WASHINGTON – The Republicans’ massive policy bill would do more than extend income tax cuts, add restrictions to Medicaid and food stamps and pour funding into President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The 1,000-plus-page bill includes several lesser-known provisions that could have an impact on Americans’ lives, from the court system to the gym.
The bill is likely to be one of the most important pieces of legislation passed during Trump’s second term. The immense pressure from the White House to pass the bill makes it a convenient vehicle for lawmakers to add in their preferred policies and increase their chances of making it into law.
Still, the bill is not set in stone: The Senate will start considering the bill next week, and the measure may undergo considerable changes. Here are nine parts of the bill you might not yet know about:
Making it easier to ignore court rulings
Republicans included a provision in the bill that would restrict judges’ ability to hold people accountable for violating court orders.
It comes as some judges consider contempt rulings against the Trump administration for bypassing court orders restricting their actions.
More: How Trump’s clash with the courts is brewing into an ‘all-out war’
The legislation would bar judges from enforcing contempt rulings if they didn’t first order a bond, which is commonly set at zero or not ordered in cases when people are claiming the government did something unconstitutional.
Democrats have argued it’s a clear attempt to bypass the courts, while Republicans say it’s an incentive to stop frivolous lawsuits by requiring plaintiffs to pay in.
A ban on regulating AI
The bill would allocate $500 million to help modernize government with the help of artificial intelligence – and would prevent states from creating new regulations to shape how AI is used or developed.
It also would block dozens of states from enforcing AI regulations and oversight structures they’ve already implemented. There is now no federal AI regulation to take the place of state policies.
More: Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ could ban states from regulating AI for a decade
Tech industry leaders support the approach, warning that regulation can get in the way of innovation in a new industry. Some Republicans in the Senate, however, have raised concerns that the ban is not a good idea without a federal structure to take its place.
Cheaper gun silencers
Republicans added a provision to the bill that would get rid of a $200 registration fee for gun silencers that has existed for more than 90 years and removed a requirement for gun owners to register their silencers.
More: Trump admin allows devices that let some weapons shoot as fast as machine guns
“Who asked for this − was it the assassin lobby?” said Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, at a hearing on the legislation earlier in May.
But Republicans argued that eliminating the fee aligns with the Second Amendment, which protects a right to bear arms, and protects gun users’ hearing.
Tax-free gym memberships
The bill would qualify sports and fitness expenses as qualified medical care, which would allow people to pay for them tax-free through a Health Savings Account.
People could spend up to $500 a year on gym memberships through their HSAs, or $1,000 for a married couple.
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The benefit could not be used at “a private club” owned by members, or a facility that offers golf, hunting, sailing or riding facilities. The health and fitness part of the business also couldn’t be “incidental to its overall function and purpose.”
Purple Heart benefits
Some people who earned a Purple Heart in the military – the decoration for service members who were wounded or killed in action – would qualify for a new income tax credit under the legislation.
Purple Heart recipients who lost a portion of their Social Security disability benefits because they got a job could get a higher Earned Income Tax Credit to make up those lost Social Security benefits.
‘Trump accounts’ for kids
The bill would create new savings accounts dubbed “Trump accounts” in which babies who are born between January 2025 and January 2029 can benefit from a one-time $1,000 payment from the federal government placed in the account.
Parents would then be able to contribute up to $5,000 a year. The savings would be invested in a stock fund that would grow with the U.S. stock market.
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The child could be able to access a portion of the money when they reach age 18 for things like education, training or buying their first house. They can use the full balance at age 30.
Pell grant and student loan changes
The bill includes a change to the Pell Grant program, which provides federal aid to low-income students to attend colleges and universities.
Right now, students are considered full time and qualify for the maximum amount of aid if they take 12 credits a semester.
The bill would change that to 15 credits a semester, which the National College Attainment Network estimated would result in a nearly $1,500 cut in benefits for students who can’t increase their course load because of work or caretaking.
More: Trump orders shift on student loan management to Small Business Administration
It would also end multiple existing programs for people to pay back their student loans, including a Biden-era program that tailored payment requirements to the person’s income. It would be replaced with a new fixed-rate program.
Charging foreign workers
Migrants often move to other countries in part to send money home to their family or community abroad. The United States is the world’s largest source of these transfers, known as remittances.
The Republican bill would implement a 3.5% tax on those transfers, which must be paid by the person sending the money. It would include an exemption for U.S. citizens and nationals sending money abroad.
New immigration fees
The GOP proposal would charge new fees for people seeking to immigrate to the United States.
Among the proposed fees: $1,000 to request asylum, $550 payments every six months for work authorization, $500 to apply for temporary protected status, $1,000 for undocumented immigrants paroled into the country, and $3,500 to sponsor unaccompanied child migrants.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nine provisions lurking in Trump’s tax bill you should know about
