Bill expands federal tick illness research and state health support
S. 5499 — STOP TICKS Act · Filed by Mark Warner (D-VA) · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill makes two federal tick-illness programs bigger and longer. It adds eight new federal groups to the working group. It grows the group from 7 to 13 members. It raises money for research centers from $10 million to $12 million per year. It raises money for state health offices from $20 million to $21 million per year. Both programs would run through 2030.
Who it affects
State health offices and research centers work on tick illnesses. Federal groups also work on these illnesses. People who get Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever may benefit from more research.
One thing to notice
The bill adds eight new federal groups to work on tick illness. It brings in the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, the EPA, and the Department of Interior.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
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 bill text published by Congress.gov (1,794 characters) on Oct 1, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; 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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