Sponsors (3)
The bill provides modest, targeted funding and predictable authorization to support Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, at the trade-off of lower annual funding after FY2026, shorter grant terms that increase administrative churn for small institutions, and a modest taxpayer cost.
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions and their students receive dedicated grant funding ($10M in FY2026 and $5M annually in FY2027–2031) to support education programs.
The bill provides a predictable multi-year authorization (FY2026–2031), helping institutions and USDA plan program priorities and budgets over a multi-year horizon.
Shorter maximum grant periods (3 years) increase the frequency of competitive award cycles, potentially allowing more institutions to receive funding over time.
After FY2026 the annual authorized funding drops to $5M, which may reduce overall support available to Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions compared with prior multi-year authority or expectations.
Limiting grants to 3-year terms may force programs that require longer-term funding to reapply more often, increasing administrative burden on small institutions.
Taxpayers bear the cost of the authorized funding stream (up to $10M in FY2026 and $5M annually thereafter).
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Limits competitive agriculture education grants for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to 3-year awards and authorizes $10M for FY2026 and $5M annually for FY2027–2031.
Amends the agricultural education grant authority in 7 U.S.C. § 3156 to set a maximum competitive grant period of three years for Alaska Native-serving and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions and to replace prior authorization language with a new multi-year funding authorization. The new authorization text specifies $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $5,000,000 for each fiscal year 2027–2031 for grants under the provisions for both types of institutions, and it redesignates an existing paragraph in the statute.
Introduced December 1, 2025 by Jill Tokuda · Last progress December 1, 2025