# 119-hr-10612: BASIC Act of 2026

119-hr-10612, BASIC Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10612
- As of: 2026-10-16
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-10612
- Congress: 119
- Title: BASIC Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-24
- Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 22
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-16

## Summary

**Grants to support students' basic needs** would create a federal grant program in the Higher Education Act to help colleges reduce student food, housing, child care, health, and technology insecurities and to connect students to federal benefits. - Students and student parents would get expanded access to free or subsidized food, temporary housing, priority on-campus child care, benefit enrollment help, outreach, and services to reduce stigma and barriers to apply for benefits. - Eligible institutions would compete for Planning Grants up to $200,000 for up to 2 years and Implementation Grants up to $5.0 million per institution for each 5-year period to build lasting infrastructure and staff. - Equity and distribution rules would reserve at least 25 percent of funds for community colleges and at least 25 percent for historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other minority-serving institutions. - The Department of Education would share applicant information with benefit agencies and notify students about likely eligibility for SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, tax credits, and other programs to boost enrollment and renewals. *Would authorize $1.0 billion per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2033 for these grants, increasing federal spending.*

## Cosponsors (22)

- Rep. Bell, Wesley [D-MO-1] (D-MO), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Crockett, Jasmine [D-TX-30] (D-TX), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McBath, Lucy [D-GA-6] (D-GA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (D-MA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] (D-NY), 2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA), 2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31] (D-CA), 2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rescom. Hernández, Pablo Jose [D-PR-At Large] (D-PR), 2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- College grants for student basic needs: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would create a competitive grant program for colleges to reduce student food, housing, child care, health, and other basic‑needs shortages. It would authorize about $1 billion each year from fiscal years 2027 through 2033 — $40 million per year for planning grants and $960 mill…
- Help students apply for federal benefits: benefit, low. If enacted, the Department of Education would share certain student aid data with federal and state benefit agencies to find and notify students who may be eligible for programs like SNAP, Medicaid, housing aid, or child care assistance. The Secretary would use the student aid application and data‑…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-15: Equality Act
- 119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5486: Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2763: American Family Act
- 119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-10612 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10612)

## Related
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-15: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-15)
- [119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1589)
- [119-hr-5486: Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5486)
- [119-hr-2763: American Family Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2763)
- [119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-17)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10612 (as of 2026-10-16).