Sponsors (22)
Expands Title VIII nursing education and practice grant eligibility and allowable uses, adds faculty/student capacity authority, broadens beneficiary groups, and raises authorized funding for FY2026–2030.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize certain nursing workforce development programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by David Joyce · Last progress May 23, 2025
The bill expands and modernizes support for nursing education and public health programs—likely increasing workforce capacity and training quality—but does so with higher authorized spending, uncertain actual appropriations, and trade-offs in how limited grant dollars and implementation resources will be allocated.
Nursing students and communities: expands eligibility to advanced practice nursing traineeships and covers clinical training and preceptor fees, while funding simulation/telehealth and expanded clinical placements — reducing student out-of-pocket costs and increasing the number and preparedness of nurses who can serve communities (including underserved areas).
Hospitals, clinics, and patients: raises authorized federal funding (increase of $46.5M/year for parts B–D and $4M/year for part E for FY2026–2030), providing more resources to expand public health preparedness and workforce programs.
Federal agencies and program planners: creates a predictable five-year authorization window (FY2026–2030), improving multi-year planning stability for staffing and program implementation.
Hospitals, schools, and program beneficiaries: authorization does not guarantee appropriations—Congress may not provide the newly authorized funds, creating significant uncertainty that could leave programs without the expected resources.
Taxpayers and the federal budget: expanding allowable costs and higher authorized spending increases potential federal outlays and could add pressure to budgets and deficits if offsets are not provided.
Applicants and students in other disciplines: broadening eligibility and covering additional training costs may redirect limited grant dollars, reducing the number of trainees funded or disadvantaging other programs/disciplines.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Expands and clarifies federal support for advanced nursing education, clinical training, faculty growth, and nursing practice partnerships while increasing authorized funding for Title VIII nursing workforce programs for fiscal years 2026–2030. It broadens eligible trainees and allowable grant uses (including simulation, telehealth, and clinical education costs), adds survivors of sexual assault as a prioritized patient group for practice programs, and explicitly authorizes activities to increase faculty and student capacity at nursing schools. Also raises the authorized annual funding levels for parts B–E of Title VIII for FY2026–2030 compared with the prior authorization period, updating grant program scope and funding to help address nursing workforce shortages and expand clinical training capacity.