Chris Van Hollen

American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2025

This bill addresses housing affordability and availability through grants, housing programs, and oversight of financial institutions. The bill also makes certain changes to the estate tax, such as by generally increasing the rate.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development shall provide grants to (1) state, local, and tribal governments to remove barriers to building affordable units, (2) states to assist borrowers who have negative equity in their homes, (3) state housing finance agencies to support construction of affordable rental housing and prevent tenant displacement and harassment, and (4) eligible individuals (generally, lower income individuals who are first generation homebuyers) to help them purchase their first homes.

The bill establishes and provides funding for the first-time homeowner grant program and the affordable rental housing construction program, and it also funds existing rural housing programs.

The bill also requires financial regulators to generally assess the effectiveness of financial institutions in meeting the credit and lending needs of their communities, particularly of underserved populations.

The bill also expands fair housing protections to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, source of income, veteran status, or an individual's perceived membership in a protected class (e.g., an individual's perceived race or sex).

Additionally, the bill modifies the estate tax in various ways, including by reducing the number of brackets to three, increasing the tax rates, and reducing the basic exemption amount. The bill also places additional taxes on high-income estates and trusts.

Do No Harm Act

This bill prohibits the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specified federal laws or the implementation of such laws. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means.

Under the bill, RFRA is inapplicable to laws or the implementation of laws that

• protect against discrimination or require the promotion of equal opportunity (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964);

• require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave;

• protect collective activity in the workplace;

• protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or

• provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for any health care item or service.

The bill prevents RFRA from being used to deny (1) goods or services the government has agreed to provide to a beneficiary of or participant in a program or activity funded by a government contract, grant, agreement, or other award; or (2) a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.

In order for a person to assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.

Extreme Risk Protection Order Expansion Act of 2025

This bill establishes grants to support the implementation of extreme risk protection order laws at the state and local levels, extends federal firearms restrictions to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, and expands related data collection. Extreme risk protection order laws, or red flag laws, generally allow certain individuals (e.g., law enforcement officers or family members) to petition a court for a temporary order that prohibits an at-risk individual from purchasing and possessing firearms.

Among its provisions, the bill

• directs the Department of Justice to establish a grant program to help states, local governments, Indian tribes, and other entities implement extreme risk protection order laws;

• extends federal restrictions on the receipt, possession, shipment, and transportation of firearms and ammunition to individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders; and

• requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compile records from federal, tribal, and state courts and other agencies that identify individuals who are subject to extreme risk protection orders.

This resolution supports the designation of National Social and Emotional Learning Week.

This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the mass terminations of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs should be condemned. The resolution also expresses that all affected employees should be reinstated.

Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 and expands the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program to include separate grants to rescue sea turtles. The grants must be used for

• the recovery, care, or treatment of sick, injured, or entangled sea turtles;

• responses to rescue stranded sea turtles;

• the collection of data and samples from living or dead stranded sea turtles for scientific research or health assessments;

• facility operating costs that are directly related to activities to assist sea turtles; or

• development of stranding network capacity where facilities do not exist or are sparse.

In addition, the bill establishes the Sea Turtle Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Rapid Response Fund.

Keep Americans Safe Act

This bill establishes a new criminal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD).

The bill does not prohibit certain conduct with respect to an LCAFD, including the following:

• importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments;

• importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and

• possession by a retired law enforcement officer.

The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD.

Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification and the date of manufacture.

Additionally, the bill allows a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender an LCAFD under a buy-back program.

Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2025 or the SAFE Lending Act of 2025

This bill creates additional consumer protections applicable to certain credit and banking transactions, including matters concerning remotely created checks, electronic fund transfers, registration of small-dollar lenders, overdraft fees, and the collection of personal information.

Under the bill, remotely created checks may only be issued by a person specifically designated in writing by a consumer. The consumer must provide the designation to the consumer's depository institution. (A remotely created check is a check not issued by the bank and not signed by the account owner.)

A voluntary agreement to repay a small-dollar consumer credit transaction by an electronic fund transfer is subject to certain protections, including the right of the consumer to stop payment.

Small-dollar consumer credit providers must register with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Any small-dollar consumer credit transaction is subject to the laws of the state in which the consumer resides.

The bill also prohibits overdraft fees on prepaid accounts.

Social Security Expansion Act

This bill increases Social Security benefits, expands Social Security payroll taxes, and makes other changes to the Social Security program.

Specifically, the bill changes the way Social Security benefits are calculated by increasing the primary insurance amount applicable to average monthly earnings that fall below a specified amount, and increasing bend points for individuals who become eligible for Social Security after 2025. (Bend points are dollar amounts at which earnings are segmented for the purpose of calculating an individual’s primary insurance amount. The share of an individual’s earnings that are replaced by Social Security decreases at each escalating bend point.)

The bill also revises the method of calculating cost-of-living adjustments to account for the spending of individuals over the age of 62 and establishes a new minimum benefit for certain low earners. Further, the bill permits full-time students who are the children of deceased or disabled workers to collect Social Security or railroad retirement child’s benefits until they reach age 22.

With respect to taxes, the bill extends payroll taxes on wages, salaries, and self-employment earnings to income above $250,000. (In 2025, the maximum amount subject to Social Security payroll tax is $176,100.) The bill also increases the net investment income tax and subjects active trade or business income to this tax.

Finally, the bill combines the existing Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund into a single Social Security Trust Fund.

This resolution recognizes Black History Month as an opportunity to reflect on U.S. history and to commemorate the contributions of African Americans. It calls for the United States to (1) honor the contribution of pioneers who helped to ensure its legacy; and (2) move forward as a nation "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

This resolution designates February 24-February 28, 2025, as Public Schools Week.

Ethan's Law

This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels.

At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm.

An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture.

At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.