Federal money helps college students pay for food and housing.
S. 5559 — BASIC Act of 2026 · Filed by Alex Padilla (D-CA) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The BASIC Act gives schools money to help low-income students. Schools can get planning grants up to $200,000 to study what students need. Then schools can get grants up to $5 million over five years. Schools use this money to provide food, housing, childcare, and healthcare. Schools can also help students sign up for federal programs like SNAP and Medicaid.
Who it affects
Low-income and first-generation students get the most help. Schools, community schools, historically Black schools, Tribal schools, and other minority schools can apply for grants. Students keep their school aid when they get federal help.
One thing to notice
Schools must find their own money to keep programs running after federal grants end. Schools must collect and report data about student needs by race, income, and other groups.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 7 Democrats.
- 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.
Words to know
- BASIC Act — A federal law that gives schools money to help students afford basic needs.
- planning grants — Money schools get to study what students need and plan how to help.
- SNAP — A federal program that gives money to low-income people to buy food.
- Medicaid — A federal program that pays for healthcare for low-income people.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (23,312 characters) on Oct 8, 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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