Angus King

The Build American Efficiency Act clarifies how the Department of Housing and Urban Development can verify that projects funded with federal money comply with domestic content requirements under the Build America, Buy America Act. Specifically, the bill allows HUD to accept documentation created using the Make It American Process Standard (NEMA 70901-2024) as sufficient proof that materials meet domestic content rules, which generally require that federally funded infrastructure projects use American-made materials. The bill does not require recipients to use this specific standard or prevent them from using other approved certification methods to demonstrate compliance. HUD also gains the authority to accept documentation from similar domestic content certification standards if the Secretary determines they provide reliable and verifiable verification processes. The legislation affects recipients of HUD financial assistance for infrastructure and development projects and streamlines the compliance verification process without imposing new mandates.

This Senate resolution designates September 25, 2026, as "National Lobster Day" to celebrate the lobster industry's role in American economic life, culinary tradition, and coastal communities, particularly in New England. It highlights the industry's centuries-long history, its support for thousands of families through fishing, processing, and restaurant work, and its leadership in sustainable fishing practices. The resolution also notes lobster's nutritional benefits, its cultural significance from colonial times to modern pop culture, and its use beyond food in areas like skincare and biodegradable products. The resolution carries no funding or binding legal requirements; it simply encourages Americans to mark the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to help pay for expensive medications given to veterans in state-run nursing homes. When a medication costs more than 8.5 percent of the monthly care payment for a veteran, the VA must either reimburse the state home for that drug or provide the medication directly to the facility. The legislation applies to state homes that have contracts with the VA to provide nursing care to veterans. The bill does not specify new funding amounts or implementation timelines, leaving those details to be determined by the VA Secretary. This change aims to reduce the financial burden on state homes when treating veterans with costly medications.

The FASTER Act authorizes federal grants to fire departments across the country to implement programs that reduce falls among seniors and improve emergency response times for in-home emergencies. The bill addresses a significant public health issue, noting that falls cause approximately 38,000 deaths annually among adults over 65 and result in more than 80 billion dollars in medical expenses each year. Grant funds can be used for activities like home safety modifications, installation of emergency access devices, hiring community paramedicine staff, smoke detector installation, and referrals to fall prevention resources. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will distribute competitive grants directly to career, combination, and volunteer fire departments for three-year periods, with federal funding covering 75 percent of costs in years one and two, declining to 35 percent in year three. The bill authorizes $1 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2028, increasing to $2 million annually through 2031 and $4 million annually through 2034, with $7 million authorized for 2035, and the program sunsets on September 30, 2036.

The VA Salary Cap Waiver Adjustment Act modifies rules governing how the Department of Veterans Affairs can pay critical healthcare workers. Currently, the VA has restrictions on when it can waive salary caps to offer competitive pay to essential medical personnel like doctors and nurses. This bill removes one of those restrictions and extends the VA's authority to use salary waivers for five years from the bill's enactment date. The legislation aims to help the VA recruit and retain healthcare professionals by giving it more flexibility in compensation. The bill was introduced in September 2026 and referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lease Restoration Act of 2026 addresses what happens when offshore wind energy lease areas are surrendered or terminated. The bill allows companies that hold adjacent wind leases to purchase surrendered lease areas at the original per-acre bid price, with ownership vesting immediately upon payment. If adjacent leaseholders do not purchase their shares within the specified timeframe, those unclaimed areas must be returned to the government's inventory and offered for lease to the general public within 90 days under the same terms as before. The legislation prohibits the company that surrendered a lease from reacquiring that same area and prevents the federal government from issuing new oil and gas leases or permits until all wind lease areas have been either conveyed to adjacent holders or offered publicly. The bill streamlines the process by ratifying all prior environmental reviews and analyses conducted for these wind lease areas, eliminating the need for additional environmental assessments.

The SMASH 2.0 Act reauthorizes and expands a federal program that helps states and local communities fight mosquito-borne and other vector-borne diseases like dengue fever and Zika virus. The legislation provides 100 million dollars annually from 2027 through 2031 to support disease surveillance, prevention programs, and workforce training for public health professionals. The bill encourages the use of innovative mosquito control technologies and allows recipients of federal grants to dedicate up to five percent of their funding toward continuing education for workers in the field. Additionally, the law directs the federal government to coordinate with the Strategic National Stockpile to develop plans for emergency supplies of disease control products and to work with manufacturers to ensure adequate inventory during public health emergencies.

The CARE for Mental Health Professionals Act directs the federal government to create a grant program that supports mental health professionals working across state lines. The bill authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish the Mental Health Licensure Portability Program within 90 days of enactment, which will award grants to states and interstate commissions that participate in occupational licensure compacts for counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and pediatric mental health professionals. These grants will incentivize mental health professionals to practice in states with interstate compacts and help develop and maintain the commissions that oversee these agreements. The legislation affects mental health professionals, state licensing boards, and interstate compact commissions seeking to expand access to mental health services across state boundaries. The bill authorizes $4 million in funding annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2030 to support this program.

The Primary and Behavioral Health Care Access Act of 2026 requires all group health insurance plans and individual health insurance policies to cover three primary care visits and three behavioral health care visits per year without any cost-sharing requirements such as copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles. The bill applies to employers offering group coverage and insurance companies offering both group and individual plans, affecting millions of insured Americans. Primary care visits include routine appointments with doctors like family physicians, internists, and pediatricians, while behavioral health visits cover mental health and substance abuse treatment from providers like psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers. The coverage requirements take effect two years after the law is enacted and must be provided on equal terms with other medical visits, meaning insurers cannot impose stricter limitations or lower reimbursement rates specifically for these visits.

Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly Act or the Stop CHEATERS ActThis bill provides additional appropriations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for FY2026-FY2031 and establishes reporting requirements related to tax enforcement for high-income individuals and corporations.The bill provides specified appropriations to the IRS for FY2026-FY2031 for purposes such as tax enforcement, taxpayer services, technology and operations support, and business systems modernization. The funds provided by the bill remain available until expended. The bill also requires the IRS to submit a report to Congress every two years that includes a comprehensive description of a plan toshift more IRS auditing and enforcement assets toward high-income individuals and large corporations,recruit and retain auditors with the skills essential to audit high-income individuals and large corporations, andincrease voluntary compliance among high-income individuals and large corporations.The report must also include (1) a description of the progress that has been made in implementing the plan; and (2) an analysis of how much of the difference between the taxes owed and the taxes collected by the IRS is attributable to taxpayers at different income levels, including high-income individuals and large corporations.The bill also requires the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to submit a report to Congress evaluating the IRS's plan and its progress in implementing the plan.

This bill creates a pilot program through the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mental health services to incarcerated veterans, with priority given to those with service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or military sexual trauma. The program will operate at five or more facilities across different sizes and locations, offering telemental health services where possible or mobile mental health units as alternatives, with no copayments charged to veterans. The legislation also requires the federal Bureau of Prisons to establish dedicated housing units for veterans in federal prisons whenever feasible, with staff trained in veteran-specific needs and tailored rehabilitation programs. Additionally, the bill automatically restarts VA disability payments for veterans after they complete prison sentences (taking effect 180 days after enactment) and directs the federal government to collect and report annual data on incarcerated veterans. The bill coordinates between the VA and correctional agencies to improve mental health outcomes and reintegration for justice-involved veterans.

TAP Promotion ActThis bill requires that pre-separation counseling under the Transition Assistance Program include a presentation that promotes the benefits available to veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bill also requires the VA to annually report on the presentation to (1) identify veterans service organizations that participate, (2) provide the number of members of the Armed Forces who attend, and (3) provide any recommendations for changes to the presentation.

The Ensuring Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act would remove a current restriction that prevents disabled veterans from simultaneously receiving benefits from both the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program and the Department of Veterans Affairs' educational assistance programs. Currently, veterans must choose between these two benefit programs, but this bill would allow them to access both types of assistance at the same time. The legislation specifically repeals a limitation in federal law (Section 3695 of Title 38) that enforces this either-or requirement. This change would benefit disabled veterans pursuing education and career development by giving them access to more comprehensive support. The bill was introduced in February 2026 and contains no specified funding amount or implementation timeline.

S. 3591 requires the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs to create a standardized notice informing employees about veterans' benefits, with each state receiving its own customized version that includes federal benefits plus any additional state-specific programs. Employers with 50 or more employees must display this notice in visible workplace locations, with the requirement taking effect one year after the bill becomes law. The Labor Department must complete the notices within 270 days of enactment and update them at least twice yearly, while states will have 45 days to contribute information about their own veteran benefits programs. The bill also directs the Labor and Veterans Affairs departments to launch an information campaign during the first 180 days to educate employers about the new requirement. The legislation affects all large employers across the country and aims to help veterans better understand what assistance is available to them through both federal and state programs.

The bill addresses the unavailability of certain requested resources, highlighting the challenges in accessing specific information or materials. It aims to streamline processes and enhance transparency in resource allocation and management. Overall, the legislation seeks to improve access to vital resources for various stakeholders.

The bill addresses the unavailability of certain requested resources, clarifying that the specific information or items sought are not accessible or do not exist. It emphasizes the need to acknowledge these limitations in resource allocation and availability.

Preventive Health Savings ActThis bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), upon receiving a request from Congress, to determine if proposed legislation would reduce spending outside of the 10-year budget window through the use of preventive health care.Under the bill, the term preventive health care generally refers to an action that focuses on the health of the public, individuals, and defined populations in order to protect, promote, and maintain health and wellness and prevent disease, disability, and premature death.If CBO determines that the proposed legislation would result in net reductions in budget outlays from the use of preventive health care, any CBO projection regarding the legislation must include (1) a description and estimate of the reductions in outlays, and (2) a description of the basis for these conclusions. Any estimate provided by CBO pursuant to this bill must be used as a supplementary estimate and may not be used to determine compliance with the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 or any other budgetary enforcement controls.

This joint resolution would overturn a rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding how the agency interprets and applies the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies create regulations. The resolution uses the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism that allows Congress to disapprove federal agency rules within a certain timeframe after they are published. The HHS rule in question was published on March 3, 2025, and the Government Accountability Office determined in August 2025 that it qualified as a rule subject to congressional review. If this resolution passes both chambers of Congress, the HHS policy would be nullified and have no legal effect. The resolution is sponsored by Senator King and 35 other senators, all appearing to be Democrats, and was placed on the Senate calendar in October 2025 after being discharged from committee through a petition process.