Bill · S. 3604· Senate(119-S-3604)
Public Health Nursing Act
- Introduced
- 1/8/2026
- Last activity
- 1/8/2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Sponsored by
- Edward Markey
- Cosponsors
- - 2 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill, known as the Public Health Nursing Act, seeks to amend the Public Health Service Act. It requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work on establishing, expanding, and sustaining a public health nursing workforce. The Secretary can do this by providing grants to State, local, and territorial public health departments. These funds are intended for recruiting, hiring, training, and providing supplies for licensed registered nurses. The bill also establishes specific priorities for grant recipients to ensure help reaches specific populations. Finally, it authorizes $5,000,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2035.
Yes· 3 of 12
Would women be better off under this?+8
The bill prioritizes maternal health, prenatal, and postpartum care.
Does this make health care easier to get in general?+8
The bill funds the expansion of public health nurses in underserved, rural, and high-need areas to improve access to care.
Would children be better off under this?+7
The bill targets the reduction of infant mortality through expanded nursing services.
The opposite
Does this reduce what the federal government spends?-1
The bill authorizes $5,000,000,000 in annual federal spending through 2035.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Expansion of Nursing Workforce: The Secretary is tasked with establishing, expanding, and sustaining a public health nursing workforce through grants to various public health departments (Section 2(a)).
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Employment and Training: Grant funds can be used for wages, benefits, recruiting, hiring, and training of licensed registered nurses (Section 2(b)(1)(A)).
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Increased Access via Mobile and Home Care: Funding supports nurses working in public health facilities, mobile health clinics, acute care hospitals, or those providing home visitation (Section 2(b)(1)(A)(ii)).
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Targeted Support for Vulnerable Groups: Priority is given to applicants serving populations with high rates of chronic disease, infant mortality, or maternal morbidity and mortality (Section 2(c)(1)(A)).
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Support for Underserved Areas: The bill prioritizes low-income populations, medically underserved areas, health professional shortage areas, and rural or traditionally underserved populations (Section 2(b)(1)(A)(i) and Section 2(c)(1)(B-E)).
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Culturally Appropriate Care: Priority is given to those who demonstrate a plan to provide services in a language and cultural context appropriate to the people they serve (Section 2(c)(2)).
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Comprehensive Health Services: Public health nurses are defined as providing services in nutrition, infectious diseases, chronic disease management, and maternal, prenatal, and postpartum care (Section 2(e)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Maintenance of Effort Requirements: Recipients must agree to maintain their non-Federal spending for these activities at a level no less than what they spent in the previous fiscal year (Section 2(d)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Women+8Good For Children+7Good For Low Income Households+7Good For Rural Residents+6Good For Hispanic Americans+4Good For Union Workers+4
- Healthcare
- Improves Healthcare Access+8Increases Research Funding+2
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Racial Equity+5Improves Poverty Reduction+3
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+6Reduces Government Spending-1
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Rural Development+5
- 1/8/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 2 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Tammy DuckworthDemocrat · Illinois
Ron WydenDemocrat · Oregon