# 119-s-4247: Guardianship Bill of Rights Act of 2026

119-s-4247, Guardianship Bill of Rights Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4247
- As of: 2026-04-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4247
- Congress: 119
- Title: Guardianship Bill of Rights Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-26
- Sponsor: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: unknown
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-22

## Summary

**Protect the rights of people under guardianship** by setting federal standards that favor supported decisionmaking and the least restrictive arrangements. This bill would create a 30‑member federal advisory Council to develop guardianship standards and fund a grant program to monitor guardianships at state and tribal levels. - Individuals and families: Would recognize rights such as the right to exhaust less restrictive supports, access supported decisionmaking, get independent legal counsel paid by public funds if needed, have meaningful input on health, finances, housing, and receive annual rights reviews. - Protection and Advocacy systems: Would establish a federally funded Protection and Advocacy Program that awards grants to state and tribal systems to provide legal representation, investigations, training, and plain‑language services while barring grant funds from supporting parties seeking to impose or keep guardianships. - Federal Council and standards: Would house a 30‑member Guardianship and Supported Decisionmaking Council at the Administration for Community Living to recommend rights that cannot be restricted and issue biennial reports for 10 years on topics like voting, marriage, reproductive decisions, and financial control. *Would authorize $50.0 million for fiscal year 2027 and each succeeding year for the oversight grants, increasing federal spending by that amount annually.*

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Grants for state guardianship oversight: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary would give grants to State and Tribal protection-and-advocacy systems to establish or expand oversight programs. To get a grant, a State or Tribe must have an oversight system able to pursue legal remedies, provide legal representation and training, and investigate abuse.…
- More legal help for guardianship cases: benefit, low. If enacted, the government would create a federal Protection and Advocacy Program to oversee state and local guardianships and conservatorships. HHS, through the Administration for Community Living, would run the program and give grants to protection-and-advocacy systems. The bill would authorize $…
- Nationwide guardianship standards and reviews: benefit, low. If enacted, HHS would develop national standards within two years of the Council's start for how courts set up, review, change, and end guardianships and other protective arrangements. Standards would require courts to review protective arrangements at least once a year and provide procedures to mo…
- New Federal Guardianship Advisory Council: benefit, low. If enacted, HHS would create a 30-member Guardianship and Supported Decisionmaking Council within 180 days. Members would serve three-year terms and could be reappointed once. Non-federal members could receive travel pay. The Council would produce an initial report within two years and then biennia…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4247 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4247)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4247 (as of 2026-04-22).