Eugene Vindman

Fair Pay for Federal Contractors Act of 2025

This bill provides back pay to employees of federal contractors who lost pay due to a lapse in appropriations (i.e., government shutdown) in FY2026.

Specifically, the bill provides appropriations for federal agencies that are subject to a lapse in appropriations in FY2026 to adjust the price of contracts to compensate federal contractors for providing back pay to employees who were affected by the lapse in appropriations.

The agencies must adjust the price of any contract for which the contractor stopped, suspended, delayed, or interrupted all or part of the work under the contract due to the lapse in appropriations. The price adjustment must compensate the contractor for reasonable costs incurred to (1) compensate employees who were furloughed or laid off, were not working, or experienced a reduction of hours or compensation due to the lapse in appropriations; or (2) restore paid leave taken by employees during the lapse in appropriations if the contractor required or permitted employees to use paid leave as a result of the lapse in appropriations.

The maximum amount of weekly compensation of an employee for which an adjustment may be made under this bill may not exceed the lesser of (1) the employee's actual weekly compensation, or (2) $1,442 (or a lesser amount pro-rated for an employee who works less than 40 hours per week).

The bill also requires the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to submit a report to Congress on the adjustments made under this bill.

Bus Parity and Clarity Act

This bill specifies that charter bus service has the same access to tolling rates and roads as public transportation vehicles.

Current law applies the same access to tolling rates to public transportation vehicles and over-the-road buses (i.e., buses with an elevated passenger deck located over a baggage compartment) that serve the public.

The bill specifies that the same access to rates apply to over-the-road buses in (1) scheduled service (e.g., intercity bus service), and (2) charter service. This applies to charter bus service for tolling for federal-aid highways, bridges, and tunnels; high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and facilities; and the Value Pricing Pilot Program of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Charter service includes transportation provided

• at the request of a third party for the exclusive use of a bus for a negotiated price (e.g., for a wedding or corporate event); or

• to the public for events or functions that occur on an irregular basis or for a limited duration, and a premium fare is charged or third party pays for the service (e.g., providing shuttle service for a public event).

In addition, the FHWA must annually publish on a publicly available website a unified database containing the rates, terms, and conditions of each toll facility covered under these provisions.

Freedom First Lend Lease Act

This bill temporarily waives certain requirements related to the President's authority to lend or lease defense articles if the defense articles are intended for Ukraine's government or the governments of other Eastern European countries affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

For FY2026 and FY2027, an agreement to lend or lease defense articles under this bill shall not be subject to certain requirements and provisions that typically apply to such lend-lease agreements, including a requirement that generally prohibits a loan or lease period from exceeding five years.

The President must establish expedited procedures to ensure the timely delivery of defense articles loaned or leased to Ukraine under this bill. Laws concerning the return of, reimbursement, and repayment for defense articles loaned or leased to foreign governments shall apply to any loan or lease to Ukraine.

Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions Act

This bill directs financial regulators—including the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration—to jointly issue guidance relating to a government shutdown.

Specifically, financial regulators must issue guidance encouraging financial institutions to

• work with consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown,

• recognize that consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown may lose access to credit and face temporary hardship in making payments on debts,

• consider efforts to modify terms on existing loans or extend new credit to assist consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown, and

• take steps to prevent adverse credit information from being reported in a manner that harms consumers affected by a shutdown.

In addition, financial regulators must jointly issue a press release to notify financial institutions, consumers, and businesses of this guidance in the event of a government shutdown.

Financial regulators must also complete a report after a government shutdown regarding the guidance's effectiveness and update the guidance if any shortcoming are identified in the report.

Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act or the BRAVE Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a patient outreach system under which it must ensure that veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system and have experienced a traumatic or highly stressful event may elect to receive information and resources relating to mental health and available mental health care services.

The VA must coordinate the system with the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense.

Helping Ensure Access to Local TeleHealth Act of 2025 or the HEALTH Act of 2025

This bill modifies requirements relating to Medicare coverage of telehealth services, including services that are furnished by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs).

Specifically, the bill expands coverage to include audio-only telehealth services. It also permanently allows FQHCs and RHCs to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner) for telehealth services and excludes such services from certain geographic restrictions. Payment must be made in the same manner as for non-telehealth services, rather than in accordance with a separate methodology determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Supporting Military Voters Act

This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study and report on access to voting for uniformed services voters.

Specifically, the GAO must

• analyze the effectiveness of the federal government in carrying out the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to promote access to voting for absent uniformed services voters, and

• study ways to improve access to voter registration information and assistance for members of the Armed Forces and their family members.

Preventive Health Savings Act

This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), upon receiving a request from Congress, to determine if proposed legislation would reduce spending outside of the 10-year budget window through the use of preventive health care.

Under the bill, the term preventive health care generally refers to an action that focuses on the health of the public, individuals, and defined populations in order to protect, promote, and maintain health and wellness and prevent disease, disability, and premature death.

If CBO determines that the proposed legislation would result in net reductions in budget outlays from the use of preventive health care, any CBO projection regarding the legislation must include (1) a description and estimate of the reductions in outlays, and (2) a description of the basis for these conclusions.

Any estimate provided by CBO pursuant to this bill must be used as a supplementary estimate and may not be used to determine compliance with the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 or any other budgetary enforcement controls.

Drug-price Transparency for Consumers Act of 2025 or the DTC Act of 2025

This bill requires consumer advertisements for prescription drugs and biological products to include certain price information if the drug or biologic is (1) covered under Medicare or Medicaid, and (2) required to include a risk summary under current law.

Specifically, such advertisements must clearly and conspicuously disclose the wholesale price for a 30-day supply of the drug or biologic and may explain that a consumer may pay a different amount for the drug or biologic depending on the consumer's health insurance coverage.

The requirement does not apply to advertisements for drugs or biologics with a wholesale cost of less than $35 for a one-month supply.

Each violation of this requirement is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100,000.

Disabling Enemy Flight Entry and Neutralizing Suspect Equipment Act or the DEFENSE Act

This bill allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) to deputize state or local law enforcement officers to take certain drone countermeasures to protect stadiums and other public gatherings.

Specifically, DHS or DOJ may provide state or local law enforcement officers with the authority to identify, monitor, and track drones; warn drone operators; disrupt or take control of drones; or use reasonable force to disable, damage, and seize or destroy drones deemed to pose a threat.

This authority applies for the purposes of protecting an event, stadium, or venue; certain large public gatherings (e.g., gatherings that are primarily outdoors with an estimated attendance of at least 100,000 people); or other public gatherings protected by specific temporary flight restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Prior to being deputized, a state or local law enforcement officer must complete training in the use of the drone countermeasure authority.

DHS or DOJ, in coordination with the Department of Transportation and the FAA, must exercise oversight over the use of this authority by deputized state or local law enforcement officers.

Finally, the bill limits the equipment authorized for detecting, identifying, monitoring, or tracking drones to systems or technologies that are included on a list of authorized equipment maintained by DHS, in coordination with DOJ, the FAA, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act or the ABC Act

This bill requires federal agencies to review and modify the administrative processes related to Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Social Security programs in order to streamline these processes for family caregivers.

Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) must review processes related to eligibility determinations, applications, forms, and communications for these programs and identify ways to simplify and streamline these processes for family caregivers (e.g., reducing the need for family caregivers to submit the same information for multiple programs). The CMS and SSA must solicit input from family caregivers and state and regional organizations, implement any identified improvements, and report on these efforts to Congress.

In addition, the CMS must issue a letter to state Medicaid and CHIP programs that encourages states to conduct a similar review and that provides potential improvements.

American Cybersecurity Literacy Act

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to carry out a campaign to educate the public on cybersecurity best practices. The campaign must provide information on identifying cybersecurity risks and encourage the public to take certain actions, such as changing default passwords and declining unnecessary privilege requests from mobile applications.