A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training Program.
S. 208, introduced January 23, 2025, would reauthorize the Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond to Health and Wellness Training Program (SOAR) under the Public Health Service Act. Specifically, it amends section 1254(h) to extend the program’s authorizing period from fiscal years 2020–2024 to fiscal years 2025–2029. The bill also directs a one-time rescission of $20 million from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Nonrecurring Expenses Fund (unobligated balances). The sponsors are Sen. Schmitt (with Sen. Klobuchar), and the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In short, the bill keeps the SOAR training program going for five more years and trims a separate DHHS fund by $20 million to offset the initiative.
Key Points
- 1Reauthorizes the SOAR to Health and Wellness Training Program for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 by amending the relevant statutory text.
- 2Closes out the prior authorization window (2020–2024) and replaces it with a new multi-year authorization window (2025–2029).
- 3Provides a one-time rescission (retrenchment) of $20,000,000 from the Nonrecurring Expenses Fund (009-90-0125) of the Department of Health and Human Services for the bill’s offset.
- 4The program remains governed under the Public Health Service Act (Section 1254(h)) with the updated authorization period.
- 5No new programmatic changes to SOAR are specified beyond extending authorization and the related funding offset.