Kira Johnson Act
Sponsored By: Senator Raphael Warnock
Introduced
Summary
maternal health equity. This bill would create grants, training, compliance programs, and studies aimed at reducing maternal deaths, severe complications, and bias in care for Black and other underserved pregnant and postpartum people.
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- Community groups and families: About $100 million per year for FY2027–2031 would fund community‑based organizations to expand culturally and linguistically congruent services, group prenatal and postpartum care, midwifery development, and supports that address social determinants of maternal health.
- Maternity care workers and clinical staff: Grants would fund ongoing respectful maternity care training for all employees who interact with pregnant and postpartum people, including emergency personnel and WIC‑covered settings. The bill authorizes about $5 million per year for FY2027–2031 and requires reporting on training status and patient outcomes.
- Hospitals, systems, and oversight: Hospitals can get grants to build respectful maternity care compliance programs with patient complaint processes, public patient‑experience reporting, and annual deidentified submissions to HHS. The bill also directs a National Academies study to finish in 24 months and requires GAO reports beginning two years after enactment and annually thereafter.
*If enacted, the bill would increase federal spending by authorizing about $100 million per year for community grants and $5 million per year for training from FY2027–2031, plus additional amounts for compliance programs, thereby increasing federal outlays.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Community grants for maternal equity
If enacted, HHS would run a grant program giving community groups money to improve maternal health in places with high maternal death or severe complications. The program would authorize $100 million each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. HHS would spend the first year after enactment doing outreach and technical help so awards start after that year. Grants would favor groups based in affected communities and programs like mental health supports, midwifery, group prenatal care, help during formula shortages, and work on social drivers of health. HHS must send an evaluation to Congress by the end of fiscal year 2031.
Hospital respectful care programs
If enacted, HHS would give grants to accredited hospitals and health systems to set up respectful maternity care compliance programs. Funded programs would create ways for patients, families, and perinatal workers to report racism or bias and would follow up when possible. Hospitals would publicly post bias‑reduction strategies, report hospital-level patient experience data, and send annual deidentified case reports to HHS. HHS would set up dissemination processes within 180 days and hire an independent group to study program accountability within 2 years. Funding is authorized "as necessary" for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.
Training to reduce maternity bias
If enacted, HHS would award training grants to reduce bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care. The bill would authorize $5 million each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Grants would favor ongoing, periodic trainings that offer continuing education credits and include trauma-informed care, shared decision-making, emergency simulation, and training for ED and EMT staff and WIC settings. Recipients would report yearly on training activities and effects on patient experience; HHS would collect and share best practices.
Study on bias in maternity care
If enacted, HHS would seek an agreement within 90 days with the National Academies to study how to reduce bias and advance respectful, trauma-informed maternity care. The National Academies would have 24 months to finish and send a report to Congress. The study could recommend scorecards or standards and identify training types and frequency that improve outcomes for racial and ethnic minority pregnant and postpartum people.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Raphael Warnock
GA • D
Cosponsors
Alex Padilla
CA • D
Sponsored 3/25/2026
Cory Booker
NJ • D
Sponsored 3/25/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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