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People & committees
Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] · D–MI
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 22, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-10 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed AACCENT Act would create three national centers to help people whose disabilities significantly limit spoken communication. The centers would provide training, practical guidance, and resources about tools and services that supplement or replace speech, serving people with these disabilities and those who support them. Organizations led by people with these disabilities would control the partnerships operating the centers. The bill would authorize $9 million annually for fiscal years 2027–2031; that authorization would not itself provide the money.
This Act may be cited as the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Centers of Excellence and National Technical Assistance Act or the AACCENT Act.
The Secretary shall award 3 grants through an open competition to eligible entities, with applications approved under section 7, to create, maintain, and administer a network of National Resource Centers on Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
any tool, method, technology, strategy, service, training, coaching, and other support used to supplement or replace speech.
the controlling partner of the partnership is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States that vests power and authority in individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in terms of management, staffing, decision making, operation, and provision of services;
increase the capacity of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, educators, professional service providers, families, and direct support professionals
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
The bill's findings describe communication barriers and estimate that at least 4 million people in the United States cannot reliably meet daily communication needs through speech. Its stated purpose is to reduce discrimination and exclusion through national training, assistance, and resource centers. These are legislative findings and goals, not proof that the proposed program would achieve them.
Data about augmentative and alternative communication is lacking, but it is estimated there are at least 4,000,000 people in the United States who cannot reliably meet their daily communication needs using natural speech.
Americans with significant expressive communication disabilities still experience discrimination in the form of communication barriers, institutionalization, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities
The purpose of this Act is to work toward eliminating the continued discrimination, isolation, marginalization, and denial of equal opportunity of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities by providing for comprehensive national training, technical assistance, and resource centers
The bill would cover people of any age with real or perceived significant expressive communication disabilities who need or benefit from communication supports. The disability definition includes conditions present from birth, developmental conditions, and conditions acquired later that prevent or significantly limit understanding or being understood through spoken words.
an individual of any age— (A) who has 1 or more real or perceived significant expressive communication disabilities and may have other disabilities; and (B) whose disabilities result in the individual's need for, or benefit from, augmentative and alternative communication and other supports to enable the individual to communicate and to aid the individual in participating in 1 or more aspects of life.
any disability, whether congenital, developmental, or acquired at any point in life, that prevents or significantly limits an individual from understanding or being understood using spoken words, resulting in the individual’s need for or benefit from augmentative and alternative communication.
The disability definition would exclude someone whose primary communication disability is visual or auditory. It would include someone with a qualifying expressive communication disability who also has a visual or auditory communication disability, including someone who may use sign language.
The term does not apply to an individual whose primary communication disability is visual or auditory in nature, but does apply to an individual with a disability described in subparagraph (A) who also has a visual or auditory communication disability and who may communicate using sign language.
Eligible applicants would be partnerships of at least two organizations. A U.S.-headquartered nonprofit giving people with significant expressive communication disabilities authority over its operations would have to control the partnership. Another U.S.-headquartered partner would have to be a higher education institution or an association of relevant professional service providers or educators.
The term eligible entity means a partnership of at least 2 organizations— (A) for which the controlling partner of the partnership is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States that vests power and authority in individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in terms of management, staffing, decision making, operation, and provision of services; (B) that includes at least one other organization headquartered in the United States that is either an institution of higher education or an association of professional service providers or educators in the field of significant expressive communication disabilities;
Partnerships would need to serve different disabilities and generations, respect people's choice of communication methods, and collectively have relevant training and collaboration experience. Their direct work with affected people would need to involve education programs or at least two of the listed types of service, advocacy, employer, or government organizations.
(C) that has a cross-disability and cross-generational focus; (D) that is advised by an advisory council; (E) that has adopted a mission that values equal opportunity and the fundamental right of communication access, and operating principles that respect the rights of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities to express themselves in the manner of their choosing;
have knowledge, experience, and capacity in conducting training, technical assistance, or knowledge dissemination related to the priority activities described in section 6;
have experience working directly with individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in association with— (I) early intervention programs, early childhood programs, elementary or secondary schools, or postsecondary education programs; or (II) 2 or more types of entities from among— (aa) centers for independent living authorized under part C of title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 796f et seq.); (bb) home and community-based service providers; (cc) employers; (dd) health care providers; (ee) protection and advocacy organizations; (ff) aging networks; (gg) caregiver organizations; or (hh) State, Tribal, or local government agencies;
have experience developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships among disability-led advocacy organizations, institutions of higher education, professional associations, or caregiver organizations.
Each partnership would have an 11-person advisory council made up entirely of people with significant expressive communication disabilities. Members would collectively represent diverse backgrounds, disabilities, ages, locations, incomes, and communication methods, and would serve five-year terms. The council would provide guidance and oversight and choose its own chair and vice chair.
an 11-person advisory council that— (A) provides guidance, recommendations, and oversight to an eligible entity; (B) is comprised exclusively of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities who collectively have diverse— (i) educational and professional backgrounds; (ii) racial, ethnic, gender, and linguistic identities; (iii) disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, ages, and geographic locations; (iv) levels of income; and (v) forms of augmentative and alternative communication relied upon;
Each member of the advisory council shall be appointed for a period of 5 years.
The Chair and Vice Chair of the council shall be selected by the council members at the first meeting and thereafter as the council determines to be appropriate.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services would award three grants through open competition for centers in geographically diverse locations. One center would coordinate their activities, specialization, information sharing, responses to the Secretary, and service to the full range of people covered by the bill.
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The Secretary shall award 3 grants through an open competition to eligible entities, with applications approved under section 7
The Secretary shall award the grants for national resource centers in 3 geographically diverse locations, and shall designate one of the centers as the lead administrative center.
The lead administrative center shall coordinate— (1) all activities of the centers; (2) specialization of priorities among the centers; (3) dissemination of information among the centers; (4) responses of the centers to the Secretary; and (5) ensuring that the full range of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities is served by the centers.
To the extent practicable, the three grants together would total no more than $9 million per year. Each grant would last five years, with an open competition initially and at the end of every five-year period. Existing recipients could reapply.
The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, award the 3 grants in amounts that total not more than $9,000,000 per year of a period described in subsection (e).
The Secretary shall award each grant for a period of 5 years, through an open competition held initially and at the end of each 5-year period. An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section may reapply for such a grant at the end of the grant period.
Centers would prioritize access to communication supports for all covered people in the United States, regardless of the listed personal characteristics and circumstances, including age, immigration status, income, language, and disability severity.
increase access to and effective implementation of the full range of augmentative and alternative communication for all individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in the United States, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, LGBTQ+ status, immigration status, educational achievement, socioeconomic condition, primary language, nature or severity of disability, location of residence, and age of onset of the significant expressive communication disability;
Centers would create and share evidence-based resources, training, practical assistance, and recommended practices for affected people and their supporters. Here, evidence-based assistance means assistance supported by a high-quality research finding or positive evaluation suggesting likely improvement, with continuing examination of its effects.
increase the capacity of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, educators, professional service providers, families, and direct support professionals to support individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities by creating and disseminating evidence-based knowledge, resources, training and technical assistance, and recommended practices
assistance— (A) that demonstrates a rationale based on a high-quality research finding or positive evaluation that such assistance is likely to improve a communication outcome or other relevant outcome; and (B) for which ongoing efforts are made to examine the effects of the assistance.
Centers would promote awareness and implementation of laws and practices supporting communication access. They would also help affected people and their families develop leadership and advocacy skills concerning communication, education, personal decision making, justice, and equal participation.
promote awareness and implementation of the laws, regulations, policies, practices, procedures, and systems that facilitate access to the full range of augmentative and alternative communication and promote equal access and opportunity
support and enhance the skills and leadership of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities and their families to advocate for the rights of the individuals to effective communication, education, self-determination, access to justice, and equal opportunity and participation in all aspects of life;
Centers would support better collection and sharing of information about the covered population, communication barriers, and unmet needs across disabilities and generations. Increasing public understanding of communication disabilities and access to communication supports would also be a priority.
support the improved collection, availability, and dissemination of demographic and characteristic data, with a cross-disability and cross-generational focus, regarding individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in the United States, the barriers the individuals experience to meaningful access to augmentative and alternative communication, and the unmet communication support and other needs of this population;
increase societal awareness and knowledge about individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities and the importance of, need for, benefits of, and rights to meaningful access to effective communication tools and other supports in all aspects of community and life.
Applicants would submit applications on the Secretary's schedule and in the required format. They would need to document eligibility, relevant experience, plans to reach audiences needing assistance, and how partners would carry out the required activities. Applications would also describe accessible formats, including plain language, and promise information for federal evaluation.
an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require.
A description of the experience of each partner organization in the entity in providing training, information, advocacy, and support related to augmentative and alternative communication and individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities.
(5) Evidence of how the applicant satisfies the requirements of section 4(5). (6) A description of the applicant’s plan to ensure that the applicant will provide training, technical assistance, and information to target audiences, especially those audiences in need of knowledge and access to augmentative and alternative communication. (7) A description of the applicant’s plan to implement the priority activities in section 6, including how the organizational members of the eligible entity will partner, collaborate, and operationalize the activities.
A description of how the applicant will design and make training, technical assistance, and information available in accessible formats, including plain language.
Assurances that the applicant, acting through the national resource center, will provide the Secretary with requested data and information for purposes of evaluating the grant activities.
Applications would identify initial advisory council members and describe how other affected people would participate in center governance and operations, especially through employment. For council vacancies, the council would seek nominations from communication-support users, confirm a sole nominee, or vote when there is more than one nominee.
a description of the advisory council, including a list of the inaugural members of the advisory council;
in filling a vacancy on the advisory council, the advisory council will— (i) solicit nominations from the population of augmentative and alternative communication users; (ii) if there is not more than 1 nominee for the vacancy, confirm the nominee as a new member; and (iii) if there is more than 1 nominee for the vacancy, vote to determine the nominee to fill the vacancy and subsequently confirm the nominee.
A description of how other individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities will be involved in the governance and operations of the national resource center involved, especially through employment of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities.
Grant priority would go to a partnership with at least one partner meeting all four listed qualifications: at least three years of relevant experience; meaningful involvement of affected people and communication-support users in governance and operations; ability to collaborate across the listed fields; and expertise in accessibility and universal design. The bill incorporates the definition of universal design from section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 without reproducing it.
the Secretary shall give priority to an eligible entity with at least 1 partner organization that— (1) demonstrates a minimum of 3 years of experience providing training and technical assistance and disseminating information related to augmentative and alternative communication and individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, and being otherwise engaged in the priority activities described in section 6;
(2) demonstrates that individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities and those who use augmentative and alternative communication are purposefully involved in the governance and operation of the organization, especially through their employment in service, delivery, and leadership positions; (3) demonstrates the ability to collaborate with disability self-advocacy, education, direct service, health care, employment, aging, caregiver, and housing organizations, whether the organizations are public agencies or private entities; and (4) demonstrates expertise in promoting accessibility and the use of universal design (the latter as defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) in providing training and technical assistance, and information dissemination.
Recipients would have to use grants for all required priority activities, the activities in section 9, and any additional activities approved by the Secretary. Centers would connect their work with federal disability policies and activities concerning advocacy, support for personal decision making, planning around individual needs, community living, and employment.
An eligible entity that receives a grant under section 5 shall use the grant funds to manage and carry out each of the priority activities described in section 6, activities described in this section, and any additional activities approved by the Secretary.
The work of a national resource center shall link to current and future policy and activities undertaken throughout the Federal Government in relation to self-advocacy, supported decision making, person-centered planning, community living, and competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities and particularly for individuals with the most significant expressive communication disabilities
Centers would make information and resources available, as appropriate, to affected people and families, colleges, education agencies, justice and security organizations, employers, government service agencies, disability and aging organizations, health care and long-term care providers, and professional organizations. The center and its advisory council could identify additional audiences.
a national resource center shall ensure information and other resources about augmentative and alternative communication and individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities are made available as appropriate to— (1) individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities and their families; (2) institutions of higher education; (3) State, Tribal, and local educational agencies; (4) law enforcement agencies, courts, offices of district attorneys, and other public and private security agencies and businesses; (5) national, State, regional, Tribal, and local employers
national, State, Tribal, and local government agencies that provide services and other supports to individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities
national and local disability and aging advocacy organizations, including disability self-advocacy organizations;
(12) health care providers and educators, health care advocacy organizations, nursing home providers, and institutional long-term care facilities; (13) professional organizations and organizations that certify preservice training programs; and (14) other groups and entities as identified by the eligible entity and the advisory council of the eligible entity.
Centers would be required to collaborate with disability organizations, state technology and financing programs, education agencies, developmental disability networks, aging programs, vocational rehabilitation agencies, workforce boards, and relevant professional associations. The collaboration requirement also names the federally funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
A national resource center shall collaborate with— (1) organizations of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities; (2) disability organizations; (3) entities carrying out State assistive technology programs and State alternative financing programs; (4) State, Tribal, and local educational agencies; (5) the councils, systems, and university centers described in subsection (c)(10); (6) entities carrying out national, State, Tribal and Native Hawaiian, and local programs authorized by the Older Americans Act of 1965; (7) the federally funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication; (8) State agencies responsible for vocational rehabilitation programs, as defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); (9) professional associations whose members come in contact with and support individuals who may use augmentative and alternative communication; (10) local boards, as defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102);
network partners, including the State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
A center could spend no more than 15 percent of its grant funds for a fiscal year on administrative costs.
A national resource center that receives grant funds under section 5 for a fiscal year shall use not more than 15 percent of the funds for the administrative costs of carrying out activities under this Act.
The lead center, working with the other centers, would prepare an annual report under criteria set by the Secretary. It would cover activities, collaboration, barriers and strategies affecting racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority communities, gaps in population data, unmet needs, and policy recommendations.
The lead administrative center referred to in section 5(b), in coordination with the other national resource centers that receive grant funds under section 5, shall annually prepare a report containing, consistent with criteria established by the Secretary
(1) activities conducted by each national resource center funded under section 5 to achieve the purpose of this Act; (2) collaboration by each such national resource center with other entities to achieve the purposes of this Act; (3) barriers to and strategies for equitable access to augmentative and alternative communication and other supports for individuals who belong to racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority communities and face a greater likelihood of being born with or acquiring significant expressive communication disabilities as well as added difficulties in obtaining effective augmentative and alternative communication; (4) identified gaps in available demographic and characteristic data on individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in the United States; and (5) the unmet needs of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, from diverse backgrounds, in the United States and policy recommendations to address such unmet needs.
The annual report would go to the Health and Human Services and Education secretaries and the specified congressional education, health, aging, workforce, and appropriations bodies.
The lead administrative center shall submit the report to— (1) the Secretary; (2) the Secretary of Education; (3) the relevant subcommittees of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives; and (4) the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, and the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The bill would authorize $9 million in appropriations for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2031. This provision authorizes future funding; it does not itself appropriate those funds.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
The supplied action snapshot, updated September 22, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on September 10, 2026. It does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-22T13:37:56Z. 2026-09-10: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2026-09-10: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-10. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of riders in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text under the stated definition. This conclusion is limited to this version; formal earmark status cannot be fully assessed without accompanying disclosure and legislative materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow special benefit beyond the program's ordinary eligibility, participation, governance, and grant-selection rules was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to this version and does not extend to other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 22, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI