Recent Issues

When college students witness a sexual assault in real time, or receive credible, real-time information through group chats, texts, photos or videos that one is actively occurring, they should be required to call for help. Yet federal campus safety law does not generally impose a duty on ordinary students to summon emergency assistance in that moment.

We are calling for federal legislation to fill that gap.

The legislation would establish a narrowly tailored duty to summon help: a college student with actual knowledge or credible real-time information that a sexual assault is actively occurring would be required to promptly contact 911, campus police, campus security or another designated emergency responder when it is safe to do so.

Building on the federal campus-safety framework strengthened by the Stop Campus Hazing Act, the legislation should include:

Survivor autonomy protections, ensuring survivors themselves are not compelled to report and disclosures of past assaults are not covered.

Good-faith protections for bystanders who reasonably act on the information available.

Alcohol and drug amnesty so fear of personal consequences does not deter someone from calling for help.

An exception when help has already been summoned.

The duty would be limited to summoning emergency assistance. It would never require physical intervention or action that could place the bystander or others in danger.

Congress could consider establishing this standard through the Higher Education Act and the Clery Act framework (20 U.S.C. § 1092), which already establishes campus safety requirements for colleges participating in federal student-aid programs.

We are asking U.S. Senators and Representatives to support the development and introduction of federal legislation establishing this narrowly tailored duty to act.

H.R. 4795, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026, passed the U.S. House of Representatives after clearing the House Committee on Education and Workforce on a bipartisan basis. The bill prohibits institutions of higher education that participate in federal student aid programs from engaging in non-expressive commercial boycotts against Israel. Colleges and universities that violate this prohibition would risk losing access to federal financial aid funding.

The bill now awaits action in the U.S. Senate, where it has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Advocates are urging the HELP Committee to schedule a markup and vote the bill out of committee so it can advance to a full Senate floor vote. Building bipartisan co-sponsorship in the Senate is also a key priority to demonstrate broad support and accelerate the bill's progress.

Constituents are calling on their U.S. Senators to: (1) co-sponsor H.R. 4795 to signal support and build momentum, and (2) press Senate HELP Committee leadership to hold a markup and advance the bill to the Senate floor for a full vote.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration recently released an official "Immigrant Enclaves" map intended to recognize the city's rich mosaic of ethnic neighborhoods. However, the initial map drew immediate criticism for omitting iconic communities — including Little Italy in Manhattan and the Bronx, as well as historic Irish, German, and Jewish enclaves — while highlighting other groups. The omissions sparked a public backlash, prompting the Mayor to promise revisions and pledge to add Little Italy and other snubbed neighborhoods.

These historic European-immigrant communities are as much a part of New York City's identity as any other enclave. Little Italy (Manhattan), the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx, the historic Yorkville German quarter, the Irish enclaves of Woodlawn and Woodside, and the Jewish neighborhoods of the Lower East Side and Borough Park all represent generations of immigrant struggle, cultural contribution, and community building that shaped the city. Excluding them from official maps, heritage-district designations, and cultural grant allocations administered by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs sends a message that some immigrant histories matter more than others.

Constituents are urging the Mayor and the New York City Council to ensure that the final, revised Immigrant Enclaves map — and all associated heritage-district designations and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs grant programs — apply a consistent, historically grounded, and ethnically inclusive standard that gives equal recognition to all of New York City's immigrant communities, regardless of national origin or ethnicity.

New York State funded a one-year fare-free bus pilot through the MTA, placing one free route in each of New York City's five boroughs. The pilot demonstrated meaningful ridership gains and provided low-income New Yorkers with greater access to transit — but it is set to expire without new state appropriations.

Assembly Bill A6044 and Senate Bill S4421 (2025) would renew and expand the fare-free bus pilot for one additional year, growing the program from 5 routes to at least 15 routes citywide, at a capped cost of no more than $45 million. Both chambers' Democratic leadership included funding for the program in their respective budget proposals. Without a new appropriation, the pilot will end entirely, eliminating free bus service for thousands of daily riders.

Constituents are urging their State Assemblymembers and State Senators to support passage of A6044/S4421 and to ensure the necessary funding is included in the final state budget, so that the fare-free bus pilot can be renewed and expanded to at least 15 routes across New York City.

New York City renters are facing a housing affordability crisis. Market-rate rents have hit record highs, and even the roughly one million apartments covered by rent stabilization are subject to annual increases set by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB). At its most recent vote (Order #57, covering leases from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026), the RGB approved increases of 1.5% for one-year leases and 2.5% for two-year leases — continuing a pattern of rising costs that strains working- and middle-class households across the five boroughs.

Advocates and fiscal policy experts argue that meaningful affordability requires both price stabilization and expanded housing supply. At the local level, constituents are urging the NYC Rent Guidelines Board to adopt a rent freeze or the strictest possible stabilization caps at its next annual vote. At the state level, Albany legislators can strengthen tenant protections through measures like the Rent Emergency Stabilization (REST) Act, which would extend rent stabilization to communities across New York State, and by enacting policies that accelerate the construction of new affordable housing units.

The ask is twofold: (1) pressure the NYC Rent Guidelines Board — whose members are appointed by the Mayor — to vote for a rent freeze or near-zero cap at the next annual proceeding; and (2) urge New York State legislators to pass stronger statewide rent stabilization legislation and pro-housing supply measures to address the root causes of the affordability crisis.

Enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, first expanded under the American Rescue Plan and later extended through the Inflation Reduction Act, expired at the end of 2025. These credits cut out-of-pocket premiums by more than half, on average, for over 20 million Americans who purchase health insurance through the ACA marketplaces. Without renewal, average benchmark premiums are projected to rise by as much as 114% — from roughly $888 per month in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026 — pricing millions of working families out of coverage entirely.

The stakes are compounded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which includes significant Medicaid cuts. Together, the lapse of enhanced premium tax credits and Medicaid reductions could leave an estimated 30 million additional Americans uninsured over the next decade. Low- and middle-income households, rural communities, older adults, and people with chronic or serious illnesses — including cancer patients — face the greatest risk of losing access to care.

Constituents are urging U.S. Senators to pass legislation that permanently or durably extends the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. Doing so would preserve affordable marketplace coverage, stabilize insurance markets, and serve as a necessary counterweight to concurrent reductions in Medicaid eligibility and funding.

The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DOD BCRP) is one of the most impactful federal investments in breast cancer science, funding peer-reviewed research that has driven critical advances in detection, treatment, and prevention. Congress has historically appropriated significant funding for the program — including $145 million and, more recently, $210 million in prior fiscal years — through the annual Defense Appropriations bill.

As of mid-2026, Congress has not yet enacted a final FY2027 Defense Appropriations bill. The House Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the bill in June 2026 with provisions supporting cancer research, but the full House has not yet passed it and the Senate has not completed action. With the October 1 start of the fiscal year approaching, the DOD BCRP faces uncertainty over whether its funding will be maintained or reduced.

Constituents are urging their Members of Congress — in both the House and Senate — to pass FY2027 defense appropriations legislation that includes robust, dedicated funding for the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program at or above prior-year levels. This bipartisan program saves lives and must not be allowed to lapse due to inaction on the federal budget.

Individuals diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) — a terminal, stage IV diagnosis — currently face two arbitrary federal waiting periods before they can access the benefits they have already earned. First, they must wait five months after qualifying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) before receiving payments. Then, they must wait an additional 24 months before becoming eligible for Medicare coverage. For patients with MBC, whose median survival is measured in months to a few years, these delays can mean going without critical income support and health coverage during the most urgent period of their illness.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act (H.R. 2048 / S. 3442, 119th Congress) is bipartisan legislation that would waive both the five-month SSDI waiting period and the 24-month Medicare waiting period specifically for individuals diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. This would ensure that eligible MBC patients can access the financial and healthcare benefits they qualify for immediately upon diagnosis, without losing precious time to bureaucratic delays.

Constituents are urging their Members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 2048 (in the House) and S. 3442 (in the Senate) and to support advancing this legislation through committee to a full floor vote.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for more than 266 consecutive days at sea — a modern record — with approximately 5,000 crew members aboard. Reports from sailors, their families, and military observers describe worsening living conditions, critical supply shortages, and a mounting mental health crisis among service members. Standard Navy deployments typically last 6–9 months (roughly 180–270 days), but the Lincoln's extended mission in the Middle East has pushed well beyond normal operational limits with no clear end date communicated to families.

Democratic lawmakers have already called for a formal congressional investigation into the conditions aboard the carrier. Concerns include inadequate resupply, psychological strain on crew members, and the downstream impact on military families stateside. These are not abstract policy concerns — they represent a potential readiness crisis and a duty-of-care obligation owed to the men and women serving under extreme operational stress.

Congress has direct oversight authority over military deployments and service member welfare under its constitutional powers and through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) process. Constituents are urging their representatives and senators to support a formal congressional inquiry into the USS Abraham Lincoln's deployment conditions, demand a transparent timeline for the carrier's return, and ensure that any identified supply or mental health deficiencies are immediately remediated.

A provision in a House budget/appropriations bill would cancel $2 billion in federal funding that supports the operations of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance Marketplace exchanges. These funds are critical to maintaining the infrastructure that allows millions of Americans to shop for, enroll in, and retain subsidized health insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov and state-based exchanges.

Eliminating this funding would jeopardize the day-to-day functioning of the ACA Marketplaces — including enrollment systems, consumer assistance programs, and outreach efforts — potentially leaving millions of Americans without a reliable pathway to affordable health coverage. Analysts and advocacy groups have warned that cutting this operational funding could destabilize coverage for a significant share of the roughly 21 million people currently enrolled in Marketplace plans.

Constituents are urging their U.S. Representatives and Senators to oppose any legislative provision that eliminates or reduces this $2 billion in ACA Marketplace operational funding, and to work to restore and protect it so that the health insurance exchanges continue to function effectively for all Americans who depend on them.