Sen. Jeff Merkley

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Take Back Our Hospitals Act of 2026, would prohibit Medicare from paying hospitals and skilled nursing facilities owned or controlled by private equity funds, real estate investment trusts, or corporations owned by private equity funds. The law defines ownership control as holding 10 percent or more of voting securities and includes provisions for a three-year transition period for existing facilities before the ban takes full effect. Facilities found in violation would face penalties, and the owning firms would be held jointly and severally liable for those penalties. The measure aims to restrict investment by specific financial entities in healthcare facilities that receive Medicare funding.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Working Americans' Tax Cut Act, proposes two main tax changes: it creates an alternative maximum tax rate of 25.5% for low- and middle-income individuals earning less than 175% of a cost-of-living exemption, and it imposes a progressive surcharge on high-income individuals earning over $1 million. The low-income provision calculates taxes based on income above a living expense threshold that adjusts annually with inflation, while the high-income surcharge applies rates of 5%, 10%, and 12% to income brackets above $1 million, $2 million, and $5 million respectively. Both provisions use modified adjusted gross income as the base for calculations and apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. The bill would directly affect individual taxpayers by altering how their income is taxed under the Internal Revenue Code.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight Committee composed of representatives from multiple federal agencies including the Department of Education, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Justice, and others. The committee will coordinate oversight of for-profit colleges that receive federal student aid, share complaint information among agencies, and publish an annual report on institutional performance and enforcement actions. The bill also establishes a 'For-Profit College Warning List' that would publicly identify institutions facing lawsuits, settlements, or federal assistance suspensions, requiring written responses from schools before publication.

Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 This bill prohibits life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term insurance carriers from denying or otherwise restricting coverage for living organ donors. Specifically, carriers may not deny, cancel, vary premiums, or otherwise impose conditions on policies based on an individual's status as a living organ donor. The bill also expressly specifies that recovery from organ-donation surgery constitutes a serious health condition that entitles eligible employees to job-protected medical leave. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services must update educational materials on living organ donation to include information about the benefits and risks of living organ donation and the impact of donation on insurance access, particularly with respect to the bill's changes.

Maddy summaryThis bill, known as the Professional Degree Access Restoration Act, aims to restore federal student loan limits that were previously reduced for graduate and professional students. It directly affects students pursuing advanced degrees such as law, medicine, and education by increasing the amount of federal loans they can access. The legislation reverses specific loan cap reductions established by Public Law 119-21, allowing students to borrow more money during their period of instruction. By amending the Higher Education Act of 1965, the bill removes certain restrictions on annual and aggregate loan amounts for these student categories.

Maddy summaryThis bill would extend the time limit for prosecuting foreign bribery offenses under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from the current standard to 10 years. It directly affects individuals and companies accused of bribing foreign officials by giving prosecutors more time to build cases. The law would apply to all such offenses committed after the bill's enactment, except those occurring within five years before the law takes effect. The provision includes a sunset clause, meaning it would expire eight years after being enacted.

Maddy summaryThe Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2026 updates eligibility rules and benefit amounts for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides financial assistance to low-income individuals with limited resources. The bill increases income and resource limits for SSI recipients, exempts certain retirement accounts and tribal welfare payments from counting toward eligibility limits, and extends the SSI program to U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Additionally, the legislation repeals a marriage penalty that previously reduced benefits for married couples and clarifies how various state tax credits and in-kind support are treated when determining eligibility.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act, aims to increase competition in the U.S. meatpacking industry by requiring the Federal Trade Commission to break up large companies that control multiple types of meat processing. It prohibits major meatpacking firms from operating in more than one protein line (beef, pork, or poultry) and mandates divestiture of assets for companies that exceed market concentration thresholds. The legislation also targets foreign-owned meatpacking companies by requiring them to divest U.S. operations and includes provisions to prevent vertical consolidation between packers and feedlots. Additionally, the bill directs the FTC to use existing authority to address unfair pricing practices and authorizes funding for farmers' cooperatives and small businesses to acquire divested meatpacking facilities.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the End Prediction Market Corruption Act, would prohibit certain U.S. government officials from trading event contracts, which are financial agreements based on specific occurrences or outcomes. The law directly affects the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and senior executive branch officials, banning them from buying, selling, or exchanging these contracts entirely or restricting senior officials from trading contracts related to matters they personally handle in their official capacity. To enforce these rules, the bill establishes civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation plus any profits gained from prohibited trades, requires foreign trading platforms to report violations, and mandates annual financial disclosure reports from covered officials detailing any event contract transactions. Additionally, the bill directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to create rules preventing the misuse of nonpublic information for profit through event contract trading.

This joint resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted. The resolution specifies that it shall not be construed to prevent the United States from defending against an attack on the United States or its personnel or facilities in other nations.