Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act
Latest action · Feb 6, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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 6, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act
This bill restores an exemption for certain family farms and small businesses on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The bill applies to the net worth of (1) a family farm on which the family resides, or (2) a small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees that is owned and controlled by the family.
Prior to recent changes made to the FAFSA, the net worth of these family farms and small businesses were excluded as assets when calculating a student's financial need to determine federal student aid eligibility. Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, the net worth of these farms and businesses are treated as an asset and therefore included in the calculation. This bill restores the exemption to exclude such net worth from the calculation.
Cosponsors 13
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 6, 2025 to Jul 27, 2026; 9 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-IA | Chuck Grassley | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-WV | James C. Justice | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-KS | Jerry Moran | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-AR | John Boozman | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-ND | John Hoeven | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| D-CO | Michael F. Bennet | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-SD | Mike Rounds | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-KS | Roger Marshall | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-NC | Thom Tillis | Original | Feb 6, 2025 |
| R-NE | Pete Ricketts | Feb 11, 2025 | |
| R-AL | Tommy Tuberville | Jun 11, 2025 | |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Sep 2, 2025 | |
| R-PA | David McCormick | Jul 27, 2026 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Feb 6, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 6, 2025Introduced in Senate
- Feb 6, 2025Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1131 | Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act | Related bill | Feb 7, 2025 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to restore the exemption of family farms and small businesses from the definition of assets under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Family Farm and Small Business Exemption Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 6, 2025Introduced in Senate
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.
