Maddy summaryHR 800, the "DO NOT Call Act of 2023," amends the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 to increase penalties for intentional telemarketing violations. It adds criminal penalties of up to one year in prison or fines for willfully and knowingly making unwanted calls, with harsher penalties (up to three years) for severe offenses like sending over 100,000 calls in 24 hours, causing $5,000+ in damages, or committing calls to further a felony. The bill also raises civil penalties for providing false caller identification information from $10,000 to $20,000 per violation. This directly affects telemarketers, debt collectors, and businesses making unsolicited calls, increasing legal consequences for repeated or large-scale violations.
Sponsored bills
Border Security Investment Act This bill imposes a fee on remittances sent to certain countries and provides funding for border security activities from the collected amounts. Specifically, the fee shall apply to remittances sent to one of the five countries that had the most citizens or nationals unlawfully enter the United States in the previous fiscal year, as determined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The fee must be 37% of the amount sent. Half of the money collected by the fee must be placed in a trust fund for reimbursing border states for expenses incurred for border security enforcement measures. The other half must be placed in another trust fund for (1) deploying technology and installing physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) paying the wages and salaries of U.S. Border Patrol agents. If the amount in the trust funds exceeds a certain threshold, the excess money must be used only for deficit reduction.
This resolution condemns Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and officials and Iranian dissidents. The resolution also expresses support for the people of Iran who are legitimately defending their rights for freedom against repression and condemns the killing of Iranian protesters by the Iranian regime.
Maddy summaryHCONRES 13 is a concurrent resolution expressing Congress's support for maintaining the current policy that prohibits imposing new fees on local radio stations for playing music. It states that Congress should not impose any performance fee, tax, royalty, or charge on local radio stations for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on businesses like bars and restaurants that play music publicly. The resolution argues that such fees would harm local radio stations - critical sources for emergency information and community programming - and jeopardize the economic model that has supported both radio and the music industry for decades. This resolution does not create new law but formally opposes potential legislative changes to the existing fee structure.
Freight Rail Assistance and Investment to Launch Coronavirus-Era Activity and Recovery Act of 2023 or the Freight RAILCAR Act of 2023 This bill provides a new tax credit through 2025 for 10% of freight railcar fleet modernization expenses (i.e., railcar replacement and modernization expenses for meeting fuel efficiency and performance standards). The bill provides that no more than 2,000 freight railcars per taxpayer may be taken into account for purposes of determining the credit in a taxable year. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress on the credit to provide information on the number of times the credit was claimed and the number of railcars scrapped or built as a result of the credit.
Strengthen the Pediatric Research Initiative Act This bill terminates (1) the taxpayer election to designate $3 of income tax liability for financing of presidential election campaigns, (2) the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, and (3) the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. The Department of the Treasury must transfer the funds remaining in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to the Pediatric Research Initiative Fund.
Maddy summaryThis bill helps new car dealers affected by pandemic-era supply chain disruptions by changing tax rules for inventory sales. It allows dealers using LIFO accounting to treat certain sales of unsold vehicles (liquidations) between March 2020 and December 2021 as "qualified" for tax purposes. Dealers can defer recognizing income from these sales and have until 2026 to replace the sold vehicles before potential tax adjustments apply. The provision specifically targets dealers who couldn't replenish inventory during the supply chain crisis.
Maddy summaryThe Strategic Production Response Act (HR 21) requires the Secretary of Energy to develop a plan increasing oil and gas leasing on federal lands (managed by Interior, Agriculture, Energy, and Defense) by the same percentage as any initial drawdown of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This plan must be created before the first sale, exchange, or loan of reserve oil, and cannot increase leasing on federal lands by more than 10% overall. The bill mandates consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and Defense during plan development. It directly affects federal land management agencies and future oil/gas leasing decisions on public lands.
Maddy summaryHR 564 redirects unspent funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) to reduce the federal deficit. It requires all unobligated ARP funds - money allocated but not yet spent - to be sent to the Treasury's general fund upon the bill's enactment. This action directly affects federal budget accounting by canceling unused appropriations rather than creating new programs or aiding specific groups. The bill does not alter existing laws or services but focuses solely on reallocating existing, unspent federal funds. It is a procedural budget measure with no direct impact on taxpayers or beneficiaries of the ARP.
Maddy summaryThe Educational Choice for Children Act creates tax credits for individuals and corporations that contribute to scholarship granting organizations providing education scholarships. Individuals can claim a credit up to $5,000 or 10% of their income, while corporations can claim up to 5% of taxable income. The scholarships are available to students from households with income up to 300% of the area median income, and can be used for private school tuition, tutoring, and other educational expenses at elementary and secondary schools. The bill includes strict requirements for scholarship organizations to verify income, conduct audits, and prevent misuse of funds, while also prohibiting government control over these organizations and protecting private and religious schools from discrimination in the program. It establishes a $10 billion annual cap on the total tax credits available.