Federal Appropriations Update for Fiscal Year 2025

By Zachary Keita, NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy Communications Manager

The release of the Biden Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 2025) budget request on March 11 marked the first step in the annual federal appropriations process, in which funding levels for the upcoming fiscal year are determined. In this budget request, the president proposed $82.4 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Education (ED), a $3.1B increase over FY24 funding.

Following the budget release, U.S. House and Senate members meet in their respective appropriations subcommittees to “mark up” (i.e., make revisions to) the proposed legislation. ED receives its funding through the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which receives initial review and approval from the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittees in the House and Senate.

U.S. House of Representatives
In July, the House Appropriations Committee approved its Labor-HHS-Education funding bill for fiscal year 2025, which includes major cuts to education programs. The bill would provide the U.S. Department of Education with $68.1 billion in discretionary funding, which is roughly an $11 billion (13%) decrease below FY 2024 funding and falls $33 billion short of the President’s budget request. In order to keep total funding for the bill at $72B, drastic cuts would be made to several high-impact programs administered by ED. In this blog we will review key aspects of the House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, discuss how the election cycle will impact appropriations, and provide an opportunity for advocates to take action in support of programs impacting arts education.

Program and FY25 Funding (Proposed by House Majority)

• Title I: $13.7 billion—$4.7 billion decrease below FY 2024 funding
• Title II: Completely Eliminated
• Title IV-A: $1.4 billion—$10 million increase over FY 2024 funding
• IDEA: $15.5 billion—$30 million increase over FY 2024 funding
• Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers: $1.33 billion—Level funding compared to FY 2024
• Assistance for Arts Education Program: Completely Eliminated
• Teacher Quality Partnerships: Completely Eliminated
• Augustus F. Hawkins Center for Excellence: Completely Eliminated
• HBCU, TCU, and MSI Research and Development Infrastructure Grants: Completely Eliminated

While programs such as Title IV-A and IDEA received modest increases in the House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, several vital programs aimed at supporting students from low-income backgrounds (Title I) and developing the teacher workforce face (Title II) face drastic cuts or total elimination. At the higher education level, programs aimed at bolstering the capacity of minority serving institutions (MSIs) and diversifying the teacher workforce are also at risk of elimination. With the United States currently in the midst of a teacher shortage, cuts to programs that would strengthen and diversify the teacher pipeline are non-starters. Likewise, we are unable to support a bill that would reduce funding to programs that support our most vulnerable student populations, such as Title I. We urge members of Congress to revise these funding proposals when the bill is considered on the House floor.

What’s Next?
The Labor-HHS-Education bill will move on to markup in the full House of Representatives. On the Senate side, appropriators began their first round of markups following the July 4 recess, but no schedule has been released for consideration of the Labor-HHS-Education bill. In a normal year, once both chambers approve their respective Labor-HHS-Education bills, they would meet to reconcile the differences in programmatic funding, before ultimately sending final bills to the President. Because this year is an election year, we can almost be certain that Congress will pass a continuing resolution this fall, postponing final decisions on the budget until the results of the election are clear.

Advocacy
Appropriations offer a key opportunity for advocates to seek increased funding for their programmatic priorities. We will begin hosting online advocacy campaigns for members, allowing you to share your story and the importance of supporting arts education in your community. When advocating to Congress, the most compelling arguments you can provide to legislators are based on personal experiences within their state. This is why we need you, arts education advocates, to rally together and show your support for these vital programs. Visit our federal funding campaign for more information on how you can urge legislators to support these key education programs throughout the appropriations cycle: Campaign Link