# 119-hr-7949: NSF Plant Biology Act

119-hr-7949, NSF Plant Biology Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7949
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7949
- Congress: 119
- Title: NSF Plant Biology Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-16
- Sponsor: Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Creates a new NSF program to fund fundamental plant and microbial biology research aimed at agriculture, food, and biotechnology.** It would let the National Science Foundation award competitive, merit-reviewed grants to universities, nonprofits, private companies, and federal, state, local, or Tribal governments to support basic plant biology and the tools that enable that science. - Researchers and institutions: Makes colleges, nonprofit organizations, private-sector entities, and government bodies eligible to compete for grants that support basic plant and microbial biology research. - Agriculture and biotech sectors: Directs funded work toward research with potential relevance to agriculture, food systems, or biotechnology, including tools, resources, and enabling technologies. - Legal and administrative change: Adds a definition of "Nonprofit organization" as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity to the NSF authorization text and the bill text contains a typographical element in that citation. *Would authorize $150 million per year from 2026 through 2031 to carry out this program.*

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Baird, James R. [R-IN-4] (R-IN), 2026-03-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bell, Wesley [D-MO-1] (D-MO), 2026-04-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New NSF plant biology grants: mixed, high. If enacted, this bill would create a new NSF program to fund plant and microbial biology research. The NSF Director would award competitive, merit-reviewed grants to colleges, nonprofits, private companies, and federal, state, local, or Tribal governments, or consortia. The research would include f…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-9211: Jewish American Security Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-7949 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7949)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-9211: Jewish American Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9211)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7949 (as of 2026-04-21).