HR 399, the Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act of 2023, amends the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy to enhance its role in representing small businesses. The bill adds a new duty requiring the Office to represent small business views before foreign governments and international entities on regulations and trade initiatives affecting them. It also makes minor textual updates to existing law, including correcting "serviced-disabled" to "service-disabled" and changing "complete" to "compete" in one provision. These changes directly affect small businesses by strengthening the SBA's ability to advocate for them in international trade and regulatory matters.
This bill amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to require Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) licensed by the Small Business Administration to invest at least 15% of their capital in small businesses, up from the previous 5% requirement. The change directly affects SBICs, which are private investment firms that channel capital into small businesses. By raising this minimum investment threshold, the bill aims to increase funding flow to small businesses through these licensed investment vehicles. The provision applies to all new SBIC investments under the amended law.
This bill prohibits the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from leasing general-purpose office space directly after enactment, requiring it to instead use the General Services Administration (GSA) for all such leases under specified federal leasing authorities. It directly affects the SEC, mandating a shift from its current independent leasing authority to the centralized GSA process. The key mechanism is an amendment to federal law that revokes the SEC's existing leasing power for office space while preserving pre-enactment leases. The bill also directs a review of other federal agencies' leasing authorities but focuses primarily on ending the SEC's direct leasing capability.
This bill requires federal agencies to create a public database containing detailed information about settlement agreements they enter into, such as the nature of violations, payment amounts, and affected State/local governments. Agencies must submit categorized, searchable data - including settlement terms, penalties, and economic justifications - within 90 days of guidance from the Office of Management and Budget, with all information remaining public for at least 5 years after settlement ends. The database directly affects federal agencies (as data reporters) and indirectly informs State/local governments listed as impacted by settlement terms. It does not alter settlement processes but increases transparency around how federal agencies resolve legal cases involving alleged violations of civil or criminal law.
HR 259, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act, requires federal agencies providing disaster aid (like FEMA, SBA, and HUD) to publicly report detailed spending information online. Covered agencies must publish quarterly, machine-readable data on all disaster assistance disbursed, including total amounts, project-specific expenditures, and project details (location, status, and funding sources). This information will be posted on a new subpage of the federal spending website, making it accessible to the public for transparency. The bill directly affects how federal agencies report disaster funds, ensuring greater accountability for how taxpayer dollars are used in recovery efforts following declared disasters.
HRES 57 is a procedural resolution that appoints specific House members to standing committees for the 118th Congress. It directly affects the listed representatives by assigning them to committees like Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, and Ways and Means. The resolution contains no substantive policy changes - it solely formalizes committee membership as per House rules. This is a routine administrative action, not a legislative policy measure.
HRES 56 is a procedural resolution from the 118th Congress (2023) that formally assigns specific House members to standing committees. It lists 32 representatives for the Committee on Appropriations, 24 for Energy and Commerce, 25 for Financial Services, and smaller groups for other committees like House Administration and Rules. This resolution does not create new policy or affect constituents - it simply confirms routine committee assignments following the start of the new Congress. The bill was introduced on January 25, 2023, and is part of standard House organizational procedures.
This bill requires healthcare providers to give the same medical care to infants born alive during abortions as they would to any newborn, and to immediately admit such infants to a hospital. It mandates reporting of non-compliance to law enforcement and imposes penalties including up to 5 years in prison for violations. Women who undergo abortions can file civil lawsuits seeking money damages for injuries, three times the abortion cost, and punitive damages if care standards are not met. The bill also clarifies that abortion includes intentionally killing an unborn child or terminating pregnancy without specific exceptions (e.g., after viability to preserve life or removing a dead fetus).
HR 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, rescinds unobligated funds previously allocated to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Specifically, it cancels unused balances from certain IRS funding provisions (sections 10301(1)(A)(ii), (iii), (B), (2), (3), (4), and (5)) of the Inflation Reduction Act. This bill does not change tax laws or directly affect taxpayers; it only redirects unspent IRS budget authority. The provision applies solely to funds that were not obligated by the IRS as of the bill’s enactment date.
HR 22, the *Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act*, blocks the U.S. government from selling petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to entities under Chinese Communist Party control or unless sellers guarantee the oil won’t be exported to China. It directly affects the Department of Energy’s management of the reserve and any foreign entities seeking to purchase reserve petroleum. The key mechanism requires the Secretary of Energy to prohibit sales to China-linked entities or impose strict export restrictions on any sale. This policy change aims to prevent strategic petroleum resources from reaching entities tied to China’s government.
The Chance to Compete Act of 2023 reforms federal hiring practices for positions in the competitive service by establishing new standards for assessments used in the hiring process. It prohibits the use of automated self-assessments and certain résumé reviews after two years, requiring instead passing score assessments that directly demonstrate job-related skills. The bill mandates agencies to publicly post any waivers to these standards, limits waivers to 10% of positions, and requires OPM to create an online tool tracking hiring data including demographic information. This affects all federal agencies hiring through the competitive service and the applicants for those positions.
This concurrent resolution authorizes the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate to assemble the House and the Senate outside the District of Columbia whenever the public interest warrants it.
