Blog

Last week, America Forward sent recommendations to House and Senate appropriations leaders to inform bicameral, bipartisan negotiations as Congress continues the fiscal year 2026 (FY2026) appropriations progress. Our recommendations emphasize the programs and policies to which the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have proposed distinct approaches to date.

America Forward urged congressional leaders to adopt these priorities as they reconcile differences between the House and Senate proposals:

• Education. We strongly support maintaining funding for our education system in light of the alarming decline in achievement levels. Now is the time to deepen investment in proven approaches alongside the development of cutting-edge strategies, particularly for students in under-resourced communities. We emphasized maintaining Title I and IDEA education funding; continuing to support an array of critical national programs ranging from Education Innovation and Research to Federal Work Study; and ensuring continued funding for Postsecondary Student Success Grants for which non-profit organizations are directly eligible.

• Workforce Development. We urged Congress to prioritize investments that improve economic mobility for people across our nation, including maintaining funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I and Title II funding; continuing to support the Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) program; investing in a Workforce Development Innovation Fund (WDIF); and encouraging the use of pay-for-success apprenticeship approaches.

• AmeriCorps. We called for Congress to maintain level funding for AmeriCorps programs, including State and National Grants and VISTA, that have provided an invaluable means for high-impact non-profit organizations to develop and implement evidence-based strategies ranging from high-impact tutoring to college and career advising.

• Homelessness Funding. We joined a broad array of stakeholders in supporting language directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to renew all Continuum of Care grants expiring in 2026 for an additional 12-month period to afford communities the stability needed to adapt to funding shifts while allowing Congress time to work with the Administration to amend authorizing language.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health. We supported continued funding for substance abuse and mental health programs under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These programs are of vital importance, ranging from school-based programs, to independent programs for college students, to young adult services, to family supports.
• Program Implementation. We support appropriations language that ensures the timely announcement and awarding of funding opportunities. We also support language that pauses the present U.S. Department of Education-Labor interagency agreements in lieu of explicit Congressional action in order to prevent potential negative impacts on learners and to avoid potential burden on states, districts, and their community partners navigating changing grants processes and multiple federal points of contact.

America Forward looks forward to continuing to engage with congressional leaders as the FY2026 appropriations process concludes.