Track bills, resolutions, and amendments moving through Congress
DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act of 2026
The bill directs federal research coordination and increased study of Down syndrome to improve diagnosis, care, and social inclusion, but does so at added federal cost and with risks of resource diversion, privacy concerns, and limited immediate services unless further funding and protections are provided.
NIH IMPROVE Act
The bill directs multi-year federal funding to generate research and targeted interventions that could reduce maternal mortality and address disparities over time, but requires ongoing taxpayer investment and may deliver limited near-term relief if funds emphasize research over immediate community programs.
DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act of 2025
The bill centralizes and prioritizes NIH research on Down syndrome to improve diagnosis, treatments, and trial inclusion for affected individuals and to streamline research, while imposing additional federal costs, administrative burdens, and potential limits on some investigator-initiated research.
To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to support nucleic acid screening, and for other purposes.
The bill coordinates and funds standards, tools, and security guidance to make nucleic-acid screening more reliable and harder to misuse, while imposing compliance costs and creating a federal-centered consensus process that may advantage larger, well-funded actors and requires modest new federal spending.
Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025
The bill sustains and modestly increases federal support for cord blood/stem‑cell inventory through FY2027–2031—improving patient access and program stability—while increasing potential federal costs and giving the Secretary broad discretion that could lead to unit transfers/discards and uncertainty for smaller banks and clinicians.
Saving the OOI Act of 2026
The bill preserves continuous ocean monitoring and stakeholder input for OOI sites—protecting data used by coastal communities and science—at the cost of delaying potential budgetary savings, reallocations, and creating short-term uncertainty for contractors and other research priorities.
Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2025
The bill promotes increased lung cancer screening, targeted research, and federal transparency—potentially improving outcomes (especially for women and under-recognized groups)—but will consume federal resources, may raise short-term healthcare costs, and may require further legislation/funding to realize its full benefits.
Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act
The bill extends and beefs up SBIR/STTR commercialization support, procurement speed, and national‑security vetting—helping many small innovators scale—while increasing program costs, administrative burdens, and risks to competition, transparency, and privacy for some firms and taxpayers.
ASCEND Act
The bill makes NASA a larger buyer and distributor of commercial Earth imagery—improving agency operations, research access, and U.S. vendor demand—while creating tradeoffs around privacy, ongoing taxpayer costs, vendor-imposed access limits, and potential constraints on foreign data sources.
To amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to reauthorize the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System.
The bill provides continuity and predictable, modest funding for volcanic monitoring and early warning through 2029, but caps funding at $470,000/year which may leave monitoring needs underfunded while imposing a small new federal cost and minor administrative adjustments.
ASCEND Act
The bill expands access to commercial Earth-observation data and boosts U.S. vendors through prioritized procurement and transparency, but risks higher taxpayer costs, reduced competition, legal limits on downstream uses, and disclosure of sensitive vendor information.
ANCHOR Act
The bill modernizes and standardizes definitions, oversight, and cybersecurity for the U.S. research fleet—improving safety, data access, and funding predictability—at the cost of new compliance and administrative requirements, possible centralization risks, and financial burdens that may disproportionately affect smaller or nontraditional research operators.
To extend the SBIR and STTR programs, and for other purposes.
The bill extends SBIR/STTR awards and pilot flexibilities for one year to avoid disrupting small-business R&D and university partnerships, but it delays long-term reauthorization or reform and keeps costs and uncertainty on taxpayers and firms.
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2025
The bill strengthens national monitoring, coordination, and financial support for harmful algal bloom and hypoxia response—improving public health, tribal subsistence protections, and scientific capacity—while increasing federal spending, administrative complexity, and some local infrastructure and compliance costs.
Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025
The bill significantly strengthens wildfire and smoke forecasting, data sharing, and operational support—benefiting communities and responders—at the cost of substantial federal spending, added administrative complexity, privacy and equity risks, and potential implementation and sustainability challenges.
ANCHOR Act
The bill improves at-sea research capabilities and cybersecurity and clarifies costs, but those benefits come with higher operating costs, added staffing/training burdens, and risks of uneven implementation or centralized vulnerabilities.
Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act
The bill directs modest federal funding and NSF‑aligned oversight to expand K–12 modeling and data‑science education and teacher training—raising student skills and workforce connections—while imposing new federal costs, administrative burdens on districts, and risks of uneven access and funding uncertainty unless further supports or reauthorization occur.
DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act
The bill channels new DOE–NASA coordination and funding to accelerate advanced space and dual-use R&D and improve transparency, at the cost of higher federal spending, nuclear safety and data-security risks, potential mission creep, and possible disadvantages for small commercial firms.
DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act
The bill strengthens U.S. research capacity, workforce development, and technology deployment through coordinated federal R&D and funding, but does so at the cost of higher federal spending and increased security, equity, and administrative risks unless those are carefully managed.
DOE and SBA Research Act
The bill increases small-business access and DOE–SBA coordination to accelerate commercialization, while relying on existing funds and coordination that may shift costs, slow start-up, or dilute high‑risk research priorities.
Expressing support for declaring 2026 the "Year of Math" in the United States.
The resolution elevates national attention to mathematics—potentially inspiring students and boosting U.S. research visibility—but is largely symbolic and risks concentrating benefits among established institutions instead of addressing funding gaps and equity in K–12 math education.
Designating September 2025 as "National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month".
The bill channels more federal research funding into spinal cord injury science—potentially improving long-term outcomes for hundreds of thousands (including veterans) but increasing federal costs and risking delayed or insufficient short-term care for current patients.
Recognizing and celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics.
The resolution raises national awareness and could boost interest, collaboration, and the long-term quantum workforce, but it is largely symbolic and commits no funding or programs to realize those benefits.
Recognizing April 14, 2025, as "World Quantum Day", and commemorating and supporting the goals of World Quantum Day.
The resolution raises awareness and support for quantum education and research to strengthen future workforce and scientific capacity, but risks uneven implementation, added public costs, and being merely symbolic unless paired with targeted funding and concrete programs.
NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025
The bill supplies substantial, targeted funding, clearer definitions, and pro‑commercial provisions to sustain U.S. human spaceflight, science, and industrial growth, at the cost of higher taxpayer outlays, increased procurement and compliance constraints, and elevated risks of reduced competition, resource diversion, and geopolitical or ethical tensions.
INNOVATE Act
The bill expands and clarifies SBIR/STTR funding and administration to accelerate commercialization and protect national security, but it concentrates resources, tightens eligibility and screening rules, and shifts budgetary and administrative tradeoffs that may exclude some firms and strain agency capacity.
Dangerous Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act
The bill reduces the risk of accidental creation or release of dangerous pathogens by banning federally funded gain‑of‑function work, at the cost of slowing some pathogen research, potentially shifting risky work outside federal oversight, and reducing funding and increasing compliance burdens for affected researchers and institutions.
Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act of 2025
The bill standardizes definitions and eligibility to sharpen and coordinate wildland fire research and include tribes, improving focus and collaboration—but does so by locking in external definitions and narrow categories that may reduce flexibility and leave some responders or topics excluded.
Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act of 2025
The bill accelerates U.S. quantum commercialization, workforce development, domestic supply‑chain building, and practical quantum capabilities through larger, multi‑year DOE investments and interagency efforts—but does so at substantial taxpayer cost while shifting emphasis away from basic research, favoring larger/established entities, and adding administrative and collaboration restrictions.
Expanding AI Voices Act
The bill redirects federal AI R&D support toward underserved and regional institutions to expand access, workforce diversity, and AI safety education, at the trade‑off of higher federal costs, potential short‑term infrastructure sustainability challenges, and some redistribution away from top research programs.
