Congress funds cities to protect bird homes and teach about birds
H.R. 3276 — Local Communities & Bird Habitat Stewardship Act of 2026 · Filed by Debbie Dingell (D-MI) · 21 cosponsors · Introduced May 8, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill sets up a new program to help cities protect bird homes. Cities, nonprofits, schools, and universities can get money and help. They restore bird habitats and remove dangers to birds. They count bird populations and teach people about birds. The program gets $200,000 each year through 2033.
Who it affects
Local governments, nonprofits, community groups, and universities can apply for grants. People in cities get access to nature education and better green spaces.
One thing to notice
A nonprofit group will hand out the money. This may make it faster but means less direct government oversight. The program defines urban based on school district boundaries. This may not match where birds actually live.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
21 cosponsors: 18 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- May 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Feb 4, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Jun 10, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jun 10, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required)…”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- habitat — A place where animals live and find food and shelter
- grants — Money given to groups to pay for a project
- nonprofit — A group that uses money to help people or nature, not to make profit
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,170 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-11-01.
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