H.R. 185 (119th)Bill Overview

Responsible Legislating Act

Government Operations and Politics|Administrative law and regulatory proceduresAdvisory bodies
Cosponsors
Support
Democratic
Introduced
Jan 3, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>Responsible Legislating Act</strong></p><p>This bill establishes or modifies various federal programs and requirements, including those related to retirement accounts, penalties for certain sex offenses, foreign investment and ownership, and appropriations.</p><p>The bill makes changes to retirement account contributions and distributions, including increasing the maximum amount that may be contributed to a Roth Individual Retirement Account&nbsp;(IRA) to include certain contributions to a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) or Simplified&nbsp;Employee Pension (SEP) plan, subject to limitations.&nbsp;</p><p>The bill establishes an enhanced penalty—an additional prison term of up to five years—for certain interstate human trafficking offenses or coercion of sexual activity that occurs in a school zone or related area.</p><p>The Department of Commerce must report on efforts to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing and production. The Federal Maritime Commission must evaluate the effect of foreign ownership of marine terminals at the 15 largest U.S. container ports on U.S. economic security.</p><p>The bill provides additional appropriations for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, State, Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy.</p><p>The bill extends mandatory livestock market reporting requirements through&nbsp;FY2025.</p><p>The bill revises the required frequency of meetings held by a credit union's board of directors by decreasing the frequency for existing credit unions with satisfactory soundness ratings.&nbsp;</p><p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) enhanced-use leasing authority is reauthorized through 2033.</p><p>The bill requires hearings on the bill's implementation within one year of the date of enactment.</p>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong>Responsible Legislating Act</strong></p><p>This bill establishes or modifies various federal programs and requirements, including those related to retirement accounts, penalties for certain sex offenses, foreign investment and ownership, and appropriations.</p><p>The bill makes changes to retirement account contributions and distributions, including increasing the maximum amount that may be contributed to a Roth Individual Retirement Account&nbsp;(IRA) to include certain contributions to a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) or Simplified&nbsp;Employee Pension (SEP) plan, subject to limitations.&nbsp;</p><p>The bill establishes an enhanced penalty—an additional prison term of up to five years—for certain interstate human trafficking offenses or coercion of sexual activity that occurs in a school zone or related area.</p><p>The Department of Commerce must report on efforts to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing and production.

The Federal Maritime Commission must evaluate the effect of foreign ownership of marine terminals at the 15 largest U.S. container ports on U.S. economic security.</p><p>The bill provides additional appropriations for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, State, Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy.</p><p>The bill extends mandatory livestock market reporting requirements through&nbsp;FY2025.</p><p>The bill revises the required frequency of meetings held by a credit union's board of directors by decreasing the frequency for existing credit unions with satisfactory soundness ratings.&nbsp;</p><p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) enhanced-use leasing authority is reauthorized through 2033.</p><p>The bill requires hearings on the bill's implementation within one year of the date of enactment.</p>

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Responsible Legislating Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
Open full analysis