Don Bacon

Head start Education And Development Workforce Advancement and Yield Act or the HEADWAY Act

This bill allows some teachers in Early Head Start programs to teach while in the process of earning their Child Development Associate (CDA) credential and completing training.

Currently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must ensure that all teachers providing direct services to children and families in Early Head Start centers (1) have a minimum of a CDA credential and have been trained in early childhood development, and (2) have been trained in early childhood development with a focus on infant and toddler development.

The bill revises this requirement by requiring at least one teacher per classroom (instead of all teachers) to have a CDA credential and training. In particular, the bill requires HHS to ensure that (1) each additional teacher providing direct services to children and families is in the process of earning a CDA credential and completing training, and (2) the Early Head Start agency provides a mentor to oversee the progress and guide the work of a teacher who is in the process of earning a CDA credential and completing training.

Prison Libraries Act of 2026

This bill directs the Department of Justice to establish a grant program to provide library services for incarcerated individuals.

Accelerating Access to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Provider Training Act or the AADAPT Act

This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises the Technology-enabled Collaborative Learning Program, which is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration. This program provides grants to support the use of technology that connects different health care professionals to improve access to health care, including specialty care, for certain rural and medically underserved populations.

The bill explicitly adds dementia care to the types of specialty care that the program may address.

Debt-to-GDP Transparency and Stabilization Act

This bill requires the President's annual budget and congressional budget resolutions to include (1) the ratio of the public debt to the estimated gross domestic product (GDP), and (2) the ratio of the surplus or deficit to the estimated GDP.

Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act or the ABC Act

This bill requires federal agencies to review and modify the administrative processes related to Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Social Security programs in order to streamline these processes for family caregivers.

Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) must review processes related to eligibility determinations, applications, forms, and communications for these programs and identify ways to simplify and streamline these processes for family caregivers (e.g., reducing the need for family caregivers to submit the same information for multiple programs). The CMS and SSA must solicit input from family caregivers and state and regional organizations, implement any identified improvements, and report on these efforts to Congress.

In addition, the CMS must issue a letter to state Medicaid and CHIP programs that encourages states to conduct a similar review and that provides potential improvements.

This resolution expresses support for the designation of National Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Day. Triple-negative breast cancer is a distinct form of cancer that does not have the hormone and protein receptors commonly found in breast cancer.

Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act of 2025

This bill makes it a crime to intentionally convey false or misleading information in circumstances where the information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates the occurrence of criminal conduct or a threat to health or safety (commonly referred to as swatting).