Rep. Dan Newhouse

This bill amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to prohibit local regulations relating to the sale, distribution, labeling, application, or use of any pesticide or device subject to regulation by a state or the Environmental Protection Agency under FIFRA.

Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act This bill suspends normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. It also permanently authorizes the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions based on violations of human rights. Specifically, the bill authorizes the President to proclaim increases in the rates of duty applicable to products of Russia or Belarus. This authority terminates on January 1, 2024. The President may restore normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, subject to congressional disapproval. The bill directs the U.S. Trade Representative to (1) condemn the recent aggression in Ukraine, (2) encourage other World Trade Organization (WTO) members to suspend trade concessions to Russia and Belarus, (3) consider steps to suspend Russia's participation in the WTO, and (4) seek to halt the accession process of Belarus.

Maddy summaryHR 7477, the CERTS Tax Exemption Act, ensures that grants provided under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act are tax-free for eligible transportation service providers. The bill directly affects companies and organizations providing transportation services that receive these specific federal grants. Key provisions state that grant amounts cannot be counted as taxable income, deductions related to grant-funded costs cannot be denied, and tax attributes (like basis increases) must be treated as tax-free for partnerships and S corporations. This change simplifies tax treatment for recipients by preventing unintended tax liabilities on relief funds.

Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and items. Coverage must include services and items that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician. Coverage limits and cost-sharing requirements for such services and items may not be more restrictive than those applicable to all medical and surgical benefits under the plan.

Responsible, Better Understanding of Infrastructure Leveraged Dollars Act or the Responsible BUILD Act This bill establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Infrastructure Projects within the Department of Transportation (DOT). Specifically, the office shall provide for independent and objective (1) supervision of certain infrastructure projects; and (2) leadership and coordination of, and recommendations on, policies designed to promote efficiency and effectiveness and to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse related to such projects. The office must submit quarterly reports to Congress and DOT on state spending of infrastructure funding.

System Transparency and Accountability for the IRS Act This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service to ensure that its employees are familiar with basic taxpayer rights, including the right to be informed, the right to quality service, and the right to privacy and confidentiality. The bill also authorizes the Department of the Treasury to regulate tax return preparers, including by sanctioning preparers for incompetence and disreputable behavior and by establishing minimum competency standards for preparers.

This resolution supports the preservation of the stepped-up basis tax rule that allows recipients of inherited assets such as land, equipment, or buildings to adjust the cost basis of the assets to reflect their fair market value. The resolution opposes any efforts to impose new taxes on family farms or small businesses and recognizes the importance of generational transfers of farm and family-owned businesses.

Unleashing American Energy Act This bill requires a minimum amount of oil and gas lease sales a year on certain submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and limits delays on federal oil and gas leases on such lands. Specifically, this bill requires the Department of the Interior to annually conduct a minimum of two region-wide oil and gas lease sales in each of the following regions of the OCS: (1) the Gulf of Mexico region in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area and the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, and (2) the Alaska region. In addition, the bill requires the President to obtain congressional approval before delaying federal oil and gas leases on the OCS.

Strategy to Secure Offshore Energy Act This bill modifies requirements for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, including by specifying that the program must be updated on a five-year basis and setting a minimum number of annual lease sales for the program.

Restore Onshore Energy Production Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior to immediately resume sales of oil and gas leases in accordance with applicable onshore mineral leasing laws and specifies a minimum number of sales that Interior must conduct in each state where there is land available for oil and gas leasing. The bill also prohibits the President from taking actions to cancel, delay, or otherwise impede federal processes related to energy mineral leasing without congressional approval.