Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2016 (H.R. 1831) – This bipartisan bill, sponsored by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), was signed into law by the President on March 30. The legislation establishes a 15-member commission within the executive branch (appointed by the President and congressional leaders) that will focus on the development of Evidence-Based Policymaking. The committee will study data sources to better influence the course of performance-based budgeting and policymaking. In other words, less politics and back-office deals and more data-driven and evidence-based decision making. The commission will be responsible for the data inventory, data infrastructure, database security and statistical protocols related to federal policymaking.

Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 (S. 483) – This Act is designed to help prevent deaths caused by prescription drug abuse. It authorizes the creation of a more collaborative partnership between drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies and federal enforcement and oversight agencies to develop initiatives to prevent prescription drug abuse and diversion and ensure patient access to necessary medications. The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and passed by Congress on April 12. It is currently awaiting the President’s signature.

Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act (S. 2512) – Sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), the Act amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to add the Zika virus to the list of tropical diseases under the priority review voucher program. This program awards a voucher to the sponsor of a new drug that is approved to prevent or treat a tropical disease. In turn, the voucher entitles the drug creator to a quick review process (under six months) by the Food and Drug Administration for a future new drug. The bill was passed by Congress on April 12 and is presently awaiting signature by the President.

Social Security Parent Penalty Repeal Act (H.R. 4529) – Sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL), this bill would amend the Social Security Act to provide for an annual increase to beneficiary benefits. The bill would allow for the exclusion of a certain number of childcare years from the benefit computation formula. Specifically, up to two years per child (for a maximum of five years in total) in which the beneficiary was the primary caregiver for a dependent under six years of age for at least half the year and earned no income in each of those years. The bill is proposed to go into effect in 2017 for all present and future beneficiaries; eligible exclusion years would begin at 1951. The bill was assigned to a congressional committee on February 10 for consideration before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate.

Edward “Ted” Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015 (S. 1172) – The objective of this bill is to improve the process of transitioning from an incumbent presidential administration to a new one. It amends the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to direct the President to plan and coordinate activities to facilitate an efficient transfer of power to his or her successor via these actions: not later than six months before a presidential election, establish and operate a White House transition coordinating council; establish and operate an agency transition directors council. In addition, the General Services Administration must designate a senior career appointee to carry out the duties and authorities of GSA relating to presidential transitions, serve as the coordinator for transition planning across agencies, ensure that agencies comply with all statutory requirements relating to transition planning and reporting, and act as a liaison to eligible candidates. This legislation was sponsored by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) and was enacted after being signed by the President on March 18.

Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief Act of 2015 (S. 2109) – This legislation was sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). The bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan to reduce administrative costs related to providing assistance for major disasters. It will design a system to track administrative cost data disseminated by public assistance, individual assistance, hazard mitigation and mission assignment programs. The Act mandates that FEMA issue a report containing this information to Congress each year by Nov. 30, as well as make it publicly available on its website. This report will include an assessment of whether or not FEMA met its strategic goals for cost mitigation for the year, including any reasons why it did not. The bipartisan bill was passed by Congress and subsequently signed by the president on Feb. 29.

Presidential Allowance Modernization Act (H.R. 1777 and S. 1411) – In light of the lucrative fees that former U.S. presidents command for speaking engagements after they leave office, this bill is designed to reduce the annual ex-president pension based on the amount of income they receive independently each year. Presently, the Former Presidents Act of 1958 grants former presidents an annual pension of $203,700 (2016) for life. This proposed legislation would reduce that annual amount by however much an ex-president makes above $400,000 a year. For example, say an ex-president makes $600,000 in a year. Since this is $200,000 more than the $400,000 base point, his pension would be reduced by $200,000. In other words, he wouldn’t receive any pension at all for that year, and that money would be available for other government programs. However, this bill does increase the annual annuity amount a surviving spouse of a former president would receive once he passes away. That amount would increase from the current $20,000 to $100,000 a year. This bill passed in the House on Jan. 11 and is with the Senate for consideration.

Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 (S. 2123 and H.R. 3713) – Lawmakers from both parties and both chambers of Congress recently introduced legislation to ease some federal sentencing guidelines for drug-related crimes, including reducing the sentences of drug-related convictions for some current prisoners. Its objective is to decrease the rate of incarcerations due to drug-related crimes, which have skyrocketed in recent years. Be aware, however, that the bill would have limited impact since it applies only to federal prisons. Presently, federal prisons hold about 205,000 people compared to the 2.4 million incarcerated in state prisons and local jails across the country. As of 2014, there were 237,000 people in state prisons, 95,000 in federal prisons, and 5,000 held in juvenile facilities for drug offenses. Both bills are currently under consideration in their respective houses.

Judicial Redress Act of 2015 (H.R. 1428) – This bill, which was signed into law by the president on Feb. 24, permits European citizens to sue the United States for unlawful disclosure of personal information obtained in connection with international law enforcement efforts. This new legislation abuts the current Privacy Act, in which only U.S. citizens and legal residents can bring claims against the federal government for unauthorized disclosure of their personal information. This bipartisan legislation was sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (H.R. 757) – This act is designed to block North Korea’s access to hard currency and goods that could be used for its weapons program and requires enhanced inspections of ships and aircraft. A secondary objective of the bill is to send a clear message of U.S. resolve to the United Nations and other governments, especially China, which is North Korea’s major ally and business partner. This bill would sanction any entity that facilitates North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction, arms-related materials, human rights abuses, and activities undermining cyber security. Penalties include the seizure of assets, visa bans and denied government contracts. Normally this type of bill would give the president the option to impose such sanctions, but this one includes language that makes most of the sanctions mandatory, with only a temporary waiver option in the event that U.S. national security is threatened. Introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Congress passed this bill (with a Senate vote of 96-0) on Feb, 12. It has been signed into law by the president.

United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015 (H.R. 907) – This bipartisan legislation was sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). It is designed to fortify military and economic ties between the U.S. and Jordan by amending the Arms Export Control Act to include Jordan as one of our trusted allies. This permits Congress to expedite approval of military equipment for Jordan to use in the fight against ISIS. The bill was passed by Congress on Feb. 10 and subsequently signed by the president.

Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act (H.R. 3033) – Sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), this bill was passed by both chambers in identical form and signed into law by the president. It requires that the president’s annual budget request include a line item for the Research in Disabilities Education program of the National Science Foundation and requires that foundation to continue ongoing research on dyslexia.

Electrify Africa Act of 2015 (S. 2152) – Sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), this bipartisan bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. It requires the president to establish a strategy to encourage Sub-Saharan African countries to provide access to sufficient reliable energy for their citizens – 70 percent of who currently lack such access. The bill specifies a goal of promoting first-time access to power for 50 million people in urban and rural areas by 2020.

Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act (H.R. 2187) – This bill would expand the Securities and Exchange Commission’s definition of an accredited investor to include individuals with the appropriate qualifications or experience but that that do not meet the prior wealth requirements (i.e., earn at least $200,000 a year or have a net worth of $1 million, not including primary residence). This expansion bill would allow more people to invest in private businesses toward the goal of creating new opportunities for economic growth. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), was passed by the House on Feb. 1 and is currently with the Senate.

An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 2002 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016 (H.R. 3762) – If signed into law, this bill would have restricted the federal government from operating health care exchanges, phased out funding for subsidies to help lower- and middle-income individuals afford insurance through the health care exchanges, eliminated tax penalties for individuals who do not purchase health insurance and employers with 50 or more employees who do not provide insurance plans, eliminated taxes on medical devices and the so-called “Cadillac tax” on the most expensive health care plans, phased out the expansion of Medicaid over a two-year period, and ended federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year by prohibiting Medicaid reimbursements for those services. At the end of 2015, Republican Congress members attempted to pass this bill using the budget reconciliation process, which is the one chance each year that the majority party can bypass a Senate filibuster to get a bill onto the President’s desk without needing a single vote from the minority party. Although the bill did get to the Oval Office, it was vetoed on Jan. 8.

Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act or the GONE Act (S. 1115) – Sponsored by Sen. Deb Fisher (R-NE), this act will require agencies to close out expired, empty grant accounts. This legislation was initially introduced in 2013 in response to an article published in The Washington Post. The story reported that the government would spend $890,000 in bank account service fees for 13,712 bank accounts with a zero account balance. Congress passed the bill on Jan. 11 and it was sent to the President for signature.

Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015 (S. 142) – Sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), this bill requires special childproof packaging for liquid nicotine refill containers used in e-cigarettes. This effort is to help prevent children from directly ingesting the contents – which are sold in bright colors and flavors like cotton candy and gummy bear – causing serious and even deadly health consequences. This bill was passed by Congress on Jan. 11 and is currently with the President.

First Responders Passport Act of 2015 (H.R. 3750) – Sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), this bill amends the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to waive passport fees for individual who have contracted with the U.S. government (including volunteers) to aid a foreign country suffering from a qualifying natural disaster. This bill passed in the House on Dec. 16, 2015, and goes to the Senate next for consideration.

Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act of 2015 (H.R. 3654) – This bill, sponsored by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), passed in the House on Dec. 16, 2015, and presently is on the Senate docket. The Act would require the President to provide Congress with a report on U.S. strategy to combat terrorists’ and terrorist organizations’ use of social media. Among other provisions, the report must include an evaluation of the role social media plays in radicalization in the United States and elsewhere, an analysis of how terrorists and terrorist organizations are using social media, and provide a comprehensive strategy to counter terrorists’ and terrorist organizations’ use of social media.