Adelita Grijalva

American Teacher Act

This bill establishes grants to increase the minimum salary of public elementary and secondary school teachers. It also authorizes a national campaign regarding the value of the teaching profession.

First, the bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to award four-year grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies to establish a minimum annual salary of $60,000 (to be adjusted annually for inflation) for these teachers.

Second, the bill directs ED to award grants to eligible SEAs to provide cost-of-living adjustments to the annual base salary of teachers.

Finally, the bill authorizes ED to carry out a national campaign to (1) increase awareness about the importance of teachers and the value of the teaching profession, (2) encourage secondary school and college students to consider teaching as a professional career, and (3) diversify the pool of individuals who enter the teaching profession.

Essential Caregivers Act of 2026

This bill requires certain nursing and long-term care facilities to ensure residents have access to their designated essential caregivers during periods of restricted visitation.

Specifically, the bill requires Medicare skilled nursing facilities, long-term care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, as well as Medicaid nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, to allow residents to designate two essential caregivers and to allow these caregivers in-person access to residents even when visitation is otherwise restricted.

Facilities may limit access of essential caregivers only in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as specified. Essential caregivers must agree to follow all safety protocols established by the facility, which may be no more restrictive than the protocols for staff.

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities, such as corporations, shall have no rights under the Constitution and are subject to regulation.

The amendment requires federal, state, and local governments to (1) regulate, limit, or prohibit election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own contributions and expenditures, to ensure equal access of citizens to the political process, regardless of economic status; and (2) require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.

Additionally, the judiciary is prohibited from construing the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.

Protecting America's Workers Act

This bill expands the coverage of requirements governing workplace safety and health to include protection for federal, state, and local government employees. However, the bill does not cover working conditions otherwise covered by federal requirements for mine safety and health.

The bill revises requirements governing worker protection, including by

• expanding protections for whistle-blowers, such as protections for employees who refuse to perform work because they reasonably believe the work would result in serious injury or illness and for employees who aid inspections;

• directing employers to furnish a hazard-free place of employment to all individuals performing work, not just employees;

• directing employers to report work-related deaths or certain injuries, illnesses, or hospitalizations;

• establishing rights for victims, or representatives of victims, with respect to inspections or investigations of work-related bodily injuries or deaths; and

• setting the permitted period for employers to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations while citations for the violations are being contested.

The bill also revises enforcement and oversight of workplace safety, including by

• increasing civil and criminal penalties for certain violations,

• requiring the Department of Labor to investigate fatalities or significant incidents in the workplace,

• expanding enforcement requirements relating to state occupational safety and health plans,

• expanding requirements for workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and

• requiring Labor to provide training programs concerning employee rights and employer responsibilities.