The 118th Congress was derided early on for lacking productivity, attracting comparisons to the 80th “Do Nothing” Congress. That session opposite President Truman passed hundreds more bills, but it also didn’t take 15 votes to elect a speaker, then remove him, plus another month to replace him, nor did it have to vote to remove a member – and that was just the House this session.
For its part, the Senate was evenly divided at 50-50. Democrats and held the majority only with Vice President Kamala Harris, who set a record last year for breaking ties. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) died in September 2023. Two independents became four, though they did caucus with Democrats. And Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) resigned following a bribery conviction.
One-third of the bills that became law passed Congress in a postelection session. The public safety world saw bills to establish relief funds, streamline department repayment, support satellite monitoring, fund prescribed fires and more. Of note, none of the 300 wildfire-related bills introduced were signed into law, though 30 passed the House.
Legislation enacted during the session
Here’s a look at some of the most impactful fire- and EMS-focused bills from the 118th Congress that were signed into law by President Joe Biden.
- The Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, introduced by Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-Mich.) in March 2023 was signed into law four months later. It reauthorizes firefighter assistance grant programs through FY2030, mandates a GAO audit of federal fund access, and prohibits Chinese government entities from receiving federal assistance under these programs.
- The Firefighter Cancer Registry Reauthorization Act of 2023, sponsored by late Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), reauthorizes the registry maintained by NIOSH through FY2028.
- The SIREN Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), extends a grant program for improving EMS in rural areas. His bill added training for mental health and substance use disorder care and acquiring overdose reversal drugs.
- The Think Differently About Emergencies Act, introduced by Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) in November 2023, was signed into law a year later. The bill requires FEMA and the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on assistance and resources provided to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities during major disasters with recommended improvements.
- The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, introduced by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), a committee chairman, reauthorizes both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board through FY2028. It also included a number of fire-related provisions, including firefighter transportation, progress reporting on fluorine-free foam, grants and PFAS replacement, EMT staffing, and planning “for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by public entities in wildfire response efforts, including wildfire detection, mitigation, and suppression.”
- The Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024 by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) took just five months to get through Congress to become Public Law No. 118-86 in September. The legislation reauthorized through FY2029 the National Poison Control Center help line, a national media campaign, and a grant program.
- The TRANQ Research Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) became law nine months after introduction in the House. The bill requires NIST to support research on xylazine and synthetic opioids.
Signed after second session adjourned
President Biden signed nearly 50 bills into law on Dec. 24. Some highlights:
- The First Responder Access to Innovative Technologies Act requires FEMA to create a uniform process for reviewing grant applications for agencies to procure equipment that doesn’t meet national voluntary consensus standards.
- The HEARTS Act of 2024 creates programs to address cardiomyopathy through education and research initiatives, while also establishing grants for CPR training and automated external defibrillator placement in public schools. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in debate that the bill was inspired by two New Jersey families whose children died of cardiac arrest at sports games. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted after unanimous passage months later that Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who sustained a chest injury on live Monday night football, had advocated for the bill. “After his bout with cardiac arrest, he went forward and said: I have to change this and get the AEDs available to everybody. He came and visited me in Washington. I said: I want to help. And together, we have been a great team.”
- The Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2024, introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), reauthorizes through FY2029 the Emergency Medical Services for Children State Partnership Program, which provides grants to support trauma or critical care for children.
- The bipartisan DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate to improve drug detection capabilities through research and development of equipment and technologies, including AI-powered tools, while requiring coordination with NIST and DEA standards.
Social Security Fairness Act
This bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act garnered attention and momentum through the session. Its path to passage was the most fraught of any bill these last two years, second only military aid to Ukraine. The law ultimately boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, firefighters and other public service jobs.
Introduced before the House even had a speaker in January 2023 by a pair of retiring members, a majority of members signed a discharge petition to bypass committee in the summer of 2024. Such petitions also bypass leadership’s plans, so having been successful, the majority leader reportedly wants to raise the threshold to force legislation this way in the next session.
A day before the 2024 election, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) – the past Freedom Caucus chair who lost his primary – tabled the bill without a single other colleague, save the presiding officer in chamber, wholly unbeknownst to colleagues or leadership. It was scheduled, debated and passed by the House the very next week by a 327-75 vote. The chairman of the committee responsible for the bill voted present.
Budgetary concerns did emerge as final passage began to look imminent. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said WEP and GPO “are like swear words” in her state. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) acknowledged the “political suicide” of opposing a proposition he might otherwise support, but that the $200 billion cost would move up the Social Security Trust Fund’s insolvency by six months.
“This is hard. This formula is not right,” Murkowski said. “We have got to address it, but this is going to be expensive.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who offered a last-ditch compromise amendment with Joe Manchin (D-WV), called the deficit addition over seniors an “ugly tradeoff.”
The Senate moved the bill under a time-consuming rule and passed it by 76-20 in the penultimate vote of the 118th Congress. It was presented to President Biden a week later and he signed it at a White House ceremony on Jan. 5. Biden noted that lump sum payments of thousands of dollars will be going out to make up for 2024. “They will begin receiving these payments this year and this is a big deal,” Biden said. “Someone said this is a big deal. It is a big deal.”
[Read background on the bill; on WEP & GPO; 1977 & 1983 bills.]
Looking ahead
Now we’re on to the 119th Congress and a second Trump administration. We’ll keep you posted on how new legislation impacts the fire and EMS communities.
Sidebar: Passed one chamber but not the other
Several public safety-related acts passed the House but not the Senate:
- The Fire Weather Development Act of 2024 would have established NOAA programs to enhance wildfire detection, communication and research; created interagency committees; and included provisions for technological innovation and support for incident meteorologists responding to emergency wildfires.
- The Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act by Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R-P.R.) passed early in the session. Her bill would have required FEMA to develop plans for reducing information collection burdens, establish a working group to identify potential technological improvements for damage assessments, and submit a comprehensive public report to Congress.
- The bipartisan Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2023 was introduced by two California members and passed the House in four months. The bill would have required the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to report on the container aerial firefighting system, which uses disposable containers for water and retardant delivery.
- An earthquake program reauthorization took all of 2024 to get through the Senate. The comprehensive bill would have expanded earthquake preparedness efforts by including Tribal governments, enhanced early warning systems, focused on functional recovery after earthquakes, and authorized hazard reduction funding through 2028.
