Foster Youth Postsecondary Education Access and Success Act

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Bill ID: 119/hr/7463
Last Updated: July 22, 2026

Sponsored by

Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

ID: C001080

Follow the money

The bill

Foster Youth Postsecondary Education Access and Success Act

HR. 7463, 119th Congress — read as touching For-Profit Education & Student Loans.

The sponsor

Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$76,450 raised

30 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

55% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of Education" section, p. 383-385 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 555.

May 6, 2026

Introduced

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.

🏛️

Committee Review

🗳️

Floor Action

✅

Passed House

🏛️

Senate Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another exercise in legislative theater, courtesy of the intellectually bankrupt members of Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Foster Youth Postsecondary Education Access and Success Act (HR 7463) claims to increase support for foster youth pursuing postsecondary education by amending section 477 of the Social Security Act. How noble. In reality, it's a shallow attempt to pacify the conscience of lawmakers who have consistently failed to address the systemic issues plaguing the foster care system.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill increases the maximum education and training voucher amount from $5,000 to $12,000, because throwing more money at a problem always solves it, right? It also adds some vague language about providing "greater support" for foster youth, which is code for "we'll get around to it eventually." The Secretary of Health and Human Services is tasked with developing model guidance for states, because clearly, they need more bureaucratic red tape to navigate.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** Foster youth, who will supposedly benefit from this legislation, are the primary affected party. However, given the track record of similar initiatives, it's likely that the actual beneficiaries will be the politicians who get to tout this as a "success" during their re-election campaigns, and the lobbyists who pushed for the increased funding.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a classic case of treating symptoms rather than the underlying disease. The foster care system remains broken, and tossing more money at it won't fix the fundamental issues of neglect, abuse, and lack of resources. The increased voucher amount might provide some temporary relief, but it's a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. The real impact will be felt by the taxpayers who foot the bill for this feel-good legislation, and the foster youth who will continue to fall through the cracks due to the system's inherent failures.

In conclusion, HR 7463 is a quintessential example of legislative malpractice. It's a shallow attempt to address a complex issue, driven by political expediency rather than a genuine desire to create meaningful change. The politicians behind this bill should be ashamed of themselves, but they won't be, because they're too busy patting themselves on the back for "doing something" about foster care. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to suffer through the inevitable consequences of their incompetence.

Related Topics

Education & Student AidHousing & Urban Development
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$76,450
23 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$39,600
Committees
$0
Individuals
$36,850

No PAC contributions found

1
FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA
2 transactions
$6,600
2
MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS TRIBAL OPERATIONS ACCOUNT
2 transactions
$6,600
3
SNOQUALMIE TRIBE
3 transactions
$6,200
4
ONEIDA NATION
2 transactions
$5,300
5
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
2 transactions
$3,000
6
SANTA YNEZ BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
1 transaction
$2,900
7
CHEROKEE NATION
1 transaction
$2,500
8
SALT RIVER PIMA MARICOPA INDIAN COMMUNITY
1 transaction
$2,000
9
BARONA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
1 transaction
$1,500
10
SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
1 transaction
$1,000
11
THE CHICKASAW NATION
1 transaction
$1,000
12
ALABAMA-COUSHATTA TRIBE
2 transactions
$1,000

No committee contributions found

1
WU, SALLY
1 transaction
$3,650
2
KALDAS, MAHER HALIM
1 transaction
$3,500
3
SU, EVELYN
1 transaction
$3,300
4
BRAUN, JANET
1 transaction
$3,300
5
CANDELARIO, JURY
1 transaction
$3,300
6
CHEN, SHAWN S
1 transaction
$3,300
7
CHEN, XIN
1 transaction
$3,300
8
CHENG, DUNSON
1 transaction
$3,300
9
DE LLAMAS, LLOYD R
1 transaction
$3,300
10
DU, XIAOJUAN
1 transaction
$3,300
11
ENOMOTO, MICHAEL
1 transaction
$3,300

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Rep. Moran, Nathaniel [R-TX-1]

ID: M001224

Top Contributors

10

1
PELTIER, PATRICK
PELTIER AUTO GROUP • VICE PRESIDENT
IndividualTYLER, TX
$9,900
Jan 31, 2024
2
PELTIER, PATRICK
IndividualTYLER, TX
$6,600
Feb 22, 2024
3
MARSHALL, MATTHEW
DRAKE • REAL ESTATE
IndividualTYLER, TX
$6,600
Aug 22, 2024
4
MARSHALL, MATTHEW
DRAKE • REAL ESTATE
IndividualTYLER, TX
$6,600
Aug 22, 2024
5
ANDERSON, RICHARD M.
PAFFORD EMS • 911 PROFESSIONAL
IndividualMARSHALL, TX
$5,000
Apr 15, 2024
6
LEATHERWOOD, HARRY
SELF • SELF
IndividualTYLER, TX
$5,000
Sep 23, 2024
7
STOVALL, SCOTT
IndividualTROUP, TX
$3,300
Jan 18, 2024
8
PELTIER, MIKAH ANN
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER • COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
IndividualTYLER, TX
$3,300
Jan 31, 2024
9
PELTIER, PATRICK
PELTIER AUTO GROUP • VICE PRESIDENT
IndividualTYLER, TX
$3,300
Jan 31, 2024
10
STEVENSON, DAVID L
CUSTOM COMMODITIES TRANSPORT • OWNER
IndividualDIANA, TX
$3,300
Feb 1, 2024

Donor Network - Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

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Showing 61 nodes and 33 connections (75 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $99,550

Top Donors - Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

Showing top 23 donors by contribution amount

12 Orgs11 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 1 harmed.

  • Section 2 increases the maximum education and training voucher amount, which may reduce demand for for-profit education services, as foster youth may opt for more affordable alternatives.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of Education

Weak
Vector: 64%
Pages: 383-385AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"HR 7463 focuses on expanding postsecondary education support for foster youth through increased vouchers and streamlined access, while the Project 2025 policy excerpt emphasizes K–12 school choice via tax credits, state opt-outs from federal programs, and higher education accreditation reform—particularly targeting DEI policies and federal overreach. There is minimal thematic overlap, as the bill does not address school choice, accreditation, or federal program opt-outs."

Key themes:education accesspostsecondary support

— 351 — Department of Education as the Educational Choice for Children Act. This bill would create a federal scholarship tax credit that would incentivize donors to contribute to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Eligible families could then use that funding from the SGOs for their children’s education expenses including private school tuition, tutoring, and instructional materials. ADDITIONAL K–12 REFORMS Allowing States to Opt Out of Federal Education Programs. States should be able to opt out of federal education programs such as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. Much of the red tape and regulations that hinder local school districts are handed down from Washington. This regulatory burden far exceeds the federal government’s less than 10 percent financing share of K–12 education. In the most recent fiscal year (FY 2022), states and localities financed 93 percent of K–12 education costs, and the federal government just 7 percent. That 7 percent share should not allow the federal government to dictate state and local education policy. l To restore state and local control of education and reduce the bureaucratic and compliance burden, Congress should allow states to opt out of the dozens of federal K–12 education programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and instead allow states to put their share of federal funding toward any lawful education purpose under state law. This policy has been advanced over the years via a proposal known as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM HEA: Accreditation Reform Congress established two primary responsibilities for the U.S. Department of Education in the HEA: 1) to ensure the “administrative capacity and financial responsibility” of colleges and universities that accept Title IV funds; and 2) to ensure the quality of those institutions. Congress did not endow the Department of Education with the authority to involve itself in academic quality issues relating to colleges and universities that participate in the Title IV student aid program; the HEA allows the agency only to recognize accreditors, which are then supposed to provide quality assurance measures. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has followed closely in the footsteps of the Obama Administration by engaging in a politically motivated and incon- sistent administration of the accrediting agency recognition process. As a result, accreditors have transformed into de facto government agents. Despite claims by — 352 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise the department and accreditation agencies that accreditation is voluntary, the fact that Americans are denied access to an otherwise widely available entitle- ment benefit if the institution “elects” to not be accredited makes accreditation anything but voluntary. Today, accreditation determines whether Americans can access federal student aid benefits, transfer academic credits, enroll in higher-level degree programs, and even qualify for federal employment. Unnecessarily focused on schools in a specific geographic region, institutional accreditation reviews have also become wildly expensive audits by academic “peers” that stifle innovation and discourage new institutions of higher education. Of par- ticular concern are efforts by many accreditation agencies to leverage their Title IV (student loans and grants) gatekeeper roles to force institutions to adopt policies that have nothing to do with academic quality assurance and student outcomes. One egregious example of this is the extent to which accreditors have forced col- leges and universities, many of them faith-based institutions, to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that conflict with federal civil rights laws, state laws, and the institutional mission and culture of the schools. Perhaps more distress- ingly, accreditors, while professing support for academic freedom and campus free speech, have presided over a precipitous decline in both over the past decade. Despite maintaining criteria that demand such policies, accreditors have done nothing to dampen the illiberal chill that has swept across American campuses over the past decade. The current system is not working. A radical overhaul of the HEA’s accreditation requirements is thus in order. The next Administration should work with Congress to amend the HEA and should consider the following reforms: l Prohibit accreditation agencies from leveraging their Title IV gatekeeper role to mandate that educational institutions adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. l Protect the sovereignty of states to decide governance and leadership issues for their state-supported colleges and universities by prohibiting accreditation agencies from intruding upon the governance of state-supported educational institutions. l Protect faith-based institutions by prohibiting accreditation agencies from: 1. Requiring standards and criteria that undermine the religious beliefs of, or require policies or conduct that conflict with, the religious mission or religious beliefs of the institution; and

Department of Agriculture

Weak
Vector: 62%
Pages: 353-355AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill expands federal support for foster youth education through increased funding and guidance, which contrasts with Project 2025's goal of reducing federal oversight and block-granting education funds to states with fewer strings. While both address postsecondary opportunity, the bill increases federal involvement rather than devolving it."

Key themes:postsecondary educationstate implementationeducation accessfederal funding

— 320 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise The future of education freedom and reform in the states is bright and will shine brighter when regulations and red tape from Washington are eliminated. Federal money is inevitably accompanied by rules and regulations that keep the influx of funds from having much, if any, impact on student outcomes. It raises the cost of education without raising student achievement. To the extent that federal taxpayer dollars are used to fund education programs, those funds should be block- granted to states without strings, eliminating the need for many federal and state bureaucrats. Eventually, policymaking and funding should take place at the state and local level, closest to the affected families. Although student loans and grants should ultimately be restored to the private sector (or, at the very least, the federal government should revisit its role as a guarantor, rather than direct lender) federal postsecondary education investments should bolster economic growth, and recipient institutions should nourish academic freedom and embrace intellectual diversity. That has not, however, been the track record of federal higher education policy or of the many institutions of higher education that are hostile to free expression, open academic inquiry, and American exceptionalism. Federal post- secondary policy should be more than massive, inefficient, and open-ended subsidies to “traditional” colleges and universities. It should be rebalanced to focus far more on bolstering the workforce skills of Americans who have no interest in pursuing a four- year academic degree. It should reflect a fuller picture of learning after high school, placing apprenticeship programs of all types and career and technical education on an even playing field with degrees from colleges and universities. Rather than continuing to buttress a higher education establishment captured by woke “diversicrats” and a de facto monopoly enforced by the federal accreditation cartel, federal postsecondary education policy should prepare students for jobs in the dynamic economy, nurture institutional diversity, and expose schools to greater market forces.1 OVERVIEW For most of our history, the federal government played a minor role in education. Then, over a 14-month period beginning in 1964, Congress planted the seeds for what would become the U.S. Department of Education (ED or the department). In July of that year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after Congress reached a consensus that the mistreatment of black Americans was no longer tolerable and merited a federal response. In the case of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)2 and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA),3 Congress sought to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged students by providing additional compensatory funding for low-income children and lower-income college students. Spending on ESEA and the HEA—part of Johnson’s “War on Poverty”—grew exponentially in the years that followed. By Fiscal Year 2022, ESEA programs received $27.7 billion in appropriations, in addition to $190 billion that came — 321 — Department of Education through the pandemic’s Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds,4 which relied on ESEA formulas. The same year, the department spent more than $2 billion just to administer Title IV of the HEA, which authorizes federal student loans and Pell grants. It provided $22.5 billion in Pell grants, and it oversaw outlays of close to $100 billion in direct student loans. Since 1965, Congress has continued to layer on dozens of new laws and pro- grams as federal “solutions” to myriad education problems. In 1973, it passed the Rehabilitation Act,5 and, in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)6 to address educational neglect of students with disabilities. In 2002, it cre- ated the Institute for Education Sciences to consolidate education data collection and fund research. Congress has also enacted a series of Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Acts, including Perkins V in 2018.7 Congress could have, and once did, distribute management of federal education programs outside of a single department. But for those interested in expanding federal funding and influence in education, this unconsolidated approach was less than ideal, because a single, captive agency would allow them to promote their agenda more effectively across Administrations. Eventually, the National Educa- tion Association made a deal and backed the right presidential candidate— Jimmy Carter—who successfully lobbied for and delivered the Cabinet-level agency. When it was established in 1979—becoming operational in 1980—the agency was supposed to act as a “corralling” mechanism. Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act8 into law in 1979, believing in part that it would reduce administrative costs and improve efficiency by housing most of the federal education programs that had proliferated in the wake of Johnson’s War on Poverty under one roof. It has had the opposite effect. Instead, special interest groups like the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the higher education lobby have leveraged the agency to continuously expand federal expenditures—a desirable funding stream from their vantage point because federal budgets are not constrained like state and local budgets that must be balanced each year. By FY 2022, the department’s discretionary and mandatory appropriation topped $80 billion, not including student loan outlays. Each of its programs has attendant federal strings and red tape. One recent example is the Biden Administration’s requirement that state educa- tion agencies and school districts submit “equity” plans as a condition of receiving COVID recovery ESSER funds in the American Rescue Plan (ARP).9 This exercise led to the hiring of numerous new government employees as the rules were pro- mulgated, plans were created after collecting public feedback, and those plans were eventually deemed satisfactory. The next Administration will need a plan to redistribute the various congres- sionally approved federal education programs across the government, eliminate

Department of Education

Weak
Vector: 61%
Pages: 377-379AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"Both the bill and the Project 2025 excerpt concern education policy, but the bill focuses on expanding postsecondary support for foster youth while the Project 2025 section centers on parental rights, FERPA/PPRA enforcement, gender ideology, and school choice. The overlap is limited to general education themes."

Key themes:educationstudent supportfederal funding

— 345 — Department of Education financial assistance. Investigations can take months if not years. The department has never suspended or terminated the funding for an educational institution or agency for violating FERPA or PPRA. In essence, Congress has granted parents and students important statutory rights without an effective remedy to assert those rights. l The next Administration should work with Congress to amend FERPA and PPRA to provide parents and students over the age of 18 years with a private right of action to seek injunctive and declaratory relief, together with attorneys’ fees and costs if a prevailing party, against educational institutions and agencies that violate rights enshrined in these statutes. This will empower parents and students, level the playing field between families and education bureaucracies, and encourage institutional compliance with these statutory requirements. Protect Parental Rights in Policy In addition to strengthening legal protections for parents, the next Adminis- tration should: l Prioritize legislation advancing such rights. Promising ideas have appeared in bills introduced in the 117th Congress such as H.R.8767, the Empowering Parents Act,15 sponsored by Representative Bob Good (R-VA); H.R. 6056, the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act,16 sponsored by Representative Julia Letlow (R-LA); and H.J.Res. 99,17 proposing an amendment to the Constitution relating to parental rights, sponsored by Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). l These congressional actions should be carefully reviewed to make sure they complement state Parents' Bills of Rights, such as those passed in Georgia (2022), Florida (2021), Montana (2021), Wyoming (2017), Idaho (2015), Oklahoma (2014), Virginia (2013), and Arizona (2010). As documented by writers such as Abigail Shrier and others, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons documented a four-fold increase in the number of biological girls seeking gender surgery between 2016 and 2017. Larger increases were found in the U.K. from 2009 to 2019 and 2017 to 2018. These statistics and others point to a social contagion in which minor children, especially girls, are attempting to make life-altering decisions using puberty blockers and other hor- mone treatments and even surgeries to remove or alter vital body parts. Heritage Foundation research finds that providing easier access to such treatments and — 346 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise surgeries without parental involvement does not reduce the suicidality of these young people and may even increase suicide rates. l The next Administration should take particular note of how radical gender ideology is having a devastating effect on school-aged children today—especially young girls. School officials in some states are requiring teachers and other school employ- ees to accept a minor child’s decision to assume a different “gender” while at school—without notifying parents. In California, New Jersey, and certain districts in Kansas and elsewhere, educators are prohibited from informing parents about children’s confusion over their sex if the children do not want their parents to know. Such policies allow schools to drive a wedge between parents and children. The next Administration should work with Congress to provide an example to state lawmakers by requiring K–12 districts under federal jurisdiction, including Wash- ington, D.C., public schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Department of Defense schools, with legislation stating that: l No public education employee or contractor shall use a name to address a student other than the name listed on a student’s birth certificate, without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians. l No public education employee or contractor shall use a pronoun in addressing a student that is different from that student’s biological sex without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians. l No public institution may require an education employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match a person’s biological sex if contrary to the employee’s or contractor’s religious or moral convictions. State lawmakers should use this model and adopt similar provisions for public schools within their borders. Federal lawmakers should not allow public school employees to keep secrets about a child from that child’s parents. Advance School Choice Policies The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a voucher program providing scholarships to children from low-income families living in the nation’s capital to attend a private school of choice, is capped at $20 million annually and limited to

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About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

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