Tina Smith

The Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act would ban mandatory arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and representation waivers in employee retirement plans covered by federal law. The bill makes it illegal for employers, plan sponsors, and plan administrators to require workers or retirees to agree to arbitration before a dispute arises, and severely restricts their ability to require arbitration after a dispute occurs by imposing strict conditions including a 45-day waiting period, written notice, and affirmative written consent. The legislation also prohibits provisions that give plan administrators broad discretion in benefit decisions, requiring courts instead to review such decisions from scratch rather than deferring to administrator interpretations. The changes take effect immediately upon enactment and apply to any dispute or claim arising after that date, though employers have until one year after enactment to update their plan documents to comply. The Department of Labor is authorized to issue regulations implementing these requirements.

The Mapping Housing Discrimination Act authorizes a grant program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support colleges and universities in analyzing, digitizing, and mapping historical records of housing discrimination dating back to 1850. Eligible institutions, with preference given to minority-serving colleges, would receive competitive grants lasting up to five years to work with local governments to identify and catalog discriminatory housing practices such as racial covenants in property deeds and discriminatory state and local laws. The bill requires participating institutions to follow uniform data standards established by HUD and submit their findings to create a publicly accessible national database of housing discrimination records at no cost to users. The legislation authorizes $5 million annually for grants and $750,000 annually for program administration from fiscal years 2027 through 2036, and requires HUD to report to Congress on the program's progress every three years.

The Public Housing Fire Safety Act establishes a competitive grant program that gives public housing agencies money to install automatic sprinkler systems in older public housing buildings. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will award these grants to help improve fire safety in public housing properties that are not newly constructed. The bill also requires HUD to conduct inspections of public housing over the next three years to document which buildings have sprinkler systems and which do not, then submit a report to Congress with recommendations for improving fire safety. The legislation authorizes $25 million per year from 2027 through 2036 for this grant program, with funds added to HUD's existing Capital Fund for public housing improvements. The bill does not require any public housing agency to install sprinklers if they choose not to apply for the grant money.

This bill creates a new competitive grant program to help states, local governments, tribes, nonprofits, and public housing agencies build and upgrade homeless shelters and permanent supportive housing. Eligible entities can use grant funds for construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of shelters and housing units, as well as related infrastructure like mobile health clinics, day centers, rapid rehousing programs, and energy efficiency improvements. The bill requires that half of all grant funding support shelters and half support permanent supportive housing, with additional funds reserved for tribal governments and rural areas. The legislation authorizes $500 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, and requires that all construction use domestically produced materials and pay workers prevailing wages.

Emergency Grant Aid for College Students ActThis bill establishes a grant program for emergency student financial aid. It also prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from transferring functions related to this program to other federal agencies.Specifically, the bill directs ED to establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to provide emergency financial aid grants to students.The bill also prohibits ED from entering into or carrying out interagency agreements related to this program. This prohibition applies to the transfer of functions such as administering or operating programs, making grants, carrying out technical assistance, enforcing rights and requirements (e.g., data collection requirements), conducting administrative and oversight functions, and monitoring grantees.

This bill creates two new federal grant programs to address physician shortages in rural America. The Rural Residency Planning and Development program would provide three-year grants to eligible organizations, including hospitals, medical schools, and tribal entities, to establish new physician residency programs that train doctors specifically for rural practice in areas like primary care, family medicine, psychiatry, surgery, and obstetrics. A companion technical assistance program would award four-year grants to help these organizations plan and develop their rural residency initiatives. The legislation authorizes 12.7 million dollars annually from 2027 through 2031 to fund both programs, with funds remaining available until fully spent. By focusing on training doctors who will commit to practicing in underserved rural communities, the bill aims to help address critical healthcare workforce gaps in areas that struggle to attract medical professionals.

The Cancer Drug Parity Act of 2026 requires employer-sponsored health plans to charge patients the same out-of-pocket costs for oral cancer medications taken at home as they do for cancer drugs administered by doctors through injection or intravenous infusion. The bill applies to all group health plans and their affiliated insurance coverage, affecting millions of workers and their families who receive health insurance through their employers. Plans cannot circumvent this requirement by raising costs for all cancer medications, reclassifying benefits, or applying stricter limits to oral drugs compared to injected ones, though they can still require prior authorization and other standard utilization controls. The law takes effect for plan years beginning on January 1, 2027, giving health plans time to adjust their coverage structures. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office must complete a study within two years to evaluate how the law affects patients' out-of-pocket costs and provide Congress with recommendations on improving access to oral cancer medications.

This Senate resolution designates June 2026 as LGBTQ Pride Month. It is a symbolic measure that does not create new law or allocate funding, but rather expresses the Senate's support for LGBTQ rights and recognition. The resolution acknowledges the history of discrimination faced by LGBTQ individuals in the United States and around the world, highlights their contributions to society, and calls attention to ongoing disparities in employment, housing, healthcare, and other areas. It also recognizes key milestones such as the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage and the 2020 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The resolution encourages all Americans to use June to learn about LGBTQ history and celebrate the community's achievements and contributions to the nation.

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense to study and report on how military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence increase suicide risk among active duty service members and veterans. The agencies must complete this report within 18 months and present findings to Congress and the public. Within one year of publishing the report, both departments must incorporate these findings into their clinical practice guidelines for suicide risk assessment and management. The legislation aims to improve how the military and VA identify and help people at highest risk of suicide by recognizing trauma and relationship violence as critical warning signs.

This bill reauthorizes federal programs that provide training and assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers, veteran farmers, and beginning farmers through 2031. The legislation extends funding for outreach grants and requires that these programs specifically include interpretation and translation services to help farmers with language barriers access Department of Agriculture resources and technical assistance. The bill also establishes new transparency requirements, mandating that the Department of Agriculture compile and report data every five years on agricultural programs broken down by race, ethnicity, and gender of farm operators, covering items like crop acreage, loan guarantees, and grazing permits while maintaining appropriate privacy protections. These changes aim to improve equity in agriculture by ensuring underrepresented farmers have better access to government programs and by creating accountability measures to track whether benefits are distributed fairly across different demographic groups.

The SNAP Tribal Food Sovereignty Act of 2026 would allow Indian tribes and tribal organizations to take control of administering the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, in their own communities. Under current law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture runs these programs, but this bill would let tribes enter into contracts with the Agriculture Department to plan, manage, and operate SNAP services themselves if they request to do so through a tribal resolution. The legislation applies the same rules and procedures that tribes already use for managing other federal programs under existing self-determination agreements, ensuring consistency across tribal administration of federal services. The Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Self-Governance would provide technical assistance to both the Agriculture Department and participating tribes to help implement these new arrangements. This change aims to give tribes greater control over food assistance programs serving their members and support tribal food sovereignty and self-governance.

FDPIR Tribal Food Sovereignty Act of 2026This bill expands and makes permanent a pilot program through which the Department of Agriculture must enter into self-determination contracts with tribal organizations, upon the request of an Indian tribe, to carry out the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). (FDPIR provides, in lieu of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, food commodities to low-income households on Indian reservations and to Native American families residing in Oklahoma or in designated areas near Oklahoma.)

The Postal Delivery Accountability Act requires the U.S. Postal Service to implement recommendations made by its Inspector General to improve how it identifies and notifies customers about undelivered and partially delivered mail routes. The bill specifically directs the Postal Service to adopt recommendations from a December 2022 Inspector General report on this issue. The Postal Service must complete implementation of these recommendations within one year of the bill becoming law. This legislation affects mail customers nationwide who experience delivery problems, as well as the Postal Service and its operations. The bill does not specify additional federal funding but places an implementation requirement on the existing Postal Service operations.

Promoting Access to Local Agriculture Act of 2026This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a streamlined process for farmers and ranchers to provide benefits under certain federal nutrition programs. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP).Specifically, USDA must establish a streamlined application process for farmers and ranchers to apply to be vendors under the nutrition programs, including by developing a single application for the programs or an information sharing system. USDA must also develop a streamlined process for these vendors to use standardized technology to process program benefits (such as a single piece of equipment or a mobile application).Further, USDA must ensure that the program benefit processing equipment and systems made available by a state agency are appropriate for the entity. For example, this includes ensuring wireless or mobile processing equipment and technology systems are appropriate for farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer markets.

This bill reauthorizes the Community Connect Grant Program, which provides federal funding to expand broadband internet access in rural areas. The legislation updates the program's technical standards by increasing the required download speeds from 10 megabits per second to 25 megabits per second and upstream speeds from 1 megabits per second to 3 megabits per second, bringing the standards more in line with modern internet needs. It also broadens eligibility to include rural areas receiving broadband service through future network deployments funded by other federal programs. The bill extends the program's authorization through 2031, giving the initiative continued funding authority beyond the current expiration date. Overall, the measure aims to improve broadband access for underserved rural communities by updating performance requirements and extending the program's lifespan.

The HELP Separated Children Act establishes protective procedures for parents arrested during immigration enforcement operations to prevent family separations. The law requires immigration officials to provide detained parents with unlimited phone calls to arrange child care, offer information about legal services and consulates in their preferred language, and prohibit the use of excessive force, child interpreters, or deception when children are present. Officials generally cannot transfer a parent for 48 hours after apprehension if a child is present, and must attempt to place parents in detention facilities near their children's locations while considering the child's best interests. The law also requires parental consent before notifying child welfare agencies, except in cases where a child faces imminent serious harm. A severability clause ensures that if any provision is struck down as unconstitutional, the remainder of the law continues to apply.