BEST Act
Latest action · Feb 27, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 27, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act or the BEST Act
This bill directs the Department of Education to award renewable two-year grants to states to establish or improve, and carry out, Seal of Biliteracy programs and early language programs to recognize student proficiency in both English and a second language. Student proficiency shall be demonstrated through proficiency in speaking and writing in both languages and may also be demonstrated through reading and listening in both languages.
Further, these programs must allow speakers of any official Native American language to use equivalent proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in such language in lieu of proficiency in English.
Cosponsors 19
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 27, 2025 to Dec 9, 2025; 15 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NC | Deborah K. Ross | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-WI | Gwen Moore | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Jimmy Panetta | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CT | John B. Larson | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Kevin Mullin | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-NM | Melanie A. Stansbury | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-CA | Salud O. Carbajal | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-MI | Shri Thanedar | Original | Feb 27, 2025 |
| D-WA | Suzan K. DelBene | Mar 18, 2025 | |
| D-DE | Sarah McBride | Apr 1, 2025 | |
| D-RI | Seth Magaziner | May 9, 2025 | |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | Dec 9, 2025 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Feb 27, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 27, 2025Introduced in House
- Feb 27, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 39, February 27, 2025, page H918.
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To award grants to States to establish or improve, and carry out, Seal of Biliteracy programs to recognize high-level student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language, and early language programs.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- BEST Act
- Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 27, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
