Maggie Hassan

This bill reauthorizes and expands a federal pilot program that helps states build and maintain their own medical stockpiles for public health emergencies. The legislation extends funding through fiscal year 2031 and allows states to coordinate with each other to share best practices and potentially establish regional stockpiles in addition to state-specific ones. The bill also requires federal officials overseeing the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise to consult with state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments, rather than doing so only "as appropriate." Additionally, it directs the Government Accountability Office to study the effectiveness of regional stockpiling approaches as part of its oversight activities. The bill affects state and local public health officials, health care providers, and emergency management officials who will be involved in coordinating these stockpiling efforts.

This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that certain advertisements promoting President Donald Trump should not be paid for by the U.S. government.

This bill designates biotechnology and biomanufacturing infrastructure as critical infrastructure that requires protection by the federal government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The legislation amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to ensure that biotech facilities and biomanufacturing operations receive the same security oversight and coordination that other critical infrastructure sectors receive, and establishes a framework for the agency to work with industry groups, information sharing organizations, and sector coordinators to protect these facilities. The bill requires the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director to submit a work plan within 45 days of enactment that identifies biotech stakeholders, creates an outreach strategy, and ensures these industries are represented in relevant coordinating councils, with updated strategic protection plans by September 30, 2027. The director must also report back within one year on how the work plan is being implemented and within two years on whether any critical biotechnology areas remain unprotected. No specific funding amounts are mentioned in the legislation.

This bill would prohibit food packaging that intentionally contains PFAS (a class of man-made chemicals known as "forever chemicals") from being sold across state lines in the United States. The prohibition would apply to manufacturers and sellers of food containers and would be enforced under federal food safety laws. The ban takes effect on January 1, 2028, giving companies about 16 months from the bill's introduction to reformulate their packaging products. This legislation affects food manufacturers, packaging suppliers, and ultimately consumers concerned about chemical exposure through food containers. The bill does not specify any new funding requirements or federal agency resources needed to implement the ban.

This resolution expresses the Senate's support for designating September 18, 2026, as "National Concussion Awareness Day" to draw attention to concussions, or mild traumatic brain injuries, as a significant public health issue. It cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing millions of sports-related concussions occur annually, with children and teens particularly affected through emergency department visits for sports- and recreation-related brain injuries. The resolution recognizes organizations working to raise awareness about concussions and encourages federal, state, and local policymakers to collaborate on improving public understanding of proper concussion diagnosis and management. It also calls for continued research and prevention efforts to reduce the most serious long-term effects of brain injuries. As a simple resolution, it does not create new laws, allocate funding, or impose binding requirements, but instead serves as a symbolic statement of Senate priorities regarding brain injury awareness.

The Addiction Grants Modernization Act authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a single, centralized online application system for federal substance use disorder grant programs across multiple agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Department of Justice. The bill requires the secretary to identify which discretionary grant programs will be included in this system and establish a secure website interface where organizations can browse and apply for grants filtered by organization type and activity area such as prevention, overdose reversal, treatment, and recovery services. A working group composed of federal employees and non-federal stakeholders like state directors and community organizations will develop recommendations for the centralized application system and report to Congress by an unspecified deadline. The bill requires the secretary to publish the list of covered grant programs by December 31, 2028, and to synchronize funding announcements across programs whenever possible, though it does not authorize changes to existing grant funding levels or eligible activities.

To delay the deadlines for certain reporting requirements to make it feasible for the Secretary of Homeland Security to meet such deadlines.

Improving Coordination and Access to Resources Equitably for Youth Act or the Improving CARE for Youth ActThis bill prohibits state Medicaid programs from denying coverage for primary care and mental health services that are furnished on the same day at the same office, clinic, or other outpatient facility.

The Stop Superbugs Act directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to award a competitive grant to the Antibiotic Resistance Leadership Group to establish a clinical research network focused on antibiotic resistance. The network will work to speed up recruitment of trial participants, conduct outreach in community settings, pair new diagnostic tools with experimental drugs during testing, and develop ways to measure patient experiences in clinical studies. This legislation affects researchers, clinical trial participants, and healthcare institutions working on antibiotic resistance solutions. The bill authorizes whatever funding is necessary to support these efforts, though no specific dollar amount is specified. The competitive grant structure means organizations will need to apply and compete for the funding to establish and operate this research network.

This bill moves up the deadline for when certain financial institutions and businesses must file information returns with the IRS. Currently, many of these returns can be filed as late as February or March, but the new law would require them to be filed electronically by January 31 of the following year. The affected returns include those reporting income from interest, dividends, royalties, gambling winnings, and certain payments for goods and services. The stated purpose is to help the IRS detect tax fraud and identity theft more quickly by getting this information earlier in the tax year. The changes take effect for returns filed after December 31, 2027, giving businesses and financial institutions time to adjust their systems before the new deadline applies.

This bill expands protections and support for the millions of children being raised by relatives or close family friends outside the traditional foster care system, commonly known as kinship or grandfamilies. The legislation amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to ensure that kinship families receive better resources, including requiring that child welfare agencies prioritize placing children with relatives, support licensing relatives as foster parents, and create community networks to assist kinship caregivers. The bill also mandates that child abuse prevention programs provide specialized training and services tailored to kinship caregivers, such as help managing children's behavioral and mental health challenges, and tracks how many children are diverted from the foster care system to live with relatives. The changes aim to address the unique circumstances of kinship families and improve coordination of evidence-based practices to support these arrangements, which the bill notes currently serve about 2.4 million children with relatively little structured support compared to the formal foster care system.

This bill establishes two pilot programs to address the shortage of qualified cybersecurity workers in the federal government. The first program creates a federal apprenticeship for cybersecurity positions, employing up to 25 new apprentices annually within the Department of Homeland Security and potentially other federal agencies. Participants will receive paid on-the-job training aligned with national cybersecurity standards and must commit to federal employment for a period equal to their apprenticeship length, or repay training costs. The second program provides free cybersecurity training to veterans, transitioning active-duty service members, and military spouses, incorporating both classroom instruction and paid federal work-based learning opportunities. Both pilots will coordinate across multiple federal agencies to leverage existing training resources and frameworks while prioritizing recruitment of women and underrepresented minorities. The legislation requires annual progress reports to Congress through 2031 and authorizes the Comptroller General to evaluate whether the programs should continue beyond their five-year initial periods.