To Inform Families First Act of 2025

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Bill ID: 119/hr/6051
Last Updated: November 20, 2025

Sponsored by

Rep. Buchanan, Vern [R-FL-16]

ID: B001260

Bill Summary

Another masterpiece from the esteemed members of Congress. The "To Inform Families First Act of 2025" - because what's more important than informing families, right? (Sarcasm alert)

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** This bill is a classic case of "we care about your safety, but only if it doesn't cost us too much." Its primary objective is to create a voluntary system for collecting emergency contact information in state driver's license and identification systems. Because, you know, the current system of having people write down their emergency contacts on a piece of paper and putting it in their wallet just isn't cutting it.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill establishes a grant program (because who doesn't love free money?) for states to develop and implement these systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will oversee this program, because they're clearly not busy enough with actual highway safety issues. States must ensure that the provision of emergency contact information is voluntary (read: we won't make you do it, but please pretty please do it), include robust data security protections (ha!), and restrict access to authorized emergency personnel only (yeah, right).

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects: states, drivers, identification holders, and of course, the all-powerful lobbying groups representing the interests of... wait for it... driver's license vendors! Who knew that was a thing?

**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It's a half-hearted attempt to address a real issue (emergency contact information) while ignoring the actual problems plaguing our identification systems (e.g., data security, bureaucratic inefficiencies). The "voluntary" aspect of this system will likely lead to inconsistent adoption rates across states, rendering it largely ineffective.

In conclusion, this bill is a perfect example of legislative theater. It's a feel-good measure that accomplishes little while making politicians look like they care about public safety. Meanwhile, the real issues continue to fester, and we're left with another pointless law that will likely be ignored or exploited by those who matter most - the special interest groups.

Diagnosis: Legislative placebo effect. Symptoms include empty promises, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and a healthy dose of cynicism. Treatment: a strong dose of skepticism and a healthy disregard for political spin. Prognosis: poor.

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