AACN's Sign-Ons with Coalition Partners
December 12: AACN signed onto letters to House and Senate leadership led by Voices for Non-Opioid Choices. The letters support the passage of the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) for Veterans Act (H.R. 4509), which would increase veterans’ access to non-opioid pain medications.
December 11: AACN signed onto a letter led by Research!America to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED). The letter urges support of at least $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in any final Fiscal Year 2026 LHHS-ED spending bill.
December 5: AACN signed onto an American Academy of Pediatrics letter expressing concerns with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)’s decision to downgrade recommendations for vaccinations of all newborns against hepatitis B at birth.
December 2: AACN signed onto letters from American Indian/Alaska Native Health Partners to the House and Senate supporting funding for the Indian Health Professions Account and Indian Health Service in Fiscal Year 2026.
November 14: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to Congress outlining the NCC’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations requests. These include at least $303.472 million for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $197.693 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), as outlined in the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee-passed FY 2026 Labor, Health and Humans Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED) appropriations bill.
November 5: AACN signed onto a Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC) letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to provide the highest possible funding levels for the Health Title VII Health Professions and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs in FY 2026.
October 31: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to U.S. Department of Education, urging the Department’s Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee to explicitly include post-baccalaureate nursing programs in the regulatory definition of “professional degree programs” when implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
October 31: AACN signed onto a letter along with a broad coalition of health professions, education programs, and professional associations to the Department of Education’s (ED) Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee asking the Department to adopt a clear and consistent standard for defining "professional degrees" in the health professions sector including classifying all professions under CIP Code 51-Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences as "professional degrees."
October 30: AACN signed onto a CDC Coalition letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED), strongly opposing cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposed in the House’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY) LHHS-ED spending bill. The letter also urged the Subcommittees to provide robust funding for the CDC in any final FY 2026 appropriations legislation.
October 27: AACN signed onto an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to provide the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved funding level of $ 47.2 billion for NIH, in addition to funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), in any final Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill.
October 24: AACN signed onto a Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to exempt health care professionals from DHS guidance that would impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applicants.
October 23: AACN signed onto a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE) to the Department of Homeland Security seeking clarification about the new $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications and asking that institutions of higher education be exempted from this fee.
October 2: AACN signed onto a Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) letter to the U.S. Department of Education regarding its negotiated rulemaking process on the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The letter urges the Department to ensure that the health professions workforce is considered a single, integrated workforce when determining loan eligibility criteria.
September 30: AACN signed onto a letter led by American Council on Education (ACE) asking that Congress ensure all funding allocated in the FY 2026 appropriation process be spent by the Administration as intended.
September 29: AACN signed onto a comment letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressing serious concerns and in strong opposition to the proposed rule “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media.”
September 22: AACN signed onto a letter with 226 organizations in support of the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs (JAG), thanking appropriators for including language in some of the spending bills and reports to date, and urging that they strengthen language in the final spending bills supporting the JAG work and prohibiting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from instituting arbitrary caps on federal support for research costs.
September 19: AACN signed onto a letter led by the Alliance for Aging Research urging the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to recommend the full schedule of vaccines and ensure access and patient choice, recommend Covid-19 vaccines for all Americans 6 months and older, and uphold the process and Gold Standard of the ACIP.
September 15: AACN signed onto a letter lead by Voices for Non-Opioid Choices regarding the implementation of the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation ("NOPAIN") Act and urging Congress to ensure patients can reasonably and easily access all FDA-approved, safe, and effective non-opioid treatment options that are used in the post-surgical setting and that such products qualify for separate payment under the NOPAIN Act.
September 12: AACN signed onto comments led by the APRN Workgroup to the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services on the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Physician Fee Schedule.
September 8: AACN signed onto a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE) requesting that the administration exempt nonimmigrant visas, including F, J, and M student visas, for those countries included under the Presidential Proclamation “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats” and any future travel bans offered by the administration.
August 28: AACN signed onto a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE) urging the Department of Education to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill "in a way that fully considers the impact on all stakeholders, including students, families, institutions of higher education, and current and future student loan borrowers." Among ACE's recommendations was the creation of a comprehensive list of "professional degree programs" that includes nursing among other programs.
August 25: AACN joined with a broad coalition of healthcare providers and programs in a letter encouraging the Department of Education to ensure that all graduate-level health professions programs required for licensure are included in the regulatory definition of “professional degree program.”
August 19: AACN signed onto a healthcare community sign-on letter to the leadership of the House Energy and Commerce and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees. The letter urged the Committees to consider and advance legislation reauthorizing the Title VII Health Professions and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs before the end of fiscal year 2025 on September 30th, 2025.
August 19: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to all members of Congress urging them to take action on top legislative and appropriations priorities impacting our nursing schools, faculty, students, and researchers.
August 11: AACN signed onto a letter led by Families USA urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy to preserve the structure and membership of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
July 30: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging full support for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in fiscal year (FY) 2026. This includes a request of least $530 million for Title VIII, $210 million in for NINR, and preserving NINR as an independent Institute within NIH in FY 2026. This letter comes as the Committee prepares to mark up the Senate FY 2026 Labor, Health and Humans Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill.
July 25: AACN signed onto a letter led by the Committee for Education Funding, Coalition on Human Needs, Coalition for Health Funding, and Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The letter urges the Committees to increase funding for various health, education, and workforce programs in the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
July 14: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking the Senators and Representatives who introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S.1874/H.R.3593).
June 30: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter welcoming Dr. Courtney Aklin as the new Interim Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).
June 27: AACN signed onto an American Council on Education letter to Senate leadership expressing concerns with cuts to federal student aid and new taxes on higher education institutions proposed in the Senate Finance and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees’ budget reconciliation bills.
June 25: AACN signed onto a letter led by the Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention, American Medical Women’s Association, HealthyWomen, The National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, and the Society for Women’s Health Research. The letter urged Senate leadership, as well as the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee, to reject proposed cuts to the Medicaid program in the Committee’s budget reconciliation bill due to their impact on women’s and child health care.
June 23: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Joe Courtney (D-CT-02) for introducing the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act (H.R.3170), and supporting its passage this Congress. This bipartisan bill would retire outdated barriers in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) that limit the ability of nurse practitioners (NPs) to diagnose and oversee the care and treatment of federal employees who are injured or become ill in the course of their employment.
June 12: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), along with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Mike Thompson (D-CA-04), and Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), for introducing the Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act of 2025 (S.1548/H.R.3145), and urging passage of this bipartisan, bicameral bill this Congress.
June 10: AACN signed onto a statement led by the APRN Workgroup expressing strong concerns over HHS Secretary Kennedy’s decision to dismiss all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
June 9: AACN signed onto an American Council on Education amicus brief to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in support of Harvard University’s motion for a summary judgement regarding a freeze in federal research funds.
June 9: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT-02) and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) for introducing the bipartisan, bicameral Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R.2531/S.1232).
June 5: AACN joined with a broad coalition of organizations urging the chairs of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to reject the $18 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health proposed in the President's budget and work with the Administration on a different path forward.
May 30: AACN signed on to an American Council on Education letter with other leading higher education associations urging the State Department to make any pause on student visa processing as short as possible and use all available tools to cut wait times and streamline the process for student visa applicants.
May 28: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking the leaders of the House and Senate Nursing Caucuses for introducing a bipartisan and bicameral resolution, S.Res.206 and H.Res.389, which honors and recognizes May 6 through 12, 2025 as National Nurses Week.
May 27: AACN signed onto an APRN Workgroup comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on how the FTC can reduce regulatory barriers that prevent APRNs from practicing to the full extent of their education and clinical training.
May 22: AACN signed onto a Friends of the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies supporting at least $1 billion for the Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant in FY 2026.
May 20: AACN signed onto a letter led by the Gun Violence Prevention Research Roundtable to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees supporting funding for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Justice to conduct public health research into firearm morbidity and mortality prevention.
May 14: AACN signed onto a letter led by the American Public Health Association to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED) urging them to support at least $420.85 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Environmental Health in the FY 2026 LHHS-ED Appropriations bill.
May 14: AACN signed onto a statement led by the American Council on Education calling upon the Trump Administration to protect and renew the longstanding partnership between the federal government and colleges and universities.
May 13: AACN signed onto an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter to the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Jayanta Bhattacharya, inviting him to meet with the Group and expressing a willingness to work with him on shared priorities.
May 13: AACN signed onto a letter led by the CDC Coalition to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-ED) urging them to reject the elimination of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was outlined in the Administration’s FY 2026 budget proposal.
May 6: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter urging Congress to take action on top appropriations and legislative priorities that impact nursing education, workforce, and research.
April 29: AACN signed onto letters from American Indian/Alaska Native Health Partners to the House and Senate supporting funding for the Indian Health Professions Account and Indian Health Service.
April 28: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition letter thanking Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) for introducing the bipartisan Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act (H.R.2234).
April 25: AACN signed on to a letter led by the Coalition for Health Funding urging Congress to reject the proposed budget cuts across HHS agencies and centers and instead work together to invest in our nation’s health by ensuring that the essential programs that protect and further American’s health remain adequately funded.
April 22: AACN signed onto an APRN Workgroup letter to President Donald Trump expressing interest in engaging with the Administration on policy to improve care provided by APRNs.
April 21: AACN signed onto a Friends of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) letter urging Congress to provide $220 million for NCHS in FY 2026, which will strengthen the Center’s ability to provide unbiased, timely health data to policymakers and reinforce its role as the world’s gold-standard producer of health statistics.
April 18: AACN signed onto a Friends of HRSA letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies requesting at least $10.5 billion in discretionary funds for Health Resources and Services Administration programs in FY 2025.
April 17: AACN joins with other nursing associations in urging Congress to support Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs.
April 14: AACN signed onto a letter led by Voices for Non-Opioid Choices urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make clinically appropriate non-opioid therapies available to all Americans seeking care at a VA facility.
April 11: AACN signed onto an American Nurses Association letter to Congressional leadership urging them to protect the Medicaid program during the budget reconciliation process.
April 9: AACN signed onto a CDC Coalition letter requesting Congress to provide at least $11.581 billion for the CDC in any final FY 2026 appropriations bill.
April 8: AACN signed onto a letter led by the PSLF Coalition to the leadership of the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The letter urged the preservation of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and highlighted its success and importance.
April 7: AACN signed onto a Friends of Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) letter supporting at least $1.2 billion for VA research in the FY 2026 Military Construction, VA, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
April 7: AACN signed onto an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter requesting Congress to provide at least $51.303 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), in any final FY 2026 appropriations bill.
March 27: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies requesting at least $530 million for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $210 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in fiscal year (FY) 2026.
March 20: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking letter thanking Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH-14), along with other cosponsors, for introducing the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (I CAN) Act (S.575/H.R.1317).
March 19: AACN signed onto a Student Aid Alliance letter urging Congress to protect and maintain funding for federal student aid programs in fiscal year 2026.
March 18: AACN signed onto a letter urging Congress to consider and pass the bipartisan Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act (H.R. 929/S. 266).
March 14: AACN signed onto an American Council on Education response to a Request for Information for the Trump Administration's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan relating to the use of AI across the higher education landscape.
March 7: AACN signed onto a letter led by the APRN Workgroup to key committee leaders in the House and Senate expressing support for the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act (H.R. 1317/S.575). This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would remove outdated and unnecessary federal barriers on services provided by advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
March 7: AACN signed onto Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) letters to the House and Senate urging Congress to ensure that any forthcoming budget reconciliation legislation does not negatively impact students and student loan borrowers, which would have substantial ramifications on access to higher education across the country.
March 3: AACN signed onto a Friends of AHRQ letter to Congress requesting that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality be fully funded at $500 million in fiscal year (FY) 2026.
February 28: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter thanking Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) for introducing the bipartisan and bicameral Providing Real-World Education and Clinical Experience by Precepting Tomorrow’s (PRECEPT) Nurses Act (H.R.392/S.131).
February 26: AACN signed onto a Trust for America’s Health Prevention and Public Health Fund letter to the leadership of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, opposing any reduction or elimination of the Fund during the budget reconciliation process.
February 25: AACN signed onto an American Council on Education letter responding to the Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) and respectfully requesting the Department rescind the DCL and further engage with the higher education community to promulgate guidance that reflects existing law.
February 25: AACN signed onto a Research!America letter urging Congress to support robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Fiscal Year 2025 and preserve existing protections against cuts to reimbursement for NIH grantee Facilities and Administrative costs.
February 14: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) letter requesting at least $310.472 million for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $197.693 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in fiscal year (FY) 2025, as outlined in the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee passed bill.
February 14: The Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) releases statement on NIH funding reductions.
February 11: AACN signed onto a Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) letter to Congressional leadership expressing concerns regarding the removal of public data from federal websites. The letter called for Congress to work with the Administration to restore this data and to prevent future data removals.
February 3: AACN signed onto an American Council on Education letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio offering to work closely with the State Department on issues like visa processing for international students and national security.
February 3: AACN signed onto an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter urging Congress to provide at least $48.9 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in FY 2025, as outlined in the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee-passed bill.
January 17: AACN signed onto a Nursing Community Coalition letter to the House and Senate welcoming Representatives and Senators to the 119th Congress, as well as outlining shared priorities including support for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).