Adelita Grijalva

Rural Veterinary Workforce Act

This bill excludes from gross income, for federal tax purposes, payments received pursuant to the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program or any state loan repayment or loan forgiveness program that is intended to provide for increased access to veterinary services. (The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program is a Department of Agriculture program that repays a portion of the student loans of veterinarians who provide short-term services in designated veterinary shortage areas.)

Alzheimer's Screening and Prevention Act of 2025 or the ASAP Act

This bill provides for Medicare coverage of blood tests to screen for the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Specifically, the bill provides for coverage of genomic sequencing blood or blood product tests, or other equivalent tests, that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety for Native Communities Act or the BADGES for Native Communities Act

This bill revises federal policies and procedures related to information sharing, reporting, and investigating cases of missing, unidentified, or murdered Indians.

Among other elements, the bill requires the Department of Justice to (1) establish a grant program for specified entities (e.g., tribes) to implement changes to enhance their responses to missing person cases and death investigations of interest to tribes, and (2) work with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that federal training resources and culturally appropriate mental health and wellness programs are available to tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers.

The Department of the Interior must establish a five-year demonstration program for the purpose of conducting or adjudicating personnel background investigations for applicants for law enforcement positions in the BIA.

The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct specified studies, including a study on the evidence collection, handling, response times, and processing procedures and practices of federal law enforcement agencies.

Head Start Expansion and Improvement Act of 2026

This bill reauthorizes through FY2032 and otherwise revises Head Start programs.

Specifically, the bill expands eligibility for Head Start programs to include families with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level. The bill also adds a definition for public assistance under the Head Start Act to include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program to make grants to Head Start agencies (including Early Head Start agencies) to construct or improve facilities. HHS must also establish and carry out a program to make grants to Head Start agencies for increasing the compensation paid to employees.

The bill also provides student loan forgiveness for certain Head Start and Early Head Start child care workers. In particular, the Department of Education must cancel the outstanding balance of principal, interest, and fees due on Federal Direct Loans for a borrower who (1) has been employed full-time by a Head Start or Early Head Start program for three years, and (2) has provided care or instruction to children enrolled in such a program.

Daycare Not Detentions Act of 2026

This bill rescinds funding that was provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and reallocates the funding to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for federal child care programs.

Specifically, the bill rescinds $70 billion in funding that was provided to ICE and CBP by the Secure America Act.

The bill also provides a total of $70 billion to ACF for federal child care programs, including

• $25.5 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant,

• $20 billion for the Child Care Entitlement to States,

• $24 billion for Head Start, and

• $500 million for Preschool Development Grants.

The funds provided to ACF are available through FY2029.

Stop Arming Cartels Act of 2025

This bill expands the regulation of .50 caliber rifles under federal firearms laws and authorizes new civil remedies for certain violations.

Firearms that are trafficked from the United States to Mexico are often routed to transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), including cartels. In recent years, TCOs increasingly use .50 caliber rifles in attacks on Mexican security forces.

In 2025, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars a civil lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. firearms manufacturers and one U.S. firearms distributor for costs associated with gun violence in Mexico. (The PLCAA limits the civil liability of firearms manufacturers and sellers for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearms.)

This bill generally criminalizes the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of .50 caliber rifles under the Gun Control Act and subjects .50 caliber rifles to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act.

Additionally, the bill criminalizes the sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition to foreign individuals or entities designated as significant foreign narcotics traffickers or as part of their networks and sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).

Finally, the bill creates an exception under the PLCAA to allow civil lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or sellers that knowingly sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition to a foreign individual or entity designated and sanctioned under the Kingpin Act.

Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act

This bill expedites payment of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eligibility for Medicare coverage for those with metastatic breast cancer (i.e., breast cancer that has spread to other sites in the body).

Specifically, the bill eliminates the 5-month waiting period for SSDI benefits and the subsequent 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with metastatic breast cancer. Under current law, individuals generally must wait 5 months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits and an additional 24 months to become eligible for Medicare.