Rep. Pat Fallon

Maddy summaryHR 8004, the America Works Act of 2022, reinstates work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It repeals a temporary pandemic-era suspension of these requirements and standardizes exemptions, allowing exemptions only for individuals under 18 or over 65, those medically certified as unfit for work, parents with children under 7, or pregnant women. The bill also reduces the exemption threshold from 12% to 3% for certain states. This directly affects SNAP recipients who are able-bodied adults without dependents in states where work requirements apply.

National Debt is National Security Act This bill establishes limits on the amount of public debt that may be held by foreign governments, entities, and individuals. The bill allows the President to waive the limits if the President determines and reports to Congress that an important national interest requires the waiver.

Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act of 2021 or the SAFE Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the transporting, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation by a person of an equine (e.g., horse) that the person has reason to believe will be slaughtered for human consumption.

Political Bias In Algorithm Sorting Emails Act of 2022 or the Political BIAS Emails Act of 2022 This bill makes it unlawful for commercial email service providers to use a filtering algorithm to apply a label to an email sent to an email account from a political campaign unless the owner or user of the account took action to apply such label.

Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people in recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam War and the fight against communism.

Promoting Cross-b order Energy Infrastructure Act This bill establishes a new process for approving the construction and operation of energy infrastructure across an international border of the United States and replaces the existing process established under specified executive orders. Specifically, this bill requires a person to obtain a certificate of crossing before constructing, connecting, operating, or maintaining a border-crossing facility for the import or export of oil, natural gas, or electricity across an international border. A certificate must be obtained from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a facility consisting of oil or natural gas pipelines or the Department of Energy (DOE) for an electric transmission facility. As a condition of issuing a certificate, DOE must require that an electric transmission facility be constructed, connected, operated, or maintained consistent with specified policies and standards. FERC and DOE must meet a deadline for issuing a certificate as set forth by this bill. The bill also requires FERC to meet a deadline for approving applications to import or export natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico.

Family Integrity to Reform Elections Act or the FIRE Act This bill prohibits the use of campaign funds to compensate the immediate family member of a candidate or an individual holding federal office. It also requires disclosure of payments made to immediate family members. Specifically, the bill prohibits an authorized committee of a candidate or any other political committee that is established, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or an individual holding federal office from directly or indirectly compensating the immediate family member of the candidate or individual for services provided to or on behalf of the committee. The prohibition does not apply to a political committee of a political party. Next, the bill requires a political committee to report on disbursements to an immediate family member of the candidate or the individual holding federal office. Finally, the bill requires any penalty for a violation of the bill to be imposed on the candidate or the individual holding federal office if the candidate or individual involved knew of the violation. Further, it prohibits the committee involved from reimbursing the candidate or individual for the penalty.

Military Spouse Hiring Act This bill expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include the hiring of a qualified military spouse. (The WOTC permits employers who hire individuals who are members of a targeted group such as qualified veterans, ex-felons, or long-term unemployment recipients to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.) A qualified military spouse is any individual who is certified by the designated local agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.

Maddy summaryHRES 1166 is a symbolic House resolution condemning the May 24, 2022, mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and 2 teachers. It honors the victims, expresses support for the injured and affected families, and thanks first responders, without enacting new policies or requiring government action. The resolution was introduced by Texas representatives and passed unanimously by the House on June 9, 2022, as a formal expression of solidarity with the Uvalde community. As a procedural resolution, it has no legal effect but serves to publicly acknowledge the tragedy.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Anti-Exploitation Act This bill prohibits the drawdown or sale of stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless authorized by Congress in response to a national emergency.