S. 3471: Building Blocks of STEM Act

115th Congress · introduced 2018-09-18 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2018-09-18 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Building Blocks of STEM Act

Plain summary

Building Blocks of STEM Act This bill instructs the National Science Foundation (NSF), when awarding grants under the Discovery Research PreK-12 program, to consider age distribution in order to more equitably allocate funding for research studies with a focus on early childhood. The bill directs the NSF to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations to accelerate research efforts to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to the willingness or unwillingness of girls under the age of 11 to participate in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activities. The NSF shall also award competitive grants for such institutions and organizations to enter into partnerships with local educational agencies or states to develop and evaluate interventions in pre-K and elementary school classrooms that seek to increase participation by such girls in computer science activities. The bill amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to authorize the NSF to award grants under the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program for the recruitment and training of informatics and computer science teachers.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Yea” vote

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A “Nay” vote

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Building Blocks of STEM Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] reported raising $1.8 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s3471.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s3471 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115