PASSED: One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill. We were surprised to see the inclusion of so-called Trump Baby Bonds in the final legislation. It’s curious that a provision long pushed by progressives in the guaranteed income space was included in OBBBA, though in practice these baby bonds are far from the original vision. The “baby bonds” in the final bill are largely similar to retirement savings accounts (vs. some sort of child savings support) – but differ in that U.S. citizens with Social Security numbers born between 2025 and 2029  will get an investment of $1k by the Federal government in their accounts. The bill is scant on details, and it is likely that most accounts will be held by mainstream financial institutions and administered by the Treasury Dept.

PENDING: GOP Portable Benefits proposals. Sen Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and other members introduced several bills around independent workers. Cassidy’s attempts to separate benefits provision from the federal definition of “employee.” It would allow employers to provide benefits to their 1099 contractors without fear of federal prosecution for misclassification. A press release on the bills is here. Similar legislation has either been passed or is moving through statehouses in red and blue states (UT, TN and AL have enacted laws; AK, FL, NV and NJ have proposed laws). It is unlikely that any action will take place in this Congress, none is scheduled in the Senate as of now. The House Education Committee did markup a similar house version to the Scott Modern Worker Empowerment Act (essentially a classification text for federal law).

PASSED: GENIUS Act, passed into law in July. It is an extremely specific bill that passed with bipartisan support. In essence, the bill established a federal framework for issuing and trading stablecoins (crypto assets usually pegged to the US dollar). This bill also allows traditional finance entities (banks, major retailers, and others) to enter the crypto market. The bill was relatively narrow in scope, leaving broader market structuring and overall regulation to the CLARITY Act, which has yet to pass both houses. 

PENDING: CLARITY Act or the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The House passed its version in July. The Senate is currently working on its version, called RFIA (Responsible Financial Innovation Act). It is less likely to pass than the GENIUS Act, because it is far more comprehensive. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who was opposed to the GENIUS Act, has been far more vocal in her opposition to the more CLARITY Act in an effort to peel Senate Dems away from support of the bill. The bill would amend the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt most crypto assets from the definition of “securities” and thus regulation by the SEC. If passed, the CLARITY Act would constitute the first time in its history that the Securities Act would be amended to exempt  (rather than include) an asset from the definition of a security, and could result in other securities industries seeking exemption from oversight. Leaders in Decentralized Finance or DeFi are quietly opposed to the bill. Seven Dems are needed to vote with Republicans on the Senate’s version of the bill to get it through the next step in the legislative process. Republicans hope to do so by the end of August, but the numbers are not in their favor.