Sponsors (7)
The bill expands federal authority and grant support to get overdose-reversal drugs and broader prevention/treatment programs into schools and communities more quickly, improving emergency response and access to care, but it raises federal spending, risks delays or unequal access in some states and under-resourced schools, and creates implementation and reallocation uncertainties.
Students and school staff will gain faster on-site access to opioid overdose reversal treatment (e.g., naloxone) on school grounds, reducing overdose deaths and serious harm.
People at risk of opioid overdose (including those with substance use disorders) may receive expanded prevention and treatment services because federal funding authority is broadened to cover additional 544A programs.
Hospitals, health systems, and schools can receive federal grant support for overdose-response supplies and activities, lowering cost barriers for districts and frontline providers to obtain naloxone and related resources.
Taxpayers could face higher federal spending if Congress appropriates additional funds under the broader authorization or funds new grants to schools and health systems.
Students in states without adequate liability protections or where state law cannot be certified may experience delays or be excluded from access to grant-funded overdose-reversal supplies until certification is complete.
If appropriations are reallocated toward newly authorized 544A activities, some existing opioid programs under section 544 could receive fewer resources, reducing services for current beneficiaries.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes HHS grants so eligible entities can provide opioid overdose-reversal drugs/devices and ensure trained personnel are available at K–12 schools; extends appropriation authority to the new program.
Creates a new federal grant program that lets the HHS Secretary award funds to eligible entities so public and private elementary and secondary schools can obtain and keep opioid overdose reversal drugs/devices (e.g., naloxone) on site and ensure trained personnel are available to use them. It also adjusts existing appropriations language so funds may be used to carry out the new program. Applicants must provide information and make certifications about each school in their jurisdiction, including that trained staff may administer the drug/device, that an accessible supply will be maintained, that trained personnel will be present during operating hours, and that the state attorney general has reviewed civil liability protections for such personnel.
Introduced January 7, 2026 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress January 7, 2026