Apr 01 Congressional Budget Proposals Could Impact Key Children’s Programs

Apr 01h in Bold Voices by

(April 1, 2025)

After finalizing the 2025 Fiscal Year Continuing Resolution, leadership has returned their attention to finalizing a budget resolution, which includes instructions to reduce funding in specific committees, known as budget reconciliation. The differences in the Senate and House reconciliation instructions will need to be resolved in order for the committees to move forward in developing specific cuts to programs.

The Senate is aiming to finalize their budget resolution in the first week of April, before they adjourn for recess, during a process called “Vote-a-rama.” Once they clear a hurdle from the Senate parliamentarian, they will be ready to vote on a budget package that, like the House package, includes devastating cuts to crucial health and education programs.

The Fiscal Year 2025 House Budget Reconciliation Instructions call for spending cuts that could significantly impact children’s ability to grow, thrive and succeed.

It is important to note that budget reconciliation specifically impacts mandatory or entitlement programs – like Medicaid, SNAP, and school lunches. Since most federal education programs, like IDEA, Title I, and CTE, go through the traditional appropriations process they are expected to not be directly impacted.

While estimates for the Senate instructions are still being determined, the House proposed cuts related to school nutrition include:

  • Restricting the Community Eligibility Provision, which helps children access free school meals. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has estimated this would eliminate 666 Pennsylvania schools participating in the program.
  • Requiring income verification with every free and reduced-price school meal application.
  • Ending Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which reduces red tape for families who already qualify for other low income assistance programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The House Resolution calls for the House Energy & Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion over the next 10 years. The House resolution generally is more specific about the cuts whereas the Senate resolution mentions cuts of at least 1 billion. However, it’s important to note that both proposals signify a floor and not a ceiling, and will permit deeper cuts than proposed.

Both House and Senate resolutions propose cuts that will have a significant impact on our most vulnerable populations, such as children and youth. Although leadership has indicated that Medicaid would only cut waste and fraud, analyses have determined the level of cuts needed to meet the proposed reduction would inevitably decrease access to Medicaid. Since Medicaid is a state-federal partnership, significant reductions in Medicaid at the Federal level will also pass the cost down to states or cause decreased access. The proposed cuts are projected to cost Pennsylvania between $1 billion and $2 billion annually, and the state legislature would have to agree upon any additional payments to support the program.

In Pennsylvania, Medicaid insures about 3 million people. In Allegheny County, Medicaid covers more than 246,000 Allegheny County residents, and nearly 100,000 of those are kids.

These proposed cuts would not only impact individuals, but also institutions that serve children and families, such as hospitals and schools, particularly in rural areas. Medicaid plays an important role in funding schools, as it’s the fourth largest federal funding stream for K-12 public schools. Medicaid plays an especially significant role in funding school-based health care, which supports more than $7.5 billion in school health services each year.

A key service that Medicaid funds includes payment to schools for children with disabilities, documented in special education plans such as individualized education programs (IEPs). A recent Healthy Schools Campaign survey of school district leaders, administrators, and staff sought to understand how steep reductions in federal financing would affect school health services, student resources and district funding. Forty-five percent of responses came from rural districts. The districts indicated that if Medicaid is cut:

  • 80% would reduce specialized instructional support personnel, which includes school nurses, school psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and occupational and physical therapists.
  • 70% would reduce mental and behavioral health services.
  • 58% would reduce overall prevention and early intervention services, which includes asthma, vision and hearing screenings.

Allies for Children will continue to monitor the budget reconciliation process and advocate for the wellbeing of children in our community, including public benefit programs such as Medicaid and school meals.

Action Alerts and ways to get involved:

To contact your legislators about the importance of key children’s health funding, see SNAPA’s action alert here and FRAC’s action alert here and join the PHAN Medicaid Defenders here.

Learn more about proposed Medicaid cuts and policy changes:

Cristina Codario, Allies for Children Policy Director