WASHINGTON, DC – The White House announced that President Joe Biden signed 50 bills into law on Monday, just a couple of days before Christmas.
These new laws include rules involving Native American tribes, AEDs in public schools, hazing on college campuses, and much more.
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Below is a full list of the laws signed on Monday:
HR 663 — Native American Child Protection Act
HR 663 revises the Indian Child Abuse Treatment Grant Program, which provides grants to Native American tribes for those who have been victims of child sexual abuse. The law now encourages the use of “culturally appropriate” services through this program.
In addition, the law revises the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Program to let Native American tribes use program funds for activities like operating child protective services programs.
HR 1097 — Congressional Gold Medal
HR 1097 awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr., a veteran of the Vietnam War who was the first U.S. pilot to be shot down and captured during the war.
Alvarez is also noted for his distinction as the second-longest prisoner of war in the nation’s history, surviving over 8.5 years in captivity.
HR 1607 — Salt River Project
HR 1607 transfers the National Forest System land near Arizona’s Salt River to the Bureau of Reclamation, which is set to use the area for generating hydropower for the Salt River Federal Reclamation Project.
HR 1727 — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
HR 1727 extends the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission until Oct. 1, 2031.
HR 2468 — Mountain View Corridor Completion Act
HR 2468 directs the Bureau of Land Management to convey to the state of Utah certain federal lands near Camp Williams.
HR 3254 — First Responder Equipment
HR 3254 directs FEMA to implement a uniform process for reviewing applications regarding specific anti-terrorism grants to lower governments.
This review is required to be done for grant applications that ask to buy first responder equipment or systems that “do not meet or exceed any applicable national voluntary consensus standards.”
HR 3324 — Shasta-Trinity Marina Fees
HR 3324 extends the Department of Agriculture’s authority to collect and spend fees for a marina in California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This extension runs through Fiscal Year 2029.
HR 3797 — Paperwork Burden Reduction Act
HR 3797 mandates that employers and health insurers no longer have to send 1095-B or 1095-C tax forms to covered individuals, unless a form is otherwise requested.
HR 3801 — Employer Reporting Improvement Act
HR 3801 allows the IRS to let employers and health insurers substitute a covered individual’s TIN with his/her date of birth.
In addition, the IRS is required to give large employers (those with at least 50 full-time employees) at least 90 days to respond after receiving a letter about a proposed assessment if the employer does not offer “minimum essential coverage.” This is an extension from the previous 30-day wait period.
HR 4094 — Great Salt Lake Stewardship Act
HR 4094 allows the Department of the Interior to use certain unspent funds from the Central Utah Project Completion Act to conduct water conservation measures at the Great Salt Lake basin.
HR 4385 — Drought Preparedness Act
HR 4385 reauthorizes the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991, which lets the Bureau of Reclamation provide drought assistance to Hawaii and certain western states. The reauthorization extends through Fiscal Year 2028.
HR 4467 — DHS Border Service Contractors
HR 4467 directs the DHS to provide an assessment report to Congress about active contracts — with a value of at least $50 million — that are related to the procurement of services along the U.S.-Mexico land border.
The report must include the following:
- Criteria used by the DHS to determine whether current contractors were necessary in carrying out its mission at the border
- Analysis of the purpose, quantity and location of contractors who are addressing the needs of DHS’ mission at the border
- Assessment of the benefits that contractors are providing
- Strategy to improve the procurement of contractor services over the next five years
The goal of this law is to figure out how to improve the efficacy of DHS’ border operations, as well as brief federal lawmakers as these changes are implemented.
HR 5301 — Eliminating Useless Reports
HR 5301 requires federal agencies to include a list of outdated or duplicative reporting requirements in their annual budget justifications.
In addition, the law requires that these agencies determine whether to end or modify any of their recurring reports/plans, as well as justify their decisions to Congress.
HR 5646 — Stop Campus Hazing
HR 5646 requires higher-learning institutions like colleges that participate in federal student aid programs to report any potential hazing incidents.
Moreover, these institutions are required to put together programs to prevent hazing.
HR 5770 — “WATER” Data Improvement
HR 5770 reauthorizes the following U.S. Geological Survey programs through Fiscal Year 2028:
- The Federal Priority Streamgage network, which tracks the amount of water in streams and rivers
- Any grants for water estimation, measurement, and monitoring technologies/methodologies
HR 6826 — Fort McHenry National Monument
HR 6826 designates the visitor center at Fort McHenry National Monument in Maryland as the “Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center.”
Sarbanes was a Democratic politician from Maryland who served as both a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative before his death in 2020.
HR 6829 — HEARTS Act
HR 6829 — dubbed the “HEARTS Act” — requires the Department of Health and Human Services to provide information about cardiomyopathy and the use of AEDs to certain school professionals.
In addition, the law establishes a grant program to provide CPR training and AEDs in public schools.
HR 6843 — Atchafalaya National Heritage Area
HR 6843 expands the boundaries of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to include Lafourche Parish in Louisiana.
HR 6960 — Emergency Medical Services for Children
HR 6960 reauthorizes the Emergency Medical Services for Children State Partnership Program, which awards grants to state governments and medical schools to provide emergency medical services for children who need critical care. The reauthorization lasts through Fiscal Year 2029.
HR 7177 — Northern District of Alabama
HR 7177 consolidates the seven existing divisions in the Northern District of Alabama into five divisions.
HR 7213 — Autism CARES Act
HR 7213 reauthorizes the following programs through Fiscal Year 2029:
- The Developmental Disabilities Surveillance and Research Program
- Activities administered by the Department of Health to support autism education, early detection and intervention
- The Interagency Autism Coordination Committee of the HHS
HR 7332 — Utah State Parks
HR 7332 requires the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to convey certain federal lands to Utah, which will instead be included among the following state parks:
- Antelope Island State Park
- Wasatch Mountain State Park
- Fremont Indian State Park
HR 7524 — GSA Technology Accountability
HR 7524 requires the General Services Administration to report to Congress about projects funded by the Federal Citizen Services Fund and the Acquisition Services Fund.
HR 7872 — Colorado River Salinity
HR 7872 modifies federal statutes to increase the federal share of certain salinity control programs that reduce the salt load in the Colorado River and other waters in the basin.
HR 8219 — Lahaina National Heritage Area
HR 8219 directs the National Park Service to assess the suitability of designating Lahaina in Hawaii as the “Lahaina National Heritage Area.”
HR 8413 — Land Conveyance
HR 8413 conveys federal land at Nebraska’s Swanson Reservoir and Hugh Butler Reservoir to Hitchcock County and Frontier County, respectively.
HR 8663 — DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine
HR 8663 gives the DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate the authority to research and develop better equipment to detect dangerous illicit drugs like fentanyl and xylazine.
HR 9566 — SHARE IT Act
HR 9566 requires federal agencies to ensure that any custom-developed source code is owned by the respective agency, stored at no less than one repository, and accessible to federal employees.
This does not apply to source code that is classified or developed mainly for national security.
S. 59 — Chance to Compete Act
S. 59 requires federal agencies to use technical assessments to fill most positions unless otherwise deemed impracticable.
These assessments must be developed by subject matter experts within each hiring agency, allowing candidates to demonstrate job-related skills and knowledge.
S. 223 — Controlled Substances Act
S. 223 makes technical corrections to the definitions included in the Controlled Substances Act.
S. 709 — Federal Agency Performance
S. 709 revises review requirements for federal agencies’ performance goals. More specifically, each agency must:
- Review the progress achieved toward goals and the likelihood of achieving said goal
- Identify risks or impediments toward the agency’s goals
- Identify strategies for improvement for each goal at greatest risk of failure
S. 759 — Beagle Brigade Act
S. 759 gives statutory power for the National Detector Dog Training Center, which trains dogs to inspect passenger bags, cargo, mailed packages and vehicles to detect pests and diseases that could threaten the U.S.’ domestic agriculture or natural resources.
S. 932 — No CORRUPTION Act
S. 932 makes members of Congress who are convicted of a public corruption crime ineligible to receive retirement payments.
Under prior law, members would instead forgo these payments only after a final conviction, such as when all other judicial appeals have been exhausted.
S. 1147 — Jenna Quinn Law
S. 1147 lets the HHS give out grants for evidence-informed child sexual abuse (CSA) awareness and prevention programs.
The law is named after Jenna Quinn, a CSA survivor who was the namesake of a similar law in Texas that was the first CSA prevention education mandate in the U.S.
S. 1351 — Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act
S. 1351 requires the HHS to work with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study youth residential programs.
The law is aimed at figuring out how to best prevent child abuse, neglect and deaths within these programs.
S. 2414 — Working Dog Welfare
S. 2414 requires federal agencies that have working dog programs to implement recommendations from a 2022 GAO report titled, “Working Dogs: Federal Agencies Need to Better Address Health and Welfare.”
S. 2513 — Veterans Benefits
S. 2513 involves the Department of Veteran Affairs’ medical disability examinations for benefit claims.
Under this law, certain VA procedures are updated, such as the VA no longer having to publish certain forms if the agency determines the forms could not reasonably be completed by someone who isn’t an employee of the VA.
Further changes include requiring the VA to report on efforts to reimburse veterans who travel to a facility for a medical disability exam to receive VA benefits, as well as implementing outreach programs for veterans to help them get medical disability examinations.
S. 3448 — Never Again Education Act
S. 3448 amends the Never Again Education Act, which expanded the educational programming of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
This law reauthorizes the Act through Fiscal Year 2030.
S. 3791 — Conservation Enhancement
S. 3791 reauthorizes the following wildlife and conservation programs through Fiscal Year 2030:
- Chronic Wasting Disease Task Force
- Management of invasive species under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
- North American Wetlands Conservation Act
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act
- Chesapeake Bay Program
- Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998
- Fish habitat conservation projects under the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act
S. 3857 — Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act
S. 3857 puts over 160 acres of land in San Diego into trust for the Jamul Indian Village of California. The taken land will be part of the tribe’s reservation.
S. 3938 — Desmond T. Doss
S. 3938 designates the outpatient clinic of the VA in Lynchburg, Virginia, as the “Private First Class Desmond T. Doss VA Clinic.”
Doss fought in the Army during World War II, and he later received a Medal of Honor for his actions in rescuing fellow soldiers while under dangerous conditions.
S. 3946 — Bill D. Waugh
S. 3946 designated a USPS location in Bastrop, Texas, as the “Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office.” Waugh was a Special Forces soldier who fought in the Vietnam War and Afghanistan, receiving the moniker “Godfather of the Green Berets.”
S. 3959 — Transportation Security Screening
S. 3959 directs the TSA to streamline the process for people applying to enroll in several security threat assessment programs, such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential and the Hazardous Materials Endorsement programs.
S. 3998 — Federal Judiciary Stabilization
S. 3998 converts certain temporary district court judgeships to permanent positions in judicial districts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas.
S. 4077 — Dianne Feinstein
S. 4077 designates a USPS location in San Francisco as the “Dianne Feinstein Post Office.” Feinstein was a Democratic U.S. Senator who served until her death last year.
S. 4107 — Think Differently Transportation Act
S. 4107 requires Amtrak to include information on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in an annual report to Congress.
More specifically, Amtrak must include an action plan in the report about bringing its stations into compliance with the ADA.
S. 4610 — Bald Eagles
S. 4610 designates bald eagles as the national bird due to being a historic symbol of the U.S. “representing independence, strength and freedom.”
While the bald eagle was adopted as the Coat of Arms for the U.S. Great Seal in 1782 and has been a notable insignia for the nation’s military, the U.S. had not officially recognized a national bird until this law was approved.
S. 4716 — Financial Management
S. 4716 increases federal oversight of single audits submitted by certain recipients of federal awards, including grants, federal financial assistance, and federal cost reimbursement contracts.
The law requires that the Office of Management and Budget designates at least one federal agency to conduct a government-wide analysis of single audit quality.
S. 5314 — James Mountain Inhofe
S. 5314 designates a VA medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the “James Mountain Inhofe VA Medical Center.” Inhofe was a Republican U.S. Senator who served until his death in 2023.
S. 5355 — NACIE Improvement Act
S. 5355 requires the U.S. president to ensure that the National Advisory Council on Indian Education includes at least one member who is the president of a tribal college or university.
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