VET Artificial Intelligence Act

S1748 — Kids Online Safety Act

Protecting minors online is the core aim of the Kids Online Safety Act, which would make platforms that serve young users adopt a legal duty of care, add parental controls and safeguards, and force more transparency about recommendation algorithms. The bill targets design features that boost minor engagement and limits certain research on children to reduce mental-health and harassment risks. - Families and minors: The bill would define a "child" as under 13 and a "minor" as under 17, require verifiable parental consent for known children, and give parents tools to control privacy, purchases, and autoplay for streaming. - Platforms and products: Covered services would face limits on personalized design features, a ban on market research involving children under 13, and public reporting and independent audits of safeguards, including detailed de-identified data on minor usage for platforms with over 10 million monthly U.S. users. - Regulators, schools, and tech oversight: The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the rules with state attorneys general able to act as well, a Kids Online Safety Council of 11 members would advise and report within 1 and 3 years, and a separate title would force notice and opt-outs for "opaque" algorithms and let users switch to input-transparent systems.

S1241 — Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025

Harsh, automatic sanctions and trade penalties would be triggered if Russia refuses to negotiate with Ukraine, violates a peace deal, invades again, or seeks to subvert Ukraine's government. The bill would require visa and property-blocking sanctions, target major Russian banks, ban U.S. energy exports to Russia, restrict U.S. investments and listings tied to Russia, and force duties of at least 500% on Russian imports.

S1261 — CONNECT for Health Act of 2025

Expands Medicare telehealth access by removing location limits and updating how telehealth is paid and overseen. It would also strengthen program integrity, require provider and beneficiary supports, modernize quality measures, and publish telehealth data. - Families, seniors, and underserved patients would gain broader access because the bill removes Medicare geographic and originating-site restrictions and lifts the six-month prior in-person rule for telemental health. It explicitly expands access for Indian Health Service and tribal facilities effective January 1, 2026. - Providers and clinics would see payment and staffing changes because telehealth furnishing at Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics would be folded into existing payment systems and the Secretary could waive practitioner-type limits starting October 1, 2025 with public notice and periodic review. - Oversight, quality, and transparency would increase through a new fraud and advertising framework, outlier-billing thresholds with education and public reporting, dedicated HHS Office of Inspector General telehealth oversight funding through 2030, a quality-measure review within 180 days, and CMS quarterly public reporting of telehealth use and outcomes.

S1462 — Fix Our Forests Act

A national fireshed management framework would create mapped firesheds, a public Fireshed Registry, and new authorities to speed landscape wildfire projects. It would also establish a joint Wildland Fire Intelligence Center for real‑time science, data, and operational decision support. - Families and communities: A unified grant portal and broadened Community Wildfire Defense program would make it easier to get funding for home hardening, defensible space, and landscape fuels reduction in prioritized firesheds. - Tribes and local governments: Expands tribal contracting and cooperative agreements, funds tribal prescribed‑fire work, and provides liability protections for covered non‑Federal partners working under direct Federal supervision. - Fire managers, contractors, and utilities: Creates faster review paths and higher acreage thresholds for expedited projects (administrative review raised from about 3,000 to 10,000 acres), extends stewardship contracts to 20 years with limited cancellation payments, and requires a local contractor preference where practicable.

S1032 — Major Richard Star Act

Allows full concurrent receipt of military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation for combat-related disabilities. This bill would prevent the usual 38 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305 offsets when calculating Combat-Related Special Compensation and add a monthly rule for Chapter 61 disability retirees. - Combat-disabled retirees: Would allow Combat-Related Special Compensation recipients to have their retired pay treated so it is not reduced by 38 U.S.C. 5304 or 5305 when figuring concurrent payments. - Chapter 61 disability retirees: Would let members retired under Chapter 61 who also receive veterans' disability compensation for a combat-related disability be paid both benefits for the same month without those 38 U.S.C. offsets. - Administrative and timing changes: Would remove phase-in language, update headings and cross references, and take effect the first day of the month after enactment for payments beginning that month.

S522 — Credit Union Board Modernization Act

Creates a tiered, performance-based meeting schedule for federal credit union boards. This bill would tie how often a board must meet to a credit union’s age and its ratings under the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (UFIRS) and a management capability rating, replacing a blanket monthly requirement with a two-stage cadence.