From Jimmy Carter to today, Democratic majorities in the House, the Senate, or both wrote and put these laws on the books. They helped families, workers, businesses, and the country’s economic and environmental health. Many drew Republican votes because Democrats worked across the aisle.
1. Food Stamp Act ended purchase requirements, widening nutrition assistance.
2. Community Reinvestment Act expanded credit in underserved neighborhoods.
3. Clean Air amendments tightened pollution controls protecting public health.
4. Clean Water amendments strengthened wastewater treatment and enforcement.
5. Surface Mining law required land restoration after coal extraction.
6. Energy Department unified federal energy policy and research.
7. National Energy Act advanced conservation and alternative power.
8. PURPA opened electricity markets to independent renewable generators.
9. Pregnancy Discrimination Act protected pregnant workers’ equal treatment.
10. Civil Service Reform strengthened accountability and whistleblower protections.
11. FISA created judicial oversight for national-security surveillance.
12. Ethics in Government Act expanded disclosure and independent oversight.
13. Refugee Act modernized humanitarian admissions and resettlement.
14. Superfund made polluters finance hazardous-site cleanups.
15. Bayh-Dole accelerated commercialization of federally funded discoveries.
16. Alaska lands law permanently protected 104 million acres.
17. Voting Rights extension protected ballot access for twenty-five years.
18. Job Training Partnership Act expanded workforce skills programs.
19. Orphan Drug Act incentivized treatments for rare diseases.
20. Social Security compromise restored short-term solvency and benefit continuity.
21. Highway law rebuilt infrastructure and dedicated revenue to transit.
22. Congress established Martin Luther King Jr. Day nationwide.
23. National Organ Transplant Act coordinated equitable organ allocation.
24. Disability reform restored fairer Social Security disability reviews.
25. COBRA let families retain employer health coverage between jobs.
26. Superfund amendments strengthened cleanups and community right-to-know.
27. Tax reform expanded EITC and closed abusive shelters.
28. EMTALA guaranteed emergency treatment regardless of patients’ finances.
29. McKinney-Vento launched federal housing and services for homelessness.
30. Fair Housing amendments protected families and disabled people.
31. WARN required advance notice before major layoffs.
32. Civil Liberties Act compensated Japanese-American internment survivors.
33. ADA prohibited disability discrimination throughout everyday American life.
34. Clean Air amendments curbed smog, toxics, acid rain, ozone depletion.
35. Ryan White CARE Act funded lifesaving HIV services.
36. Nutrition Labeling Act standardized clear food nutrition facts.
37. Oil Pollution Act strengthened spill prevention, liability, cleanup.
38. Immigration Act expanded lawful immigration and protected temporary statuses.
39. Budget agreement created PAYGO controls reducing future deficits.
40. Earned Income Tax Credit expansion rewarded lower-income work.
41. Civil Rights Act strengthened remedies for workplace discrimination.
42. High-Performance Computing Act accelerated networking and supercomputing research.
43. Transportation law funded flexible roads, bridges, and transit.
44. Mammography law standardized breast-cancer screening quality nationwide.
45. Energy Policy Act advanced efficiency, renewables, electricity competition.
46. 340B discounts lowered medicine costs for safety-net providers.
47. Lead-hazard law protected families from dangerous residential paint.
48. Family and Medical Leave Act guaranteed job-protected family leave.
49. Brady Act established national firearm-purchaser background checks.
50. Motor Voter law expanded convenient voter registration.
51. 1993 budget enacted deficit reduction and greatly expanded EITC.
52. Direct Loans simplified federal student borrowing and repayment.
53. AmeriCorps paired national service with education awards.
54. NIH law required women and minorities in clinical research.
55. Violence Against Women Act funded prevention and victim services.
56. CDFI Fund expanded capital in underserved communities.
57. USERRA protected returning servicemembers’ jobs and benefits.
58. Sarbanes-Oxley strengthened corporate accountability and investor protections.
59. Campaign-finance reform restricted national-party soft money.
60. E-Government Act improved digital services and privacy safeguards.
61. Public-health security law strengthened bioterrorism and emergency preparedness.
62. Honest Leadership Act tightened lobbying, gifts, and disclosure rules.
63. Minimum-wage law raised the federal floor to $7.25.
64. College Cost Reduction Act increased Pell grants.
65. That law also created Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
66. Energy Independence law improved fuel economy and renewable fuels.
67. America COMPETES increased science, research, and STEM investments.
68. Post-9/11 GI Bill expanded veterans’ education and housing support.
69. Mental-health parity barred harsher limits than medical coverage.
70. Genetic nondiscrimination law protected employment and insurance privacy.
71. ADA Amendments restored broad disability civil-rights coverage.
72. Consumer-safety reform strengthened toy standards and product oversight.
73. Housing recovery law funded foreclosure-hit communities and affordable housing.
74. TARP helped prevent catastrophic financial-system collapse.
75. Fostering Connections supported kinship care and foster-school stability.
76. Recovery Act countered recession with jobs, infrastructure, tax relief.
77. Recovery investments scaled renewable energy and domestic battery manufacturing.
78. Lilly Ledbetter Act restored workers’ pay-discrimination claims.
79. CHIP reauthorization expanded children’s health coverage.
80. Tobacco Control Act empowered FDA and restricted youth marketing.
81. CARD Act curbed surprise rates, fees, and abusive billing.
82. Hate-crimes law protected gender, disability, and LGBTQ victims.
83. Affordable Care Act expanded marketplaces and Medicaid coverage.
84. It barred preexisting-condition exclusions and lifetime coverage limits.
85. It covered young adults through age twenty-five on family plans.
86. It guaranteed many preventive services without patient cost-sharing.
87. It offered small businesses health-insurance tax credits.
88. Dodd-Frank strengthened financial oversight and systemic-risk safeguards.
89. Dodd-Frank created CFPB to police abusive consumer finance.
90. Student-aid reform ended bank subsidies and increased Pell grants.
91. Small Business Jobs Act expanded lending and tax relief.
92. Fair Sentencing Act reduced discriminatory crack-cocaine penalties.
93. Congress repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
94. Food Safety Modernization Act shifted regulation toward prevention.
95. Zadroga Act funded health care for 9/11 responders.
96. JOBS Act widened startup and small-business capital access.
97. STOCK Act prohibited congressional insider trading.
98. MAP-21 funded transportation and strengthened safety standards.
99. VAWA reauthorization expanded LGBTQ and Tribal protections.
100. Workforce law modernized job training and employer partnerships.
101. DATA Act made federal spending easier to track.
102. HOPE Act enabled HIV-positive organ transplantation research.
103. FUTURE Act permanently funded HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions.
104. Federal employees received twelve weeks of paid parental leave.
105. SECURE Act widened workplace retirement-plan access.
106. TRACED Act strengthened enforcement against illegal robocalls.
107. Families First provided paid sick leave and free COVID testing.
108. CARES Act delivered direct payments and expanded unemployment relief.
109. CARES established PPP, supporting small-business payrolls and overhead.
110. Great American Outdoors Act permanently funded land conservation.
111. Congress permanently financed 9/11 victim compensation.
112. Emergency rental assistance helped pandemic-stricken tenants remain housed.
113. House Democrats advanced universal background checks through chamber passage.
114. House Democrats advanced DREAM protections through chamber passage.
115. American Rescue Plan delivered up to $1,400 payments nationwide.
116. Its expanded Child Tax Credit reduced child poverty sharply.
117. It extended unemployment, food, rental, and homeowner assistance.
118. It lowered marketplace health premiums through larger subsidies.
119. It preserved public services with state and local relief.
120. It expanded capital access for pandemic-hit small businesses.
121. Infrastructure law began rebuilding roads, bridges, ports, and airports.
122. It made historic investments in transit and passenger rail.
123. It financed safer drinking water and lead-pipe replacement.
124. It expanded broadband toward universal affordable internet access.
125. It funded electric charging, clean buses, and grid upgrades.
126. CHIPS Act revitalized domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research.
127. Inflation Reduction Act made America’s largest climate-energy investment.
128. It accelerated clean manufacturing, renewable power, and good jobs.
129. It provided household rebates and clean-energy tax credits.
130. It empowered Medicare to negotiate selected prescription prices.
131. It capped Medicare insulin at $35 monthly.
132. It capped Medicare drug spending at $2,000 yearly.
133. It extended enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies.
134. It established a fifteen-percent corporate minimum tax.
135. It funded methane reductions and environmental-justice projects.
136. PACT Act expanded toxic-exposed veterans’ health care and benefits.
137. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act strengthened young-buyer background checks.
138. It funded school safety and community mental-health services.
139. VAWA reauthorization expanded survivor protections and Tribal jurisdiction.
140. Respect for Marriage Act protected valid interracial and same-sex marriages.
141. Electoral Count Reform protected certified presidential election results.
142. Pregnant Workers Fairness Act required reasonable workplace accommodations.
143. PUMP Act expanded nursing workers’ break and privacy rights.
144. Forced-arbitration reform returned sexual-misconduct claims to survivors’ choice.
145. Speak Out Act limited predispute nondisclosure restrictions on survivors.
146. Ocean Shipping Reform Act improved supply-chain accountability.
147. Postal reform stabilized USPS finances and employee health benefits.
148. Juneteenth became a permanent federal holiday.
149. Emmett Till Antilynching Act finally made lynching a federal crime.
150. Senate Democrats confirmed 235 lifetime federal judges.
151. Senate confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a historic first.
152. FAA reauthorization strengthened aviation safety, staffing, and consumer protections.
153. Social Security Fairness Act increased benefits for affected public servants.
Keep the list handy. Memorize 3-4 to trot out regularly when someone says “Oh, they’re all corrupt, both parties are the same.”
#97 doesn’t seem to have much, if any, bite. For legislators of either party.