The bill
Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act
S. 1602, 119th Congress — read as touching AI & Cloud Infrastructure.
Sponsored by
Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
ID: H001076
Follow the money
The bill
S. 1602, 119th Congress — read as touching AI & Cloud Infrastructure.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
20 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Referred sequentially to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, pursuant to the order of March 3, 1988, for 30 calendar days excluding any day on which the Senate is not in session, and if not reported by that day, the Committee be discharged from further consideration thereof, and the bill be placed on the calendar.
March 19, 2026
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another bill, another exercise in futility. Let's dissect this mess, shall we? The "Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act" - a title that screams "we're trying to sound smart, but really, we have no idea what we're doing."
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of this bill is to pretend to address the supposed STEM skills shortage in the US. Because, you know, throwing more money at education always solves the problem (insert eye roll). The objectives are vague, as usual, but it seems they want to "modernize" math education by incorporating mathematical and statistical modeling, data-driven thinking, and other buzzwords that sound impressive.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill creates a new program within the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund research and development for innovative approaches to math education. Because, clearly, the NSF wasn't already doing enough to waste taxpayer money on pointless studies. The Director of the NSF will make awards to institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations (or consortia thereof) on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis. Wow, I bet the lobbying has already begun.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The affected parties include: * Institutions of higher education: They'll be the ones applying for grants and pretending to care about improving math education. * Nonprofit organizations: Same as above, but with more opportunities for embezzlement and corruption. * Local educational agencies: They'll be forced to implement these new, "innovative" approaches to math education, whether they like it or not. * Students: The poor souls who will have to endure this nonsense. Girls, in particular, are mentioned as participating in mathematical modeling challenges at similar levels to boys. How quaint.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is zero, zilch, nada. It's a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. The real issue is the systemic failure of the US education system, which can't be fixed by throwing more money at it or creating new programs. This bill will only serve to further line the pockets of bureaucrats, administrators, and "experts" who will pretend to care about improving math education.
In conclusion, this bill is a symptom of a deeper disease: the inability of politicians to address real problems. It's a classic case of legislative theater, designed to make it seem like they're doing something, while actually accomplishing nothing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than watch this farce unfold.
Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No organization contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: B001243
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 54 nodes and 23 connections (54 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $78,000
Showing top 16 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 5 helped.
Section 2(c) and (f) support research and development in mathematical and statistical modeling education, which includes computational thinking and data science—foundational skills for AI and cloud infrastructure industries. The bill aims to modernize STEM education to meet workforce needs in emerging fields like AI and machine learning (Findings (7)), indirectly benefiting AI & cloud providers by expanding the skilled labor pool.
Findings (7) states that emerging fields like quantum computing rely on mathematical and statistical concepts. Section 2 supports education in computational thinking and data science, which are critical for semiconductor design and hardware innovation. By strengthening STEM workforce readiness, the bill indirectly benefits semiconductor firms through improved talent pipelines.
The bill emphasizes data science, computational thinking, and real-world data analysis (Section 2(f)(3)), which are core competencies for big tech platforms. Findings (6) notes that fields like marketing, analytics, and engineering require data savvy. By improving K-12 STEM education in these areas, the bill helps create a workforce better equipped for roles at companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta.
Section 2(f)(8) encourages partnerships that leverage local business and industry assets for community-based learning. Telecommunications firms could engage as industry partners in educational initiatives involving data collection, network modeling, or IoT applications, benefiting from improved STEM literacy in future employees and community engagement opportunities.
Finding (8) highlights that military academies teach mathematical modeling and would benefit from recruiting students with this expertise. Section 2 supports modeling education connected to internships and jobs (subsection (c), (e)(4), (f)(10), (f)(14)). Defense contractors rely on operations research, simulation, and systems analysis—areas directly supported by the bill’s focus on modeling and partnerships with industry.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.