United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 28 D cosponsors

HR 728 — Expanding Head Start Eligibility Act of 2025

Last action — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced January 24, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Stalled 26% · moderate confidence

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 28 sponsors

    1 primary, 27 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (28 D).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Expanding Head Start Eligibility Act of 2025This bill expands eligibility for Head Start programs to include the children of families eligible for specified public assistance programs. Specifically, the bill expands Head Start eligibility to include the children of families that qualify for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and federal housing assistance (commonly known as Section 8). The bill also provides statutory authority for the eligibility of families that qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Families that qualify for state-funded food assistance programs with eligibility standards identical or substantially similar to the standards for SNAP must also be eligible for Head Start.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

1 change Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill amends the Head Start Act to expand the definition of eligible public assistance for Head Start program participation.

  • 42 U.S.C. 9832

    (25) The term `public assistance', as defined by the Secretary, shall include-- (A) assistance received under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); (B) benefits received under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); (C) supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits received under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); (D) the nutrition assistance program (NAP) under section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2018) and the food distribution program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) under section 4(a) of the Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); (E) State-funded food assistance programs, with income eligibility standards identical or substantially identical to those of the supplemental nutrition assistance program under of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); (F) assistance received under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act (42 U.S.C. 1786 et seq.); (G) assistance received under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f et seq.); and (H) additional benefits and assistance provided under Federal law as determined by the Secretary.

    This addition expands the types of public assistance that can qualify families for the Head Start program.

Action History

  1. Introduced in House

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 27 co-sponsors · 519 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (27)

Not signed on (519)

519 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 519 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

housing labor education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HR 728 do?
Expanding Head Start Eligibility Act of 2025This bill expands eligibility for Head Start programs to include the children of families eligible for specified public assistance programs. Specifically, the bill expands Head Start eligibility to include the children of families that qualify for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and federal housing assistance (commonly known as Section 8). The bill also provides statutory authority for the eligibility of families that qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Families that qualify for state-funded food assistance programs with eligibility standards identical or substantially similar to the standards for SNAP must also be eligible for Head Start.
Who sponsors HR 728?
HR 728 is sponsored by Garamendi, John (Democratic), Turner, Sylvester (Democratic), Jackson, Jonathan L. (Democratic), Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila (Democratic), Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" (Democratic), Ansari, Yassamin (Democratic), Thanedar, Shri (Democratic), McClellan, Jennifer L. (Democratic), Titus, Dina (Democratic), Correa, J. Luis (Democratic), Moore, Gwen (Democratic), Quigley, Mike (Democratic), Garcia, Robert (Democratic), Gonzalez, Vicente (Democratic), García, Jesús G. "Chuy" (Democratic), Hayes, Jahana (Democratic), Moulton, Seth (Democratic), Trahan, Lori (Democratic), Friedman, Laura (Democratic), DelBene, Suzan K. (Democratic), Smith, Adam (Democratic), Sánchez, Linda T. (Democratic), Stansbury, Melanie A. (Democratic), Evans, Dwight (Democratic), Landsman, Greg (Democratic), Cisneros, Gilbert Ray (Democratic), Castro, Joaquin (Democratic), and Davids, Sharice (Democratic).
What is the current status of HR 728?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced January 24, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HR 728?
Track HR 728 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on HR 728

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of HR 728

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →