Rep. Jimmy Panetta

Maddy summaryHR 5267, the American Franchise Act, clarifies when franchisors can be considered joint employers of franchisee employees under federal labor laws. It defines "substantial direct and immediate control" over essential employment terms like wages, benefits, hours, hiring, and discipline - requiring franchisors to actively set these terms to be deemed joint employers. The bill explicitly excludes routine brand standards, training, or minimal safety requirements from constituting such control. This directly affects franchisors and franchisees by limiting joint employer liability to cases where franchisors exert significant, ongoing influence over core employment decisions. The law applies prospectively to new cases after enactment, not past disputes.

Maddy summaryThis House resolution expresses support for designating the week beginning September 6, 2026, as "Celebrate Community Week." The initiative promotes joint community service among four major volunteer organizations: Lions Clubs International, Rotary International, Kiwanis International, and Optimist International. The bill recognizes these groups for their humanitarian efforts and encourages them to continue emphasizing the values of community service and youth development.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies tax rules to provide relief for individuals affected by major disasters. It allows taxpayers to deduct disaster-related losses (like damaged homes or personal property) more easily by creating a new "disaster loss deduction" that combines certain casualty losses and adjusts for income limits. It also excludes wildfire relief payments (such as compensation for lost wages or home damage not covered by insurance) from taxable income for people in federally declared wildfire areas, effective 2026 through 2030. These changes apply to losses incurred in taxable years starting after 2024, specifically for disasters declared between 2025 and 2027.

Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025 This bill expands a requirement for federal agencies to report expenditures on the USAspending.gov website to include other transaction agreement expenditures. (Other transaction agreements, or OTAs, are contractual instruments other than standard procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements; they are exempt from many federal procurement laws and regulations). Under current law, federal agencies must report expenditures on federal awards to USAspending.gov with the term federal award defined as federal grants, loans, cooperative agreements, contracts, and certain other types of expenditures. This bill expands the definition of federal award to include expenditures under OTAs, and therefore such expenditures must be included on the USAspending.gov website. The Department of the Treasury must ensure that data relating to OTAs are automatically transmitted to the website and a centralized view of this data is available on the website. Treasury must also annually post on the USAspending.gov website a report that includes (1) the total amount of federal spending on federal awards for which data has not been posted on the website, and (2) the reason why such spending data was not posted. For 10 years after enactment, the Office of Inspector General of specified federal agencies must periodically submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the agency's spending data and use of data standards.

Maddy summaryHR 6152, the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, establishes an interagency task force to address foreign robocalls entering the United States. The task force, composed of the FCC, FTC, DOJ, and private sector representatives, will study the origins, impacts, and potential solutions to foreign robocalls and must submit a report to Congress within 360 days. The bill also modifies existing law to require FCC notices about robocall mitigation every three years instead of annually, and introduces a bond requirement for providers using the Robocall Mitigation Database. This legislation affects telecommunications providers, federal agencies, and all U.S. telephone users who receive unwanted calls. The bill aims to improve coordination between U.S. agencies and foreign countries in combating illegal robocalls through concrete policy changes.

Maddy summaryThe Mali Security Partnership and Counterterrorism Act requires the Secretary of State to submit a detailed report to Congress within 180 days regarding the expansion of al-Qaeda-linked groups in Mali and their financing methods. The report must analyze how terrorist organizations exploit illegal gold trade networks, informal taxation, and cross-border operations with neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Niger. Additionally, the legislation mandates that the report include a specific United States diplomatic strategy for countering this influence, which involves proposed bilateral initiatives, regional cooperation efforts, and metrics to measure effectiveness.

Maddy summaryThe BAD DEAL Act of 2026 repeals Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which previously allowed the President to impose tariffs on foreign countries that engaged in unfair trade practices. This legislation directly affects importers and businesses by removing the legal authority for these specific duties and invalidating any presidential proclamations issued under that section. The bill requires the President to refund all tariffs or other duties collected before, on, or after the enactment date that resulted from actions taken under the repealed provision.

National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act. [ sic ] This bill temporarily directs the Department of the Interior to award a grant to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for the expenses associated with operating and enhancing the community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum.

Maddy summaryThe First-Time Homebuyer Affordability Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt qualified mortgage bonds from the federal government's annual volume cap on tax-exempt securities. By removing this limit, the bill allows for a greater issuance of these specific bonds, which are typically used to finance home loans for first-time buyers. This change directly affects financial markets and lenders by enabling them to issue more tax-advantaged debt without being constrained by existing statutory limits. The provision applies to all obligations issued after the date of the Act's enactment.