This bill, titled the ICE Standards Act, mandates several reforms to how U.S. immigration officers are trained and operate. It requires annual training on use of force, de-escalation tactics, and constitutional rights, along with the use of body-worn and dashboard cameras for all officers. The legislation also requires officers to wear visible identification unless under specific safety exceptions, prohibits enforcement actions in schools, hospitals, places of worship, and polling places except in emergencies, and mandates verification of citizenship before making arrests. Additionally, it establishes a strict prohibition on deporting U.S. citizens and requires notification to local law enforcement agencies before federal immigration operations begin.
Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserves Tuition Fairness Act of 2025 This act requires that the Department of Veterans Affairs disapprove courses of education provided by educational institutions that charge higher than in-state tuition for individuals utilizing the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve education benefits while living in the state where the education is located, regardless of the individual’s state of residence.
This bill, known as the State-Based Education Loan Awareness Act, clarifies that state-run student loan programs are not subject to certain federal rules about preferred lender arrangements. It directly affects state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other entities that offer private student loans without federal government backing. The legislation defines these state programs by requiring that they offer interest rates and fees at least as favorable as federal Direct PLUS loans and that borrowers are informed about federal loan options before taking out private loans. By making this exclusion explicit, the bill ensures state programs operate under different regulatory requirements than federally backed lending arrangements.
This bill, titled the Addressing Teacher Shortages Act of 2026, creates a federal grant program to help schools and school districts recruit and keep high-quality teachers, with a focus on rural areas, high-need subjects like STEM and special education, and underrepresented communities. The program provides competitive grants to eligible entities such as local school districts for at least five years to fund activities like teaching residencies, mentor programs, Grow Your Own initiatives that train local community members as teachers, and 2+2 partnerships between community colleges and universities. Grant recipients must match federal funds with non-federal contributions unless waived due to economic hardship, and the program prioritizes applications that include partnerships with minority-serving institutions and prepare paraprofessionals or substitute teachers for licensure.
This bill directs the U.S. Secretary of Education to create a pilot program that awards competitive grants to partnerships between colleges and employers to integrate cybersecurity training into postsecondary career and technical education programs. The grants, up to $500,000 each, are intended to help prepare workers for critical infrastructure sectors like energy, water, and transportation by teaching cybersecurity skills aligned with national workforce standards. To receive funding, partnerships must include at least one college and two or more employers in a critical infrastructure sector, and they must submit detailed plans covering curriculum development, workforce needs, diversity goals, and how they will sustain the programs after the grant period ends. The bill also requires recipients to report annually on how funds were used, student outcomes, and employment results, with a total funding authorization of $10 million.
This bill creates a new Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight Committee composed of representatives from multiple federal agencies including the Department of Education, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Justice, and others. The committee will coordinate oversight of for-profit colleges that receive federal student aid, share complaint information among agencies, and publish an annual report on institutional performance and enforcement actions. The bill also establishes a 'For-Profit College Warning List' that would publicly identify institutions facing lawsuits, settlements, or federal assistance suspensions, requiring written responses from schools before publication.
This bill, titled the Every Student is a Citizen Act, amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to increase funding and expand programs focused on American history and civics education. It authorizes $40 million annually for these activities and adds specific provisions to existing education programs. The bill allows schools to use funds for hands-on civic engagement like mock elections, lessons on the Constitution, media literacy training, and student participation in community governance and journalism. It also supports travel to government and historical sites, voter registration efforts, and respectful debate skills across diverse student groups.
This bill, known as the HERO Act, creates a federal grant program to help schools purchase opioid overdose reversal drugs and develop emergency response plans and educational resources for students and staff. Schools receiving federal funding would be required to report any distribution of these reversal drugs to federal tracking systems. The grants would be awarded competitively, with priority given to schools in areas with high rates of opioid overdoses, and recipients would need to submit annual reports on how they used the funds and implemented safety measures.
This bill establishes the Addressing Teacher Shortages Act of 2026, which creates a federal grant program to help schools and districts prepare and retain educators in under-resourced and underserved communities. The program provides competitive grants to eligible entities for activities such as teaching residency programs, mentor teacher initiatives, Grow Your Own programs that recruit local community members, and 2+2 partnerships between community colleges and universities. Grant funds are specifically reserved to address shortages in rural areas, high-need subject areas like STEM and special education, and to diversify the teaching workforce. Recipients must provide matching funds and submit detailed reports on retention rates, licensure pass rates, and the percentage of teachers from underrepresented groups. The program authorizes funding from fiscal years 2027 through 2032 and includes provisions for planning grants for entities that have not previously received support.
This bill amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to require state and local workforce development programs to create partnerships between educational institutions and employers. The changes apply to youth, adult, and local workforce development programs focused on high-demand occupations. These partnerships must aim to address specific education and skill needs identified through regional workforce analyses. The legislation affects state and local workforce boards, educational institutions, and employers by mandating collaborative program development.
