Suzanne Bonamici

Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act of 2025 or the FAIR Act of 2025

This bill prohibits a predispute arbitration agreement from being valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute.

This resolution expresses support for the designation of National Firearm Suicide Prevention Day.

Wildfire Emergency Preparedness Act of 2025

This bill establishes grants, training, and interagency coordination for responding to wildfires and fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) (i.e., where undeveloped land or vegetation meets human infrastructure). It also requires measures for protecting the health of firefighters and emergency responders.

The bill establishes an Under Secretary of Agriculture for Fire Coordination to manage coordination of government preparation and response to wildfires and WUI fires. Such office may award grants to fire departments and emergency medical services organizations for training firefighting personnel or obtaining personal protective equipment for responding to such fires.

Also, the Forest Service must establish a national plan with guidelines for training structural (i.e., urban) firefighters to respond to wildfires and WUI fires. The Forest Service may provide grants to certain nonprofit organizations to carry out training programs pursuant to the plan.

Upon request from agencies, the Department of Defense (DOD) may allow its firefighters to conduct operations or assist in responding to wildfires and WUI fires. Agencies must reimburse DOD for such services.

Additionally, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health must perform research and development and report to Congress on protecting the respiratory health of firefighters and identifying certain hazardous substances in areas affected by wildfires and WUI fires. Also, task forces within the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must train each member in peer mental health support and include members who are mental health practitioners.

Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now Act or the LOAN Act

This bill revises federal student aid programs, including the Federal Pell Grant program and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. It also repeals the education provisions that were enacted under P.L. 119-21 (commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act).

Among other provisions, the bill revises the Federal Pell Grant program by (1) providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student, and (2) allowing income-eligible graduate students to utilize their remaining Pell Grant eligibility toward their first graduate degree.

Changes to the PSLF program include (1) reducing the number of monthly loan payments required for loan forgiveness, and (2) removing the requirement that a borrower must be employed in a public service job at the time of forgiveness.

The bill makes Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and who entered the United States before the age of 18) who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal financial aid.

The bill also (1) establishes refinancing programs for federal and private student loans; (2) creates a new income-driven repayment plan; and (3) repeals origination fees for Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and Direct PLUS Loans.

The bill repeals the education provisions that were enacted under P.L. 119-21. For example, the act addressed the amount of federal financial aid available to students by changing the mix and availability of student loans. (For more information, see CRS Report R48727.)

Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act of 2025

This bill allows a physical therapist to receive payment under Medicare for services provided to the physical therapist's patients by another physical therapist through a qualifying temporary arrangement, regardless of the geographic area or population served. Currently, physical therapists may only receive payment with respect to such arrangements for services provided in medically underserved, rural, or health professional shortage areas.

Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2025 or the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes, revises, and establishes several programs related to weather forecasting, monitoring, and research.

For example, the bill reauthorizes through FY2030 programs that are administered by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the U.S. Weather Research Program. It also provides statutory authority for NOAA's Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (known as VORTEX-USA).

The bill also requires NOAA to establish programs that support weather forecasting technology, including improvements to radar accuracy, weather forecasting in underserved areas, and coastal flooding forecasting. NOAA must also acquire weather-related data from the private sector and establish a pilot program to test the compatibility of this data with NOAA infrastructure.

In addition, NOAA must improve weather-related communication systems, including those related to hazardous weather events, through system upgrades that use more modern technology (e.g., cloud-based services) and that allow for expanded coverage (e.g., in rural areas).

Finally, NOAA must administer programs that support weather forecasting for agricultural and water management, including pilot programs to improve precipitation forecasts in the western and central states and a soil moisture monitoring network.

This bill prohibits the President from selling, transferring, or exporting certain defense articles or services to Israel, except in specified circumstances.

Defense articles covered by the prohibition include BLU-109 bunker busting bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) assemblies, and 155mm artillery ammunition. Defense services directly related to such articles are also covered.

The President may sell, transfer, or export such defense articles or services to Israel if (1) a law is enacted specifying the purposes for which such articles or services may be used, and (2) Israel provides written assurances that the defense articles or services will be used for those specific statutory purposes and in a manner consistent with certain other laws, including international human rights laws.

Military Spouse Hiring Act

This bill allows employers to claim a tax credit for a percentage of qualified wages paid to an employee who is a military spouse by expanding the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to add qualified military spouses as a targeted group. (The WOTC applies to employers who hire members of specific targeted groups, such as veterans, ex-felons, and long-term unemployment recipients, and is generally equal to a percentage of the wages paid to such individuals in the first year of employment, up to a maximum amount. Under current law, the wages must be paid before 2026.)

The bill defines a qualified military spouse as any individual who is certified by a state workforce agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.

Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act or the TRUST in Congress Act

This bill requires a Member of Congress, as well as any spouse or dependent child of a Member, to place specified investments into a qualified blind trust (i.e., an arrangement in which certain financial holdings are placed in someone else's control to avoid a possible conflict of interest) until 180 days after the end of their tenure as a Member of Congress.

Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act

This bill provides for Medicare coverage of germline mutation testing for individuals with a personal or family history of a hereditary cancer gene mutation or suspected history of hereditary cancer, as well as for associated coverage of risk-reducing surgeries and screenings.