RESEARCHER Act
Sponsored By: Representative Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4]
Introduced
Summary
Stabilize pay and basic living supports for graduate and postdoctoral researchers nationwide. The RESEARCHER Act would direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy to craft uniform guidelines for federal research agencies to help raise stipends, expand healthcare and caregiving supports, and collect detailed data on researcher financial instability.
Show full summary
- Graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers would see policies aimed at higher stipends, including indexing pay by location, targeted increases for postdocs in rural or EPSCoR-eligible States, and improved access to affordable medical, dental, and vision care, housing, transportation, food assistance, and child care.
- Institutions and federal funders would be required to adopt and publicize policies consistent with OSTP guidance and the National Science Foundation would fund competitive awards to collect stipend amounts and demographic data on financial instability.
- The research and oversight community would get new studies and reviews: a National Academies assessment within 2 years with a five-year retrospective on stipend adequacy and a Government Accountability Office study within 3 years on guideline implementation and gaps.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Pay and support rules for grads and postdocs
If enacted, the White House science office would set guidelines within six months to ease money stress for graduate and postdoctoral researchers. Federal research agencies would then have six months to adopt matching policies and share them widely with grant recipients. The guidelines would look at raising stipends, including location-based pay. They would also consider extra pay for postdocs in rural or underserved areas, or states eligible for a special NSF research-capacity program. They would address access to medical, dental, and vision care; housing and transportation; food; and family care, including child care. OSTP would report to Congress one year after setting the guidelines and every five years after.
GAO review of agency guideline rollout
If enacted, the Government Accountability Office would report to Congress within three years on how well agencies carried out the new guidelines. The report would judge implementation and effectiveness. It would also recommend policy changes and any extra data needed to track progress on reducing money stress for grads and postdocs.
Studies on graduate and postdoc finances
If enacted, the National Science Foundation would give competitive grants to colleges and nonprofits to study money stress among graduate and postdoctoral researchers. Grantees would collect data, broken out by demographics when possible. NSF would also sign an agreement within two years with the National Academies to run a national study. The study would review at least the last five years and compare stipends to local costs for health care, housing and transportation, food, and family care like child care. The National Academies would send recommendations to Congress within two years after the agreement.
Free Policy Watch
You just read the policy. Now see what it costs you.
Pick a topic. PRIA runs your household against live legislation and sends you a free personalized readout.
Pick a topic to get started
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4]
VA • D
Cosponsors
Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1]
WA • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]
MI • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
ME • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12]
PA • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2]
HI • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]
MI • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
OR • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20]
NY • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
DC • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20]
FL • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10]
FL • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11]
IL • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9]
FL • D
Sponsored 7/23/2025
Riley (NY)
NY • D
Sponsored 9/30/2025
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
CO • D
Sponsored 10/8/2025
Friedman
CA • D
Sponsored 2/10/2026
Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3]
PA • D
Sponsored 2/11/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Take the PRIA Score to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in