Rep. Al Green

Maddy summaryHR 126, the VOTE Act, creates a 2025 pilot program to provide voter registration information to 12th-grade students in public high schools. The Election Assistance Commission will fund eligible school districts to develop initiatives (like workshops or materials) that explain how to register to vote in elections for public office. School districts must consult with local election officials when designing these programs and report on their effectiveness to the Commission. The bill does not register students but aims to increase civic engagement by ensuring seniors receive clear, accessible voting information before graduation.

Maddy summaryHR 122, the Original LAW Act, proposes a phased increase to the federal minimum wage, starting at $10.59 per hour in 2026 and rising to $26.59 per hour by 2030. It establishes an automatic adjustment mechanism where the Secretary of Labor must set the minimum wage every seven years starting in 2031, ensuring it equals 40% above the Federal supplemental poverty threshold for a renter family of four with two children. This bill directly affects all workers covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act who earn the federal minimum wage. The law requires the wage to be adjusted annually based on poverty threshold data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, aiming to align wages with living costs.

Maddy summaryThe Fair Lending for All Act establishes a new Office of Fair Lending Testing within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to proactively test creditors for compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). It expands ECOA protections to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on ZIP code, census tract, public assistance income, sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status, while replacing "applicant" with "person" throughout the law. The bill adds criminal penalties for violations, including fines up to $50,000 or 1 year in prison for individuals and up to $100,000 per violation for patterns of discrimination, with personal liability for executives. It also requires the Bureau to review loan application processes for ECOA compliance and updates mortgage data collection to include protected characteristics like sexual orientation and gender identity. This directly affects creditors (banks, lenders) and consumers seeking credit.

Maddy summaryThe Housing Fairness Act of 2025 requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct nationwide testing to identify discrimination in housing rentals, home purchases, and mortgage lending based on race, religion, sex, disability, family status, or national origin. It increases annual funding for fair housing enforcement programs to $42.5 million (2024-2028) and allocates $5 million annually for grants to study housing discrimination causes and test solutions. The bill mandates biennial reports on testing results and study findings to inform future policy actions, while prohibiting fund use for political activities. These provisions directly affect renters, homebuyers, lenders, and fair housing enforcement organizations.

Maddy summaryThis bill (HR 6244) designates the U.S. Postal Service facility at 1535 East Los Ebanos Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas, as the "1st Lieutenant Andres Zermeno Post Office Building." It updates all federal references to the building to reflect this new name. The bill has no policy provisions or funding changes - it solely honors 1st Lieutenant Andres Zermeno through a commemorative name designation. The building will now be officially referred to by this name in all government documents and records.

Maddy summaryThis bill names the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Plano, Texas, as the "U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial VA Clinic." It changes the facility's official designation in all government documents, maps, and references, honoring the late Congressman Sam Johnson. The bill does not alter the clinic's services, funding, or operations - only its name. This is a ceremonial designation with no policy or programmatic impact.

Maddy summaryThis bill, HR 1097 (Everett Alvarez, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023), authorizes the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Everett Alvarez, Jr., in recognition of his service as a U.S. Navy pilot and Vietnam War prisoner of war. It directly honors Alvarez, who was the first U.S. pilot shot down in the Vietnam War, spent over 8.5 years in captivity, and later served in the Peace Corps and Veterans Administration. The bill’s key mechanism is directing the U.S. Mint to strike a gold medal bearing his name and image, with bronze duplicates available for sale to cover costs. It does not create new policies or affect any group beyond the honoree.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a task force within Homeland Security to reunite children separated from parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021, under the Zero-Tolerance Policy. The task force must identify all affected children, recommend legal pathways for reunification (including parole, visas, or services like mental health support), and consult with affected families and organizations. It must report to Congress every 60 days and will sunset within 120 days of all reunifications or by January 20, 2039, whichever comes first. The bill directly affects children separated during that specific policy period and requires federal agencies to coordinate on practical solutions.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires states to prohibit physicians from performing specific non-emergency surgeries on foster children under age 6 who have variations in sex characteristics (commonly called intersex traits), unless the procedure addresses an immediate life threat. It targets procedures like clitoral reduction, gonadectomy, and vaginoplasty that are often done without consent on infants. States must enforce this through licensing penalties, and it applies only to children in foster care as a condition for receiving federal foster care funding. The bill explicitly states it does not restrict medically necessary surgeries or procedures for transgender youth.

Maddy summaryHR 8018, the ABC Act, requires Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security Administration to review their eligibility processes, forms, and communications to simplify interactions for family caregivers. It targets reducing duplicate paperwork, improving website accessibility (including ADA compliance), and enhancing staff communication - such as shorter call waits and multilingual support - to better serve caregivers supporting individuals enrolled in these programs. The review must include input from caregivers and organizations, with results reported to Congress within one year. This procedural bill does not change program benefits but mandates systemic improvements to reduce administrative burdens.