Rep. Judy Chu

Maddy summaryHR 6416, the "Russian War Crimes in Ukraine Tax Act," imposes a 100% tax on interest and dividends earned from frozen Russian and Belarusian sovereign assets held abroad. This tax revenue is directed into a new Ukraine Reconstruction Trust Fund, which must be used for Ukraine's reconstruction, humanitarian aid, economic development, and transparent governance. The bill requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold this tax from qualifying income and overrides international treaty obligations to ensure implementation. It also mandates annual reports on fund usage to Congress, specifying that all revenues from the tax must support Ukraine's recovery efforts as defined in the legislation.

Maddy summaryHR 6720 creates a grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide stabilization payments to farmworkers, meat processing workers, and grocery workers affected by natural or other disasters designated by the Secretary. Eligible entities - such as labor unions or membership organizations representing these worker groups - can apply for funding to support affected workers. The program is authorized to spend up to $50 million, with the Secretary required to report on its outcomes within four years. This bill directly affects workers in specific food industry sectors during disaster events, offering financial stabilization through grants administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes tax relief for qualified residents of Taiwan earning income in the United States by reducing tax rates on interest, dividends, and royalties to 10% or 15% (instead of the standard 30%). It also exempts certain wages and income from entertainment activities under $30,000 from U.S. taxation. To qualify, individuals must meet specific residency requirements, and entities must demonstrate substantial business activity in Taiwan. The bill modifies withholding tax procedures to implement these new rates and requires reciprocal tax benefits from Taiwan to be in place.

Maddy summaryThe Eviction Prevention Act of 2023 provides $125 million annually to states and local governments to fund legal counsel for eligible individuals (those with income below 125% of the federal poverty level) facing eviction. It establishes a national database requiring courts to collect detailed data on eviction cases, including tenant demographics, reasons for eviction, representation status, and case outcomes. The database will track court-ordered evictions, administrative evictions, and illegal evictions, with specific requirements for reporting by courts and law enforcement. This legislation authorizes $100 million annually for the database's operation through fiscal year 2028, aiming to improve understanding of eviction patterns and outcomes. The bill creates concrete mechanisms for increasing legal representation access and gathering comprehensive eviction data to inform policy decisions.

Maddy summaryHR 6711, the Prison Staffing Reform Act of 2023, requires the Bureau of Prisons to conduct a comprehensive external review of staffing levels within 180 days of enactment. This review, to be led by an independent organization and involving prison unions, civil rights groups, and recidivism programs, must identify how understaffing affects inmate access to medical care, programming, safety, and staff well-being. The bill mandates a detailed staffing plan with specific ratios (e.g., correctional officers per inmate, medical staff per unit) and a 3-year strategy to fill vacancies, reduce overtime, and improve security. The Bureau must submit the plan to Congress and prison unions, with annual progress reports over three years, all subject to funding.

Maddy summaryThis bill restricts warrantless surveillance of U.S. persons by amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It limits who can conduct queries of U.S. person data (capping at five personnel per FBI field office), prohibits using such queries for law enforcement without proper authorization, and requires documentation of all queries. The bill creates exceptions for emergencies, consent, and cybersecurity, but prohibits using metadata results to access protected communications. It also limits how information acquired under Section 702 can be used in criminal proceedings, requiring specific approvals for such use.

Maddy summaryHR 6654, the Farewell to Foam Act of 2023, bans the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene foam food containers, packaging peanuts ("loose fill"), and coolers starting January 1, 2026. It directly affects food service providers (like restaurants and schools), manufacturers, distributors, and retailers who sell these foam products. The bill prohibits selling these items, with enforcement starting with a written warning for first violations, followed by escalating civil penalties ($250 for a second violation, up to $1,000 for fourth+ violations), while exempting small businesses with low annual revenue from repeated penalties within a 7-day period.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require lenders to collect and report data on loans to LGBTQI-owned businesses. It specifically adds "LGBTQI-owned" to existing categories for data collection, includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status as protected characteristics in lending data, and defines an "LGBTQI-owned business" as one where over 50% of ownership/control and net profit/loss accrues to self-identifying LGBTQI individuals. The policy change directly affects financial institutions that report lending data to the government, mandating they track and disclose these new categories. This provides concrete data on lending practices for LGBTQI business owners, who face documented barriers in accessing credit.

Maddy summaryHR 6592, the Fight Book Bans Act, provides federal grants to reimburse public school districts for legal costs when they choose to keep instructional or library materials after parental objections. It directly affects school districts (covered local educational agencies) that select materials for students and handle challenges to their removal. The bill authorizes up to $100,000 per case in grants to cover attorney fees and court costs, provided the district didn’t remove the materials and wasn’t reimbursed by the state. Funding of $15 million is authorized for fiscal years 2024-2028. The grants are strictly for legal challenges to decisions not to remove materials, not for the content of the materials themselves.

Maddy summaryHRES 907 is a non-binding House resolution condemning rising antisemitism in the U.S., citing increased hate crimes (25% rise in 2022 per FBI data) and campus incidents (41% increase from 2021-2022 per ADL). It calls on all Americans, including campus leaders and government agencies, to combat antisemitism and urges implementation of the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. The resolution specifically requests increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to strengthen safety protections for Jewish communities. It directly affects Jewish Americans, campus communities, and government agencies responsible for hate crime prevention and community safety.