On September 1, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-ED) released and subsequently approved on September 2 its fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bill. The bill proposes deep cuts to the Department of Education (ED) and other job training programs at the Department of Labor.
Overall, the bill proposes a $23.9 billion or 11% cut to the overall spending levels across all the agencies and cuts ED by approximately $12.1 billion or 15% and $4 billion or 30% to the Department of Labor.
In some positive news for CTE, the bill proposes an increase of $25 million for the Perkins State Grant, which brings the overall funding level to $1.465 billion. The bill would fund the National Activities account at $10 million.
Other programs in the bill would experience significant reductions. Title I grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) would be cut by $5.2 billion, a 27% decrease. Federal Work-Study funding would be reduced by 37%, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) job training grants would see a 63% cut, with the youth funding stream eliminated. Funding for Adult Education programs would be completely eliminated as well.
Meanwhile, funding for the maximum Pell Grant, TRIO, and GEAR Up would remain level with FY 25, as would funding for apprenticeships. \
The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to hold a vote on the bill next week, where amendments may be considered.
The cuts in the House bill stand in contrast to the Senate Labor-HHS-ED appropriations bill that the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved in July. It provided close to level funding to programs across the Board and agencies overall. The Perkins State Grant was also level funded in that bill. Lawmakers in both chambers will need to reach a compromise before government funding expires on September 30. Similar to previous years, it is likely that a continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to avoid a shutdown.
ACTE will continue to provide updates on the appropriations process as they happen. If you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).
