Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026
A Democratic bill with 4 Republican cosponsors · See all 17 cosponsors
Last activity — Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 527.
Cleared committee, waiting for its first floor vote
A committee approved it and it is on the calendar of the chamber it started in.
This is further than most bills get, and still no promise of a vote: the calendar is a queue, and the majority leadership decides what is called. A bill can sit here until the Congress ends.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- On Calendar
What this bill would do
This bill is known as the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026. It amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and update various nursing workforce development programs. The legislation provides grants for advanced nursing education, nurse education and practice capacity, and nurse faculty recruitment and retention. Additionally, the bill establishes a pilot program for state and regional nursing workforce data collection. Finally, it authorizes specific amounts of appropriations for these programs through fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Yes· 3 of 7
- Scored +7
Does this make health care easier to get in general?
By expanding nursing education and faculty, the bill seeks to address critical workforce shortages to improve healthcare access.
- Scored +5
Would students be better off under this?
The bill expands educational grants and introduces a student loan fund for nursing students.
- Scored +5
Would people in rural areas be better off under this?
The bill prioritizes nursing workforce centers to serve rural and underserved areas.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Section 2 (Advanced Nursing Education Grants): This section expands grant support to include individuals enrolled in nurse practitioner, nurse-midwifery, nurse anesthesia, and clinical nurse specialist programs. It also covers costs for clinical education and preceptors, which can help lower out-of-pocket expenses for advanced nursing students and boost the number of specialized healthcare providers.
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Section 3 (Strengthening Capacity for Nurse Education and Practice): This provision allows grants to be used for purchasing simulation and augmented reality resources, telehealth technologies, and virtual and physical laboratories. It also targets nursing workforce shortages by increasing the number of faculty and students, and explicitly adds support for education on treating survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
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Section 4 (Nurse Faculty Demonstration Program): This section creates a demonstration program to supplement the salaries of eligible nursing faculty members to help recruit and retain them at schools of nursing. Providing higher pay to instructors addresses a root cause of nursing shortages by enabling schools to hire and keep the educators needed to train more students.
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Section 5 (State and Regional Nursing Workforce Center Data Collection Pilot Program): This pilot program awards grants to state agencies, boards of nursing, nonprofits, and schools of nursing to collect data and make recommendations to improve nursing workforce capacity. This effort aims to help leaders better understand local workforce shortages and find ways to get more nurses where they are needed most.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Section 5 (State and Regional Nursing Workforce Center Data Collection Pilot Program): As a condition of receiving a grant or contract, applicants must provide non-Federal matching contributions in cash or in-kind equal to at least $1 for every $4 of Federal funds provided. This matching requirement could place a financial burden on smaller nonprofits, local schools of nursing, or state entities that struggle to raise non-Federal matching funds.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would people in rural areas be better off under this? — The bill prioritizes nursing workforce centers to serve rural and underserved areas. Would students be better off under this? — The bill expands educational grants and introduces a student loan fund for nursing students.
- Education And Technology
- Does this make college cost less? — The bill provides support for advanced nursing education grants and student loan funds to aid nursing students. Does this reduce what student borrowers owe or repay? — The bill establishes a student loan fund specifically for schools of nursing.
- Healthcare
- Does this make health care easier to get in general? — By expanding nursing education and faculty, the bill seeks to address critical workforce shortages to improve healthcare access.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Does this invest in rural communities? — The bill includes provisions and priority for serving rural and underserved areas through nursing workforce centers.
- Economy And Finance
- Is this likely to create jobs? — The bill aims to address nursing workforce shortages, which supports job stability and growth in the healthcare sector.
- 9/28/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/15/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/28/2026
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Cassidy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
- Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 527.
- 7/22/2026
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- 6/11/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 6/3/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 4/27/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/14/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 6/25/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 6/24/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 5/22/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 9 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Angela AlsobrooksDemocrat · Maryland
Tammy BaldwinDemocrat · Wisconsin
Marsha BlackburnRepublican · Tennessee
Richard BlumenthalDemocrat · Connecticut
Lisa Blunt RochesterDemocrat · Delaware
Susan CollinsRepublican · Maine
Christopher CoonsDemocrat · Delaware
Kirsten GillibrandDemocrat · New York
Ruben GallegoDemocrat · Arizona
Cindy Hyde-SmithRepublican · Mississippi
Mark KellyDemocrat · Arizona
Ben LujánDemocrat · New Mexico
Lisa MurkowskiRepublican · Alaska
Jon OssoffDemocrat · Georgia
Gary PetersDemocrat · Michigan
Adam SchiffDemocrat · California
Jeanne ShaheenDemocrat · New Hampshire