Rep. Derek Schmidt

Maddy summaryHR 1793, the Veterans Readiness and Employment Transparency Act of 2025, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve access to vocational rehabilitation services for veterans with service-connected disabilities. The bill mandates a dedicated VA hotline, updated regional office websites with contact details, and requires VA counselors to hold monthly staff Q&A sessions and provide in-person briefings at local educational institutions (or virtual briefings for institutions over 150 miles away). It also requires the VA to submit an annual report detailing the number of veterans requesting, receiving, and being denied extensions to their rehabilitation program periods. These provisions directly affect veterans using VA vocational rehabilitation programs and VA regional office staff responsible for delivering those services.

Maddy summaryHR 1423, the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2025, expands GI Bill benefits to National Guard members who serve on full-time National Guard duty or active duty under Title 32. It removes previous exclusions by counting this service toward eligibility for Post-9/11 educational benefits, just like active-duty service. The change applies retroactively to service performed since September 11, 2001, allowing affected veterans to access benefits they were previously denied. This policy adjustment directly affects National Guard members who completed qualifying full-time duty since 2001.

Nuclear Family Priority Act This bill imposes limits on various types of family-sponsored immigration visas. The non-U.S. national ( alien  under federal law) parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives, which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives. The bill also creates a nonimmigrant visa for such parents of citizens. Such non-U.S. nationals shall not be eligible for employment or any public benefits. The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 88,000, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000. The bill eliminates preference allocations (visa categories subject to various annual caps) for various family-sponsored visas, including those for the siblings and married children of citizens. The bill provides for a preference allocation for the unmarried children under 21 and spouses of permanent residents, subject to the 88,000 annual cap.

Maddy summaryThe Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025 would reform the Low-Income Housing Credit program, which provides tax credits to developers of affordable housing. It would increase state allocations based on population with annual cost-of-living adjustments, modify tenant eligibility rules to allow higher income limits for some residents, and add protections for domestic violence victims in housing. The bill would simplify rules for rural and Native American housing projects, clarify credit eligibility requirements, and require greater transparency in program administration. These changes would directly affect developers, property owners, and low-income tenants in housing projects that receive LIHC tax credits.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends immigration law to expand mandatory detention for non-citizen immigrants convicted of specific property crimes. It adds trespassing, vandalism, and arson to the list of offenses that trigger detention under Section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, alongside burglary and serious bodily injury. Non-citizen immigrants convicted of these crimes would now face automatic detention without bond, rather than potentially being released pending removal proceedings. The key change modifies existing detention criteria to include these three property crimes as grounds for mandatory immigration detention.

Maddy summaryHR 2666, the CBO Scoring Accountability Act, requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to annually analyze and publicly report on the actual costs and revenue impacts of major federal legislation for the first 10 years after it becomes law. It mandates that the CBO compare actual spending/revenue results against prior estimates, and if discrepancies exceed 10% for costs or revenue, the CBO must explain the causes in a report to Congress. This applies to bills projected to affect at least 0.25% of U.S. GDP in spending or revenue (defined as "major legislation"), and federal agencies must provide data to support these analyses. The bill aims to improve transparency around budget estimates without altering legislative processes.

Maddy summaryThis bill, HR 2102 (Major Richard Star Act), allows veterans with combat-related disabilities to receive both full military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation simultaneously, without the previous offset that reduced retired pay. It directly affects veterans already eligible for both benefits due to combat-related injuries, removing the requirement that their retired pay be reduced by the disability compensation amount. The key provision amends Title 10 and Title 38 to eliminate the offset rule (sections 5304 and 5305 of Title 38) for these veterans. The change applies to payments starting after the bill’s enactment date, effective for all qualifying veterans. This is a policy change to increase financial support for affected veterans, not a new benefit.

Maddy summaryThis bill increases loan limits for farmers under the Farm Service Agency. It raises farm ownership loan caps from $600,000/$1.75 million to $850,000/$3.5 million (for direct/guaranteed loans) and operating loan caps from $400,000/$1.75 million to $750,000/$3 million, effective 2025. It also creates a refinancing program allowing distressed guaranteed loans to convert to direct loans if borrowers prove problems can be fixed and the farm can return to financial stability. Additionally, it doubles the microloan limit from $50,000 to $100,000 and updates inflation calculations for loan adjustments using USDA land value data instead of previous metrics.

Maddy summaryHR 2574, the "No Iranian Energy Act," amends existing sanctions law to explicitly prohibit U.S. sanctions on natural gas transactions involving Iran. It expands the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2021 by adding natural gas to the list of energy sectors subject to sanctions under Sections 1244 and 1247 of the law. The bill directly affects foreign entities or governments that engage in the sale, supply, or transfer of natural gas to or from Iran. This change modifies existing legal provisions without creating new sanctions, targeting Iran's gas industry as part of broader sanctions policy.

Maddy summaryHR 2581, the Iranian Terror Prevention Act, requires the U.S. government to designate 29 specific Iranian-backed militant groups as terrorist organizations within 90 days of the bill’s passage. The President must then decide within 60 days whether to impose sanctions on these groups, blocking their U.S. assets and transactions under existing law. The bill also mandates regular reports to Congress on these designations and sanctions, including for any new groups meeting the criteria. This law directly affects the 29 named groups (such as the Badr Organization and Houthis) and any entities controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.