The Strength in Diversity Act of 2026 creates a competitive grant program for school districts and state agencies to develop and implement plans that increase racial and socioeconomic diversity in public schools. To receive funding, eligible entities must submit detailed applications outlining how they will reduce isolation in schools, engage with communities, and improve academic outcomes for all students. The bill authorizes the use of funds for activities such as redrawing school boundaries, revising student assignment methods, recruiting diverse staff, and creating transportation plans to encourage attendance across different neighborhoods. Grants are awarded based on the quality of the proposed plan and its potential to meaningfully decrease segregation while maintaining high academic standards.
The Microbusiness Support Act creates a new direct loan program within the Small Business Administration to assist independently owned businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees and annual revenues under $5 million. This legislation authorizes the agency to provide loans of up to $100,000 to eligible microbusinesses at an interest rate of 6 percent per annum, while also allowing the collection of fees to cover program costs. The bill requires the Administrator to establish specific terms for repayment and underwriting within 90 days of enactment and permits partnerships with third parties to help originate and service these loans.
The IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act establishes a competitive grant program administered by the Department of Education to provide long-term funding for infrastructure improvements at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. These grants are intended to support projects such as modernizing campus facilities, upgrading technology and broadband systems, enhancing safety measures, and acquiring research equipment, with a specific focus on addressing deferred maintenance and health risks. Priority for funding is given to institutions that demonstrate the greatest need due to facility conditions or financial limitations, as well as those serving high percentages of low-income students. The legislation also includes requirements for recipients to submit detailed plans, engage in community partnerships, and use a portion of funds for administrative costs, while prohibiting the use of money for routine maintenance or athletic facilities.
The Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act of 2026 establishes a new Office of Cancer Survivorship within the National Cancer Institute to coordinate research and education focused on the long-term health needs of the approximately 18 million Americans living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis. The bill mandates that Medicare and Medicaid cover specific services, including the creation of personalized care plans at key transition points and fertility preservation treatments for survivors facing treatment-related infertility. Additionally, the legislation creates a grant program to support cancer survivors and their families with employment assistance and establishes a new payment model designed to improve the quality and coordination of long-term survivorship care.
The Protecting Our Democracy Act is a comprehensive legislative bill designed to prevent abuses of presidential power, restore checks and balances, and defend elections against foreign interference. Key provisions include prohibiting the President from granting self-pardons, requiring congressional oversight for pardons involving the President or their family, and banning the President from accepting payments from individuals who have received clemency. The bill also strengthens enforcement of the Hatch Act and ethics rules for political appointees, mandates greater transparency in presidential tax returns and campaign finances, and restricts the use of federal property for political conventions. Additionally, it expands reporting requirements for foreign contacts in federal campaigns and imposes stricter penalties for violations of election laws.
The Democracy Without Intimidation Act removes a legal exception that previously allowed federal troops to be present at polling places unless there was an armed enemy threat. This change directly affects federal law enforcement agencies and political appointees by prohibiting the use of military forces to secure voting sites. The bill also strengthens prosecution efforts by authorizing more magistrate judges to handle related cases quickly and creating a new civil lawsuit option for voters who feel intimidated. Additionally, it allows aggrieved individuals to appeal these civil cases directly to the Supreme Court with expedited processing.
The FORTIFY Act allows defense equipment and services to move freely between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania without needing special permission from the U.S. President. This change removes previous legal barriers that required U.S. approval whenever one Baltic nation shared military supplies with another. Additionally, the bill directs the U.S. Department of Defense to set up a shared digital system so these countries can easily coordinate and share ammunition for training and operations. The legislation aims to strengthen regional security by making it easier for Baltic allies to support each other militarily.
The Moms Matter Act directs the Department of Health and Human Services to create two main grant programs aimed at improving maternal mental health and reducing health disparities among pregnant and postpartum individuals. The first program provides funding to community organizations and healthcare providers to expand services that integrate mental health care into prenatal and postpartum settings, with a specific focus on groups facing higher risks of mortality and morbidity. The second program offers grants to educational institutions to train and recruit a diverse workforce of mental health professionals who specialize in caring for pregnant and postpartum patients. Both initiatives require recipients to submit annual reports on their activities and outcomes, while the legislation authorizes $25 million and $15 million respectively for each program from fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
The Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act allocates $200 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve data collection, surveillance, and research on how public health emergencies affect pregnant and postpartum individuals. This funding supports efforts to gather detailed demographic information on maternal health outcomes, establish regional centers of excellence, and expand surveys to better reach underrepresented communities. The legislation also requires the CDC to make this data publicly available in a disaggregated format while protecting patient privacy, and mandates public education campaigns to ensure accurate information reaches families and healthcare providers. Additionally, the bill creates a diverse task force to develop federal recommendations for respectful maternity care during emergencies, addressing issues such as telehealth access, doula coverage, and the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. These measures aim to reduce health disparities and improve care quality for pregnant people from racial and ethnic minority groups during public health crises.
This bill requires companies that list securities in the United States to disclose whether their supply chains involve goods produced using forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. To comply, issuers must obtain independent audits from third-party auditors and publicly report detailed information about their sourcing, including specific facility names, revenue generated from affected products, and steps taken to avoid human rights abuses. The legislation defines forced labor broadly to include work under state-sponsored programs targeting specific ethnic groups in Xinjiang and mandates that these disclosure rules remain in effect for eight years unless the President certifies that such abuses have ended.
The BEACON Act of 2026 establishes two grant programs to improve treatment for veterans with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). It authorizes $30 million over three years for grants to nonprofits, academic institutions, and health providers to develop and test non-drug neurorehabilitation approaches, focusing on mental health outcomes, suicide risk reduction, and long-term recovery. The bill requires grantees to prioritize patient-centered care, conduct clinical studies, and partner with VA facilities, with each grant capped at $5 million annually. A separate $10 million annual program funds independent research on TBI treatments, requiring third-party analysis and annual reports to Congress. The pilot programs expire after three years, with evaluations to determine future expansion.
Improving SCRA Benefit Utilization Act This bill expands interest rate protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and requires expanded training for and outreach to servicemembers regarding financial literacy and SCRA protections. The SCRA caps the maximum interest charged on any debt incurred by a servicemember prior to entering active duty at 6% annually if the servicemember's ability to pay is materially affected by active-duty status; servicemembers must provide notice and other documentation to creditors to receive this cap. The bill requires creditors to apply this cap to all of a servicemember’s obligations or liabilities with that creditor, regardless of whether a certain obligation or liability was specifically mentioned in the required notice provided by the member to invoke SCRA rights. Further, the bill requires creditors to provide all necessary mechanisms to ensure a servicemember is able to submit any required documentation. The bill also requires that the financial literacy training program provided to servicemembers include information about consumer financial protections afforded to such members and their dependents, including protections regarding interest rate limits under the SCRA. Additionally, the bill requires the military department concerned to provide written notice of benefits under the SCRA to servicemembers at the time they first enter military service and, for members of the reserve components, at the time they first enter service in the reserves and at any time when they are mobilized or ordered to active duty for more than 30 days.
