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S-3588Senate2026-01-07Health

School Access to Naloxone Act of 2026

YourVoice.Now Summary

Workers & JobsTransparency & Accountability

A new federal grant would help schools stock overdose-reversal medicine — if their state or local government applies.

Workers & Jobs

School staff allowed to give overdose medicine — at grant schools

Schools covered by a grant would have to let trained staff use the medicine in an emergency. The bill sets that as a condition of taking the money.

Non-medical staff may give the medicine — school documents their training

A principal could pick any staff member, not just a school nurse. The bill does not say who sets the training standard, and the school keeps the record.

Trained staff on site during all operating hours

To take a grant, each school would need a plan to have at least one trained person there whenever it is open. That is a new staffing duty for schools.

Transparency & Accountability

Built-in expiration for school naloxone money — after fiscal year 2027

The new school grants would draw on the $5,000,000 that current law allows for overdose grants through fiscal year 2027. The bill adds none of its own, so Congress would have to act again to keep the school program going.

More about this bill

Schools could keep naloxone (a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses) on hand under a new federal grant. A state, tribe, or local government would apply for the money on its schools' behalf. The federal health department could award these grants, but would not have to. Each public and private K-12 school under a winning applicant would have to store the medicine within easy reach. It would also need a trained person on site during all operating hours. That person could be a school nurse or another staff member the principal picks. The bill would add no new money. Current law allows $5,000,000 for the wider overdose grant program through fiscal year 2027. The new school grants would share that same money. That older program would change too. Its money could cover programs for giving the medicine, not just prescribing it. School staff would get no new legal protection. Instead, a state's attorney general would have to confirm that state law already protects them.

Congressional Summary

School Access to Naloxone Act of 2026This bill authorizes grants for expanding access to drugs or devices to treat opioid overdoses (e.g., naloxone) in elementary and secondary schools.The Department of Health and Human Services may award the grants to states, Indian tribes, and localities. To receive a grant, recipients must certify that schools in their jurisdictions will stock the drugs and devices and have trained staff on premises during operating hours to administer them.Additionally, the attorney general of the recipient's state must certify that trained staff are covered by state civil liability protections for individuals who administer aid in an emergency (commonly known as Good Samaritan laws).

Legislative Subjects

Drug therapyDrug, alcohol, tobacco useEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationHealth technology, devices, suppliesSchool administration

Details

Congress
119th
Chamber
Senate
Status
summarized
Action
Introduced in Senate
Action Date
2026-01-07
Date Added
2026-09-04
Source
Congress.gov →

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