S. 1945 · 117th Congress

IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act

Introduced on May 27, 2021 by Christopher A. Coons (D-DE). 12 cosponsors, 6 of them from another party. Latest action (May 27, 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
May 27, 2021
Cosponsors
12
6 from the other party
Policy area
Education
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to provide for the long-term improvement of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Air quality
  • Building construction
  • Community life and organization
  • Congressional oversight
  • Disability and paralysis
  • Education of the disadvantaged
  • Educational facilities and institutions
  • Educational technology and distance education
  • Energy efficiency and conservation
  • Government lending and loan guarantees
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
  • Higher education
  • Internet and video services
  • Internet, web applications, social media
  • Minority and disadvantaged businesses
  • Minority education
  • Natural disasters
  • Public contracts and procurement
  • Small business
  • Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
  • Water quality
  • Water use and supply
  • Women in business

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, May 27, 2021). Public domain.

Institutional Grants for New Infrastructure, Technology, and Education for HBCU Excellence Act or the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act

This bill establishes a grant program to support long-term improvements of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and graduate programs at HBCUs.

Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to HBCUs to improve campus facilities. A recipient must use grant funds for certain activities, such as constructing or renovating facilities, carrying out major repairs, and strengthening the safety and security of a campus. Any new construction, modernization, or renovation projects must meet building code and energy and water conservation requirements.

Further, HBCUs must seek to procure contracts from certain small businesses, including those owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans.

The bill prohibits the use of grant funds for specified activities, including for the payment of routine and predictable maintenance costs, minor repairs, and utility bills.

The Government Accountability Office must study the implementation of the grant program.

The bill also requires ED to repay the outstanding balance of principal, interest, fees, and costs and any related reimbursements for certain capital financing loans.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Christopher A. CoonsD-DESponsor

Democrats · 6

Republicans · 6

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. May 27, 2021Introduced in Senate
  2. May 27, 2021 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. ADOBE INC6 reports
    $2.7M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ADOBE INCAI match · 100%

Reports filed in 2023, 2024, 2025.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.