Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to create a competitive grant program to fund installation of evidence-based suicide deterrents (such as nets and barriers) at covered locations including bridges, buildings, parking garages, highway-rail grade crossings, and rail stations. It authorizes $10 million per year for FY2026–2030, allows federal funding up to 80 percent of project costs, amends Title 23 to explicitly include bridge safety barriers and nets, and requires a GAO study on effectiveness and costs for structures other than bridges with a report within one year.
Adequacy of funding: liberals see underfunding, conservatives question any new spending
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly creates a new federal program to subsidize installation of suicide deterrents, provides a time-limited authorization of appropriations, and mandates a GAO study.
The bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to create a competitive grant program to fund installation of evidence-based suicide deterrents (such as nets and barriers) at covered locations including bridges, buildings, parking garages, highway-rail grade crossings, and rail stations.
It authorizes $10 million per year for FY2026–2030, allows federal funding up to 80 percent of project costs, amends Title 23 to explicitly include bridge safety barriers and nets, and requires a GAO study on effectiveness and costs for structures other than bridges with a report within one year.
Small appropriation, bipartisan appeal on suicide prevention, and administrable grant design increase chance; procedural obstacles in Senate and appropriation uncertainty reduce it.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly creates a new federal program to subsidize installation of suicide deterrents, provides a time-limited authorization of appropriations, and mandates a GAO study. It sets basic eligibility, priority, and cost-share rules but delegates substantial implementation detail to the Secretary of Transportation.
Adequacy of funding: liberals see underfunding, conservatives question any new spending
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Adequacy of funding: liberals see underfunding, conservatives question any new spending
Generally supportive because it funds evidence-based, life-saving infrastructure interventions and targets high-risk areas.
Would emphasize coupling physical deterrents with expanded mental-health services and equity-focused implementation.
May press for stronger funding, monitoring, and community involvement to ensure effective and fair use.
Cautiously supportive: the bill is a targeted, time-limited federal grant program addressing a concrete public-safety problem.
Will want clear cost estimates, measurable outcomes, and phased rollout to limit unexpected liabilities and fiscal risk.
Wary.
Supports suicide prevention in principle but concerned about federal expansion into local infrastructure, recurring costs, and taxpayer burden.
Likely to demand strict limits on scope, stronger state control, and assurances about cost-sharing and liability.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Small appropriation, bipartisan appeal on suicide prevention, and administrable grant design increase chance; procedural obstacles in Senate and appropriation uncertainty reduce it.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Adequacy of funding: liberals see underfunding, conservatives question any new spending
Small appropriation, bipartisan appeal on suicide prevention, and administrable grant design increase chance; procedural obstacles in Senat…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly creates a new federal program to subsidize installation of suicide deterrents, provides a time-limited authorization of appropriations, and mandates a GAO stu…
Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.