MAWS Act of 2026

Sponsored by Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) · 10 active : 4 Republicans, 6 Democrats

Latest action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Read the summary

Where it standsPassed House, now in the Senate

Passed House

House: passedMar 17, 2026
Senate: next
President: not yet

9 senators score as swing votes

Summary

, via Congress.gov

Summary on Congress.gov

Mitigation Action and Watermen Support Act of 2026 or the MAWS Act of 2026

This bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a pilot program to facilitate the purchase of blue catfish caught within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. (Blue catfish are considered an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay.)

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Under the program, NOAA must enter into cooperative agreements with manufacturers or processors of pet food, animal feed, or aquaculture feed for the purchase of blue catfish from watermen and seafood processors. NOAA must determine the minimum price per pound after considering market factors; feedback from watermen, seafood processors, and participants in the program; and differentiation of price points for fillet and byproduct.

The bill also requires NOAA to enter into a memorandum of understanding with nonfederal partners to develop abundance estimates of blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. NOAA must make the first abundance estimate publicly available before beginning the pilot program.

Committees and subjects

Committees

House Committee on Natural Resources · HouseReported by · Markup by · Discharged from · Referred to
Water, Wildlife and Fisheries · HouseHearings by (subcommittee) · Referred to
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · SenateReferred to

Subjects

Chesapeake Bay
Congressional oversight
Delaware
District of Columbia
Fishes
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Maryland
New York State
Pennsylvania

Senate · 100 House · 433

Model

v3defaultv2

Directional: count only breaks toward the other party Why do scores change?

How the House breaks down

45Swing 70–100
200Middle 30–70
186Entrenched 0–30
2Insufficient data not ranked

Members fall into . 2 representatives don’t have enough data yet and are marked “insufficient data”. Non-voting delegates are not counted. The bill is not before the House right now; these scores show where members would stand.

Key players in the House

Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v2, directional

: only movement toward the other party counts, so members who sit further from the center than their party no longer score as swing votes.

Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.

Similar past votes, House

Earlier behind swing-v3’s input

Similar votes count toward swing-v3 in the House: total similarity weight 15.5 (needs 5.0).

H.R. 4294 · Mar 17, 2026 · Roll call 448On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedMAWS Act
PassedSame bill×3.0
H.R. 4219 · Sep 14, 2026 · Roll call 656On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedNational Wildlife Refuge System Invasive Species Strike Team Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 5103 · Mar 25, 2026 · Roll call 461On PassageMake the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 556 · Mar 18, 2026 · Roll call 453On PassageProtecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 261 · Feb 11, 2026 · Roll call 427On PassageUndersea Cable Protection Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.J.Res. 140 · Jan 21, 2026 · Roll call 398On PassageProviding for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.J.Res. 130 · Nov 18, 2025 · Roll call 293On PassageProviding for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment”
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.J.Res. 105 · Sep 3, 2025 · Roll call 225On PassageProviding for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “North Dakota Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan”
PassedSame policy area×0.5

Show 17 more

H.J.Res. 106 · Sep 3, 2025 · Roll call 224On PassageProviding for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Central Yukon Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan”
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.J.Res. 104 · Sep 3, 2025 · Roll call 223On PassageProviding for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment”
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 2215 · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 124On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassSalem Maritime National Historical Park Redesignation and Boundary Study Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5

Cosponsors

10 active

Show all 10 cosponsors

How the swing score works

Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.

Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.

Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.

Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.

Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.

Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.