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S. 2859

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 2859, the Equal Campus Access Act of 2025, was introduced in the Senate on Sep 18, 2025 by Sen. James Lankford (R) with 30 co-sponsors. It was referred to Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions, and last saw action on Mar 19, 2026: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.

Record

Text

S. 2859 has 30 co-sponsors.

sb2859/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S2859 IS: Equal Campus Access Act of 2025
 U.S. Senate
 2025-09-18
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 2859  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   September 18 (legislative day, September 16), 2025   Mr. Lankford  (for himself,  Mr. Scott of South Carolina ,  Mr. Cassidy ,  Mr. Scott of Florida ,  Mr. Cramer ,  Mr. Hawley ,  Mr. Grassley ,  Ms. Lummis ,  Mrs. Hyde-Smith ,  Mr. Cruz ,  Mr. Cotton ,  Mr. Budd ,  Mr. Young ,  Mrs. Blackburn ,  Mr. Banks ,  Mrs. Britt ,  Mr. Crapo ,  Mr. Tillis ,  Mr. Daines ,  Mr. Risch ,  Mrs. Capito ,  Mr. Graham ,  Mr. Rounds ,  Mr. Ricketts ,  Mr. Kennedy , and  Mr. Cornyn ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions    A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure campus access at public institutions of higher education for religious groups.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Equal Campus Access Act of 2025  .
2.
Campus access for religious groups
Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
124.
Campus access for religious groups
None of the funds made available under this Act may be provided to any public institution of higher education that denies to a religious student organization any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the institution (including full access to the facilities of the institution and official recognition of the organization by the institution) because of the religious beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or standards of conduct of the religious student organization.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-09-18
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in Senate Sep 18, 2025

sb2859/introduced-in-senate.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (09/18/2025)

Equal Campus Access Act of 2025

This bill prohibits funding made available under the Higher Education Act of 1965 from being provided to any public institution of higher education (IHE) that denies certain campus rights to religious student organizations.

Specifically, the bill prohibits a public IHE from receiving these funds if it denies a religious student organization any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the IHE because of the religious student organization's beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or standards of conduct.

Sponsors

Sen. James Lankford (R) sponsors S. 2859, and 30 members have co-sponsored it, 25 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

S. 2859 went before 1 committee: Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Hearings By (full committee) · Mar 19, 2026 · 747 Bills

Actions

S. 2859 has taken 3 actions since Sep 18, 2025, the latest on Mar 19, 2026.

ChamberAction
Mar 19, 2026
Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Sep 18, 2025
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S6732-6734)Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Sep 18, 2025
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 2859 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 2859, as Identical bill.

Titles

S. 2859 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Equal Campus Access Act of 2025 — Display Title
  • Equal Campus Access Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure campus access at public institutions of higher education for religious groups. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 8 registered lobbyists who named S. 2859 in 3 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Defense, Budget/Appropriations, Education, Health Issues, Sports/Athletics, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Veterans.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION—District of Columbia12—
ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOMReligious Liberty, Life, Parental Rights, Free SpeechVirginia11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION12—
ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ELIZA GONZALEZ112
EMMANUAL GUILLORY112
JONATHAN FANSMITH112
LINDSEY TEPE112
SARAH SPREITZER112
STEPHEN LAMB112
STEVEN BLOOM112
KATIE DOHERTY111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATIONAMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION2026 first_quarter$77K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATIONAMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION2026 second_quarter$37.5K2nd Quarter - Report
ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOMALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM2025 third_quarter$20K3rd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 2859 under Education, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 4 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 2859’s is Education.

s2859/policy-areas.txt
EducationAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

S. 2859 carries 4 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Education programs funding to School administration.

s2859/subjects.txt
Education programs fundingHigher educationReligionSchool administration

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com