September 27

Written By DSEANTE PARKS

This week in MORE POWER:

Funding Deal Done
Enhancing Security
Safer Online Dating
The Hazing Report
Knowing Parents’ Rights

Funding Deal Done

Congress passed and President Biden signed a continuing resolution this week, which means the federal government will remain open and funded for three more months. Essentially, there was a risk of a government shutdown because Congress couldn’t agree on funding for fiscal year 2025. Now, Congress has until December 20, 2024 to reach a long-term agreement on funding. 

Reaching this deal was challenging because many Republican lawmakers urged by former President Trump pushed to include the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which Democratic members opposed. The SAVE Act would require federal identification for all voters in national elections. The continuing resolution that passed does not include the SAVE Act.

Enhancing Security

After former President Donald Trump suffered two failed assassination attempts, Congress has been pursuing solutions to address Secret Service’s issues, as well as propose solutions. The Senate passed the Enhanced Presidential Security Act Tuesday. This bill would require the U.S. Secret Service to use consistent standards when deciding the number of agents needed to protect the president, vice president, and all major presidential and vice presidential candidates. This bill is heading to President Biden’s desk.

Safer Online Dating

The House passed the Online Dating Safety Act Monday. This bipartisan bill was introduced by Reps. David Valado (R-Calif.) and Brittany Petterson (D-Colo.) to protect Americans while using online dating services, such as Tinder and Hinge. This bill would, if made law, make online dating services send out a notification to any user who interacted with a profile that the service has determined to be a scammer. This notification would alert the user that they have interacted with someone possibly using a fake identity, identify the username of this individual, remind the user of the date of their last communication with the scammer, and warn the user against sending money. This bill is now heading to the Senate.

The Hazing Report

The House passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which aims to increase transparency around hazing incidents at institutes of higher learning (IHEs), such as colleges and universities. To do so, this bill would require IHEs to report every instance of hazing in its annual security reports. These reports, which are both publicly available and reported to the Department of Education, include information about campus crime statistics, security policies, and procedures for reporting crimes and emergencies. The bill, if made law, would be the first anti-hazing federal law in the U.S.; however, this bill would not add any new consequences for hazing incidents. Rather, it would promote transparency, which, supporters hope, will encourage IHEs to take stronger preventive measures and hold offending student organizations accountable.

Knowing Parents’ Rights

The House voted to pass the Think Differently about Education Act, which aims to improve the process for developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for children with disabilities. IEPs are designed to ensure that children receive appropriate public education tailored to their specific needs. Typically, IEPs are created by an IEP team, which parents can add additional individuals who have knowledge about their child to. However, supporters say that not all parents know that they have the right to add individuals to their child’s IEP team. This bill will require schools to inform parents that they have this right. Now, this bill heads to the Senate.

What Congress Passed

H.R.1735 Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act

H.R.2706 Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act

H.R.3433 Give Kids a Chance Act

H.R.3884 Sickle Cell Disease and Other Heritable Blood Disorders Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act

H.R.5526 Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act 

H.R.6125 Online Dating Safety Act

H.R.6219 Accessing Satellite Data to Enable New Discoveries Act

H.R.6231 Department of Homeland Security Policy Issuance Review Act

H.R.6829 Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, and Research, and AED Training in the Schools (HEARTS) Act

H.R.7189 Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act 

H.R.7630 Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research (ANCHOR) Act

H.R.7685 Innovative Mitigation Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies (IMPACT) Act

H.R.7764 Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to Smithsonian Transfer Study Act

H.R.7832 Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act

H.R.8108 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to add a Medicaid State plan requirement with respect to the determination of residency of certain individuals serving in the Armed Forces

H.R.8958 NASA Reauthorization Act

H.R.9459 PATHS Act

S.133 NAPA Reauthorization Act

S.134 Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act

S.670 IMPACTT Human Trafficking Act

S.679 GAO Database Modernization Act

S.794 CTPAT Pilot Program Act

S.1549 Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act

S.2228 Building Chips in America Act 

S.2685 Reuse Excess Property Act

S.3764 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act

S.4698 DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act

H.R.1657 Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act 

H.R.1726 Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act

H.R.2468 Mountain View Corridor Completion Act

H.R.2950 Coastal Habitat Conservation Act

H.R.3208 DHS Cybersecurity On-the-Job Training Program Act

H.R.4094 Great Salt Lake Stewardship Act

H.R.4259 Think Differently about Education Act

H.R.4596 Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act

H.R.5490 Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm Act

H.R.5509 Electronic Permitting Modernization Act

H.R.5646 Stop Campus Hazing Act

H.R.6474 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas.

H.R.6852 Holcombe Rucker Park National Commemorative Site Act

H.R.7073 Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act

H.R.7370 GEO Act

H.R.7422  Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act

H.R.8790 Fix Our Forests Act

S.612 Lake Tahoe Restoration Reauthorization Act

 H.R.522 Deliver for Veterans Act

H.R.3334 STOP CCP Act

H.R.6656 Stuck On Hold Act

H.R.7323 Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserves Tuition Fairness Act

H.R.8205 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit fraud in connection with posting bail

S.656 Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act

H.R.9747 Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025

That’s your weekly roundup!

DSEANTE PARKS
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