Sen. Bill Cassidy

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a 75% federal tax credit for individuals donating cash or securities to approved nonprofit charter school organizations. The credit is limited to 10% of adjusted gross income or $5,000 annually, and applies only to organizations meeting strict criteria (like 501(c)(3) status, performance-based state selection, and annual audits). It requires these organizations to spend 100% of donations on charter school creation/expansion within five years and caps total annual tax credits at $5 billion, allocated by state. The credit is designed to incentivize private funding for charter schools while ensuring accountability through spending rules and oversight.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Stop Insider Trading Act, would restrict Members of Congress and their spouses and dependents from purchasing stocks in publicly traded companies. It requires these individuals to provide advance public notice at least seven days before selling any covered investments, with the notice filed with the Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate. The law includes exceptions for certain occupational transactions and reinvested dividends, and establishes penalties including fees and mandatory sales for violations.

Maddy summaryThis bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to run a five-year pilot program allowing certain neurosurgeons to negotiate higher payment rates for specialized surgical services provided to veterans through the Veterans Community Care Program. The program would focus on rural and highly rural areas where veterans currently face long wait times or must travel over 100 miles to access neurosurgery, permitting rate adjustments only when existing VA rates are insufficient to cover service costs. Under the bill, the VA must establish rules within 180 days of enactment and conduct annual reviews to ensure the program operates efficiently and effectively. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs would submit annual reports to Congress detailing the number of patients served, types of services provided, costs incurred, and health outcomes to evaluate whether the pilot should be extended or made permanent.

Maddy summaryThe Love Lives On Act of 2025 modifies veterans' and military survivors' benefit rules to prevent remarriage from automatically ending eligibility. It directly affects surviving spouses of veterans or military members who remarried, ensuring they retain access to key benefits. Key provisions include: (1) preventing termination of veterans' dependency compensation (under 38 U.S.C. §1311/1562) due to remarriage; (2) stopping termination of military Survivor Benefit Plan annuities solely for remarriage, with specific rules for those who remarried before age 55; and (3) expanding TRICARE coverage to include remarried widows/widowers whose subsequent marriage ended (via death, divorce, or annulment). These changes restore or maintain benefits that were previously lost upon remarriage.

Maddy summaryThe Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (S 836) extends COPPA protections to teens aged 13-17 by requiring websites, apps, and online services to obtain verifiable consent from parents for children or from teens themselves before collecting or using their personal information for purposes beyond the service. It defines "personal information" broadly to include biometric data, voice recordings, persistent identifiers, and geolocation information, and prohibits using such information for individual-specific advertising without consent. The bill mandates clear notice about data practices and gives children and teens rights to access, correct, and delete their personal information. Additionally, it requires the FTC to conduct studies on mobile app oversight and the GAO to study teen privacy in financial technology products.

Maddy summaryThis bill proposes to remove the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services for Medicare beneficiaries. It directly affects older Americans and other eligible individuals who rely on Medicare for mental health care coverage. The key provision amends the Social Security Act to delete the specific restriction that currently caps how many days Medicare will pay for inpatient psychiatric hospital stays. Changes made by this legislation would take effect on January 1, 2027, allowing Medicare to cover these services without the previous daily limit.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Higher Education Act to recognize home-schooled students as high school graduates for federal student aid eligibility. It changes the definition in Section 484(d) to state that a student completing secondary education in a home school setting treated as a home or private school under state law is considered a high school graduate. This directly affects home-schooled students seeking federal financial aid for college. The key provision is a new definition that removes prior barriers to eligibility based on educational setting, aligning federal recognition with state-level home school classifications.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a new Fiscal Commission within Congress to analyze the nation's long-term fiscal health and propose reforms to reduce the federal debt and deficit. The commission will be composed of 16 members appointed by Senate and House leadership, including outside experts, and will have two co-chairs representing opposing political parties to ensure balanced oversight. Its primary duties include educating the public about fiscal risks, developing policies to achieve a sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio of 100 percent by 2039, and producing a final report with legislative recommendations by November 2026. If the commission approves its recommendations, the resulting implementing bills would receive expedited consideration in both chambers with limited debate and no amendments allowed. The commission would operate for approximately two years before terminating, with funding provided through existing Senate accounts.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Stop Unemployment Fraud Act, requires states to verify the identity of unemployment compensation claimants using government-issued IDs and supporting documents, while also mandating data matching with systems like the National Directory of New Hires to detect fraud. It prohibits states from relying solely on a claimant's self-attestation to prove eligibility and strengthens work search requirements by mandating that claimants maintain and submit weekly records of job search activities. The legislation also allows states to use up to 5% of recovered overpayments or collected contributions to fund fraud prevention efforts, technology upgrades, and proper employment classification systems.

Maddy summaryThis bill, titled the Securing Accountability in Foreign Entries Act, requires importers of record to be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or U.S.-based entities with physical locations and U.S. ownership to ensure they have a stake in U.S. compliance with customs laws. It mandates that importers of record pay duties and taxes directly from U.S.-based bank accounts verified through anti-money laundering procedures, and increases the minimum continuous import bond requirement to $100,000 for most importers. The legislation also establishes specific rules for foreign entities, requiring them to use U.S. subsidiaries or affiliates as importers of record, while allowing limited exceptions for large U.S.-based express consignment operators and carriers who can designate licensed customs brokers to serve in that role.