Congress creates free manufacturing labs in every congressional district.
S. 4934 — National Fab Lab Network Act of 2026 · Filed by Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill sets up a nonprofit group called the National Fab Lab Network. The group will build and run digital fabrication labs in every congressional district. Each fab lab will have 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics tools, and design software. The labs will be free or low-cost for people to use. A board of 7 to 15 people will run the network. Senate and House leaders will pick the board members.
Who it affects
People in underserved communities gain access to manufacturing tools and job training. Schools, libraries, nonprofits, and small businesses can use the labs. The nonprofit will pay for itself through membership dues and donations.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say where the money will come from. It only says the nonprofit will fund itself through dues and donations.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jun 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- digital fabrication — Using computers and machines like 3D printers to design and make things.
- fab lab — A workshop with 3D printers, laser cutters, and other tools for making things.
- nonprofit — A group that uses money to help people, not to make profit for owners.
- congressional district — An area of the country that elects one person to the House of Representatives.
- underserved communities — Areas where people have fewer schools, jobs, and services than other places.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 9, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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 2026-09-23.
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