Govwatch

Introduced

In Committee

3

Passed One Chamber

4

Passed Both

5

Signed into Law

Sponsor

Mary E. Miller

Republican · IL · Representative

Votes with party: 91.7% (628 recorded votes)

Top industries funding sponsor:

Agriculture$371k

Full profile: /officials/M001211

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (16)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 15.

2026-07-21

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

House Committee on Education and WorkforceMarkup By · 2026-07-21

Previously

House Committee on Education and WorkforceReferred To · 2025-08-15

Plain-English Summary

The legislation would require schools to get written permission from parents before involving their children in surveys, assessments, or other activities that collect personal information about students' beliefs, family relationships, or mental health. Schools would need to inform parents about what information is being collected and allow them to review materials in advance. The measure affects public school students and their families by giving parents more control over what personal data schools gather about their children.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Education

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 4986 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4986 To amend the General Education Provisions Act to ensure that a student is not required to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals personal information about such student or their family without prior written consent. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 15, 2025 Mrs. Miller of Illinois (for herself, Mr. Cloud, Mr. Harris of Maryland, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Self, Mr. Fulcher, Mr. Babin, Mr. Burlison, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, and Mrs. Harshbarger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the General Education Provisions Act to ensure that a student is not required to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals personal information about such student or their family without prior written consent. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Parents Opt-in Protection Act''. SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PUPILS' RIGHTS. Section 445 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232h) is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)-- (A) by striking ``prior consent of the student'' and inserting ``prior written consent of the student''; and (B) by inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, for such specific survey, analysis, or evaluation''; and (2) in subsection (c)(2)(A)-- (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i); (B) in clause (ii), by striking ``subparagraph (C).'' and inserting ``clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph (C); and''; and (C) by adding at the end the following: ``(iii) not require a student to submit to a survey described in subparagraph (C)(ii) without the prior written consent of the student (if the student is an adult or emancipated minor), or in the case of an unemancipated minor, without the prior written consent of the parent, for such specific survey.''. <all>

Open clean-text view Read on Congress.gov →

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