HERO Act
Latest action · Jul 21, 2026 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 48 - 0.
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.
- IntroducedMar 19, 2026
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Helping Educators Respond to Overdoses Act or the HERO Act
This bill establishes a grant program to provide schools with opioid overdose reversal drugs and requires reporting related to the distribution of such drugs.
First, the bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to award competitive grants to eligible entities for (1) purchasing approved opioid overdose reversal drugs; and (2) developing and implementing educational programming or resources to promote student and community knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, drug-use prevention and intervention, and emergency responses to drug overdoses. Eligible entities include private elementary and secondary schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), charter schools that are LEAs, and consortia of LEAs.
Second, the bill requires a covered educational institution (i.e., a private school, LEA, or charter school that is an LEA) that receives federal funds to submit a description of any distribution of an opioid overdose reversal drug by such institution to the National Emergency Medical Services Information System and the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program of the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jul 16, 2026.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-FL | Gus M. Bilirakis | Jul 16, 2026 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Mar 19, 2026Markup Jul 20, 2026Markup Jul 21, 2026 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Mar 19, 2026Markup Jun 25, 2026Reported Jun 25, 2026 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Mar 19, 2026 |
Actions 8
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 21, 2026Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jul 21, 2026Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 48 - 0.
- Jul 20, 2026Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jun 25, 2026Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jun 25, 2026Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
- Mar 19, 2026Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Mar 19, 2026Introduced in House
- Mar 19, 2026Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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. 172, no. 50, March 19, 2026, page H2622.
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To establish a grant program to provide schools with opioid overdose reversal drugs, to direct schools receiving Federal funds to report to certain Federal information systems any distribution of an opioid overdose reversal drug, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- HERO Act
- Helping Educators Respond to Overdoses Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 19, 2026Introduced 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.
