Sen. Jeff Merkley

Maddy summaryS. Res. 650 is a Senate resolution that formally recognizes the heritage, culture, and contributions of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women in the United States. The resolution highlights their achievements in military service, business ownership, healthcare, science, arts, and civil rights advocacy through specific examples of individual women. It does not create new laws or funding but serves as a symbolic acknowledgment of their historical and ongoing contributions to American society.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the U.S. Secretary of State to work with the Secretary of Defense and submit a report to Congress within 180 days on emerging threats facing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The report will examine military, cyber, and political dangers from countries like Russia, Belarus, China, and Iran, while also assessing current U.S. and NATO security presence in the region. It includes recommendations for improving defense cooperation, cybersecurity, and democratic resilience in the Baltic states, and highlights opportunities to strengthen bilateral and multilateral partnerships. The legislation reflects Congress's view that supporting these NATO allies aligns with U.S. national security interests.

Maddy summaryThis bill reauthorizes funding for the Federal Lands Access Program, which provides financial assistance to build and maintain roads connecting communities to federal lands like national parks and forests. It directly affects state and local governments, transportation agencies, and communities that rely on these roads for access to public lands. The legislation appropriates specific amounts from the Highway Trust Fund for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2031, with funding increasing slightly each year. The program supports infrastructure projects that improve transportation routes to federal lands, facilitating recreation, tourism, and emergency access.

Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2025 This bill expands eligibility for Post-9/11 educational assistance for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces and members of the National Guard. Specifically, the bill expands the types of activities that count towards Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility to include active duty, inactive-duty training, annual training duty, and full-time National Guard duty or active duty. (Generally, under current law, only federal active duty counts towards educational assistance eligibility.)

Maddy summaryThe Love Lives On Act of 2025 modifies veterans' and military survivors' benefit rules to prevent remarriage from automatically ending eligibility. It directly affects surviving spouses of veterans or military members who remarried, ensuring they retain access to key benefits. Key provisions include: (1) preventing termination of veterans' dependency compensation (under 38 U.S.C. §1311/1562) due to remarriage; (2) stopping termination of military Survivor Benefit Plan annuities solely for remarriage, with specific rules for those who remarried before age 55; and (3) expanding TRICARE coverage to include remarried widows/widowers whose subsequent marriage ended (via death, divorce, or annulment). These changes restore or maintain benefits that were previously lost upon remarriage.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Equal Tax Act, proposes changes to how the U.S. tax system treats capital gains and earned income. It would limit preferential tax rates for capital gains to individuals with taxable incomes of $1,000,000 or less, while maintaining lower rates for qualifying family farms and businesses. Additionally, the bill would require taxpayers to recognize capital gains when property is transferred through gifts or inheritance, except for transfers between spouses and certain charitable contributions. The legislation also includes provisions for reporting certain gifts and bequests, allows for extended payment terms for taxes owed on gains realized due to death, and places limits on using like-kind exchanges to defer taxes on real estate gains.

Maddy summaryThis bill proposes a new windfall profits tax on crude oil producers and importers, targeting companies that extract or import more than 300,000 barrels of oil per day. The tax rate would be 50% of the amount by which current crude oil prices exceed a baseline set at the 2025 average, with adjustments for inflation in subsequent years. Revenue collected from this tax would be placed in a dedicated fund and then rebated directly to individual taxpayers as a credit against their income taxes. The rebate amount would be calculated quarterly based on the total tax revenue collected and distributed to eligible individuals, with higher amounts for joint filers and income-based phase-outs. The bill applies to oil extracted or imported after December 31, 2025, and includes provisions for territories with mirror tax systems to receive equivalent benefits.

Maddy summaryThe Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (S 836) extends COPPA protections to teens aged 13-17 by requiring websites, apps, and online services to obtain verifiable consent from parents for children or from teens themselves before collecting or using their personal information for purposes beyond the service. It defines "personal information" broadly to include biometric data, voice recordings, persistent identifiers, and geolocation information, and prohibits using such information for individual-specific advertising without consent. The bill mandates clear notice about data practices and gives children and teens rights to access, correct, and delete their personal information. Additionally, it requires the FTC to conduct studies on mobile app oversight and the GAO to study teen privacy in financial technology products.

Maddy summaryThis resolution celebrates the 175th anniversary of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), a nonprofit organization founded in 1851 that operates over 2,600 locations across the United States. The bill formally recognizes the YMCA's historical contributions, including its role in inventing basketball, providing early childcare and education services, and delivering humanitarian aid during wartime. It also acknowledges the organization's current work in offering fitness programs, youth services, and community support to millions of people annually. The Senate resolution expresses appreciation for the YMCA's staff and volunteers and encourages continued efforts to address social isolation through community-building programs.

Maddy summaryThis bill, known as the Diabetes Foot Health Access and Modernization Act of 2026, makes two main changes to federal health insurance programs. First, it allows podiatric physicians to provide covered physician services under Medicaid, ensuring patients have access to specialized foot and ankle care. Second, it updates Medicare rules to clarify documentation requirements for diabetic shoes, specifying that a physician must confirm a patient has diabetes and related foot conditions before these shoes are covered. The changes take effect on January 1, 2026 for Medicaid podiatry services and January 1, 2028 for Medicare diabetic shoe documentation.