This bill amends federal electricity regulation to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider whether utility rates are affordable for consumers when deciding whether those rates are fair and reasonable. Specifically, the legislation requires the Commission to presume that any rate increase of 5 percent or more is unaffordable and therefore not "just and reasonable" under federal law, unless circumstances suggest otherwise. If the Commission determines that a proposed rate would make electricity unaffordable for consumers, it must reject the rate. The bill affects electricity consumers nationwide and the utilities and power companies that set wholesale rates subject to federal regulation. No specific funding or timeline is included in the legislation.

This bill restricts executive bonuses at regulated electric utilities starting January 1, 2027. Executives of covered utilities can receive bonuses only if customer rates do not increase faster than inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, and any bonus cannot exceed 25 percent of the median salary of non-executive employees. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must review utility data within 30 days of each fiscal year to determine if bonuses are permitted and must monitor compliance when bonuses are paid. If utilities pay bonuses improperly, make false statements, or fail to report payments, the forfeited bonuses are collected as civil penalties and returned to customers through payments issued by the Treasury Department. The prohibition on utilities recovering penalty costs through customer rates is intended to prevent companies from passing expenses back to ratepayers.

The Cabin Air Safety Act of 2026 requires airlines to improve how they monitor and respond to contaminated air in aircraft cabins, particularly from engine oil and hydraulic fluid fumes. Airlines must install real-time air quality monitoring equipment within 180 days to detect carbon monoxide and other contaminants in the air supply system, and pilots must receive training on isolation procedures to address dangerous air quality. The bill also mandates that flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, and emergency responders receive annual training on recognizing and responding to fume events, and establishes a standardized reporting system where crew members can voluntarily report these incidents to the Federal Aviation Administration. Additionally, the FAA must investigate any reports involving crew members or passengers requiring medical attention beyond first aid, and must publish aggregated incident data on a public website to improve transparency and safety oversight. The bill authorizes necessary appropriations for the FAA to implement these requirements and does not apply to helicopters.

The PROTECT Act directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a comprehensive initiative to reduce e-cigarette and emerging tobacco product use among youth and young adults. The program includes conducting research on youth vaping patterns, product characteristics, and marketing strategies; developing clinical guidance for healthcare providers and schools; identifying prevention and cessation strategies; and creating a public awareness campaign about tobacco harms. The initiative will also provide ongoing funding to state, local, and tribal health departments through the National Tobacco Control Program to support prevention and cessation efforts. The bill authorizes $100 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a detailed implementation strategy to Congress within 90 days of enactment.

This Senate resolution expresses opposition to a settlement between President Trump and the Department of Justice regarding a lawsuit Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service over the disclosure of his tax information. The settlement, announced in May 2026, would have established an "Anti-Weaponization Fund" providing approximately $1.8 billion in taxpayer payments to individuals Trump deemed victims of weaponization, and would have granted Trump, his family, his companies, and affiliates immunity from future IRS investigations and audits. The resolution argues that this settlement is improper because Trump filed his lawsuit after the statute of limitations had expired, other victims of the same tax disclosure received no monetary compensation, and granting such immunity could create equal protection problems for hundreds of thousands of other victims who might claim similar treatment. The Senate resolution calls for rejecting the settlement, preventing similar equal protection arguments from being used by others, and ensuring this arrangement never becomes precedent for future cases.

This bill aims to improve end-of-life care in America by promoting advance care planning, which allows people to communicate their medical preferences in advance if they become unable to make decisions themselves. The legislation requires the federal government to launch a national public education campaign about advance care planning, develop training programs for healthcare providers in end-of-life care, and create a public website to help both patients and providers navigate these issues. It also establishes quality measures for end-of-life care across different healthcare settings and allows Medicare to permanently use telehealth for advance care planning discussions and hospice recertification visits. Additionally, the bill directs the government to study whether a national registry for advance directives is feasible and to examine barriers to creating uniform advance directive policies across states. While the legislation does not specify a total funding amount, it authorizes necessary appropriations for the public education campaign and grant programs supporting healthcare education institutions in establishing end-of-life training requirements.

The Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act expands federal firearm restrictions to protect domestic violence survivors by prohibiting anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order—including emergency or temporary orders—from possessing or receiving firearms, provided proper notice procedures are followed. The bill strengthens this protection by applying a broader definition of "covered domestic violence court order" than previous federal law allowed. The legislation also makes technical corrections to the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to ensure consistent legal references throughout federal firearms regulations. These changes aim to close gaps in existing federal law that previously allowed some individuals subject to domestic violence court orders to retain firearms.

# Summary The Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2026 significantly expands and strengthens food labeling requirements to help consumers make healthier choices. The bill requires front-of-package warning labels on foods high in added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat, along with warnings about non-nutritive sweeteners not recommended for children. It mandates clearer disclosure of whole grain percentages, actual amounts of fruit and vegetables in products that claim to contain them, and requires manufacturers to prominently disclose artificial dyes, natural flavoring, sugar alcohols, and isolated fibers on package labels. The legislation creates a public database where manufacturers must submit complete food label information, including nutrition facts, ingredients, and allergen data, making this information easily searchable by consumers online. It expands allergen labeling to include gluten-containing grains and establishes new regulations defining terms like "natural" and "non-UPF" (ultraprocessed foods). For online food sales, the bill requires that all label information be available to consumers before purchase on their screens. The bill affects food manufacturers, importers, and retailers selling packaged foods and beverages. The Food and Drug Administration must issue proposed regulations within one year and finalize them within two years, with most requirements taking effect three years after enactment. The legislation includes civil penalties up to $10,000 per day for manufacturers who fail to submit required label information to the FDA.

This Senate resolution directs the Senate Legal Counsel to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Senate to enforce the Foreign Emoluments Clause, a constitutional provision that prohibits the president from accepting gifts, payments, or titles from foreign governments without congressional approval. The resolution alleges that President Donald Trump has violated this clause through multiple dealings, including accepting a plane from Qatar for Air Force One use, receiving investments from foreign entities in family business ventures like World Liberty Financial, facilitating Trump Organization real estate projects in Vietnam, Qatar, Indonesia, and Serbia with foreign government involvement, and netting $635 million from a cryptocurrency memecoin that attracted wealthy foreign investors. The lawsuit would specifically target the transactions involving Qatar's plane, the United Arab Emirates investment deal, the Vietnam golf complex, the Qatar golf resort, and the cryptocurrency memecoin sales. The resolution does not specify a timeline for the lawsuit or request new funding, as it directs existing Senate legal staff to take action.

# Summary of S. 5042, Social Security 2100 Act The Social Security 2100 Act is a comprehensive reform bill that strengthens Social Security benefits, shores up the program's finances, and improves service delivery through 2036. The legislation affects current Social Security beneficiaries, future retirees, disabled workers, and their families. The bill increases benefits in several ways: it raises the basic benefit calculation from 90 to 93 percent, adjusts cost-of-living increases to better reflect elderly spending patterns, raises minimum benefits for low-wage workers, extends child benefits to post-secondary students under age 26, and improves widow and widower benefits for two-income households. It also eliminates the five-month waiting period for disability benefits and provides caregiver credits for those caring for young children or dependent relatives. Additionally, the bill gradually increases benefits for those receiving benefits for 15 or more years and improves benefits for children raised by grandparents or other relatives. To fund these enhancements, the bill eliminates the wage cap for Social Security taxes after 2026 (meaning high earners pay the tax on all wages), applies a 12.4 percent Social Security tax to net investment income above certain thresholds, and includes earnings above the current wage base in the benefit formula at a reduced rate. These revenue measures take effect in 2027 and continue through 2036. The bill also strengthens Social Security Administration operations by requiring staffing levels maintained at January 2025 levels, imposing a moratorium on office closures, protecting beneficiary data from political appointees, and ensuring access to professional representation for benefit claimants. Most benefit changes and revenue provisions apply from 2027 through 2036, with specified reversion procedures after that period.

The STOP Frontovers Act of 2026 directs the Secretary of Transportation to create new federal safety standards for motor vehicles to prevent "frontovers" and "backovers"—low-speed incidents where vehicles strike pedestrians, children, cyclists, wheelchair users, pets, and other vulnerable people in areas the driver cannot see. The bill requires that vehicles be equipped with detection systems that can identify objects in blind zones, driver notification systems with auditory and visual alerts, and active intervention systems that can automatically prevent or reduce the severity of these collisions. The Secretary must initiate the rulemaking within one year of enactment and finalize the safety standard within two years, with full manufacturer compliance required within two years of the final rule's approval. The bill allows for a phased implementation period based on vehicle type and injury frequency data, and it requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to begin tracking frontover and backover incidents in its surveillance system within 30 days. If delays occur in promulgating the final standard, the Secretary must report to Congress every 90 days explaining the reasons and steps being taken to meet the deadline.

Tristan's Law addresses traffic safety risks to children around frozen dessert trucks (ice cream trucks) by establishing federal funding to encourage states to require specific safety equipment on these vehicles. The bill allocates one percent of certain federal highway safety funds to states that adopt laws requiring frozen dessert trucks to be equipped with flashing red signal lamps, a stop signal arm, a convex mirror, and a front crossing arm. These safety features are designed to increase driver visibility, alert approaching traffic, and reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths among children purchasing frozen desserts. The legislation also directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on pedestrian injuries related to frozen dessert trucks and provide guidance to states on improving safety practices. The bill takes effect for grant applications and state highway safety plans submitted starting in fiscal year 2026.

This bill amends the Higher Education Act to help colleges and universities develop comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention plans. The federal Department of Education, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, must create evidence-based model plans within one year of the law's enactment and update them at least every five years. The departments will then provide technical assistance to colleges that want to adopt these plans, potentially collaborating with nonprofits, community organizations, and mental health experts. The legislation requires progress reports to Congress one year after the initial model plan is released and after each subsequent update. Importantly, the bill explicitly states it does not create new legal requirements for colleges, meaning participation is voluntary rather than mandatory.

This bill would ban 15 categories of toxic chemicals from food packaging and food contact materials, including phthalates, PFAS (forever chemicals), bisphenols, asbestos, benzene, and formaldehyde. The ban would take effect two years after the law is enacted, giving manufacturers time to transition to safer alternatives. The Food and Drug Administration would be required to scrutinize replacement chemicals with special attention to how they might affect vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, the elderly, and workers. States and local governments would be allowed to maintain or enact their own stricter standards without being blocked by federal law, and consumers would retain the right to pursue legal action under state consumer protection laws.

The Right to Record Act of 2026 establishes a federal civil right protecting people's ability to record, observe, or peacefully protest law enforcement activities in public. The bill creates a legal cause of action allowing individuals to sue federal law enforcement officers and the federal government itself for violations of this right, with damages of at least $25,000 per violation and up to $100,000 in punitive damages if the officer acted with malice or reckless disregard. Specific violations include preventing someone from recording, threatening them for recording, arresting them because they recorded, seizing their recording equipment or devices, or retaliating against them in other ways. The bill requires all federal law enforcement agencies to train their officers within one year of enactment and every year thereafter on how to respect this right, and it allows successful plaintiffs to recover attorney's fees and court costs. The legislation applies to all federal law enforcement agencies and officers, and it contains narrow exceptions only when someone physically restrains or restricts an officer while that officer is performing official duties.

The Complete America's Great Trails Act creates a new federal income tax credit for landowners who donate conservation easements that include National Scenic Trails and the surrounding corridor. Landowners can claim a tax credit equal to the fair market value of their donation, with the trail corridor defined as up to 2,640 feet wide on either side of the trail, though with flexibility for properties with existing structures or limited space. The credit can be carried forward for up to ten years if it exceeds a taxpayer's annual tax liability, but once elected, it cannot be revoked and landowners must forgo any charitable deduction for the same property. The bill allows continued recreational and agricultural use of the property as long as such use does not damage conservation interests, and it requires the Secretary of the Interior to study the credit's effectiveness and report to Congress within four years on whether it should be made refundable or transferable.