As lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue their work to finalize federal funding for the current fiscal year, the Biden Administration is pushing forward with its plans for FY25 funding with the release of the President’s annual budget request to Congress. The White House touted the $7.3 trillion budget plan as a continuation of the Administration’s efforts to lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and reduce the budget deficit by $3 trillion over the next ten years.
The budget proposal reflects program funding levels in comparison to the most recently enacted levels from FY23. As a result of the statutory spending caps put in place in the 2023 debt-limit law, the budget proposes level funding for many programs with targeted increases for certain priority programs and activities. The Administration is requesting $13.9 billion for the Department of Labor, which is about $318 million over the FY23 enacted level. Below is a summary of the proposed funding levels for key workforce and employment programs of importance to Goodwill and the people we serve.
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state grants for adult, youth, and dislocated worker training and employment services would be level funded at $2.9 billion.
- Senior Community Service Employment (SCSEP) grants to support older workers would be level funded at $405 million.
- Reentry Employment Opportunities grants that connect justice-involved adults and youth with reentry services would be funded at $120 million, an increase of $5 million above FY23.
- Apprenticeship Programs would be funded at $335 million, an increase of $50 million above the FY23 enacted level.
- YouthBuild programs that provide job training and educational opportunities to youth would be level funded at $105 million.
- Strengthening Community Colleges Training grants would be funded at $70 million, a $5 million increase above FY23.
- Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program to provide pathways to employment for veterans experiencing homelessness would be level funded at $65.5 million.
- Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants would be funded at $4.2 billion, an increase of $304 million.
In addition, the budget includes $50 million to create the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness (SECTOR) program to support evidence-based sector partnership models. It proposes $8 billion in mandatory funding for a new Career Training Fund, which the Department of Labor would administer in collaboration with the Departments of Commerce and Education, to provide up to $10,000 per worker to support the cost of high-quality training with additional funding for wrap-around supports that will serve approximately 750,000 workers over 10 years.
The budget also seeks to invest in improving access to postsecondary education and promote college affordability. It proposes to increase the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income students to $8,145 in the 2024-25 award year, a $750 increase over the current level. It includes a request for $90 billion in mandatory funding to make two years of community college free for first-time students and workers wanting to reskill, through partnerships between the federal government, States, and tribal entities. It requests a further $12 billion in mandatory funding for a new Reducing the Costs of College Fund to provide high school students access to dual-enrollment courses, incentivize college and universities to make higher education more affordable, and scale up strategies that boost college completion.
The Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) State Grants program would see an increase of $40 million to $1.47 billion in FY25 to provide students in high schools and community colleges with high-quality CTE programs of study. CTE National Activities would be funded at $64.4 million, an increase of $32 million above the FY23 enacted level, to support the Career-Connected High School initiative that would award competitive grants to partnerships of school districts, postsecondary institutions, and employers to implement strategies that promote alignment of the last two years of high school and the first two years of postsecondary education, such as dual enrollment programs, work-based learning opportunities, and career navigation services. The budget also includes $18.7 million for Adult Education National Activities, an increase of $5 million above FY23, to support correctional institutions that use Pell Grants to provide incarcerated learners with access to postsecondary education opportunities as part of an adult education program.
The budget would fund the expansion of the American Climate Corps, which provides job training and service opportunities in clean energy, conservation, and climate resiliency, and requests $8 billion in mandatory funding to add 50,000 climate corps members annually by 2031. It also proposes to invest $1.6 billion in the Department of Energy to support clean energy workforce development and infrastructure projects.
The budget plan proposes to restore the enhanced Child Tax Credit that was first enacted under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, as well as expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income individuals who do not have children. It would also establish a national paid family and medical leave program providing up to 12 weeks of leave for workers to recover from an illness, care for a new child or a sick family member, or other covered family care situations.
The budget includes $8.5 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a $500 million increase, which will help states expand access to affordable child care for families in need. It would increase the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program by $111 million to $4.1 billion for FY25 to provide home heating and cooling assistance to low-income households. The budget also requests $4 billion, an increase of $427 million over FY23 levels, for Homeless Assistance Grants at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
We will continue to update Goodwill advocates on these and other important investments in America’s workforce throughout the FY25 budget and appropriations process.
