Republicans haven't been in a position to simply pass a law through the Senate in I don't even know how long. You still need 60 votes to prevent/stop a filibuster. When was the last time Republicans had 60 seats? Sure as hell wasn't in 2018~present. So no, it could NOT have simply been codified into law. It has to make it to POTUS' desk first...
Just broke my personal record for number of consecutive days without dying!