Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act
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Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
ID: P000617
Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
January 3, 2025
Introduced
Committee Review
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.
Floor Action
Passed House
Senate Review
Passed Congress
Presidential Action
Became Law
📚 How does a bill become a law?
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another exercise in legislative theater, courtesy of our esteemed representatives. HR 40, the "Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act," is a masterclass in bureaucratic obfuscation and pandering.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The bill's primary objective is to establish a commission to study the legacy of slavery and its ongoing impact on African Americans. Sounds noble, but let's not be fooled – this is just a vehicle for politicians to grandstand about their commitment to social justice while doing nothing concrete.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill creates a commission with 13 members, including representatives from various government agencies, civil rights organizations, and academia. Their task? To study the history of slavery, its ongoing effects on African Americans, and propose reparations. Oh, and they'll also make recommendations for "racial healing, understanding, and transformation." How quaint.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects: African American communities, civil rights organizations, and politicians looking to score points with their constituents. But let's not forget the real stakeholders – the ones who will actually benefit from this bill: the commission members themselves, who'll enjoy a nice paycheck and a chance to pad their resumes.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It won't address the systemic issues plaguing African American communities; it's just a feel-good measure designed to appease voters. The commission will likely produce a report that's heavy on rhetoric and light on concrete solutions. Meanwhile, politicians will tout their "commitment" to social justice while doing nothing to actually address the problems.
Diagnosis: This bill is suffering from a severe case of "Legislative Theater-itis," a condition characterized by grandiose language, empty promises, and a complete lack of substance. The symptoms? A commission that's more focused on self-aggrandizement than actual problem-solving, and politicians who are more interested in scoring points than making meaningful change.
Treatment: A healthy dose of skepticism, a strong stomach for bureaucratic nonsense, and a willingness to call out the emperor's new clothes. Unfortunately, this bill will likely pass with flying colors, and we'll be left with another example of how our government excels at producing meaningless legislation.
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đź’° Campaign Finance Network
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
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Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]
ID: A000370
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large]
ID: B001318
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44]
ID: B001300
Top Contributors
0
No contribution data available
Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]
ID: B001281
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8]
ID: B001292
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Bishop, Sanford D. [D-GA-2]
ID: B000490
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
ID: B001278
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Brown, Shontel M. [D-OH-11]
ID: B001313
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]
ID: B001285
Top Contributors
10
Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7]
ID: C001072
Top Contributors
10
Donor Network - Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 34 nodes and 33 connections
Total contributions: $98,350
Top Donors - Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Showing top 18 donors by contribution amount
Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 336 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise on civil rights, the next conservative Administration should take sweeping action to assure that the purpose of the Civil Rights Act is not inverted through a disparate impact standard to provide a pretext for theoretically endless federal meddling. Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities; Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities (Equity in IDEA) l Effective January 18, 2017, the department issued final regulations under Part B of IDEA that require states to consider race and ethnicity in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities. The new Administration should rescind this regulation. Students should never be denied access to special education services because of their race or ethnicity, but this is happening in school districts across the country thanks to the Obama Administration’s Equity in IDEA regulation. This was not the intent of the regulation, but it is an inevitable byproduct of its flawed assumptions. The Obama Administration looked at the racial statistics on special education assignment and made two assumptions: that African American students were dis- proportionately overrepresented, and that this overrepresentation constituted a harm that required federal pressure to ameliorate. School districts deemed to overrepresent minority students in special education assignment, or in discipline amongst special education students, are tagged by their state education agencies as engaging in “significant disproportionality,” and are required to reallocate 15 percent of their IDEA Part B money into coordinated early intervening services that are intended to address the “root causes of dispro- portionality.” In practice, this can mean raiding special education funding to pay for CRT-inspired “equity” consultants and professional development. This is especially problematic given that both of the assumptions behind Equity in IDEA are flawed. Special education services provide extra assistance to students; they do not harm them. And according to the most rigorous research on the subject, conducted by Penn State’s Paul Morgan, black students are actually underrep- resented in special education once adequate statistical controls are made. That means that this regulation effectively further depresses the provision of valuable services to an already underserved group. l The next Administration should immediately commence rulemaking to rescind the Equity in IDEA regulation. No replacement regulation is required. l The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) should prepare a digest of the best research on this subject and share — 337 — Department of Education it directly with state superintendents and state special education leaders across the country, who have been led by this regulation to believe a false problem diagnosis. Every effort should be made to dissuade states from continuing to operate on the assumption that overrepresentation requires state intervention after the federal pressure is rescinded. Provide School Meals to Children in Need; Do Not Use Federal Meals to Support Radical Ideology In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) tried to advance a radical political agenda using the federal school meal program. Nearly a century ago, federal lawmakers adopted the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) and other services that provide meals for K–12 students to give children from low-income families access to food while at school. Since the 1940s, federal lawmakers have greatly expanded these meal programs, creating an entitlement for nearly all students, regardless of family income levels, and have turned the meal programs into some of the most wasteful federal pro- grams in Washington. Now, the USDA is threatening to withhold federal taxpayer spending for these meals from schools that do not implement Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 so that the term “sex” is replaced with “sexual orientation and gender identity” (SOGI). l The next Administration should prohibit the USDA or any other federal agency from withholding services from federal or state agencies—including but not limited to K–12 schools—that choose not to replace “sex” with “SOGI” in that agency’s administration of Title IX. The Administration will have significant support for this policy change among state officials and Members of Congress. Twenty-two state attorneys general filed a lawsuit after the USDA’s announcement that the agency intended to withhold spending from schools that do not replace sex with SOGI. Members of Congress also introduced legislation in 2022 that would prohibit the agency from carrying out its intentions regarding Title IX. Phase Out Existing Income-Driven Repayment Plans While income-driven repayment (IDR) of student loans is a superior approach relative to fixed payment plans, the number of IDR plans has proliferated beyond reason. And recent IDR plans are so generous that they require no or only token repayment from many students. l The Secretary should phase out all existing IDR plans by making new loans (including consolidation loans) ineligible and should implement
Introduction
— ix — Acknowledgments This work, Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise, is a col- lective effort of hundreds of volunteers who have banded together in the spirit of advancing positive change for America. Our work is by no means the comprehensive compendium of conservative policies, nor is our group the exclusive cadre of conservative thinkers. The ideas expressed in this volume are not necessarily shared by all. What unites us is the drive to make our country better. First and foremost, we thank the chapter authors and contributors who gave so freely of their time in service of their country. We were particularly grateful to have the help of dedicated members of The Heritage Foundation’s management and policy teams. Executive Vice President Derrick Morgan, Chief of Staff Wesley Coopersmith, Associate Director of Project 2025 Spencer Chretien, and Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Director Paul Ray devoted a significant amount of their valuable time to reviewing and editing the lengthy manuscript and provided expert advice and insight. The job of transforming the work of dozens of authors and hundreds of contributors into a cohesive manuscript fell upon Heritage’s formidable team of editors led by Director of Research Editors Therese Pennefather, Senior Editor William T. Poole, Marla Hess, Jessica Lowther, Karina Rollins, and Kathleen Scaturro, without whose tireless efforts you would not be reading these words. The talented work of Data Graphics Services Manager John Fleming, Manager of Web Development and Print Projects Jay Simon, Director of Marketing Elizabeth Fender, Senior Graphic Designer Grace Desandro, and Senior Designer Melissa Bluey came together to bring the volume to life. We also thank the dedicated junior staff who provided immeasurable assistance, especially Jordan Embree, Sarah Calvis, and Jonathan Moy. Most important, we are grateful to the leadership, supporters, and donors of each of the Project 2025 advisory board member organizations and those of The Heritage Foundation, without whom Project 2025 would not be possible. Thank you. Paul Dans & Steven Groves
Introduction
— ix — Acknowledgments This work, Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise, is a col- lective effort of hundreds of volunteers who have banded together in the spirit of advancing positive change for America. Our work is by no means the comprehensive compendium of conservative policies, nor is our group the exclusive cadre of conservative thinkers. The ideas expressed in this volume are not necessarily shared by all. What unites us is the drive to make our country better. First and foremost, we thank the chapter authors and contributors who gave so freely of their time in service of their country. We were particularly grateful to have the help of dedicated members of The Heritage Foundation’s management and policy teams. Executive Vice President Derrick Morgan, Chief of Staff Wesley Coopersmith, Associate Director of Project 2025 Spencer Chretien, and Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Director Paul Ray devoted a significant amount of their valuable time to reviewing and editing the lengthy manuscript and provided expert advice and insight. The job of transforming the work of dozens of authors and hundreds of contributors into a cohesive manuscript fell upon Heritage’s formidable team of editors led by Director of Research Editors Therese Pennefather, Senior Editor William T. Poole, Marla Hess, Jessica Lowther, Karina Rollins, and Kathleen Scaturro, without whose tireless efforts you would not be reading these words. The talented work of Data Graphics Services Manager John Fleming, Manager of Web Development and Print Projects Jay Simon, Director of Marketing Elizabeth Fender, Senior Graphic Designer Grace Desandro, and Senior Designer Melissa Bluey came together to bring the volume to life. We also thank the dedicated junior staff who provided immeasurable assistance, especially Jordan Embree, Sarah Calvis, and Jonathan Moy. Most important, we are grateful to the leadership, supporters, and donors of each of the Project 2025 advisory board member organizations and those of The Heritage Foundation, without whom Project 2025 would not be possible. Thank you. Paul Dans & Steven Groves — xi — The Project 2025 Advisory Board Alabama Policy Institute Alliance Defending Freedom American Compass The American Conservative America First Legal Foundation American Accountability Foundation American Center for Law and Justice American Cornerstone Institute American Council of Trustees and Alumni American Legislative Exchange Council The American Main Street Initiative American Moment American Principles Project Center for Equal Opportunity Center for Family and Human Rights Center for Immigration Studies Center for Renewing America Claremont Institute Coalition for a Prosperous America Competitive Enterprise Institute Conservative Partnership Institute Concerned Women for America Defense of Freedom Institute Ethics and Public Policy Center Family Policy Alliance Family Research Council First Liberty Institute Forge Leadership Network Foundation for Defense of Democracies Foundation for Government Accountability FreedomWorks The Heritage Foundation Hillsdale College Honest Elections Project
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.