H.R. 5304: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

H.R. 5304 funds major labor, health, and education programs — but it also uses that money to change workplace rules, school policy, and reproductive-health grant conditions.

One of the clearest examples is work classification. The bill bars the Labor Department from using funds to enforce the Biden-era independent contractor rule, which would make it harder for the department to police whether some workers should be treated as employees instead of contractors.

It also freezes the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate for 2 years at the January 31, 2023 level. For agricultural employers, that can hold labor costs down; for H-2A workers, it means federally required wage rates would not keep rising during that period.

Schools would face another high-stakes condition. Under H.R. 5304, educational institutions that allow transgender girls to compete in girls' sports could lose access to federal funds covered by the bill.

The bill also tightens rules around Title X family planning grants. Applicants would have to make certifications around family involvement and counseling, and the bill says those providers are not excused from state child-abuse reporting laws.

Some provisions are more technical, but still consequential. The bill rescinds $12.835 billion from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, allows up to 0.75% of certain Labor appropriations to be reserved for evaluations, and caps some salaries tied to Labor-funded programs at the Executive Level II pay rate.

There are also direct labor-rule changes outside agency funding language. Disaster claims adjusters meeting the bill's test could be exempt from overtime for 2 years after a major disaster if they earn at least $591 a week.

The catch is that many of these riders are the kind of policy changes that can pass the House inside a spending bill, then run straight into resistance in the Senate or from a president who opposes them.