Greg Casar

The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act of 2026 requires anyone who discovers an artificial superintelligence system or a related precursor system to report it to the Secretary of Artificial Intelligence within 24 hours. The bill prohibits federal agencies from funding activities that violate its core restrictions on advanced AI development, though it creates an exception allowing the Department of Artificial Intelligence to use federal funds for defensive cybersecurity research using specifically defined AI systems. These provisions work together to establish immediate transparency requirements and control federal spending on AI development while carving out limited exceptions for national security purposes.

This bill imposes a new excise tax on companies that develop or provide access to advanced artificial intelligence models, with tax rates ranging from 2 to 5 percent depending on the national unemployment rate. The tax applies to the fair market value of AI tokens processed or revenue from AI services, though it excludes research and development uses by government agencies, universities, and nonprofits. The legislation takes effect one year after enactment. All revenue from this AI tax goes into a dedicated trust fund that finances a new Work Protection Administration within the Department of Labor, which administers a competitive grant program for eligible entities like states, local governments, schools, and nonprofits to create jobs in high-need areas such as child care, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and environmental conservation. Grant recipients must pay workers at least the prevailing wage, provide health insurance comparable to federal employee benefits, offer 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, and respect workers' collective bargaining rights. The bill also authorizes $20 million annually through 2031 for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to study AI's broader labor market impacts beyond job displacement.

This resolution expresses the House's position that Congress must take urgent action to protect voting rights and civil rights for all Americans. The resolution criticizes recent Supreme Court decisions, particularly Louisiana v. Callais, which it argues has weakened the Voting Rights Act and enabled partisan gerrymandering that could reduce representation for voters of color, particularly Black and Latino communities. The resolution calls on Congress to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act to combat racial discrimination in voting and representation. It also supports eliminating the Senate filibuster and enacting structural reforms to the Supreme Court, including establishing ethics rules, implementing term limits for justices, and potentially expanding the Court's size. No specific funding or implementation timeline is included, as this is a non-binding resolution expressing the sense of the House rather than legislation that creates new programs or spending.

The Double the Wage for Overtime Act of 2026 would increase the overtime pay requirement for most American workers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act. Currently, employers must pay workers one and one-half times their regular hourly rate for overtime hours worked; this bill would raise that requirement to two times the regular rate. The legislation would apply to covered employees across most industries and would take effect 180 days after the bill becomes law. The bill was introduced by Representative Casar and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of House members and was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce.

H.R. 8568, the Lowering Utility Bills Act, modifies federal electricity regulations to reduce what utilities can charge consumers by limiting their profits and preventing them from passing certain expenses to ratepayers. The bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to set lower profit returns for electric transmission providers and requires investor-owned utilities to calculate their allowable profits using averaged market data, with additional reductions based on the regulatory protections they receive. Both transmission providers and utilities are prohibited from charging customers for lobbying, political contributions, executive entertainment, advertising to influence public opinion, rate case legal fees, and expenses for non-utility business operations. Utilities must also demonstrate they have prioritized cost-saving technologies and participated in regional planning before recovering capital costs from ratepayers. The legislation applies to all federally regulated transmission providers and investor-owned utilities and takes effect through amendments to the Federal Power Act.

The Home Team Act of 2026 aims to prevent professional sports teams from relocating out of their home communities by giving local entities a right to purchase franchises before owners can move them. Under the bill, sports leagues cannot ban community ownership or public purchase of teams, and franchise owners must offer local governments, nonprofits, cooperatives, and local businesses the opportunity to buy the team at fair market value before relocating or eliminating the franchise. The Treasury Department would establish appraisers to determine fair purchase prices, with deductions for any government subsidies previously used to build the team's stadium. Owners who violate these rules face civil penalties of $30,000 per day, and local governments or states can sue for injunctive relief and damages. The legislation applies to major professional leagues including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WNBA, and NWSL, and is based on Congress's constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce since sports franchises generate revenues across state lines.

The BETS OFF Act prohibits betting or wagering on certain sensitive events, including acts of terrorism, assassinations, wars, and government actions where the outcome is controlled by or known in advance by someone involved. The bill makes it illegal for any person to place, accept, or help facilitate such bets, with enforcement through civil lawsuits by the Attorney General. The legislation also updates existing federal gambling and commodities laws to explicitly include these prohibited wagers within their enforcement frameworks and prevents commodity exchanges from listing trading contracts related to these specified events. The law takes effect 30 days after enactment and is designed to prevent speculation and potential profit from serious national security events and government operations.

The Connect the Grid Act would bring Texas's power grid (ERCOT) under federal regulation and connect it to neighboring power systems by requiring new transmission lines to be built between ERCOT and three neighboring regions by January 2037. The bill removes ERCOT's current exemptions from federal energy laws and requires a minimum of 4.3-12.6 gigawatts of transmission capacity to the Southwest Power Pool, 2.5-16.2 gigawatts to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, and 2.6-7.9 gigawatts to the Western Interconnection. To help fund these projects, the bill increases borrowing authority for the federal Transmission Facilitation Program from $2.5 billion to $13.5 billion. The legislation prioritizes using existing rights-of-way, degraded land, and renewable energy development for construction, requires community involvement and prevailing wages, and mandates environmental reviews. The bill also directs the Secretary of Energy to study potential interconnection benefits with Mexico's power system.

The FEMA Critical Staffing Act requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use its appropriated funds to rehire employees who were involuntarily separated from the agency between January 20, 2025, and the bill's enactment date, with reinstatements to occur within 30 days. The bill also mandates that FEMA continue all congressionally authorized disaster preparedness and response programs, with specific direction to immediately restore the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and the flood mitigation assistance program. The legislation affects FEMA employees seeking reinstatement and communities that depend on FEMA's disaster preparation, response, and recovery services, particularly as climate-driven extreme weather events continue to impact the nation. No new funding is authorized by the bill; instead, it requires the agency to redirect existing appropriated funds toward staffing restoration and program continuation. The bill was introduced in August 2025 and referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

H.R. 4640, the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act of 2025, prohibits companies from using artificial intelligence and surveillance data to set personalized prices or wages tailored to individual consumers or workers. The law allows narrow exceptions for cost-based pricing differences, publicly disclosed group discounts, and loyalty programs, but requires companies to disclose their pricing and wage-setting procedures 180 days in advance and permit individuals to challenge the accuracy of data used against them. Enforcement is shared among the Federal Trade Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state attorneys general, and workers and consumers who can file private lawsuits for violations, with penalties ranging from $3,000 per violation up to triple damages for willful violations. The bill also voids arbitration agreements and class-action waivers that would prevent workers from challenging wage violations and ensures collective bargaining rights remain a minimum standard that unions can only improve through negotiation.