Sponsors (2)
The bill seeks to strengthen biodefense through coordinated analysis, stakeholder-informed recommendations, and clearer state/local guidance, but does so by delaying immediate briefings and introducing potential costs, compliance burdens, and transparency trade-offs.
Scientists, researchers, and health systems receive a coordinated analysis and actionable recommendations to modernize biosafety and biosecurity, improving preparedness for engineering-biology risks.
State and local governments and hospitals get clearer guidance, voluntary best practices, and consultation resources to reduce risk of misuse or accidental release at the local level.
Federal agencies gain flexibility (by tying the briefing deadline to NDAA FY2027 enactment) that reduces the chance of missed interagency coordination and gives agencies more time to prepare aligned biodefense briefings.
Delaying the mandated biodefense briefings postpones delivery to Congress and the public, which may slow oversight and delay identification/remediation of biodefense gaps—reducing near-term preparedness for health systems and the public.
Taxpayers could face new or increased federal spending if Congress funds the recommended programs and authorities stemming from the reports and proposals.
Researchers, hospitals, and institutions may incur additional regulatory requirements and compliance costs as recommendations are implemented, increasing administrative burden and potentially diverting resources from research and care.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Moves a fixed biodefense briefing deadline to a date tied to the FY2027 NDAA enactment and requires a mandated analysis with recommendations to improve readiness against engineering biology risks.
Introduced April 21, 2026 by Timothy Michael Kaine · Last progress April 21, 2026
Amends existing biodefense reporting deadlines by replacing a fixed date with a date tied to enactment of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, effectively extending and re-basing the statutory deadline for required briefings. Requires that the next biennial biodefense threat assessment briefing after enactment include a focused, unclassified analysis and recommendations to assess and improve the readiness of U.S. national security and life-sciences research sectors against engineering biology risks, developed in consultation with government, industry, academia, and civil society and including proposed legislative steps and funding estimates. The required analysis must evaluate threats, describe current R&D activities across covered agencies, review authorities and programs (biosafety, biosecurity, biodefense), identify gaps and redundancies, and recommend programmatic, regulatory, and legislative actions to align R&D, modernize authorities, and establish or improve safeguards and guidance. The deliverable may include a classified annex but is otherwise unclassified.