Legislative Activity

This resolution officially designates the week of May 4 through May 8, 2026, as Teacher Appreciation Week. It recognizes the vital role of public school teachers and highlights their key priorities, including support for existing federal protections and funding. Furthermore, the bill encourages leaders to engage directly with teachers to ensure their expertise informs education policy.

This resolution supports designating the week of April 27 through May 1, 2026, as "National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week." It recognizes the vital role of over one million school-based professionals, such as counselors, social workers, and therapists, in removing barriers to learning for all students. The bill commends these individuals for delivering essential educational, social, and emotional support that improves student outcomes and school climate.

The YouthBuild for the Future Act reauthorizes and updates the YouthBuild program through 2030, providing education, job training, and leadership development for low-income young people, with a focus on green building skills. The bill increases funding authorization and expands allowable services, such as food assistance and help applying for benefits. It also establishes a new grant program to create employer partnerships that connect participants directly to local job opportunities.

The Educational Equity Challenge Grant Act of 2026 establishes a grant program to help eligible entities address students' academic, social-emotional, and health needs, particularly those exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds will be awarded for evidence-based strategies and innovative, educator-initiated proposals focused on high-need students. The bill prioritizes funding for rural and low-income areas while requiring robust reporting on outcomes and impact.

The Social Determinants for Moms Act aims to reduce maternal mortality and health disparities by addressing the nonclinical factors that impact pregnancy and postpartum outcomes. The bill establishes federal grant programs to provide essential services—such as housing, nutrition, transportation, and childcare—to pregnant and postpartum individuals. Additionally, it creates a federal task force to coordinate cross-agency strategies to improve maternal health and support community-led initiatives across the country.

The Supporting Trauma-Informed Education Practices Act of 2026 establishes a grant program to enhance access to evidence-based trauma support and mental health services for students and school staff. This funding aims to foster stronger connections between schools and community mental health systems through collaboration, professional development, and direct student services. The bill authorizes $50 million annually from FY 2027 through 2031 to support these critical initiatives.

The School MEALS Act of 2025 aims to improve access to free school meals by establishing a pilot program allowing states to use Medicaid data for direct certification. It also creates grants and technical assistance to boost direct certification rates across the nation. Furthermore, the bill enhances the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) counting periods and increases the minimum verification sample size for direct certification.

The Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 aims to strengthen domestic food security by repealing specific sections of a prior reconciliation act. This action effectively revives the original laws that were previously amended by the repealed provisions. The bill seeks to revert existing agricultural and food-related statutes to their pre-amendment status.

The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) continue to operate without interruption in fiscal year 2026 if standard appropriations are delayed. If funding lapses, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to use funds from the Treasury to provide benefits and reimburse state agencies. This special funding remains in effect until full appropriations are enacted or until September 30, 2026.

The Tipped Worker Protection Act aims to eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped employees by phasing out the tip credit system, ensuring all workers eventually receive the standard federal minimum wage. The bill also establishes strict new rules regarding tip pooling, mandates employee voting to create or change pooling systems, and prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employee tips. Furthermore, it clarifies what constitutes a tip, including certain mandatory service charges, and updates penalties for illegal tip retention.

The Accurate Mental Health Resources for Our Servicemembers Act of 2025 mandates that each military branch thoroughly review and update all online suicide prevention and behavioral health resources on installation websites by August 1, 2027. This ensures servicemembers have access to current and accurate contact information and links. Following the updates, military department heads must formally certify compliance to Congress.

This Concurrent Resolution affirms the importance of equal physical access to federally funded facilities for all Americans, especially people with disabilities. It recognizes that current infrastructure often fails to meet the needs of the growing population of people with disabilities. The resolution reaffirms support for existing accessibility laws like the ADA and pledges to use universal design principles in future federal projects. Ultimately, it calls for the removal of existing barriers to ensure full societal participation.

The CARE for Kids Act of 2025 streamlines access to free and reduced-price school meals for vulnerable children. It expands automatic direct certification eligibility for children in foster care, kinship guardianship, or receiving adoption assistance. The bill also ensures that a child's meal eligibility status is maintained when transferring between school districts or when entering the care of a relative. These changes aim to reduce administrative burdens and ensure consistent food access for children facing housing or custody instability.

The EQIP Improvement Act of 2025 revises the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) by adjusting payment limits for various conservation practices, including setting a 40% cost-share cap for certain infrastructure projects. The bill also lowers a separate payment limitation from $\$450,000$ to $\$150,000$. Furthermore, it establishes a new annual reporting requirement for the Secretary of Agriculture to detail EQIP spending by practice category and producer size.

The School Violence Prevention Act establishes a new, comprehensive grant program to fund evidence-based violence prevention initiatives in high-risk communities. These grants will support partnerships between schools and community organizations to implement trauma-informed programs focused on youth development, social skills, and connecting students with mental health resources. The bill mandates rigorous evaluation of these programs to measure their impact on student success and overall community safety.

The See the Board Act establishes a new federal grant program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This program aims to fund nonprofit organizations that provide free, on-site eye care services, including exams and glasses, directly to students in public elementary and secondary schools. The goal is to improve student access to necessary vision care through mobile or portable clinics.

The SNAP Administrator Retention Act of 2025 aims to improve staffing and retention for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by setting new minimum pay standards for state administrators based on comparable federal salaries. If states adopt these standards and have their pay structure approved, the federal government will cover 100% of their administrative personnel costs. This increased federal funding must supplement, not replace, existing state spending on SNAP administration.

This resolution officially designates the week of May 5 through May 9, 2025, as "Teacher Appreciation Week" to honor the dedication of public school teachers nationwide. It recognizes the crucial support teachers offer for key educational policies, including funding for students with disabilities and loan forgiveness programs. Furthermore, the bill affirms that teachers must have a voice in shaping federal, state, and local education policy.

This resolution supports designating the week of April 28 through May 2, 2025, as "National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week." It recognizes the vital role of over one million school-based professionals, such as counselors, social workers, and nurses, in supporting student learning and well-being. The bill commends these staff for providing essential prevention and intervention services that create safe and supportive learning environments. Ultimately, it encourages policymakers to recognize and promote the importance of these personnel for improving overall educational outcomes.

The Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act establishes significant grant programs to improve access to high-quality infant and toddler care, prioritizing student parents at community colleges and minority-serving institutions. It also amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant to expand eligibility for college students seeking assistance and incentivizes states to increase reimbursement rates for infant and toddler care. Finally, the bill mandates that schools proactively inform student parents about the dependent care allowance available through federal financial aid applications.