Which bills have been signed into law since September, 2024?
The below list reflects all new public laws confirmed by both chambers of congress and signed into law since September, 2024.
The below list is comprised of information found on the Congressional Record issued November 12th, 2024 (Issue: Volume 170, No. 166). You can see it here.
In general, bill summaries are provided by the CRS, or the Congressional Research Service. The blurbs below are a mixture of these summaries, my own paraphrasing and summarizing, and the all-powerful Wikipedia. All blurbs are followed by a hyperlink if you would like to read the bills themselves.
Public laws signed since September 26th, 2024:
H.R. 9747: making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2025, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-83. This is a budgeting bill that touches on a huge list of government organizations, including branches of the military, federal law enforcement agencies, FEMA, the National Park Service, and many, many more. It can be reviewed here.
S. 265: to reauthorize the rural emergency medical service training and equipment assistance program, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-84. A reauthorization of the SIREN act, this bill authorizes funds through fiscal year (budget year) 2028 to help improve emergency medical services training in rural areas, notably including a new addition that requires the use of grant funds to train EMS workers on assisting people with substance abuse and mental health disorders, as well as permitting the use of grant funds to purchase overdose reversal drugs and devices. You can check it out here.
S. 1648: to facilitate access to the electromagnetic spectrum for commerical space launches and commerical space reentries, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-85. Currently, commerical entities must use government owned spectrum to communicate with rockets during launches and reentries, and in order to access this frequency for use, they have to apply to the FCC for a special use permit. Also, as of 2021 there were very few frequencies authorized for use in this manner. This new law essentially streamlines the application process for commerical entities to use government frequencies through methods such as electronic filing and processing of access requests. It also calls for the allocation of more frequencies for commercial entities to use. This applies to launches from federal and private launch sites. You can read more about it here.
S. 4351: to amend the Public Health Services Act to reauthorize certain poison control programs, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-86. The specific elements that were reauthorized through fiscal year 2029 were (1) the Poison Help Line, or the national poison control center helpline (2) a national media campaign aimed at educating the public and healthcare providers about the helpline and (3) a grant program to support poison control center operations. You can read more about it here.
S. 2825: to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the United States Army Dustoff crews of the Vietnam War, collectively, in recognition of their extraordinary heroism and life-saving actions in Vietnam, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-87. The Congressional Gold Medal, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is defined as wikipedia to be “the oldest and highest civilian award” in the United States. You can read more about it here.
S. 2861: to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King, an American icon, in recognition of a remarkable life devoted to championing equal rights for all, in sports and in society, signed on September 26, 2024 as Public Law 118-88. You can see specifics here.
H.R. 7032: to amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide the Congressional Budget Office with necessary authorities to expedite the sharing of data from executive branch agencies, signed on September 30, 2024 as Public Law 118-89. This bill allows the CBO, or Congressional Budget Office, to obtain data from executive branch agencies “with or without written agreement,” so long as the CBO maintains the same level of confidentiality that is required of the agency providing the data. Also, the law requires the CBO submit a report to Congress when they make these data requests, and to specifically tell them if they faced “challenges” in obtaining the data. The type of data is not specified. You can read more about it here.
S. 3764: to extend and authorize annual appropriations for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom through fiscal year 2026, signed on September 30, 2024 as Public Law 118-90. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, is an organization that, according to Wikipedia, “researches and monitors international religious freedom issues,” including undertaking international fact-finding missions and holding public hearings. The USCIRF then takes its findings before Congress once per year to make policy suggestions. You can read more about the USCIRF here and more about S. 3764 here.
H.R. 9106: to direct the director of the United States Secret Service to apply the same standards for determining the number of agents required to protect Presidents, Vice Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-91. In short, this bill directs the United States Secret Service to apply the same level of protection to major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. You can read more about it here.
S. 133: to extend the National Alzheimer’s Project, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-92. This bill extends the National Alzheimer’s Project, an organization that supports and facilitates planning, programs, and other efforts to address Alzheimer’s and other related dementia, through 2035 and makes various changes. A notable change is a focus on healthy aging and reducing risk factors. This bill also expands the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, calling for the addition of a researcher experienced in clinical trial recruitment, a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and representatives from other government agencies, such as the Department of Justice. You can read more about it here.
S. 134: to require an annual budget estimate for the initiatives of the National Institutes of Health pursuant to reports and recommendations made under the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-93. Starting in fiscal year 2024, the National Institute of Health will need to submit an estimate of their financial and personnel needs to pursue initiatives under the National Alzheimer’s Project directly to the president for review. The bill notes that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research can comment on the budget but not make changes to it. You can read more about it here.
S. 612: to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-94. The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act supports activities relating to the restoration of Lake Tahoe and its surrounding basin, and it has been reauthorized for the next ten years. You can read more about it here.
S. 656: to amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the rules for approval by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of commercial driver education programs for purposes of veterans’ educational assistance, signed on Oct 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-95. Currently, veterans who wish to get a commerical driver’s license through veterans’ educational assistance programs can only attend programs that have existed for more than two years. This law allows for veterans to attend newer programs, so long as they are properly vetted. You can read more about it here.
S. 670: to improve services for trafficking victims by establishing, in Homeland Security Investigations, the Investigators Maintain Purposeful Awareness to Combat Trafficking Trauma Program and the Victim Assistance Program, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-96. This law creates a program within Homeland Security Investigations to provide services to investigators who may be suffering from PTSD or other trauma related to their work, i.e. being exposed to troubling situations. Per the bill, providing the officers with these services will, in turn, improve the work of the officers. You can read more about it here.
S. 679: to amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to require Federal agencies to submit to the Comptroller General of the United States a report on rules that are revoked, suspended, replaced, amended, or otherwise made ineffective, signed October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-97. This law requires Federal agencies to report any rule changes to the Government Accountability Office. You can read more about it here.
S. 794: to require a pilot program on the participation of non-asset-based third-party logistics providers in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-98. Basically, this law requires the Department of Homeland Security to pilot a program to determine if allowing third-party entities to participate in the CTPAT would enhance port operations and security. You can read about it here.
S. 2685: to make data and internal guidance on excess personal property publicly available, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-99. This law requires Federal agencies to determine the amount of “excess personal property” that they own as an agency (this includes vehicles, office equipment and furniture, etc). It’s an effort to cut down on agency waste. You can read more about it here.
**S. 3639, S. 3640, S. 3851 are all concerning the naming of United States Post Offices, so they will not be covered here**
S. 4698: to authorize the Joint Task Forces of the Department of Homeland Security, signed on October 1, 2024 as Public Law 118-103. This law is a reauthorization of the Joint Task Force of the DHS. You can read about it here.
S. 1549: to provide the Congressional Budget Office with necessary authorities to expedite the sharing of data from executive branch agencies, signed October 2, 2024 as public law 118-104. You can read more about it here.
S. 2228: to amend the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 to clarify the scope of a major Federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to certain projects relating to the production of semiconductors, signed on October 2, 2024 as Public Law 118-105. This law does a few things, among them exempting certain projects relating to the construction of semiconductors from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), as well as designating the Department of Commerce as the agency that reviews these projects. It also allows the states to assume the responsibilities surrounding NEPA reviews. You can read more about it here.
H.R. 6513: to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm the requirement that States allow access to designated congressional election observers to observe the election administration procedures in congressonal elections, signed on October 4, 2024 as Public Law 118-106. This bill requires that States allow congressional election observers, who are selected by a member of the House of Representatives "in writing by the chair or ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration to gather information with respect to an election.” These observers are not able to handle ballots or election equipment, nor are they able to advocate for a certain candidate; they are, according to the law, supposed to make sure the Federal election runs legally and fairly, and are to be given access to all areas that relate to the election, including where ballots are cast. You can read more about it here.
Sources for this post:
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-170/issue-167
Congress.gov (beyond the record, to research more about specific bills)
Wikipedia.com