William Keating

VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2025

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the Zero Suicide Initiative pilot program for the purpose of improving safety and suicide care for veterans. The program must be implemented at five VA medical centers, including one that serves veterans in rural and remote areas.

VA Work-Study Improvement Act

This bill modifies certain pay and eligibility requirements under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) work-study program, including minimum wage and timesheet requirements.

The bill expands the list of qualifying work-study activities to include state government, local government, or nonprofit organization activities that would benefit veterans or members of the Armed Forces.

The bill also modifies minimum wage requirements under the work-study program. Under the bill, the hourly minimum wage paid under the work-study program must be the higher of (1) the minimum rate of basic pay for any federal employee (under the general schedule or federal wage system pursuant to specified regulations), (2) the hourly minimum wage in the state where the services are to be performed, or (3) the hourly minimum wage of the local government with jurisdiction over the area in which the services are to be performed.

Additionally, the VA must ensure that (1) an individual participating in a qualifying work-study activity may electronically record such hours, and (2) the supervisor may electronically approve such records.

Finally, the VA must annually publish specified information regarding qualifying work-study activities carried out during the year, including the demographics of individuals participating in the program.

Student Veteran Work Study Modernization Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement a five-year pilot program to expand eligibility for the work-study allowance program to individuals who are pursuing programs of rehabilitation, education, or training at a rate equal to at least half of that required of a full-time student.

This concurrent resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted.

Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act of 2025

This bill permanently increases the federal reimbursement rates for the school lunch and breakfast programs of the Department of Agriculture.

Specifically, beginning November 1, 2025, the bill provides an additional 45 cents per lunch served in the National School Lunch Program and an additional 28 cents per breakfast served in the School Breakfast Program. These amounts must be adjusted annually for inflation beginning July 1, 2026.

Ellie Helton, Lisa Colagrossi, Kristen Shafer Englert, Teresa Anne Lawrence, and Jennifer Sedney Focused Research Act or Ellie's Law

This bill authorizes through FY2030 appropriations for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to conduct or support research on unruptured brain aneurysms in a patient population diversified by age, sex, and race.

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.

Pay Federal Workers and Servicemembers Act

This bill makes federal civilian and military personnel who are excepted from furlough during a government shutdown eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

During a government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations, federal employees who are excepted from furlough are required to report for work and perform duties, but their pay is delayed until appropriations legislation is enacted. Under guidance issued by the Department of Labor, excepted employees who are performing services (but whose payment for that work is delayed) are generally ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits based on states' definitions of unemployment.

This bill provides that, for the purpose of determining eligibility for unemployment compensation during a government shutdown, excepted employees are deemed to be (1) totally separated from federal service, and (2) eligible for unemployment compensation benefits with no waiting period for the eligibility to accrue.

The bill applies to the following federal personnel who are excepted from furlough and are not being paid due to a government shutdown: (1) any member of the Armed Forces or the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and (2) any federal civilian employee who is an excepted employee or an employee performing emergency work.

This bill requires the federal government to reimburse state agencies that use state funds to carry out operations necessary to maintain participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) during a lapse in discretionary appropriations (i.e., government shutdown). WIC provides nutrition-rich foods, nutrition education, and health care and social services referrals to eligible low-income women, infants, and children.

Feed Our Families Act of 2025

This bill provides appropriations for carrying out the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 during the first 90-day period of a lapse in discretionary appropriations for carrying out the act during any fiscal year beginning after FY2024. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 is the authorizing statute for several Department of Agriculture nutrition and food assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).