Delivering Priority Legislation Act

Full Title:
Delivering Priority Legislation Act

Summary#

This Act makes many changes across programs for small business research, youth outdoor access, national security, workplace leave, housing finance, taxes, and other areas.

Key provisions in the text include:

  • Small business research programs (SBIR and STTR): extends current authority through September 30, 2030, raises the administrative set-aside from 3 percent to 3.3 percent, allows certain departments (DOD, DOE, HHS, NASA, NSF) to transfer at least 10 percent of specified program funds to the Small Business Administration for program administration, and permits outreach and technical assistance to increase participation from underserved States.
  • Every Kid Outdoors: adjusts eligible participant ages (adds fifth graders and home-schooled learners age 10 or 11) and authorizes $25,000,000 per fiscal year for program staffing, promotion, transportation for schools and youth organizations with high need, and targeted outreach for underserved communities and children with disabilities.
  • National Nuclear Forensics Center: creates a National Nuclear Forensics Center within the National Nuclear Security Administration to coordinate federal nuclear forensics activities, directs development of university expertise in nuclear forensics, and repeals earlier Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act provisions and related Homeland Security provisions.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): allows certain leave to be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule and removes several certification requirements for intermittent leave.
  • Housing and mortgage rules: expresses a congressional view that federal housing agencies should insure or guarantee second mortgages when they insured the first mortgage to help a later buyer assume the first mortgage; amends statutes to permit FHA, USDA, and VA to insure or guarantee second mortgages/second liens in specified cases and requires those agencies to publish lists (address and origination date) of properties for which they insure or guarantee loans, within one year.
  • Hearing aid tax credit: creates a new individual income tax credit of up to $1,000 per qualified hearing aid (not covered by insurance), with income limits ($300,000 for joint/head of household, $150,000 for other filers), an election that may be made once every 5 years, and an effective date for taxable years starting after December 31, 2026.
  • Intelligence on foreign AI: requires the Director of National Intelligence to deliver a National Intelligence Estimate within 180 days on artificial intelligence systems developed or deployed in the People’s Republic of China. The estimate must evaluate embedded bias, training data and models, risks for influence or surveillance, threats to democratic norms and military decision-making, and give recommendations for monitoring and countering malign uses.
  • Criminal prohibition: creates a new federal offense making it unlawful for a person who creates or uses a corporation or entity to conceal prohibited election-related activity by a foreign national, punishable by up to 5 years in prison or a fine.
  • Other provisions: requires each House standing committee to hold a hearing on the Act’s implementation within one year, updates a House code of official conduct clause, allows a PAYGO determination by House Budget Committee materials, and provides a set of small appropriations and transfers for selected agencies and items.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a small business or researcher: SBIR/STTR administrative funds and outreach rules change and administrative set-aside rises slightly; some departments must transfer funds to the SBA for program administration.
  • If you work with children or schools: Every Kid Outdoors eligibility expands and funding is authorized for staff, outreach, and transportation to help students visit public lands.
  • If you need or help arrange home purchase financing: FHA, USDA, and VA may be authorized to insure or guarantee certain second mortgages when they insured the first mortgage, and the agencies must publish lists of insured properties.
  • If you use FMLA leave: the law allows intermittent or reduced schedule leave more broadly and removes some certification steps for intermittent leave.
  • If you or a dependent need hearing aids: a new tax credit may cover up to $1,000 of out-of-pocket costs, subject to income limits and a five-year election rule; it applies to tax years after 2026.
  • If you follow national security and technology issues: the intelligence community must produce an estimate focused on China-developed AI systems and related risks.
  • If you follow campaign finance or corporate misuse: the Act creates a criminal penalty for using entities to hide prohibited foreign-national contributions.

Expenses#

  • Every Kid Outdoors: authorizes $25,000,000 per fiscal year for program support, promotion, transportation for high-need schools and organizations, and targeted outreach.
  • Title XII appropriations (for fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2027): additional amounts of $1,000,000 each are listed for: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; Joint Economic Committee; Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; Space Force military personnel pay and expenses; Environmental Protection Agency science and technology; and Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy. These amounts are to remain available until expended where specified.
  • SBIR/STTR: increases administrative set-aside from 3% to 3.3% and requires certain agencies to transfer not less than 10% of certain program funds to the SBA Administrator for program administration; the bill text does not state a total dollar cost.
  • Hearing aid credit: establishes a new refundable or nonrefundable credit (as described) but the text does not include an overall budget estimate.
  • No comprehensive cost estimate or score is provided in the text. The Act states that PAYGO budgetary effects shall be determined by reference to a House Budget Committee statement if submitted prior to passage. If no such statement is available in the text, then no complete cost totals are publicly provided here.

Proponents' View#

  • The text states that federal housing agencies should insure or guarantee second mortgages when they insured the first mortgage to help a subsequent purchaser assume the first mortgage. That expresses the measure’s intended purpose for housing transactions.
  • The findings in the Act state concern that China-developed AI systems may embed strategic or discriminatory biases and say a National Intelligence Estimate is needed to evaluate risks to national security and democratic institutions.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.