Sen. Martin Heinrich

Maddy summaryThis bill increases annual funding for the Historic Preservation Fund from $150 million to $300 million. It requires that at least 40% of these funds go to State Historic Preservation Offices and 20% to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices each year, with adjustments for growing tribal office numbers. The bill authorizes new grant programs including the African American Civil Rights Movement Initiative, History of Equal Rights Grants, Survey Grants for Underrepresented Communities, and Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants. It also establishes rules for depositing shortfalls from general Treasury funds into the Fund and mandates annual allocation reports to Congress.

Maddy summaryThe FOOD for Health Act of 2024 establishes a federal pilot program to fund "Food is Medicine" initiatives that provide medically tailored food and nutrition services to individuals with diet-related health conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. It authorizes $20 million in grants for community organizations and health care providers to support activities like delivering tailored meals, offering nutrition education, and providing produce prescriptions. The program requires grant recipients to prioritize projects using local foods or including registered dietitians, while ensuring equitable access across urban, rural, tribal, and territorial communities. The Secretary of Agriculture must report to Congress on the program’s impact after two and six years, assessing outcomes like participant health improvements and cost efficiency.

Maddy summaryThe bill, S 4129, establishes a federal grant program to support the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation in creating a library and museum in Medora, North Dakota, dedicated to preserving and showcasing Theodore Roosevelt's legacy. It requires the Foundation to match federal grant funds with at least double the amount raised from non-federal sources (such as state contributions or private donations) before receiving funding. Federal agencies must loan or transfer Roosevelt-related artifacts and objects - like historical documents or memorabilia - to the Foundation for public display without cost, while ensuring the federal government has no role in operating the Library. The Library will focus on preserving Roosevelt’s materials and providing educational programs to make his legacy accessible to the public.

Maddy summaryThis bill would require Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to stop trading or holding certain investments (called "covered investments") and instead place them in "qualified blind trusts" or divest them by specific deadlines. It defines covered investments broadly to include stocks, commodities, and derivatives, but excludes diversified mutual funds, government bonds, and some business interests. The bill sets different deadlines for different groups (e.g., 90 days after enactment for existing holdings, 120 days for new holdings) and establishes civil penalties for non-compliance, including penalties equal to 10% of the value of non-compliant holdings. It also requires public reporting of financial disclosures and establishes procedures for oversight by ethics offices.

Maddy summaryS 5585 reauthorizes the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program, which engages K-12 students in designing duck stamps to fund wildlife conservation education. It increases annual funding from $350,000 to $550,000 for fiscal years 2024-2030 and adjusts other budget lines to support program operations. Key provisions clarify that funds must be used for student design awards, conservation education materials for schools, competition travel expenses, and marketing to promote the program. This directly affects participating students, schools, and conservation groups through expanded educational opportunities tied to the program's annual art competitions. The bill maintains the program's core purpose of connecting youth with wetland conservation while updating its financial structure.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes the Historic Greenwood District - Black Wall Street National Monument in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to preserve and interpret the history of the Greenwood District (known as "Black Wall Street") and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The monument, defined by a specific map, protects private property rights and allows the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land via donation, purchase, or exchange. It creates an 11-member Advisory Commission (including 7 descendants of 1921 residents, 3 preservation experts, and one appointed with Tulsa Mayor input) to advise on management. The bill ensures private property owners retain land use rights and zoning authority within or near the monument boundary.

Maddy summaryThe Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024 establishes a pilot program allowing qualified individuals or organizations (defined as "Good Samaritans") to remediate historic mine residue at abandoned hardrock mine sites without facing liability for their actions. The Environmental Protection Agency would grant up to 15 permits for projects that address pollution from abandoned mines, with applicants required to demonstrate they meet specific eligibility criteria (not being responsible owners/operators, having no role in creating the residue, and possessing adequate resources). The program includes liability protection for permitted activities, requires detailed remediation plans with baseline condition assessments, public notice, and environmental reviews, and establishes a fund for long-term operations and maintenance. This 7-year pilot program would directly affect communities near abandoned mine sites and qualified remediation groups seeking to address environmental contamination.

Maddy summaryThe CREATE AI Act of 2024 establishes a National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) to improve access to computational resources, data, and AI testbeds for researchers and students. The NAIRR will be managed by the National Science Foundation with an Operating Entity selected through a competitive process, providing resources to eligible users at universities, non-profits, government agencies, and certain small businesses. The bill requires the NAIRR to prioritize projects focused on privacy, ethics, civil rights, safety, and trustworthiness of AI systems. It creates governance structures including an NAIRR Steering Subcommittee chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to oversee the resource's development and operations. The goal is to democratize AI research by making resources more accessible to a broader range of researchers and students, particularly those from underrepresented groups in STEM.

Maddy summaryS 2645, the Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act of 2024, establishes a National Integrated Heat Health Information System and an interagency committee to coordinate federal efforts addressing extreme heat health risks. The bill requires a strategic plan for improving heat health information sharing and planning, with priority for communities disproportionately affected by heat, including low-income areas, communities of color, Tribal nations, and vulnerable populations like outdoor workers and the elderly. It authorizes $10 million in fiscal year 2024 and increasing annual funding through 2028 for community resilience projects such as urban cooling centers, tree planting, and heat response planning. The legislation also mandates a study to identify gaps in heat information systems and recommends improvements in data collection about heat-related health impacts. This bill focuses on creating coordinated federal action to reduce heat-related health risks through improved information sharing, research, and community support.

Maddy summaryThe Mapping Housing Discrimination Act (S 5534) provides federal grants to universities and minority-serving institutions to digitize and map historic housing discrimination records dating back to 1850. It directly affects educational institutions (via competitive grants) and local governments (through required partnerships for digitizing deeds), focusing on records showing racial covenants, discriminatory language in property agreements, or laws permitting housing bias against protected classes. Key mechanisms include standardized data collection for a national public database, mandatory metadata reporting, and funding for tools to identify discriminatory clauses in historical documents. The database will include spatial datasets of documented discrimination patterns, making all collected records freely available online. The bill does not alter current fair housing laws but creates a centralized resource for historical analysis.