We have two new updates from the policy experts at EdCounsel:
First, the House of Representatives recently advanced appropriations bills that included an approximate 10% funding decrease for the US Department of Education. While, as last year, the proposal does not include every detail from the White House Budget Request, one concern for us is the potential rescinding of the FY26 Title II funds that many programs rely on for professional development. While the concept of the bundled Title Funds to one block grant was again rejected, specific policies aimed at using funding loss as a punishment for supporting transgender students was included.
Another big policy news item is that the Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026 has been passed by the House. This legislation, if passed, would make more changes to CCDF, giving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services broad discretion to pause funding to states and create new penalties for providers that receive an improper payment, which would include erroneous payments due to clerical errors. Potential penalties would include permanently banning providers who receive the wrong payment due to fraud. The legislation would also allow the Secretary to withhold CCDF funding from a state if their improper payment rate was above 5%.
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