentages for negotiated drugs (e.g., raising the maximum fair price from 75% to 76% for some drugs). These changes directly affect Medicare Part D beneficiaries and pharmaceutical companies by altering the negotiation process and pricing caps. The bill modifies existing Medicare drug pricing rules without creating new programs, applying to initial price negotiations beginning in 2028.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a process for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine if brand name drug prices exceed those in five reference countries (Canada, UK, Germany, France, and Japan). If a drug is deemed excessively priced, the government will terminate the manufacturer's exclusivity rights and allow any company to produce a generic version under an open, non-exclusive license with a reasonable royalty. Drug manufacturers must submit detailed annual reports on pricing, costs, and revenues, with penalties for noncompliance. The Secretary will maintain a public database of excessive price determinations and report annually to Congress. This directly impacts brand name drug manufacturers, generic producers, and patients who purchase prescription drugs.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires Medicare Advantage plans to implement electronic prior authorization systems by 2028 and report detailed transparency data starting in 2027. Plans must publicly disclose approval/denial rates, average processing times (including for appeals), technology use, and other metrics for covered medical services. It mandates 24-hour response standards for expedited requests and routinely approved services, with data collection to analyze access patterns and potential disparities in rural/low-income communities. These changes directly affect Medicare Advantage plans, providers, and seniors enrolled in these plans by standardizing and increasing visibility into prior authorization processes.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands benefits for public safety officers (like police and firefighters) who develop certain cancers linked to their work. It creates a presumption that specific cancers - such as lung, bladder, or mesothelioma - were caused by job-related exposure to carcinogens, if the officer served at least 5 years, was diagnosed within 15 years of leaving active duty, and the cancer caused death or permanent disability. The list of covered cancers will be updated every 3 years based on medical evidence from agencies like the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Claims must be filed within 3 years of the bill’s enactment, applying to cases involving deaths or disabilities occurring after January 1, 2020.

Maddy summaryThis resolution (SRES 195) directs the U.S. Secretary of State to submit a detailed report to Congress within 30 days on El Salvador’s human rights practices. The report must include verified information about alleged violations such as torture, forced disappearances, judicial independence concerns, and the treatment of foreign nationals detained in El Salvador. It also requires assessments of whether U.S. security assistance could be misused and actions taken to protect U.S. citizens detained there. The resolution specifically requests this information under Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, which governs human rights conditions for foreign aid. The report will inform Congress’s oversight of U.S. policy toward El Salvador.

Maddy summaryThe Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act of 2025 requires the Department of Defense to use competitive bidding for contracts involving cloud computing, data infrastructure, and large AI models (foundation models), aiming to foster market competition. It prohibits contractors from using government data to train commercial AI products without explicit permission and mandates the use of multi-cloud solutions where feasible to avoid vendor lock-in. The Department must submit annual reports to Congress starting in 2027, detailing competition in the AI sector, market concentration, and any exemptions granted to contractors for national security reasons.

Maddy summaryThe HART Act requires real estate investors to report all residential property purchases made in a single year as one transaction to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). It directly affects individuals or entities buying multiple residential properties (like apartments or single-family homes) for investment purposes, not for personal residence. The bill amends antitrust law to count all such annual acquisitions as a single "acquisition" for reporting, excluding properties held solely for personal use. New FTC rules will define the required reporting format and documentation to assess if large-scale property purchases might violate antitrust laws.

Maddy summaryThe Connecticut River Watershed Partnership Act establishes a federal program to coordinate habitat restoration, water quality improvement, and public access projects across the Connecticut River watershed (encompassing Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont). It creates a competitive grant program providing matching funds to states, tribes, nonprofits, and universities, with enhanced federal funding (up to 90%) for projects serving environmental justice communities - defined as communities of color, low-income areas, or Tribal groups facing disproportionate environmental risks. The program requires consultation with tribal governments, local entities, and affected communities to implement watershed-wide strategies focused on ecosystem health, climate resilience, and equitable access to natural spaces. It mandates annual congressional reports and authorizes funding for 2026-2030, prioritizing projects that restore fish/wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and support community engagement.

Maddy summaryS 1767, the Physician and Patient Safety Act, requires the federal government to create regulations ensuring physicians with hospital privileges receive a fair hearing and appeal before their privileges are terminated, restricted, or reduced. The regulations mandate that hospitals cannot deny these hearings through third-party contracts, cannot force physicians to waive their hearing rights as an employment condition, and must keep hearings confidential unless there's an ongoing patient safety threat. These rules apply directly to physicians holding hospital staff privileges and the hospitals that grant them. The regulations must be finalized within 18 months of the bill's enactment.