Image: Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels The COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to over $16 trillion in increased healthcare, criminal justice, child welfare, education, and labor market costs. has pushed the topic of mental and behavioral health to the forefront for many Americans. In a new study, Penn State researchers examined all federal behavioral health legislation over the last three decades and found that while federal mental and behavioral health policies have increased in number, opportunities for improving behavioral health policy remain. The study found that from 1989 to 2019, 4,574 mental health bills have been introduced to Congress, and of those mental health bills, 484 directly referenced behavioral health. Of those behavioral health bills, almost half were introduced by the Senate and nearly 80% were sponsored or co-sponsored by Democrats. The greatest number of sponsors or co-sponsors for the bills hailed from California, New York, Illinois, and Texas.