Chris Van Hollen

This bill modifies federal student grant programs to provide flexibility for students with disabilities who have been approved for reduced course loads as a reasonable accommodation. Currently, students must be enrolled full-time to receive maximum grant amounts, but this bill allows students with disabilities taking reduced course loads to be treated as full-time students for grant calculation purposes if they take at least five credits per term or their approved reduced load, whichever is greater. The changes apply to three major grant programs: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and TEACH Grants (for future teachers). The bill does not specify new funding amounts but reallocates existing grant eligibility. The amendments take effect retroactively to align with prior changes to federal financial aid calculations made through the FAFSA Simplification Act.

The Ready to Work Act of 2026 establishes a federal jobs program administered through local workforce boards to place long-term unemployed workers—those age 18 or older who have been jobless or not full-time students for at least 27 weeks—into temporary positions designed to lead to permanent employment. Participating employers must pay workers the highest applicable wage rate, provide equal benefits, and cannot displace existing workers or have more than 10% of their workforce in program positions, with strong worker protections including grievance procedures with decisions required within 60 days and binding arbitration available for disputes. Local boards must submit detailed 4-year plans describing how they will serve eligible workers through job placements, career services, and training partnerships, with performance measured by job placement rates and worker income gains, and underperforming boards subject to replacement. The program includes competitive grants for boards serving high-poverty areas and chronically low-employment regions, with employers required to contribute 33% of wage costs (reduced in high-unemployment areas). The bill provides open-ended mandatory funding for fiscal year 2026 and beyond to implement these provisions nationwide.

The Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Centers Act of 2026 creates a federal grant program to establish "hub-and-spoke" networks for treating sickle cell disease and other inherited blood disorders across the country. These networks connect medical hubs at hospitals and clinics that provide advanced treatments like stem cell transplants and gene therapy with smaller healthcare providers and community organizations to deliver coordinated, lifelong care to patients. The bill establishes a National Sickle Cell Disease Coordinating Center to oversee the networks and develop a national care strategy, while requiring the Centers for Disease Control to collect and monitor data on treatment outcomes and health disparities. Congress will receive progress reports every three to five years, and the bill authorizes federal funding with 70 percent allocated to hub-and-spoke networks, 20 percent to community-based organizations, and 5 percent each to the coordinating center and data collection efforts.

The Sickle Cell Care Expansion Act of 2026 creates three federal programs to improve sickle cell disease care and research. First, it establishes a scholarship and loan repayment program for physicians who commit to working in sickle cell disease research or treatment, particularly serving adult patients, with up to four years of medical school scholarships or repayment of educational loans. Second, it authorizes grants to community organizations, nonprofits, and health centers to develop education and advocacy programs that increase health literacy about sickle cell disease and improve access to care. Third, it funds grants to hospitals and medical institutions to support transition programs that help young patients move from pediatric to adult sickle cell care, including hiring transition coordinators and training adult specialists. The bill authorizes $150 million annually for the physician recruitment program, $50 million for community education grants, and $70 million for transition care grants, with all funding available from fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

This bill creates a new housing assistance program called Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers designed to help families with young children who are homeless, unstably housed, or living in poverty. The vouchers will be distributed competitively to public housing agencies, which must offer families mobility services to help them move to areas with good schools and quality childcare, though participation is voluntary. The program targets families with children under age 6 or expecting a child within 300 days, and aims to improve outcomes by relocating them to higher-opportunity neighborhoods. The bill authorizes funding for up to 50,000 vouchers per year from fiscal years 2027 through 2032, along with additional funds to cover administrative and support service costs. Housing agencies that receive funding must ensure vouchers are reused for new eligible families when they become available, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has up to two years to distribute initial funding with a 180-day timeline for subsequent years.

This bill would prohibit the federal government from using taxpayer money to install new permanent fencing around the U.S. Capitol building, Capitol Buildings, or Capitol Grounds. The legislation would apply to any new permanent fencing projects in these areas but would still allow the government to repair or replace fencing that already existed at the time the bill becomes law. The bill was introduced in September 2026 and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. There is no specific funding amount or implementation timeline specified in the legislation, as it simply restricts how existing federal funds can be spent on Capitol security infrastructure.

This bill would ban the use of any federal, state, foreign, or private funds to build new permanent fencing around the White House complex in Washington, DC. The prohibition applies after the bill becomes law and covers a defined area bounded by H Street on the north, 15th Street on the east, Constitution Avenue on the south, and 17th Street on the west. The legislation does allow for the repair or replacement of fencing that already exists around the White House as of the bill's enactment date. The bill affects anyone or any entity—whether governmental bodies or private parties—that might seek to fund additional permanent perimeter fencing at the White House. No specific funding or implementation timeline is outlined in the legislation beyond the effective date of enactment.

This resolution designates the week of September 13 through September 19, 2026, as "Community School Coordinators Appreciation Week" to recognize and celebrate the work of community school coordinators across the country. The resolution highlights research showing that community schools—which coordinate services and resources between schools and their communities—improve student outcomes including attendance, academic achievement, mental health, and graduation rates, while reducing disciplinary issues and achievement gaps. The resolution emphasizes that community school coordinators play a critical role in building and maintaining these partnerships, and notes that studies show each dollar invested in a coordinator's salary generates about seven dollars in return on investment. The resolution calls on students, parents, school administrators, and public officials to participate in events celebrating community school coordinators during that designated week. No funding is appropriated, as this is a symbolic resolution expressing Senate recognition rather than legislation that creates programs or allocates money.

This resolution requests that the Department of State provide Congress with an unclassified statement regarding Israel's human rights practices.The resolution specifies that the statement should include certain elements, including (1) all credible information concerning the alleged killing of nine specified U.S. citizens and any other U.S. citizens by the Israeli Defense Forces, Israeli security forces, or Israeli settlers in 2022 or later; (2) all credible information concerning the identities of potential suspects in the killings; and (3) details on any steps taken by Israeli authorities to investigate the killings and hold accountable those responsible.The statement should also include other elements, such as assessments of U.S. citizens currently held in Israeli prisons and the human rights situation of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention in the West Bank.

The Delivering Americans Affordable Homes Act allows the U.S. Postal Service to lease its real property to state, local, and tribal governments and their development partners to build housing and generate revenue. The bill requires the Postal Service to establish a Housing Liaison Office within 60 days that will identify suitable parcels from the agency's roughly 8,500 properties nationwide, publish an inventory of available land, and establish a process for developers to propose housing projects. Each lease must be at least 60 years long, require that at least 20 percent of units be affordable to households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income for at least 50 years, and provide the Postal Service with revenue equal to the property's fair market value. The legislation authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to fund the Housing Liaison Office's operations, with the Postal Service able to reserve up to $10 million yearly from lease revenues to support the program's activities.

This bill requires large multinational corporations whose securities are publicly traded in the United States to report detailed financial information broken down by country and tax jurisdiction. Covered companies must disclose revenues, profits, taxes paid, employee counts, and assets for each location where they operate, making it easier for regulators and the public to identify potential tax avoidance strategies. The Securities and Exchange Commission must issue a proposed rule within 270 days of the law's enactment and finalize regulations within one year, with the reporting requirement taking effect one year after final rules are issued. Companies would file these reports on the same schedule as their tax returns, and all information must be made publicly available in a machine-readable format online. The legislation targets multinational corporations with substantial annual revenue and aims to increase transparency around offshore business activities and tax practices.

This bill establishes a comprehensive federal program to address diagnostic errors in the United States health care system, which Congress identifies as a leading cause of preventable harm and waste. The legislation directs the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to create a research and quality improvement program focused on understanding diagnostic errors and developing evidence-based strategies to prevent them, with $45 million authorized annually from 2027 through 2031. The bill also requires development of a patient reporting system allowing patients, families, and caregivers to voluntarily report diagnostic errors and other safety concerns, with legal protections ensuring these reports cannot be used in lawsuits but only for improvement purposes, funded at $20 million annually from 2027 through 2030. Additionally, the legislation establishes an interagency council to coordinate diagnostic improvement efforts across federal health agencies, support training programs in diagnostic safety, develop quality measures, and standardize data collection, with $1.5 million authorized annually for the council's operations through 2030. The bill aims to reduce health care waste and improve patient outcomes by bringing together research, patient input, clinical practice, and federal coordination around diagnostic safety and quality.