Rep. Gabe Evans

Maddy summaryThis resolution expresses support for National Public Lands Day and encourages Americans to visit public lands on a designated fee-free day. It highlights the significant role these areas play in supporting rural economies, preserving biodiversity, and providing cultural and spiritual value. The text notes that public lands generate substantial economic output and employment while serving as hubs for outdoor recreation.

Maddy summaryThis bill, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act, modifies federal energy laws to ensure that large industrial customers pay for the specific infrastructure upgrades needed to serve their high electricity demands. It directly affects non-residential facilities with a peak power usage of 100 megawatts or more, requiring utilities to charge these customers the full incremental cost of any necessary generation, transmission, or distribution improvements. Under the new rules, large customers must also provide financial guarantees or contributions before such upgrades are made, ensuring utilities can recover costs even if the customer leaves the contract early. State regulators have two years to implement these standards, though the bill exempts utilities in states that have already enacted similar measures or are actively considering them.

Maddy summaryThe Greeley Land Exchange Act authorizes a land swap between the City of Greeley, Colorado, and the U.S. Forest Service, where the city transfers approximately 40 acres of water utility property in exchange for about 78 acres of National Forest System land. The bill requires the exchange to be of equal value, allowing the city to pay any difference in cash or convey additional land, while explicitly reserving all city-owned water rights from the transfer. The federal government retains perpetual easements on specific trails to ensure continued public access and administrative use of the area. All costs associated with appraisals, surveys, environmental assessments, and legal processing are borne by the City of Greeley.

Maddy summaryThe Survivor Benefits Application Modernization Act requires the Commissioner of Social Security to create an online portal for individuals applying for survivor insurance benefits. This portal must first allow users to schedule appointments within 180 days of enactment and later enable them to file their applications entirely online within one year. The bill directly affects people seeking these specific benefits by providing a digital alternative to traditional in-person or paper-based processes. Additionally, the law mandates that the Commissioner submit a report to Congress three years after enactment detailing changes in application volume, costs, and fraud rates resulting from the new system.

Maddy summaryThis bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to allow farmers to receive prevented planting payments for acres left unplanted due to a lack of irrigation water, provided specific conditions are met. To qualify, producers must have functional irrigation equipment, a history of irrigating and planting those acres in recent years, and land that is unsuitable for dryland farming. The bill also requires the Department of Agriculture to update regulations to clarify that drought at the source of an irrigation supply counts as a qualifying disaster. Payment amounts are reduced by 50 percent after five consecutive eligible years, by 75 percent after nine years, and become permanently ineligible after ten years.

Maddy summaryThe Open-Source AI Leadership Act directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote the adoption of U.S.-developed open-source artificial intelligence models by coordinating with private sector entities, state governments, and foreign partners. The bill requires the Department of Commerce to identify barriers to using these domestic models and to enter into agreements that facilitate their use in interstate and foreign commerce. Additionally, it mandates an annual public report assessing the risks associated with AI models developed by foreign adversary nations, including concerns about data security, national safety, and model performance. A specific provision ensures that the Secretary of Commerce cannot use this authority to ban or restrict any open-source AI model from being available in the market.

Maddy summaryThe Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act directs the Department of Energy to study how artificial intelligence and high-performance computing can improve the reliability and efficiency of the national power grid. This assessment will specifically examine how these technologies can speed up the process of connecting new power sources to the grid and identify any technical or cybersecurity barriers to their use. Within one year of passing, the Department of Energy must submit a report to Congress outlining its findings and offering recommendations to overcome identified limitations and encourage wider adoption of these tools. The bill primarily affects federal agencies responsible for energy oversight and the electric power industry, aiming to gather data rather than immediately changing laws.

Maddy summaryThe American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 directs the U.S. Treasury to create two new accounts: a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for Bitcoin acquired through government forfeiture and a Digital Asset Stockpile for other digital assets. The bill mandates that all Bitcoin held in the reserve be kept for at least 20 years, with strict rules against selling or disposing of these assets during that time. It also establishes a transparency system requiring quarterly public reports and third-party audits to verify the government's holdings and management of these digital assets.

Maddy summaryThe Stop Pills That Kill Act targets counterfeit pills containing fentanyl or methamphetamine that are sold under the branding of legitimate prescription medications. It expands federal criminal penalties to specifically include these counterfeit substances and requires the Drug Enforcement Administration to create a comprehensive plan within 180 days to improve law enforcement investigations and public education efforts. The bill also mandates annual reports to Congress detailing seizure data, prosecution statistics, and prevention measures related to counterfeit pills. These provisions aim to enhance federal response to the distribution of fake prescription pills while maintaining existing legal frameworks.

Maddy summaryThe Recycled Materials Attribution Act of 2026 allows companies to use mass balance accounting to support claims about recycled content in their products, provided they follow independent third-party certification rules. This method lets manufacturers mix recycled materials with conventional ones in the same supply chain while still crediting the final product with a specific amount of recycled content based on documented inputs. The Federal Trade Commission will update its existing environmental marketing guidelines to reflect these new standards and will enforce the rules against misleading recycled content claims. Additionally, the law prevents states from passing their own conflicting regulations on how recycled content claims are made or enforced.