# 119-hr-7437: BASICS Act

119-hr-7437, BASICS Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. McDonald Rivet, Kristen [D-MI-8] (D-MI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7437
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7437
- Congress: 119
- Title: BASICS Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-02-09
- Sponsor: Rep. McDonald Rivet, Kristen [D-MI-8] (D-MI)
- Cosponsors: 13
- Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**The BASICS Act would reshape federal transportation funding to** **strengthen bridge safety**. It would create a dedicated bridge program and shift formula and planning rules to expand metropolitan and rural planning roles. - Local governments and Tribes would benefit from a Strengthening Bridges Formula Program that covers bridge construction, replacement, rehabilitation, preservation, and protection. The program would include a 100 percent federal share for off-system bridges they own and a national total of $5.5 billion per year for 2027–2031. - Metropolitan planning organizations would get stronger funding and governance. The bill would remove local matches for certain planning funds, let MPOs use federal planning money for housing and economic development studies and data, and create a direct recipient pathway. - Rural and regional planning and safety would see new support and rules. The bill would create a regional transportation planning framework for nonmetropolitan areas, boost rural planning funding, and require a Local Safety Set-Aside of 25 percent of certain Highway Safety Improvement funds for 2027–2031. *The bill would authorize $5.5 billion per year for the Strengthening Bridges Formula Program for 2027–2031.*

## Cosponsors (13)

- Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA), 2026-02-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23] (R-CA), 2026-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM), 2026-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mrvan, Frank J. [D-IN-1] (D-IN), 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Baird, James R. [R-IN-4] (R-IN), 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41] (R-CA), 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Morrison, Kelly [D-MN-3] (D-MN), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Van Orden, Derrick [R-WI-3] (R-WI), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] (D-WA), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Valadao, David G. [R-CA-22] (R-CA), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More funding and power for MPOs: benefit, medium. This bill would let metropolitan planning organizations use federal planning funds for more local needs, like project administration, preliminary design, housing and economic studies, and data purchases. It would make the federal share for some metropolitan planning activities 100 percent. Within 1…
- More bridge and regional planning funds: mixed, high. This bill would change how federal highway money is split and create two new programs. It would create a Strengthening Bridges formula program that gets $5.5 billion each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 and a Regional Transportation Planning program that gets $150 million each year for 2027…
- More local say in safety funding: mixed, medium. This bill would require that 25 percent of a State's Highway Safety Improvement Program money for each year 2027 through 2031 be obligated to local projects split across four population tiers. Projects in areas over 50,000 people would need to be on the MPO plan. Smaller-area projects must be ident…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-8800: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-7437 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7437)

## Related
- [119-hr-8800: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8800)
- [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)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7437 (as of 2026-09-21).