Congress mandates life-saving overdose kits on every college campus
H.R. 8499 — Saving Lives on Campuses Act of 2026 · Filed by Mónica De La Cruz (R-TX) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 27, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires all public colleges and universities that receive federal education funding to stock opioid overdose rescue kits (naloxone/Narcan) in classrooms, libraries, dorms, and other campus facilities within one year, register their locations with campus health services, train students on their use during orientation, and maintain them. The goal is to make life-saving overdose reversal medication immediately accessible on campuses to prevent opioid-related deaths.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole functional purpose is to mandate the placement and maintenance of opioid overdose reversal kits on college campuses as a public health intervention. It is straightforward harm-reduction legislation with no hidden provisions or secondary agendas.
What the text implies
- Normalizes naloxone availability in public spaces, potentially reducing stigma around opioid use disorder and harm reduction on campuses.
- Creates a precedent for federal mandates on campus health infrastructure that could be extended to other life-saving equipment or interventions.
- May increase demand for naloxone supply chain, benefiting manufacturers and distributors of the medication.
Who it affects
Ordinary students and campus communities gain direct access to a proven, low-cost life-saving intervention (naloxone) that can reverse opioid overdoses in minutes. The requirement imposes minimal burden on institutions (kits are inexpensive, placement is straightforward) and creates no new costs to students or taxpayers beyond what institutions already receive in federal funding.
Who stands to gain
- naloxone manufacturers (Emergent BioSolutions, Adapt Pharma/Purdue, generic producers)
- pharmaceutical distributors
- medical device suppliers
Named in the bill
Secretary of Education, Secretary of Health and Human Services, FDA, public institutions of higher education, Higher Education Act of 1965, Narcan, Naloxone
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Apr 27, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 27, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 2026-10-20.
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