Rep. Scott Franklin

Maddy summaryThis bill authorizes the U.S. Mint to produce commemorative $5 gold and $1 silver coins marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The coins must feature designs honoring victims and first responders (including the inscription "Never Forget") and will be sold only during 2027-2028. All surcharges ($35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin) collected from sales will fund the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, with no net cost to the federal government. The coins are legal tender but primarily intended for collectors, not circulation.

Maddy summaryThe Veterans’ Transition to Trucking Act of 2025 amends the GI Bill to allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to approve multi-state trucking apprenticeship programs for veterans using their educational benefits. This directly affects veterans seeking to transition into trucking careers and apprenticeship programs operating across multiple states. The key mechanism changes the law so the Secretary can act as a "State approving agency" for these programs, eliminating the need for separate state approvals. This streamlines access to trucking training without requiring veterans to navigate individual state requirements.

Maddy summaryThis bill would amend federal law to strengthen penalties for organized retail crime by expanding definitions of theft to include digital goods, gift cards, and setting a $5,000 aggregate value threshold for charges over a 12-month period. It would establish a new "Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center" under Homeland Security to coordinate Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement efforts against cross-jurisdictional theft groups. The Center would share information with retailers, transportation companies, and law enforcement agencies, track crime trends, and produce annual reports on organized retail crime. This legislation directly affects retailers, supply chain businesses, and law enforcement agencies, while targeting organized crime groups responsible for a 93% increase in larceny incidents and rising safety concerns for retail employees. The bill aims to address significant financial losses and supply chain disruptions noted in the National Retail Federation's 2023 data.

Maddy summaryThe Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026 restricts the importation, sale, and manufacture of vehicles and related technology from specific countries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, to address national security concerns. The law defines prohibited items as connected vehicles, their software, and hardware components and sets different effective dates, with vehicle bans starting in 2027 and hardware restrictions beginning in 2030. A government official can grant exceptions for specific items after reviewing security risks and notifying Congress, while the agency must publish annual reports on enforcement actions and compliance.

Maddy summaryThis resolution expresses support for designating July 15, 2026, as Glioblastoma Awareness Day to raise public awareness about this aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer. The bill honors patients and caregivers while encouraging greater understanding of the urgent medical needs associated with the disease, which currently has a low survival rate and limited treatment options. It also calls for increased collaboration among government, private, and nonprofit organizations to advance research and develop better therapies for those affected.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to set a standard for how quickly veterans receive appointments after being referred for care, whether at VA facilities or through community providers. The VA Secretary must publish this standard in the Federal Register and report to Congress quarterly on how many referrals meet the timing requirement, broken down by service type and medical center performance. Each report must also include a ranking of VA medical centers from best to worst in meeting the standard, with data available to the public on a VA website. The VA must update the standard as scheduling processes change and include annual progress reports on steps taken to improve care timeliness.

Maddy summaryThe ACCURATE Act establishes a new Commission on Hazard Risk Assessment Tools to improve the quality and consistency of natural hazard risk models used by federal agencies. This commission will include representatives from government agencies, state and local emergency organizations, insurance and banking industries, and various professional sectors to develop standards for hazard maps, flood assessments, and risk scores. The bill requires federal departments to adopt these new standards when purchasing hazard assessment tools from private companies, with specific documentation requirements to ensure the tools meet established quality criteria. The commission will submit regular reports to Congress on its findings and recommendations, and the entire commission will dissolve five years after the law takes effect.

Equal Representation Act This bill requires that the statement sent by the President to Congress after the decennial census indicating the number of persons in each state exclude noncitizens. (This statement is the basis for reapportionment of U.S. Representatives.) The bill also requires any questionnaire used in the decennial census to include a checkbox or other similar option for respondents to indicate whether the respondent and each household member is (1) a U.S. citizen, (2) a U.S. national but not a citizen, (3) a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) lawfully residing in the United States, or (4) a non-U.S. national unlawfully residing in the United States. The Department of Commerce must make public the number of persons in each state, disaggregated by each of these four categories.

This resolution supports the recognition of Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The resolution also supports the efforts of the Department of Transportation, state and local governments, and state and local law enforcement to prevent and stop distracted driving.

Maddy summaryHR 8380 amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish new procedures for how the Senate and House of Representatives consider annual appropriation (spending) bills. In the Senate, the bill applies existing rules for budget resolutions to these spending bills and limits debate on them to a maximum of 20 hours. For the House of Representatives, it prohibits adjourning for more than three calendar days during the month of July until all annual appropriation bills for the upcoming fiscal year have been approved by the House. These changes directly affect how members of Congress manage and approve federal spending legislation.