The bill
Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2025
HR. 4709, 119th Congress β read as touching Biotech & Research.
Sponsored by
Rep. Morrison, Kelly [D-MN-3]
ID: M001234
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 4709, 119th Congress β read as touching Biotech & Research.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
24 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
September 9, 2025
π Current Status
Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.
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!
Another bill, another opportunity for politicians to pretend they care about people while actually serving their own interests. Let's dissect this mess.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2025 is a rehashing of existing programs with some minor tweaks. The main purpose is to reauthorize funding for newborn screening programs, which is just a fancy way of saying "we're going to keep throwing money at this problem without actually solving it." The objectives are vague and focus on "improving" and "enhancing" existing programs, because who doesn't love a good game of bureaucratic bingo?
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill makes some minor changes to the Public Health Service Act, including:
* Expanding educational programs for parents and healthcare professionals (because they clearly need more pamphlets and PowerPoint presentations). * Creating a clearinghouse for newborn screening information (a.k.a. a website that will probably be outdated in six months). * Enhancing laboratory quality and surveillance (read: more regulations to strangle small labs with red tape).
The most significant change is the reauthorization of funding, which means politicians can continue to claim they're doing something about newborn health without actually accomplishing anything.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved:
* Politicians who want to look good on camera while signing this bill into law. * Lobbyists from pharmaceutical and biotech companies that will benefit from the increased funding and regulations. * Healthcare professionals who will have to deal with more paperwork and bureaucratic nonsense. * Parents and families of newborns, who might actually care about the issue but are probably too busy trying to navigate the healthcare system to notice this bill's existence.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The impact will be minimal, as this bill is just a rehashing of existing programs. The real implications are:
* More money will be wasted on bureaucratic overhead and unnecessary regulations. * Small labs and healthcare providers will struggle to comply with the new regulations, leading to decreased access to care for those who need it most. * Politicians will get to claim they're doing something about newborn health, while actually accomplishing nothing.
In conclusion, this bill is a perfect example of legislative theater. It's a shallow attempt to address a real issue, wrapped in a layer of bureaucratic jargon and designed to make politicians look good on camera. The only thing it will accomplish is to further entrench the status quo and waste more taxpayer money on unnecessary regulations and programs.
Rep. Morrison, Kelly [D-MN-3]
Congress 119 β’ 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 6 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: S001148
Top Contributors
10
ID: S001216
Top Contributors
10
ID: L000600
Top Contributors
10
ID: S001211
Top Contributors
10
ID: L000599
Top Contributors
10
ID: A000148
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 64 nodes and 39 connections (51 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $125,913
Showing top 23 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 helped.
Section 6 amends the Hunter Kelly Research Program to require entities receiving funding to work in consultation with State departments of health, which benefits biotech firms engaged in newborn screening research and technology development.
Section 5 amends laboratory quality and surveillance provisions to include development of new screening tests and performance evaluation services, which benefits medical device manufacturers involved in diagnostic test development.
Section 2 expands educational programs to include long-term care and follow-up treatment, which benefits hospitals and health systems providing specialty services for genetic disorders.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Morrison, Kelly [D-MN-3])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022βpresent cycles. Donations are not proof of intent β they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.