STARS Act
Latest action · Dec 10, 2025 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 2, 2025
- Passed HouseDec 9, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act or the STARS Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to designate September 17, 2026, as an entrance-fee free date in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. On that date, Interior must waive (1) the entrance fees for all visitors of National Park Service sites; and (2) the standard amenity recreation fees for all visitors to each site managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Reclamation. The Forest Service must waive the standard amenity recreation fees on that date for all visitors to sites it manages.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Jul 2, 2025Discharged Jul 23, 2025Markup Jul 23, 2025Reported Sep 15, 2025 |
| Federal Lands Subcommittee | Referred Jul 9, 2025Hearings Jul 16, 2025 | |
| Senate | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Referred Dec 10, 2025 |
Actions 15
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 10, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
- Dec 9, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5074)
- Dec 9, 2025Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Dec 9, 2025Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5074-5075)
- Dec 9, 2025DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4285.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H5074, H5075Text printed H5074 | Bruce Westerman R-AR, Celeste Maloy R-UT, Emily Randall D-WA | Dec 9, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Sep 29, 2025H.R. 4285, STARS ActAs reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on September 15, 2025
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 114, July 2, 2025, page H3189.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R48473 | Congressional Involvement in the Celebration of Anniversaries of the Declaration of Independence | Report | Dec 12, 2025 |
Titles 10
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To direct the Secretary of the Interior to designate an entrance-fee free date in 2026 at National Park Service sites in order to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- STARS Act
- Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- STARS Act
- Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- STARS Act
- Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act
- Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
- STARS Act
- Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To direct the Secretary of the Interior to designate an entrance-fee free date in 2026 at National Park Service sites in order to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 10, 2025Referred in Senate
- Dec 9, 2025Engrossed in House
- Sep 15, 2025Reported in House
- Jul 2, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
