Legislative Tracker and Policy Resources

Bill: AB 1784

Sponsor: Pellerin

Status: passed CA Assembly, passed CA Senate Education and Judiciary Committees, currently pending in CA Senate Appropriations committee

Official text and status: AB 1784, Postsecondary education: nondiscrimination: pregnancy or pregnancy-related issues.

Summary: AB 1784 would update California's Equity in Higher Education Act to clearly prohibit postsecondary institutions from discriminating against applicants or students based on familial status or current, potential, or past pregnancy and related medical conditions. The bill would require state postsecondary institutions to provide reasonable accommodations to students experiencing pregnancy-related conditions and would extend parental leave protections to undergraduates. Finally, the legislation would require institutions to inform students of their rights, establish a liaison responsible for compliance, and require relevant policies be put in writing.

Bill: S840

Sponsors: Singer, Amato

Status:  Advanced by the Senate Higher Education Committee, pending in Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

Official text and status: Bill S840, Student-Parent Protection Act

Summary: Bill S840 would add antidiscrimination protection for student parents into state law. The bill would also require accommodations for student parents, including absences when needed for urgent caregiving issues. Finally, the bill would clarify that student parents must be reinstated following leave, and require that institutional policies on pregnancy discrimination be updated to include parents.

Bill: S3861 

Sponsors: Singer

Status: In Senate Higher Education Committee

Official text and status: Bill S3861, Requires institution of higher education to collect certain information concerning student parents

Bill summary: Bill S3861 would require higher education institutions to submit an annual report to the state's Secretary of Higher Education and post online information about students with children under 18. The report must provide the number of student parents (by demographic) and data on the students' academic outcomes. 

Bill: S3862 

Sponsors: Singer

Status: In Senate Higher Education Committee

Official text and status: Bill S3862, Requires each institution of higher education to designate student-parent liaison

Summary: Bill S3862 would require higher education institutions to designate at least one student parent liaison. This staff member would be responsible for making sure that parenting students are aware of academic support and other institutional resources for parenting students. The liaison would also be the point person for parental accommodations and leave. 

Bill: A3424 and S3860 (identical bills in each legislative house)

Sponsor: Simmons, Singer

Status:  In Assembly Higher Education Committee and Senate Higher Education Committee

Official text and status: Bill A3424, Grants priority course registration to certain student parents attending institutions of higher education

Bill summary: BillA3424/S3860 would require postsecondary higher education institutions that offer priority registration to give student parents priority registration and notify students that the registration is available. Students are eligible if they are residents of NJ and parents or legal guardians of a child under 18.

Bills: SB 0440, HB 0006 (near identical bills in each legislative house)

Sponsor: M. Washington, Kerr

Status: Passed and signed (became law)

Official text and status: SB 0440, Public Institutions of Higher Education—Pregnant and Parenting Students—Plan and Reporting

Summary: This law requires each public higher education institution to collect and report student parent data to the Maryland Higher Education Commission along with other demographic data. The commission will work with the institutions to develop questions to identify which students are parents, guardians, or acting as parents/guardians of a child of any age, the age of the child(ren), and whether the student is a single parent. The Commission will be required to adopt regulations on student parent data collection and report this data each year, beginning September 2027. Finally, the law expands the requirement for higher education institutions to adopt a plan for pregnant and parenting students to include all public higher education institutions.

Bill: HF4252, SF3943

Sponsor: Wolgamott, Fateh

Status: Passed and signed (became law)

Official text and status: HF4252

Summary: HF4252/SF3943 provides parenting students with a right to reasonable modifications, including excused absences to attend to their child’s health care needs. These modifications must be provided unless doing so would compromise the fundamental outcomes of the student’s course, program, or activity. The law also requires that student parents in postsecondary institutions be given priority registration, which must occur with or before the earliest undergraduate registration period available. The priority registration requirement notably requires that eligibility for this registration be provided without a separate approval process once parenting status is verified and that institutions notify students of their right to this service. The law also adjusts pregnancy accommodation requirements, though these do not add additional new rights. Educational institutions are required to publish information relating to these and other programs and services for student parents on their websites.

Bills: HM33, SM16

Sponsors: Serrato, Jaramillo

Status: Senate Memorial passed

Official text and status: SM16, Data on Parenting Students in Higher Ed

Summary:  HM33 and SM16 are “memorials,” meaning they express the intent of the legislature but do not have the force of law. The Senate Memorial was adopted to request that the New Mexico Higher Education Department host a formal task force to study, develop recommendations, and draft legislation for collecting data on parenting students. Part of the task force’s mission is to suggest a definition of “parenting student.” The task force is required to submit the report and draft legislation by November 1, 2026.

Bill: HB427

Sponsor: LeVere Bolling

Status: Passed and signed (became a law)

Official text and status: HB427, Uniform, comprehensive data information system; info on self-identified students who are parents

Summary: HB427 requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to include students who self-identify as parents as a demographic in its regular data collection. Student parents are defined as any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. 

Delaware

Bill: SB277

Sponsor: Hoffner

Status: Died in Education Committee (legislature adjourned for the year)

Official text and status: SB277

Summary: SB277 would have established state antidiscrimination protections for students who are parents, guardians, pregnant, or experiencing pregnancy-related conditions. Educational programs would have been required to excuse certain absences for these students' own health or the health of their children and provided leave for the student to recover from childbirth. It would have also required the excusal of absences for parenting-related issues, such as court appearances and needs related to custody, adoption, and domestic violence. The bill would have required educational institutions to provide accommodations to protect pregnant and lactating students’ health or allow them to meet emergency childcare needs. Finally, the bill would have limited documentation requests and required the state Department of Education to create regulations and guidance.

Bill: A6606

Sponsor: Forrest

Status: Died in committee (legislature adjourned for the year)

Official text and status: A6606A

Bill summary: The Protecting Rights of Pregnant and Parenting Students in Schools and Education Act would have ensured that pregnant and parenting students are protected from discrimination under state law. It would have also provided a right to reasonable accommodations and excused absences to protect the health and wellbeing of pregnant and postpartum students and would have provided student parents with priority registration. Finally, the bill would have required institutions to establish a student parent liaison officer to share their information.

Bill: HB 1492

Sponsors: Salahuddin, Davis, Reed, Ramel, Ortiz-Self, Nance, Cortes, Fosse, Ryu, Scott, Pollet, Simmons

Status: Died in committee.                      

Official text and status: HB 1492, Providing early registration for students with dependents

Summary: HB 1492 would have required public higher education institutions to enact a process to provide early registration for students with dependents. “Dependent” was defined in the bill to include children under 18, as well as people above 18 who rely on the student to provide “the basic necessities of life” due to advanced age or disability.

• Testimony in Support of House Bill 0298 – Maryland Higher Education Commission – Demographic Data Collection – Parental Status 
• Debunking Myths on Student Parent Data Collection
• Lessons on Collecting Data and Driving Change to Support Student Parent Success

The Coalition for Pregnant and Parenting Students Advocacy--of which SPARK is a member--created the State Policy Toolkit for Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Students that includes talking points, legislative priorities, model bill language, and more. 

To learn more about the legislative environment and why state protections are so important in this moment, check out the Coalition's June 2026 webinar.