Congress orders study on keeping police mental health support confidential
H.R. 8776 — Officer Wellness and Peer Support Act of 2026 · Filed by Laura Gillen (D-NY) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced May 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Attorney General to study and report on best practices for improving mental health support among law enforcement officers—specifically how to reduce stigma around mental health, encourage officers to seek help, and protect the confidentiality of counseling and peer support services. The report is due within 270 days and will include recommendations for implementation.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward directive to study and report on mental health support strategies for law enforcement. It creates no new programs, funding, or enforcement mechanisms—only a fact-finding and recommendation exercise.
What the text implies
- The confidentiality protections studied may create tension with civilian oversight and accountability mechanisms if peer counseling records are shielded from public or investigative access.
- A report recommending confidentiality for peer support could influence future legislation that limits transparency in officer discipline or misconduct investigations.
- The bill's broad definition of 'law enforcement officer' (including corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers) means recommendations may apply across the criminal justice system, not just police.
Who it affects
Law enforcement officer mental health and suicide prevention is a documented public health crisis affecting officer safety, community policing quality, and family welfare. A study identifying best practices and confidentiality protections for peer support and counseling serves the broad public interest by improving officer wellbeing and, indirectly, public safety and police accountability.
Named in the bill
Attorney General, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), House Committee on the Judiciary, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- May 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 13, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $40,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 18 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Laura Gillen, the sponsor, reported $1,002,749 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York City — $40,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 10, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 10, 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 10, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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