# 119-hr-1906: Rural Wellness Act

119-hr-1906, Rural Wellness Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-06).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1906
- As of: 2026-08-06
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1906
- Congress: 119
- Title: Rural Wellness Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-03-06
- Sponsor: Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 6
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-06

## Summary

**Rural behavioral and mental health**. This bill would prioritize behavioral and mental health treatment in USDA rural development loans and grants and extend substance use disorder set-aside and priority rules to FY2029. - Families in rural areas would get more local access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services delivered at funded facilities or via telehealth. - Rural hospitals, clinics, and nonprofit providers applying for Community Facilities direct loans or grants would receive selection priority if they develop behavioral and mental health services and hire staff with appropriate training. - Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants would retain a dedicated set-aside for substance use disorder treatment but lower it from 20% to 17%. - The Rural Health and Safety Education competitive grants would be prioritized for behavioral and mental health education and treatment projects.

## Cosponsors (6)

- Rep. Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1] (R-MN), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Taylor, David J. [R-OH-2] (R-OH), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM), 2025-05-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-GA), 2026-08-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More priority for rural mental health: benefit, medium. If enacted, rural projects that build or improve behavioral and mental health facilities would get selection priority for USDA loans and grants. To get this priority, projects would need trained staff for behavioral health care. Rural health education grants used for behavioral and mental health wo…
- Rural grant eligibility number changes to 17: cost, low. If enacted, the bill would change a key number in one eligibility or priority rule from 20 to 17. This could change who qualifies or how projects rank under that rule. It would only affect applicants covered by that specific rule.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-1906 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1906)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250)
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1906 (as of 2026-08-06).