Good Bills for a Better Congress
We hope to pass these bills in the next Congress if we can hold our House majority and increase our Senate majority enough to render Manchin and Sinema powerless to block progressive legislation. These bills show what the government can and should be doing for the American people as a whole rather than just the top one percent. We hope you can use them to inspire your friends and family to vote in the midterm election.
Look up additional information on bills by number or topic at GovTrack.us.
JUDICIARY
Supreme Court Ethics Act — H.R.4766, S.2512
House intro: 7/28/2021; Senate intro: 7/28/2021
All other federal judges are subject to the official Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which requires them to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary and governs matters like recusal, financial disclosure, outside employment, partisan political engagement, and gifts.
This bill would require the Judicial Conference of the United States to issue a code of ethics for the entire federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, within one year of enactment.
More info: Murphy, Johnson Introduce Bicameral Bill Requiring SCOTUS to Follow Code of Ethics
Similar provisions in H.R.1, For The People Act, Title VII, Ethical Standards, Subtitle A would require new ethical standards for Supreme Court justices and presidential appointees. Annotated Guide to the For the People Act of 2021 | Brennan Center for Justice
The Judiciary Act of 2021 — H.R.2584, S.1141
House intro: 4/15/2021; Senate intro: 4/15/2021
Expands the United States Supreme Court by four seats, bringing the number of seated justices to 13.
More info: Tell your Senators to Balance Our Supreme Court: Pass The Judiciary Act | Indivisible SF
Congressional Inherent Contempt Resolution of 2022 — H.R. 869
House intro 1/12/2022
Introduced by Rep Ted Lieu to enable Congress to independently enforce subpoenas and other Congressional actions by directly levying penalties against those refusing to comply. Amends House rules to provide a clear and fair method to implement Congress’ inherent ability to hold individuals in contempt and levy penalties if they refuse to comply with subpoenas.
More info: Rep. Lieu Reintroduces Legislation to Strengthen Congress' Inherent Contempt Power
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — H.R. 1280
House intro: 3/3/2021
Measures designed to remove barriers to holding law enforcement officers accountable for police brutality, including:
Addressing qualified immunity, the judge-made doctrine that has been interpreted by courts in ways that have created near-impunity for police officers engaged in unconstitutional policing
Amending the federal statute to strengthen the ability of the Department of Justice to bring criminal civil rights actions against officers
Creating a national database of sustained findings of serious police misconduct and a process for decertifying problem officers
More info: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Essential: Ending Qualified Immunity | Indivisible SF
CLIMATE ACTION
Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax — H.R. 7061, S.3802
House intro: 3/10/2022; Senate intro: 3/10/2022
Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are introducing the bicameral Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax to curb profiteering by oil companies and provide Americans relief at the gas pump.
Somewhat similar to the proposals of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby for a carbon tax and rebate. Carbon Pricing Bills in Congress 2019-2021 | Citizens' Climate Lobby
Climate Emergency Act of 2021 — H.R. 794, S.938
House intro 2/4/2021; Senate intro 3/23/2021
The National Emergencies Act of 1976 allows a president to declare an official national emergency, which in turn unlocks a number of concurrent presidential powers and authorities.
More info: Report Details Key Powers Biden Can Unlock With National Climate Emergency, Echoes Congressional Calls for Declaration, Center for Biological Diversity, 2/23/2022; Library of Congress PDF: National Emergency Powers
FEMA Climate Change Preparedness Act — H.R. 744, S.280
House intro: 2/3/2021; Senate intro: 2/8/2021
Requires Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to revise its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan to ensure it (and future plans) explicitly mentions climate change and addresses the implications of climate change on homeland security and near- and long-term national disaster risk, and (2) ensure that future strategic plans do likewise.
More info: Clarke Introduces Legislation to Combat the Impacts of Climate Change - Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2021 — S.1217, H.R. 2570
Senate intro 4/19/2021; Passed in House: 6/16/2021
This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to require an issuer of securities to annually disclose information regarding climate change-related risks posed to the issuer, including an issuer's strategies and actions to mitigate these risks.
Specifically, issuers must report their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and disclose their fossil fuel-related assets.
More info: Casten's Climate Risk Disclosure Act Passes House, 6/16/2021
Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize the admission of climate-displaced persons — H.R. 2826, S.1335
House intro: 4/22/2021; Senate intro: 4/22/2021
Establishes an immigration pathway to admit climate-displaced persons into the United States. Individuals (1) who need durable resettlement because of an environmental change that adversely affects their living conditions, and (2) whose government cannot or will not provide a resettlement solution. Persons admitted to the United States under this pathway are entitled to the same resettlement assistance and benefits available to refugees.
Authorizes the President to provide foreign assistance for promoting resilience and reducing vulnerability among communities facing adverse effects of climate change.
Creates the position of Coordinator of Climate Change Resiliency in the Department of State.
State Dept to provide (1) training on climate displacement to foreign service officers, and (2) guidance on the humanitarian impacts associated with climate change to all U.S. diplomatic missions.
Women and Climate Change Act of 2022 — H.R. 260, S.3774
House intro 1/11/2021; Senate intro 3/8/2022
This bill addresses climate change and its effects on women and girls and establishes the Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change within the Department of State. The bill outlines its functions, including the coordination of agencies' policies and activities relating to combating the effects of climate change on women and improving the government's response to and strategy for climate change. Requires submission of a strategy to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) — S.1975, H.R. 3755, H.R. 8296
Passed House: 9/24/2021; Filibustered in Senate: 2/28/2022; Passed House 7/15/2022
A bill to protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services. Governments may not:
Limit a provider's ability to prescribe certain drugs, offer abortion services via telemedicine, or immediately provide abortion services when the provider determines a delay risks the patient's health.
Require a provider to perform unnecessary medical procedures, provide medically inaccurate information, comply with credentialing or other conditions that do not apply to providers whose services are medically comparable to abortions, or carry out all services connected to an abortion.
Require patients to make medically unnecessary in-person visits before receiving abortion services or disclose their reasons for obtaining such services, or (2) prohibit abortion services before fetal viability or after fetal viability when a provider determines the pregnancy risks the patient's life or health.
More info: Senate Fails to Advance Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) | Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; House Again Passes Bill to Protect Abortion Rights
Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act — H.R. 8297
Passed the House: 7/15/22 (220 D, 3 R)
This bill prohibits anyone acting under state law from interfering with a person's ability to access out-of-state abortion services. (Abortion services includes the use of any drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies and any health care services related to an abortion, whether or not provided at the same time or on the same day.)
Specifically, the bill prohibits any person acting under state law from preventing, restricting, impeding, or retaliating against health care providers who provide legal abortion services to out-of-state residents, any person or entity who helps health care providers to provide such services, any person who travels to another state to obtain such services, any person or entity who helps another person travel to another state to obtain such services, or the movement in interstate commerce of drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies.
The Department of Justice may enforce this bill through civil actions; the bill also establishes a private right of action for violations.
More Info: House Again Passes Bill to Protect Abortion Rights
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — H.R. 4, S.4
Passed the House: 8/24/2021; Filibustered in Senate: 11/3/2021
A bill to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes, and restore provisions weakened by the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision.
More info: Support HR 4, John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act - Human Rights Campaign
For The People Act — H.R.1, S.1
Passed the House: 3/3/2021; Senate intro: 3/17/2021
To expand Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.
More info: Annotated Guide to the For the People Act of 2021 | Brennan Center for Justice
Sen. Manchin’s proposed alternative to For the People Act and the John Lewis VRAA was the Freedom to Vote Act — S.2747. Introduced: 9/24/2021. Filibustered 10/20/2021. This is listed here for context, but we don’t consider it a Good Bill.
More info: The Freedom to Vote Act Unpacked, Democracy Docket, 10/18/2021; Voting Rights, The FIlibuster & Deadline for Democracy: Indivisible SF , 10/26/2021
Passed the House: 2/25/2021; Senate intro: 2/23/2021
This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. The bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.
More info: The Equality Act: What Transgender People Need to Know
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act — H.R.6678, S.3631
Senate intro 2/10/2022; House intro 2/9/2022
Goes beyond other proposals to ban stock trading, and additionally bans the ownership of individual stocks, by Members of Congress and their spouses.
The DISCLOSE Act — H.R. 1334, S.443
House intro: 2/25/2021; Senate intro: 2/25/2021
Introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in every Congress since 2012, requires organizations spending money in elections—including super PACs and 501(c)(4) dark money groups—to promptly disclose donors who have given $10,000 or more during an election cycle. This will permit Americans to see who is really spending to influence elections.
More info: Whitehouse, Cicilline Introduce DISCLOSE Act to Repair Americans' Faith in Democracy
Some of the DISCLOSE Act provisions were also included in H.R.1, the For the People Act (Title VII, Ethical Standards, Subtitle C: Lobbying Disclosure Reform); the Freedom to Vote Act; and the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. California also has similar law.
ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act — H.R.7101, S.3847
House intro: 3/16/2022; Senate intro: 3/16/2022
Bans the biggest, most anticompetitive mergers. Strengthens the FTC’s and DOJ’s tools to break up harmful mergers. Overhauls the merger review process to allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reject deals without a court order. Requires regulators to evaluate the impacts of a merger on communities of color.
Billionaires Income Tax — Not introduced in Congress yet
Requires billionaires to start paying taxes on the gains in their wealth each year. just like workers pay taxes on their paychecks each year.
Assessed and payable annually on tradable assets, such as stocks, where the value of the asset is known at the beginning and end of the year and the owner already gets an annual financial statement
Rate: top capital gains rate, currently 20% plus a 3.8% net investment income tax
More info: Senator Ron Wyden's Billionaire's Income Tax, Americans for Tax Fairness, 3/23/2022
GUN SAFETY
Ghost Guns Are Guns Act — H.R. 1454
House intro: 3/1/2021
Would treat “firearm assembly kits” as firearms, for purposes of federal law and subject anybody who buys one to the federal background checks required for handguns purchased through licensed firearms dealers. The ATF recovered 10,000 ghost guns in 2019.
More info: Espaillat, Schneider Introduce Legislation to Close the Ghost Guns Loophole; Ghost Guns | Giffords; Ghost Guns | Everytown for Gun Safety
Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2021 — H.R. 825, S.281
House intro: 2/4/2021; Senate intro: 2/8/2021
Authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
More info: Congresswoman Maloney Joins President Biden to Discuss Gun Violence Prevention at PS 111, the Jacob Blackwell School; Not Enough Funding for Research | Everytown
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Democrats in Congress worked hard to finally obtain protection of our reproductive rights in 1973, via Roe v. Wade.. Democrats in Congress have never stopped fighting to restore and strengthen our reproductive rights since the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson decision on June 24, 2022. These bills are also written to protect those who provide or facilitate abortion care. They are designed to define and expand our rights legislatively to make all of us less vulnerable to the whims of a highly partisan Supreme Court.
My Body, My Data Act of 2022 – H.R. 8111, S.1656
Introduced 6/16/2022 by Rep. Sara . Cosponsors: 118, all Democrats. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Establishes protections for personal reproductive or sexual health information. This includes information relating to past, present, or future surgeries or procedures, such as the termination of a pregnancy. Specifically, commercial entities, including individuals, nonprofits, and common carriers, may not collect, retain, use, or disclose personal reproductive or sexual health information.
Senate bill S.1656 introduced 5/17/2023 by Senator Mazie Hirono. Cosponsors: 15 Democrats
Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022 – S. 4504
Introduced: 7/12/2022, by Senator Cortez-Masto. Cosponsors: 39 Democrats, 1 Independent. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Freedom to Travel for Healthcare Act of 2023– S.4503. Reintroduced 6/20/2023, by Senator Cortes Masto.
Prohibits anyone from interfering with a person's ability to access out-of-state reproductive health care. (Reproductive health care is defined as medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services related to pregnancy, the termination of a pregnancy, contraception services, and other reproductive care.)
Reproductive Freedom for All Act – S.4688
Introduced: 8/1/2022 by Senator Tim Kaine. Cosponsors: Kyrsten Sinema, Lisa Murkowski & Susan Collins. Referred to the Judiciary Committee.)
Establishes a general right of all persons to make certain reproductive decisions without undue government interference. It specifically provides statutory authority for the Supreme Court's prior holdings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. In Roe, the Court held that the Constitution protects a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy.
Protecting National Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2022 – S.4748
Introduced: 8/2/2022 by Senator Booker. Cosponsors: 5 Democrats, 1 Independent.
A bill to provide for national uniformity for reproductive health products.
Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act – H.R.8650 , S.1297
Introduced 8/2/2022 by Rep. Kim Shriver. Cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
Sets out protections for and establishes programs to support health care providers (and those who assist such providers) who offer reproductive health care services that are lawful in the state where the services are provided. Reproductive health care services refer to abortion services; contraceptive services; in vitro fertilization; or other reproductive care, education,
Senate Bill, S.1297, introduced 4/26/2023 by Senator Patty Murray. Cosponsors: 28 Democrats, 1 Independent
Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act – S.4764, H.R.9040
Introduced 8/03/2022 by Senator Murray. Cosponsors: 10 Democrats.1 Independent.
Establishes various grants and related programs that address sexual and reproductive health care for individuals with disabilities.
House bill introduced 9/30/2022 by Rep Cori Bush. Cosponsors: 24 Democrats.
SHIELD Act – H.R.8838
Introduced 9/15/2022 by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Cosponsors: 2 Democrats
Safeguard Healthcare Industry Employees from Litigation and Distress Act or the SHIELD Act This bill establishes a framework to limit interference with persons seeking to provide or access reproductive health services at the state level. For the purposes of this summary, interference with persons seeking to provide or access reproductive health services includes acts to prevent, restrict, impede, or retaliate against a health care provider.
SAFE for Patients Act – H.R.8667
Introduced 9/15/2022 by Rep. Jackie Speier. Cosponsors:10 Democrats
To establish a cause of action with respect to reproductive health services, and for other purposes.
HHS Reproductive and Sexual Health Ombuds Act of 2022 – H.R.9254
Introduced 10/28/2022 by Rep. Nikema Williams. Cosponsors: 4 Democrats
To establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual Health.
Right to Build Families Act of 2022 – S.5276
Introduced 12/15/2022 by Senator Tammy Duckworth. Cosponsors: 3 Democrats/
A bill to prohibit the limitation of access to assisted reproductive technology, and all medically necessary care surrounding such technology.
Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act — H.R. 782
Introduced: 2/02/2023. Cosponsors: 176 Democrats
Prohibits anyone acting under state law from interfering with a person's ability to access out-of-state abortion services. (Abortion services include the use of any drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies and any health care services related to an abortion, whether or not the services are provided at the same time or on the same day as the abortion.)
Specifically, the bill prohibits any person acting under state law from preventing, restricting, impeding, or retaliating against health care providers who provide legal abortion services to out-of-state residents, any person or entity who helps health care providers to provide such services, any person who travels to another state to obtain such services, any person or entity who helps another person travel to another state to obtain such services, or the movement in interstate commerce of drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies. The Department of Justice may enforce this bill through civil actions; the bill also establishes a private right of action for violations.
Reproductive Health Patient Navigator Act of 2023 – S.2439
Introduced 7/20/2023 by Senator Cortez-Masto. Cosponsors:10 Democrats.
A bill to establish a grant program to fund reproductive health patient navigators for individuals seeking abortion services.
Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act — H.R. 782
Introduced: 2/02/2023. Cosponsors: 176 Democrats
This bill prohibits anyone acting under state law from interfering with a person's ability to access out-of-state abortion services. (Abortion services include the use of any drugs that are approved to terminate pregnancies and any health care services related to an abortion, whether or not the services are provided at the same time or on the same day as the abortion.)
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
Democrats have extended the rights of LGBTQ+ people over the past twenty years, and a majority of Americans believe those rights should be protected. Our society has become more inclusive, but this has been despite Republicans’ long campaign of fear and hatred against LGBTQ+ people. These attacks have only grown more fevered and more damaging in the MAGA era. Democrats, in their effort to protect the hard-won rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, have introduced the Equality Act in each Congress since 2015. We’ll pass this act once and for all when we win a larger majority in the Senate and win back our House majority.
The Equality Act – S. 5, H.R. 15
Introduced on June 21, 2023, by Senator Merkley, with 50 co-sponsors (47 Democrats and 3 Independents), and on the same date in the House by Rep. Mark Takano, with 217 co-sponsors (all Democrats).
These bills prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity with respect to businesses, employment, housing, federally funded programs, and other settings. Specifically, these bills establish these rights:
Expand Title II and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit public accommodations and federally funded programs, respectively, from discriminating based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It also includes stores, transit services, recreational facilities, and establishments that provide health care, accounting, or legal services as public accommodations under Title II.
Expand Title IV (desegregation of public schools) and Title VII (employment discrimination) to specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity. (The Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII's prohibition of employment discrimination based on sex also prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.)
Expand the Fair Housing Act (discrimination in public and private housing) to include sexual orientation and gender identity. It also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity by creditors and with respect to jury selection.
These bills define sex for purposes of the aforementioned provisions to include sex stereotypes, pregnancy, childbirth, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.