NAfME Federal Appropriations Update for Fiscal Year 2025

By Zachary Keita, NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy Communications Manager

Updated October 15, 2024

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 Biden Administration proposed $82.4 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Education (ED), a $3.1B increase over FY24 funding.

Following the Biden Administration’s budget request, U.S. House and Senate members meet in their respective appropriations subcommittees to “mark up” (i.e., make revisions to) the proposed budgets. The ED receives its funding through the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which receives initial review and approval from the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee in the House and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) subcommittee in the Senate.

Continuing Resolution

The Congressional Fiscal Year runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year (e.g., Fiscal Year 2024 began October 1, 2023). Ideally Congress works throughout the year, following the release of the President’s Budget request in the spring, to come to terms on a government funding bill that would ultimately be passed by October 1. For any number of reasons, Congress may be unable to pass an omnibus spending bill by the given deadline and must issue a continuing resolution (CR) to extend current government funding, until an omnibus bill can be passed. This is the situation currently facing Congress, as of October 15, 2024. Due to the upcoming presidential election and the ambiguity surrounding which political party will be in power following its results, Congress has opted to extend government funding until December 15, 2024.

Senate

In August, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill, which provided a much more positive outlook for FY25 education funding than its House of Representatives counterpart. The bill would provide the U.S. Department of Education with $80 billion in discretionary funding, which is roughly a $700 million increase over FY 2024 funding, and falls $2.4 billion short of the President’s budget request. The Senate’s bill insulates key education programs from receiving cuts in funding, while providing modest increases to vital programs such as Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Similar to the House education funding bill, the Senate’s bill has yet to be approved by the full chamber. Due to the CR, FY24 funding has been extended through December 15, providing members of congress with additional time to pass education funding bills in their respective chambers before meeting to reconcile the differences in funding requests. See below for a chart comparing the Senate, House, and Presidential request for ED funding in FY25.

Program FY24 Funding Amount FY25 President Request FY25 House Appropriations Committee FY 2025 Senate Appropriations Committee
Department of Education Discretionary Funding $79.3 Billion $82.4 Billion $68.1 Billion $80 Billion
Title I $18.41 Billion $18.59 Billion $14.63 Billion $18.69 Billion
Title II $2.19 Billion $2.19 Billion Eliminated $2.19 Billion
Title IV $1.38 Billion $1.38 Billion $1.39 Billion $1.39 Billion
Assistance for Arts Education $36.5 Million $36.5 Million Eliminated $36.5 Million
Individuals with Disabilities Act $15.17 Billion $15.36 Billion $15.19 Billion $15.47 Billion

House of Representatives

In July, the House Appropriations Committee approved its Labor-HHS-Education funding bill for FY 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 music education.

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 for NAfME. Likewise, NAfME is 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.

pile of hundred dollar bills with What's Next copy on top

Photo: MCCAIG / E+ Collection via Getty Images

What’s Next?

Having been marked up by the House and Senate, the respective Labor-HHS-Education bills will need to be approved by the full House and Senate before members of congress meet to reconcile their budgetary differences. With the House and the Senate both failing to pass their respective education funding bills through the full chamber before leaving Capitol Hill for the election break, the future of education funding is likely dependent on the outcome of the election.

Advocacy

Appropriations offer a key opportunity for advocates to seek increased funding for their programmatic priorities. NAfME, along with state music education associations and partner organizations have taken full advantage of this opportunity and continue to raise awareness around the importance of music education. On June 11, more than 300 music education advocates joined NAfME on Capitol Hill to meet with their members of Congress and advocate for programs impacting the profession.

In addition to in-person advocacy on Capitol Hill, NAfME will continue to host online advocacy campaigns for advocates, allowing you to share your story and the importance of supporting music education in your community. Currently, the Arts Education Alliance is hosting a joint campaign for Dance, Music, Media Arts, Visual Arts, and Theatre advocates to show their support for key programs impacting the arts. We encourage you to join our ongoing campaign and share why music and the arts are important to you and your community! When advocating to Congress, the most compelling arguments you can provide are based on personal experiences within your state. This is why we need you, music education advocates, to rally together and show your support for these vital programs. Visit NAfME’s federal funding campaign for more information on how you can urge legislators to support these key education programs throughout the appropriations cycle.

Top photo by © Ashlee Wilcox Photography, LLC

January 2025 Teaching Music

Published Date

July 9, 2024

Category

  • Advocacy
  • Federal Advocacy & Public Policy

Copyright

July 9, 2024. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)

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