States must name a point person for school-walking safety program

What it does

This bill requires every state to designate a single coordinator for its Safe Routes to School program—a federal initiative that funds infrastructure and programs to make walking and biking to school safer. The coordinator serves as the main point of contact for the program and can be an existing state employee paid from existing federal transportation funds. The bill sets a 180-day deadline to fill any vacancy.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is a mandate that states designate a coordinator for an existing federal program aimed at child pedestrian and bicycle safety. It is a straightforward administrative requirement with no deregulation, subsidy, or private carve-out.

What the text implies

• The bill does not appropriate new funds, so implementation depends on states' willingness to absorb coordinator duties within existing transportation budgets—underfunded states may struggle to provide meaningful coordination.
• The 180-day vacancy-fill deadline is enforceable only through federal oversight mechanisms not specified in the bill; compliance may vary by state.
• Striking Section 208(g)(3) (a conforming amendment) removes a provision whose content is not quoted here—the civic effect depends on what that struck language said, which is outside the scope of this text.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill creates a clear accountability structure for a public-health program (Safe Routes to School) that helps children walk and bike safely. By requiring a designated coordinator and public contact information, it improves transparency and accessibility for parents and communities seeking to participate in or learn about the program. No new costs are imposed on states—they use existing employees and existing federal funds.

Named in the bill

States (as implementing bodies), U.S. Department of Transportation (Secretary), Safe Routes to School program, 23 U.S.C. § 208, 23 U.S.C. § 133(h), 23 U.S.C. § 148

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• May 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• May 21, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works”
• Jul 23, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Environment and Public Works Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $446,770 in lobbying spend. A filing names 9 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 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Kevin Cramer, the sponsor, reported $203,312 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Heart Association — $400,000 on 1 filing
• American Society of Landscape Architects — $46,770 on 1 filing
• Safe Routes to School National Partnership — $0 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.