Last Week in Congress (4/6–4/10/26)
An update will be shared every week that Congress is in session. This will include a short summary of the past week in Congress, as well as a listing of all education-related bills introduced in the House and Senate, relevant Committee and Floor activity, and education-related hearings.
This week’s news cycle spanned extraordinary highs and sobering lows. A successful space mission captured the public imagination and reminded us of the power of innovation and discovery, even as escalating global tensions underscored the fragility of the moment. In between, daily life continued.
Amid that backdrop, educators across the country—teachers, administrators, and staff—remained focused on what matters most: supporting students. Their work continues to provide not only meaningful educational opportunities, but also a sense of stability, safety, and normalcy in an environment that often feels anything but.
While Congress remained in recess, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced several reports on legislation to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. These proposals would introduce enhanced measures aimed at fraud prevention and improper payment reduction, strengthen oversight and monitoring requirements, and impose new accountability obligations on providers.
· H.R. 8196 (Baumgartner, R-WA), to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to add the Workforce data quality initiative (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 8203 (Mackenzie, R-PA), to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to provide to States and local areas information on the best practices for addressing the effects that substance use disorder has on the workforce, and to provide local areas with grants to provide training activities related to the treatment and prevention of substance use disorder (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 8209 (Tonko, D-NY), to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the school-based health centers grant program (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 8210 (Walberg, R-MI), to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Education and Workforce; Ways and Means).
· H.R. 8235 (Pressley, D-MA), to require certain libraries to maintain a diverse collection of books (Education and Workforce; Judiciary).
· H.R. 8246 (Williams, D-GA), to allow certain students, including those who have a student aid index equal to or less than zero, to qualify for supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (Agriculture).
· On April 6, the House Committee on Education and Workforce filed reports on the following bills: H.R. 7720, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require States to account for fraudulent payments made under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–586); H.R. 7721, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to implement an improper payment threshold under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–587); H.R. 7722, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require triennial comprehensive reviews of State performance under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–588); H.R. 7723, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to debar child care providers that committed fraud from receiving financial assistance under the Act, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–589); H.R. 7724, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to sustain sanctions against noncompliant State under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–590); H.R. 7725, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require States disclose agency regulatory participation under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–591); H.R. 7726, to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to withhold funds from noncompliant States under such Act, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–592); and H.R. 7677, to require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study regarding fraud prevention measures in certain Federal early childhood education, child care, and child nutrition programs, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–593).
· On Thursday, April 9, the House Committee on Ways and Means filed a report on H.R. 5334, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow early childhood educators to take the educator expense deduction, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 119–600).