Sponsor
Edward John Markey
Senator · D-MA
Senator · D-MA
The bill preserves FY2024‑level funding and predictable supplemental support for high‑need K–12 students through FY2027, at the cost of higher federal outlays, reduced PAYGO transparency, and a risk of creating dependence on supplemental top‑ups rather than stable baseline appropriations.
K–12 students, especially high‑need and students with disabilities, keep Title I, IDEA, McKinney‑Vento and related services at FY2024 funding levels through FY2027, avoiding cuts to supports like special education, tutoring, transportation, and outreach.
School districts and educators receive predictable supplemental dollars through FY2027 (with appropriations available until expended), helping sustain staffing, programs, and service continuity.
State and local governments and taxpayers face less pressure to backfill federal shortfalls, which can limit local tax increases or cuts to other services.
Taxpayers fund the supplemental appropriations from the Treasury without PAYGO offsets, increasing federal outlays that are not budget‑offset.
Exempting these outlays from PAYGO reduces budget transparency and could weaken long‑term fiscal discipline by avoiding mandatory scorekeeping of the costs.
Reliance on after‑the‑fact supplemental payments may discourage Congress from providing adequate baseline appropriations in regular funding bills, creating dependence on top‑ups instead of stable funding.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs Treasury supplemental payments in FY2025–FY2027 to restore any funding cuts for specified education programs relative to FY2024 allocations.
Official title: Ensure that there are no reductions in funding for critical education programs for fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress February 27, 2025
Provides supplemental appropriations for a defined list of "critical education programs" for fiscal years 2025–2027 to restore any year-to-year funding cuts relative to the Fiscal Year 2024 allocations established in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. For each covered program and each fiscal year 2025–2027, the bill directs payments from the Treasury equal to the shortfall (if FY2024 allocations exceed the enacted regular-appropriation amount), with those supplemental amounts available until expended. Defines which programs are covered by citing specific statutes (including IDEA, multiple ESEA parts/titles, and McKinney-Vento subtitle B), explains how to measure a "reduction in funding," sets the timing for payments (30 days after enactment of the applicable regular appropriation Act), and exempts the budgetary effects from certain PAYGO scorecards.