S3482Referred to Committee
First Step Implementation Act of 2025
Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber4
Passed Both5
Signed into Law119th
Congress
2025-12-15
Introduced
1
Cosponsors
S
ⓘType
Sponsor
Richard J. Durbin
Democrat · IL · Senator
Votes with party: 80.3% (834 recorded votes)
Full profile: /officials/D000563
Source: Congress.gov · FEC
Cosponsors (1)
Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.
Latest Action
The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S8732-8737)
2025-12-15
Source: Congress.gov
Committee Activity
Currently in
- Senate Committee on the JudiciaryReferred To · 2025-12-16
Previously
- Judiciary CommitteeReferred To · 2025-12-16
Plain-English Summary
First Step Implementation Act of 2025 This bill relaxes federal sentencing laws for drug offenses in certain situations and for offenses committed by juveniles. It also requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish procedures to ensure the prompt release and accuracy of employment-related background check records. The bill allows certain reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to be applied retroactively to offenders who committed their offenses on or before December 21, 2018; permits a court, in certain circumstances, to grant safety valve relief (i.e., impose a sentence without regard to the statutory mandatory minimum penalty for certain drug offenses) for an otherwise eligible defendant who does not meet the requirement pertaining to criminal history; permits a court to reduce a sentence imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile if the defendant has served at least 20 years of the sentence; establishes a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses; and requires DOJ to establish and enforce procedures to ensure that records exchanged for employment-related background checks are promptly released and accurate.
Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.
Subjects
Crime and Law Enforcement
Full bill text is not yet cached locally.
Related legislation
Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.
- SRES799A resolution expressing the condolences of the Senate and honoring the memory of the victims on the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, 2022.Referred to Committee · 2026-07-15
- S4979PROMISE Act of 2026Referred to Committee · 2026-07-14
- S4955A bill to amend the Act of May 17, 1954, to revise the boundary of Gateway Arch National Park.Referred to Committee · 2026-07-13
- S1146Cameras in the Courtroom ActReported by Committee · 2026-06-23