H.R. 5545

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5545 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5545

To require institutions of higher education to adopt a policy relating 
to the provision of advisers for certain students, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 23, 2025

Ms. Brownley (for herself and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require institutions of higher education to adopt a policy relating 
to the provision of advisers for certain students, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as ``Katie Meyer's Law''.

SEC. 2. POLICY RELATING TO ADVISERS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.

(a) Adviser Requirement.--
(1) In general.--In order to be eligible to receive funds 
under an applicable program, an institution of higher education 
shall adopt a policy relating to the provision of student 
advisers in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Policy required.--The policy required under paragraph 
(1) shall include the following:
(A) In general.--In the case of a student who 
attends an institution of higher education and who 
receives notification of an alleged violation by such 
student of the code of conduct of such institution, 
such institution shall provide such student with the 
option to be assisted by an adviser in accordance with 
clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (D).
(B) Notification.--The notification described in 
subparagraph (A) shall include information with respect 
to the option of the student to--
(i) select an outside adviser; or
(ii) request that the institution of higher 
education provide an independent adviser.
(C) Provision of adviser.--An institution may 
provide an independent adviser to a student through--
(i) a confidential respondent services 
coordinator;
(ii) an agreement with a student-based peer 
support program; and
(iii) an agreement with an alumni-based 
support program.
(D) Requirements.--An outside adviser selected by a 
student pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph (B) or 
an independent adviser provided to a student pursuant 
to clause (ii) of such subparagraph, as applicable, 
shall--
(i) be trained by such institution on the 
adjudication procedures of such institution 
relating to the alleged violation;
(ii) with written permission from the 
student, receive bi-weekly updates throughout 
the adjudication process; and
(iii) participate in the adjudication 
process--
(I) as an advocate for the student; 
or
(II) as authorized by applicable 
State law and title IX of the Education 
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 
seq.).
(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Applicable program.--The term ``applicable 
program'' has the meaning given such term in section 
400(c) of the General Education Provisions Act (20 
U.S.C. 1221(c)).
(B) Institution of higher education.--The term 
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning 
given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(b) Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime 
Statistics.--Section 485(f)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1092(g)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(v) incidents of suicide that were 
reported to campus security authorities or 
local police agencies.''.
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