Virginia’s Law

HR51 — Washington, D.C. Admission Act

Full statehood for Washington, Douglass Commonwealth would admit the District of Columbia as a new state on equal footing, while defining a smaller federal "Capital" and setting staged transitions for courts, property, and federal programs. - Capital residents would gain full congressional representation: two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative. The bill also requires states to allow "absent Capital" residents to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections. - The U.S. House would be permanently increased to 436 members and apportionment would be adjusted beginning with the first decennial census after admission. - The bill defines the federal Capital with a required 180-day survey, preserves federal court, prosecutorial, prison, parole, National Guard, and employee benefit arrangements on a temporary basis, and phases those responsibilities to the State as it certifies the necessary laws and personnel are in place.

HR20 — Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025

Strengthens worker organizing rights and enforcement. The bill broadens who counts as an employee or joint employer and builds tougher remedies, penalties, and election rules to make organizing and bargaining easier to enforce and monitor. - Workers: Expands who is treated as an employee by tightening the three-part test for independent contractors and broadening the joint-employer test to include direct, indirect, and reserved control. It adds clear protections for strike participation and allows back pay without reduction and liquidated damages equal to twice awarded damages. - Employers: Requires prompt disclosure and new notice duties including a detailed voter list within two business days and multilingual employee notices. Noncompliance can trigger civil penalties including up to $50,000 per unfair labor practice, up to $10,000 per refusal to obey Board orders, and fines for posting or voter-list violations. - Elections, agencies, and unions: NLRB must adopt remote electronic voting within one year and aim to hold elections within twenty business days. The bill also boosts NLRB reporting and transparency, expands private suits, and creates new whistleblower protections and expedited enforcement.

HR1589 — American Dream and Promise Act of 2025

New pathways to permanent residence. This bill would create a ten‑year conditional permanent resident status for certain people who entered as children and would add an adjustment pathway for specified Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure holders. - Young long‑term residents and DACA‑eligible people could get a ten‑year conditional status if they meet rules like continuous presence since Jan 1, 2021 and education or credential benchmarks. They could convert to full permanent residence after meeting removal‑of‑condition rules and have limits on removal while applying. - Nationals with qualifying TPS or DED status who meet continuous‑presence rules could apply within a three‑year window and face a capped application fee of $1,140. - The bill creates a competitive grant program to help applicants, allows fee exemptions for youth, low‑income people, foster care alumni, and those with serious disabilities, and adds a $25 supplemental surcharge to fund appointed counsel.

HR2086 — Rights for the TSA Workforce Act

Applies the Title 5 federal personnel system to Transportation Security Administration employees. The bill would move TSA staff onto standard federal pay, hiring, and labor rules to preserve pay and strengthen workplace protections. - Screening agents would gain Title 5 labor protections, including the ability to form a bargaining unit under Chapter 71 and continuation of existing pay and leave benefits during the transition. - Federal air marshals and TSA criminal investigators would keep Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) and get overtime parity with the Fair Labor Standards Act, and certain premium pay would count toward pay and retirement calculations. - Office of Personnel Management and payroll systems would be updated to Title 5 job series and pay rules within 180 days, the conversion would complete by Dec 31, 2025, and the Comptroller General would review recruitment, promotions, harassment policies, and require annual TSA workforce reports.

HR5390 — FAMILY Act

This bill would create a federally administered paid family and medical leave insurance program that pays eligible workers for caregiving and serious medical needs while adding job and health coverage protections. It sets benefit formulas, eligibility rules, and a new Office of Paid Family and Medical Leave inside the Social Security Administration to run the program. - Families and caregivers: Would get paid leave based on earnings with benefits calculated using a three-tier formula and monthly minimum and maximum amounts. Caregiving is tracked in 1-hour units and capped per benefit period at 12 times an individual’s regular weekly hours, and the eligibility wage floor is $2,000 for benefit periods beginning in 2026. - Workers and job protections: Would include restoration to the same or equivalent job, continuation of health coverage during leave, anti-retaliation rules with a 12-month rebuttable presumption for recent leave takers, and limited exclusions for new hires. - Administration and employers: Creates a Deputy Commissioner‑led office at the SSA to set rules, run payments, publish annual demographic usage reports, share data with federal agencies, manage legacy State programs to avoid double counting, and require a GAO study after 2026 and every five years thereafter.

HR4418 — Child Care for Working Families Act

A nationwide entitlement for universal, high‑quality early childhood care and preschool. This bill would create guaranteed direct child care services for eligible children and fund universal preschool, Head Start expansion, and wage improvements beginning October 1, 2026.