Senate Passes Cassidy Bills to Strengthen American Workers’ Benefits, Now Heads to the House

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement following the U.S. Senate's unanimous passage of Cassidy's legislation that strengthen Americans' access to quality benefits. The employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) bills and the Uniformed Services Leave Parity Act were previously reported favorably by the HELP Committee in July and now head to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration. The bills include:

"Every American deserves to retire with dignity and security," said Dr. Cassidy. "By strengthening ESOPs, we empower workers to have a stake in their company and build wealth for themselves and their families."

Cassidy's Employee Ownership Representation Act of 2025 adds two new ESOP board members to the ERISA Advisory Council who will advocate for the interests of employee-owned companies.

Senators Marshall and Kaine's Retire Through Ownership Act clarifies federal law to ensure ESOPs can provide shares of their company to employees without the fear of frivolous lawsuits.

Senators Murkowski and Duckworth's Uniformed Services Leave Parity Act fixes leave benefits for Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers, so they have the same leave available to other members of the uniformed services.