Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens TBI surveillance, prevention, funding authorization, and public reporting to improve care and reduce injuries, but it shifts fiscal and administrative burdens onto states and tribes, raises privacy and implementation risks, and depends on future appropriations to realize its benefits.
People at risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI) — including children, people with disabilities, and those with chronic conditions — will benefit from expanded CDC surveillance and prevention efforts that target related injuries, fatalities, and risk factors.
States and local programs supporting people with TBI will receive a dedicated, authorized funding stream ($13,118,000/year for FY2026–2030) to support state TBI grants and related activities.
State grant programs must maintain prior-year non-Federal spending, helping sustain services and supports for people with TBI rather than allowing cuts when federal grant dollars change.
States and American Indian consortia are required to maintain prior-year non-Federal spending, which could strain state and tribal budgets and force cuts to other programs or services.
The bill authorizes funding but does not appropriate it immediately; absent appropriations, authorized programs may remain underfunded and unable to deliver the intended services and prevention activities.
Public release of aggregated TBI data that includes occupation and small-population breakdowns could raise privacy and re-identification risks for affected individuals.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Expands CDC TBI prevention and surveillance authorities, requires public aggregation of TBI/concussion data, and adds maintenance-of-effort and waiver rules for state TBI grants.
Official title: To reauthorize and make improvements to Federal programs relating to the prevention, detection, and treatment of traumatic brain injuries, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 21, 2025 by Frank Pallone · Last progress July 21, 2026
Expands and updates federal authorities for traumatic brain injury (TBI) prevention, surveillance, and state grant programs administered through the CDC and HHS. It broadens prevention goals, requires expanded and publicly available TBI and concussion data (including certain occupation data and evidence-based practices), and updates state grant rules including a maintenance-of-effort requirement and a waiver authority. The bill does not specify new dollar amounts; it revises statutory language to require better coordination across federal agencies, greater public reporting of aggregated data with attention to higher-risk populations, and conditions on state grant funding to preserve non-federal spending levels for funded activities.