SRES 35 is a ceremonial Senate resolution honoring Nellie Tayloe Ross, who became the first woman elected governor of a U.S. state when she took office as Wyoming's governor on January 5, 1925. The resolution recognizes her historic achievement, celebrates her contributions to women's leadership in government, and calls for the U.S. public to observe January 2025 as the 100th anniversary of her pioneering role. It has no legal effect or policy changes - it is solely a commemorative gesture by the Senate.
This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to publicly publish the models, data, and detailed methodology it uses to estimate the costs and effects of legislation. Specifically, it mandates that the CBO make available all fiscal models, data routines, and the underlying assumptions behind its cost estimates, allowing independent verification. This applies to all CBO analyses of proposed bills, including the specific data and computational details needed for others to replicate the results. The requirement applies to all users of CBO reports - lawmakers, researchers, and the public - except for data legally restricted from disclosure, which would still require a public list of variables and descriptive statistics.
HR 729, the Teleabortion Prevention Act of 2025, prohibits healthcare providers from administering chemical abortions (using drugs to terminate pregnancy) via telehealth or remote means without being physically present during the procedure. It requires providers to physically examine the patient, be present at the location of the abortion, and schedule a follow-up visit within 14 days. The bill directly affects healthcare providers offering telemedicine abortion services, imposing fines up to $1,000 or up to 2 years in prison for violations. Exceptions apply for life-threatening medical emergencies, and the law explicitly excludes treatment for verified ectopic pregnancies. This bill targets the remote provision of abortion drugs, making in-person provider presence mandatory for such procedures.
Life at Conception Act This bill declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
HR 21, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, requires medical staff at abortion facilities to provide the same immediate care and hospital admission to any infant born alive during an abortion as they would for any newborn. It mandates reporting failures to provide this care to law enforcement and imposes penalties of up to 5 years in prison for violations, with harsher penalties for intentional killing. The bill also allows women who undergo abortions to sue for civil damages, including triple the abortion cost, and provides for attorney fees. It defines "abortion" to exclude procedures performed after viability to preserve a live birth. This law directly affects healthcare providers at abortion facilities and creates new federal legal obligations for them.
S 199 would create special tax rules for "qualified residents of Taiwan" with income from U.S. sources. It would lower tax rates on interest, dividends, and royalties from 30% to 10% (15% for some dividends), provide tax relief for certain wages paid to Taiwan residents working in the U.S., and exempt income from entertainment or athletic activities up to $30,000. The bill establishes specific requirements for entities to qualify for these benefits, including ownership and income criteria. It also creates a process for the U.S. to negotiate a formal tax agreement with Taiwan to further address double taxation concerns.
This bill declares parental authority over a child's education, upbringing, and health care as a fundamental constitutional right. It requires government agencies at all levels to demonstrate a compelling interest and use the least restrictive means before interfering with these parental decisions - defining a "substantial burden" as actions like withholding benefits or imposing penalties that constrain parental choices. Exceptions apply only when parental decisions risk serious physical harm or end a child's life. The law applies to all federal and state government actions affecting these rights, adding parental claims to existing legal frameworks like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act This bill creates new federal crimes related to the performance of an abortion on an unborn child who has Down syndrome. It subjects a violator to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both. It also authorizes civil remedies, including damages and injunctive relief. A woman who undergoes such an abortion may not be prosecuted or held civilly liable.
This bill allows ranchers with grazing permits or leases to temporarily use vacant public grazing land when their usual land becomes unusable due to disasters like droughts, wildfires, or extreme weather. The Secretary of Agriculture or Interior can make this temporary access available, subject to conditions ensuring it doesn’t alter the rancher’s original grazing rights or future allocations. Key provisions require the Secretary to consider ecological conditions, coordinate across agencies, and establish guidelines within one year to streamline this process. The temporary use is limited to the duration needed for the original land to recover, and it does not affect the rancher’s permanent access or terms to their original allotment.
S 213, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, makes the qualified business income deduction permanent for small business owners. It directly affects pass-through business owners (like sole proprietors and small partnerships) who currently benefit from this tax break. The bill removes the temporary expiration of Section 199A of the tax code, providing long-term certainty for these taxpayers by ensuring they can continue deducting up to 20% of their qualified business income.
This bill modifies tax code provisions to benefit energy producers. It allows oil and gas companies to deduct intangible drilling and development costs more favorably when calculating taxable income, by disregarding depreciation and depletion expenses already reflected on their financial statements. The change applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. This directly affects domestic energy producers who incur these specific drilling costs.
S 227, the PEACE Act of 2025, prohibits the use of federal education funds for curriculum, teaching, or counseling that promotes or compels specific "divisive concepts" related to race. It directly affects schools receiving federal funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by banning the use of those funds for materials teaching ideas like "one race is inherently superior," that "the United States is fundamentally racist," or that individuals bear responsibility for past racial actions based solely on their race. The bill defines prohibited concepts to include race stereotyping (assigning traits to races), race scapegoating (blaming a race for problems), and claims that meritocracy is racist. This amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would require schools to avoid these specific topics when using federal education funds. The law focuses on restricting the use of federal money for certain instructional content, not on banning all discussions of race or history.
