# 119-hr-7637: Head Start for America’s Children Act 119-hr-7637, Head Start for America’s Children Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7637 - As of: 2026-09-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-7637 - Congress: 119 - Title: Head Start for America’s Children Act - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2026-02-20 - Sponsor: Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI) - Cosponsors: 43 - Policy area: Education - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-09-17 ## Summary **Modernize and expand Head Start.** This bill raises income eligibility to 60 percent of state median income, sets a 1,380-hour minimum for center-based services, and creates a large baseline of federal funding plus targeted grants to strengthen pay, services, and partnerships. - Families and children: More families qualify under a raised 60% state median income cutoff and explicit inclusion of homeless children, foster and kinship care, SSI, TANF, SNAP, school meal participants, children with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. Center-based services must provide at least 1,380 hours per year and many agencies move toward full-year operation. - Workers and programs: Establishes a wage floor with a $60,000 annual base salary for educational staff in FY2026 with CPI-U adjustments, requires benefits for staff working 30 or more hours, and creates Rebuilding the Head Start Workforce grants to recruit and retain staff. - Native American, Native Hawaiian, and migrant/seasonal programs: Recognizes and protects Native and Native Hawaiian operators, prohibits awarding Native American Head Start grants to non-Native entities, reserves at least 4.5% of certain grant funds for these populations, and exempts them from the full-calendar-year requirement. *Authorizes approximately $144.9 billion as a baseline for FY2026 and targeted additional appropriations for 2026–2030, which would increase federal spending relative to current law.* ## Cosponsors (43) - Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12] (D-PA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (D-OH), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7] (D-IL), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Elfreth, Sarah [D-MD-3] (D-MD), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Gomez, Jimmy [D-CA-34] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4] (D-OR), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (D-WA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26] (D-NY), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. McGarvey, Morgan [D-KY-3] (D-KY), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10] (D-NJ), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5] (D-MN), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9] (D-MA), 2026-06-18T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3] (D-AZ), 2026-07-22T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Casar, Greg [D-TX-35] (D-TX), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] (D-NY), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16] (D-TX), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large] (D-VT), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24] (D-FL), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2026-09-15T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Higher pay and better Head Start jobs: benefit, high. This bill would set a pay floor for Head Start educational staff at $60,000 in fiscal year 2026 and then raise that base each year by the Secretary's CPI‑U estimate. It would also require pay parity with local elementary school teachers for similarly qualified staff, require salary scales tied to e… - Major new Head Start funding baseline: benefit, high. The bill would authorize a Head Start baseline appropriation of $144,872,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, with each later year increased by an annual adjustment percentage. It would reserve and target funds for specific uses, including at least $40 million for a career advancement partnership, $40 mil… - More mental health and disability supports: benefit, medium. If enacted, Head Start agencies would have to offer universal mental health screening for children, trained mental health consultants, infant and early childhood mental health training for lead teachers, and adult mental health and family engagement supports. The bill would require technical help t… - Expanded eligibility and community pilot: benefit, medium. This bill would raise Head Start income eligibility to families below 60% of their State median income for the same family size. It would explicitly make children who are homeless, in foster or kinship care, eligible for SSI, TANF, SNAP or certain nutrition or housing assistance, children with disa… - Longer Head Start days and summers: benefit, medium. If enacted, Head Start center programs would have to provide at least 1,380 center‑based hours per year. The bill would create competitive Extended Operation grants so programs can expand to full working‑day schedules and summer hours. It would fund partnerships with child care providers to help th… - On‑campus Head Start for student parents: benefit, medium. The bill would fund competitive grants for Head Start agencies to partner with colleges to run campus‑based Head Start for student parents. Grants would run for five years with possible three‑year renewals and give priority to HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other minority‑serving inst… - Native program protections and oversight: benefit, medium. The bill would require at least 10 Head Start regional offices and two program offices, including one for Native American Head Start and one for migrant/seasonal programs, with public comment before geographic designations. It would create independent Native American and Migrant and Seasonal Head S… ## Related bills - 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act - 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act - 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025 - 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act - 119-hr-15: Equality Act - 119-hr-2743: Raise the Wage Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-hr-7637 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7637) ## Related - [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973) - [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51) - [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20) - [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390) - [119-hr-15: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-15) - [119-hr-2743: Raise the Wage Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2743) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7637 (as of 2026-09-17).