Apr 29 Budget Resolution Update

Apr 29h in Bold Voices by

(April 29, 2025)

In early April, the House voted to adopt the Senate-passed budget framework, outlining federal spending for the next 10 years and unlocking access to budget reconciliation. By nature, budget resolution instructions indicate a floor and not a ceiling: Although the Senate resolution initially committed to a minimum of 4 billion in cuts, Senate and House leaders made statements committing to at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal programs and services, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps). Therefore, there is still work to be done between the chambers to agree to final amounts for reconciliation.

The budget framework paves the way for increased investment in border security and defense spending, as well as a $4.5 trillion tax plan and an increase in the debt limit. The Committee on Agriculture, which oversees Federal farm programs and SNAP, was instructed to find cuts of at least $230 billion over ten years.

The House-passed budget resolution (H.Con.Res.14) instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion, and this guidepost will inevitably be a part of the House negotiations. Since the Energy and Commerce Committee oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and along with a promise that Medicare will be excluded, this budget plan would require significant cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid provides healthcare for 1 in 5 Americans, including seniors, people with disabilities, children, and low-income adults. Policy proposals to reduce Medicaid spending include adding work requirements and decreasing the Federal Match rate for states, which would shift the cost to states.

Other policies proposed by the House leaders for spending reductions include changes to Community Eligibility Provisions, which allow for school-wide free meals to students in high poverty areas, and would cut $3 billion from school meal programs over 10 years. This would increase the threshold from 25% to 60%, which would drastically reduce the number of schools eligible for the program, cutting more than 24,000 schools nationwide. This would limit student’s access to meals through administrative burden such as paperwork. In Allegheny County, 666 schools would be cut from CEP participation – this would impact more than 320,000 children currently participating in free school meals.

This week, both the House and Senate have returned from spring recess and are preparing for the next phase of reconciliation. Leadership in both chambers have declared intentions to move the process forward as the budget markup process moves to their respective budget oversight committees. Committees will now seek to finalize and design the budget cuts. The budget plan instructs the committees to pass their piece of the reconciliation bill by May 9. If history is any indication, this date might change, but committees have been directed to work toward this date as a goal. In the meantime, the House and the Senate will need to work out the differences in their funding proposals, with different priorities, even among party-members. If Congress remains committed to their timeline, the final reconciliation is expected before the August recess.

Allies for Children will continue to monitor this process and highlight opportunities for advocacy, education, and engagement.

What can you do today?

Call, email, or schedule a meeting with your legislator to share why you support school meals and Medicaid. To advocate against cuts to Medicaid and school meals, see current calls to action below:

Support Medicaid:

  • Call your Congress Member directly at 866-426-2631 to tell them why Medicaid is important to you
  • Sign a Petition against cuts to Medicaid

Advocate for School Meals!

Additional Resources

To learn more about how these cuts could impact children and families, see these resources:

Cristina Codario, Allies for Children Policy Director