Sponsors (5)
Raising the diversity-jurisdiction threshold to $150,000 reduces federal court workload and modestly lowers federal litigation costs, but shifts many mid-value disputes to state courts, limiting federal access and potentially raising costs for affected plaintiffs.
Federal judges, court staff, and federal court litigants: fewer low-value diversity cases will be filed in federal court because the amount-in-controversy threshold rises to $150,000, reducing federal docket pressure and administrative burden.
Taxpayers: federal litigation-related spending may decline since fewer cases meeting the higher threshold will proceed in federal court.
People and businesses with disputes under $150,000: will generally lose access to federal courts for diversity claims and be required to pursue those cases in state court.
Small businesses and middle-class plaintiffs: may face higher litigation costs or less favorable procedures in state court, increasing the time and money required to pursue claims.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Raises the federal diversity-jurisdiction amount to $150,000 and requires CPI-based adjustments every 10 years, rounded to the nearest $25,000.
Replaces the current $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement for diversity jurisdiction with a new statutory minimum of $150,000 (excluding interest and costs) and ties future changes to inflation. The bill requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to compute and publish every adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, beginning January 1, 2030 and then once every ten years, with each new minimum rounded to the nearest $25,000. The bill preserves existing court authority to deny federal jurisdiction or award costs when a plaintiff recovers less than the jurisdictional amount as newly defined. It sets formulas and publication deadlines for computing adjustments but does not appropriate funds or create new programs.
Official title: Amend title 28, United States Code, to adjust thresholds relating to jurisdiction for inflation.
Introduced June 22, 2026 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress August 10, 2026