Rep. Burgess Owens

Maddy summaryHR 2962, the Hydrogen Permitting Simplification Act, exempts certain federal hydrogen production projects from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. It directly affects developers of hydrogen facilities using nuclear, solar, wind, or geothermal energy by removing the requirement for environmental impact assessments under NEPA for projects under this specific energy policy title. The key provision amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to add a new section stating that major federal actions involving these hydrogen production sources are not subject to NEPA. This simplifies permitting for qualifying clean hydrogen projects by eliminating a standard federal environmental review step.

Maddy summaryThe Employee Rights Act (HR 2700) amends key labor laws to strengthen employee rights in collective bargaining and privacy. It requires employers to use secret ballot elections for selecting bargaining representatives and to provide labor organizations with voter lists containing employee names and one form of contact information (chosen by the employee) within two business days of an election. The bill prohibits employers from using employee personal information for non-organizing purposes and mandates written authorization for using union dues on non-bargaining activities, with authorizations expiring after one year. Additionally, it clarifies joint employment standards to prevent misclassification and adds tribal sovereignty protections to labor law definitions.

Maddy summaryHR 2933, the Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act, removes the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) and its director position from the Department of the Treasury. The bill updates references to the FIO in the Dodd-Frank Act and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act to instead reference the Treasury Secretary or other entities, without altering the Treasury Secretary’s existing insurance authority. This change streamlines federal insurance oversight by eliminating a dedicated office while maintaining the Treasury’s role in insurance policy matters.

Maddy summaryHR 2906, the "Reject Latinx Act," prohibits U.S. federal executive agencies from using the terms "latinx" or "latin-x" (or variations) in any official public document. This applies to all documents produced on or after a 30-day effective date following the bill's enactment. The bill directly affects federal agencies responsible for creating public-facing communications, such as reports, forms, or websites. It does not restrict the terms in private or non-governmental contexts. The law mandates this language change for all new agency documents but does not require altering existing documents.

This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Labor final rule entitled Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States and published on February 28, 2023. This rule makes changes to the methodology used to set adverse effect wage rates for H-2A workers (temporary agricultural workers), including by using Bureau of Labor Statistics wage surveys in certain instances. (Generally, the minimum wage for an H-2A worker is the highest of the adverse effect wage rate, the applicable minimum wage, the prevailing wage for that occupation in that area, or any agreed-upon collective bargaining wage.)

Maddy summaryHR 2826, the Save Local Business Act, clarifies when multiple businesses can be held jointly responsible for labor laws. It amends the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act to state that a business is only a joint employer if it directly controls key employment terms like hiring, pay, schedules, or discipline for another business's workers. This directly affects franchisors, contractors, and similar business models that might previously have been deemed joint employers under broader interpretations. The bill aims to limit joint employer liability to cases where one business has clear, day-to-day control over essential worker conditions.

Maddy summaryHR 1756, the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act of 2023, requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to hold national hearings within 180 days of enactment to review the Federal milk marketing system, specifically focusing on the formula used to set the Class I skim milk price (the price for milk used in fluid products like milk and cheese). The bill mandates that the Secretary of Agriculture collect input from dairy producers and the industry on this pricing formula and other related matters during these hearings. It also amends federal law to require dairy processors to report detailed cost and yield information for all products made at their facilities, with the Secretary required to publish reports on this data every two years. This bill directly affects dairy producers, processors, and the regulatory framework governing milk pricing.

Maddy summaryHR 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, amends Title IX to prohibit federally funded schools and athletic programs from allowing individuals assigned male at birth to participate in women's or girls' sports teams. The bill defines "sex" for this purpose as "reproductive biology and genetics at birth," making it a violation of federal law to permit such participation in designated women's or girls' programs. It allows males to train with women's teams only if no female is deprived of a roster spot, competition opportunity, scholarship, or other benefit tied to the team. This law directly affects public and private schools receiving federal financial assistance that operate athletic programs.

Maddy summaryThe Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2023 requires federal agencies to obtain most goods and services from private companies through competitive bidding instead of providing them through government operations. Exceptions apply only when the law mandates government provision, for national defense or homeland security, for inherently governmental functions, or when no private source exists. Agencies must conduct competitive analyses to confirm private sector provision offers the best value to taxpayers and submit annual reports to Congress with a 5-year plan to transition commercial activities to private companies. This policy directly affects federal agencies and private sector providers by shifting procurement responsibilities away from government-run services.

American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2023 This bill eliminates the five-year amortization requirement for research and experimental expenditures, thus allowing continued expensing of such expenditures in the taxable years in which they are incurred.