Category: Federal Government Actions

DHS Highlights Vital Role SNAP Plays in Support of 140,000 Pennsylvanians in Jeopardy of Losing Benefits (June 19, 2025)

On June 16, 2025, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined leadership from Feeding Pennsylvania and the Central PA Food Bank to discuss the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) amid federal proposals  that would take food assistance away from at least 140,000 Pennsylvanians and significantly alter the program, costing the state over $1 billion more annually and jeopardizing the program’s sustainability. Governor Josh Shapiro has made clear that Pennsylvania cannot backfill these costs.

While SNAP helps nearly two million people in all communities of our Commonwealth purchase food for themselves and their families, SNAP participation rates are higher in rural areas than in urban or suburban areas. Children and older adults represent more than half of Pennsylvanians helped by the SNAP program, and the program also allows lower income, working families and people with disabilities to keep food on their tables.

According to Secretary Arkoosh, “Congress’ proposed changes would fundamentally destabilize this program that helps both our communities and our economy. These changes are not fiscally responsible – they will only disrupt our Commonwealth’s economy, workforce, and charitable food network and cause thousands of Pennsylvanians to go hungry.”

The USDA Economic Research Service found that every $1 billion in federal SNAP benefits increases GDP by $1.54 billion and specifically supports job creation and income for food retailers and farmers. Every month, SNAP brings more than $365 million in cash benefits that can only be used on food – supporting local businesses, food producers, and Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy.

“Farmers receive nearly a quarter of every dollar Pennsylvania families spend on groceries, whether those dollars are from SNAP or any other source,” Secretary Redding said.

Feeding Pennsylvania is the state association of Pennsylvania’s nine Feeding America partner food banks. Collective efforts support member food banks in securing food and other resources to alleviate hunger and food insecurity in communities across Pennsylvania and provide a unified voice on the issues of anti-hunger policy. Feeding Pennsylvania member food banks serve over 1.5 million people annually by distributing more than 237 million pounds of food through a network of more than 2,700 agencies.

SNAP works with our charitable food network to offset demand on food pantries and local feeding programs to keep people healthy and able to care for themselves and their loved ones. SNAP provides nine times more meals than Pennsylvania food banks – any reduction to SNAP funding and benefits will shift demand to food banks that already experienced a $13 million cut earlier this year.

Congressional Proposal
Congress is currently in the midst of a budget reconciliation process that is seeking to make major cuts to federal programs – primarily Medicaid and SNAP. Changes proposed to SNAP would fundamentally alter how this program has been structured for over 60 years and will threaten food assistance for nearly two million Pennsylvanians.

As it currently stands, at least 140,000 Pennsylvanians would lose access to food assistance due to stricter work reporting requirements. SNAP already has a work requirement, and DHS works with employment and training programs across Pennsylvania to help SNAP participants get the skills and supports they need to achieve sustainable employment. 

Since its inception, SNAP benefits have been 100 percent federally funded. But the current version of the bill would shift as much as 25 percent of benefits costs to states and add new administrative requirements to the program. These changes would put Pennsylvania on the hook for more than $1 billion annually to maintain these life-sustaining benefits. Pennsylvania cannot backfill these costs.

These changes will impact economic activity for food retailers, producers, and farmers, affect our workforce, and increase demand on our charitable food network. SNAP generates nearly $474 million in grocery wages and supports more than 12,000 grocery industry jobs in Pennsylvania. Spending from SNAP represents a crucial source of revenue in retail grocery stores, especially for smaller, locally owned businesses and grocers who serve lower income communities and represent the majority of SNAP authorized retailers.

Food Assistance
As of today, the bill still needs to pass the U.S. Senate and be signed into law, so there are currently no changes to SNAP. DHS encourages Pennsylvanians who need food assistance to apply for SNAP and other programs at any time at www.dhs.pa.gov/COMPASS.  

On-site County Assistance Office (CAO) services are also available if recipients cannot access online services or need assistance that cannot be accessed through the COMPASS website, the myCOMPASS PA mobile app, or by calling the Customer Service Centers at 1-877-395-8930 or 215-560-7226 for people in Philadelphia.    

SNAP benefits are issued onto EBT cards monthly. For immediate food needs, Pennsylvanians can call 211 or visit www.pa211.org to connect with various local food resources and can also visit www.feedingpa.org to find local food banks and other food assistance programs. Individuals in need can also visit pa-navigate.org/ for help finding food and other resources and assistance.

LEA Special Education Data Reports are Online for Public Review (June 9, 2025)

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, every state must report annually to the public on each local educational agency (LEA) performance on the targets established in the State Performance Plan. This year states are required to report 2023-24 performance on the following State Performance Plan indicators for school-age students with disabilities: Graduation Rates; Dropout Rates; Participation and Performance on Statewide Assessments; Suspension Rates; Educational Environments; School-Facilitated Parent Involvement; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity Receiving Special Education; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity in Specific Disability Categories; Timelines for Initial Evaluation; Individual Education Program Secondary Transition Goals and Services; and Post-School Outcomes.

In May, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) provided LEAs with an opportunity to preview these reports prior to going live to the public. The reports are now posted and available for public review at the Special Education Data Reporting (formerly PennData) website.

Please select your LEA from the drop-down list.

Thank you for your cooperation in assisting PDE in meeting this federal reporting requirement.

U.S. Ed. Sec. McMahon Defends FY 26 Budget at Hearing (June 4, 2025)

On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) FY 26 Budget at a Senate hearing on Capital Hill. The budget recommends a total of $66.7 billion for all USDE activities, which would be $12 billion, or 15.3%, less than its current funding level. For the K-12 portion of the budget, the goal is a $4.5 billion cut.

Items of contention included the cancellation of about $1 billion in multi-year school-based mental health grants that were previously awarded to support students’ well-being. Also, several Republican and Democratic senators pleaded with McMahon to rethink a proposal to zero out $1.2 billion in federal TRIO programs that provide outreach and support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their academic paths from middle school through post baccalaureate programs. Several senators also questioned McMahon about the enforcement of civil rights in schools, especially as the USDE, since January, fired or accepted “buyouts” from about half its staff. Even before the staff reductions and the closing of over half of OCR offices, several civil rights advocates said OCR was understaffed.

The FY 26 budget proposal recommends reducing OCR’s budget from $140 million to $91 million and McMahon was asked about the justification for the workforce reductions across the agency and if it had studied the effects on the education system before the reductions took place. McMahon said a study hadn’t been conducted, but that restructuring staff can be “painful.”

According to McMahon, she and President Donald Trump have set a goal for the “responsible” closure of the USDE.

Currently, the federal government is technically operating on the approved FY 2024 budget because an extension of the FY 2024 budget, or continuing resolution for FY 2025, runs through September 30, 2024. The 2026 fiscal year then starts on October 1st. However, despite the already approved allocations of funding, McMahon said the USDE is analyzing the unallocated dollars to determine which programs to fund as the clock ticks and the time for distribution is running out, which could have legal implications.

On June 3rd, the USDE released its FY 26 budget justification. Click here to view it.

For more from K-12, click here.

White House Provides Further Details on Ed. Funding Cuts (June 1, 2025)

On Friday, May 30, 2025 the White House revealed further details on its FY 26 budget proposal. Several programs are targeted for spending reductions and eliminations under a new K-12 Simplified Funding Program (SFP). The K-12 SFP merges 18 current competitive formula funding grant programs into one $2 billion formula grant program that the administration said will spur innovation and give states more decision-making power.

As reported by K-12 Dive, under the new plan programs that used to have dedicated line budgets — such as the McKinney-Vento grant to support students experiencing homelessness, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers for before and afterschool learning programs, and the Title II, Part A program to support teacher effectiveness — would be consolidated in the K-12 SFP.

Some other programs are being recommended for defunding. Those programs include teacher and school leader incentive grants, the Supporting Effective Educator Development grant, the English Language Acquisition state grants, and full service community schools. Eliminating these programs would ensure fiscal discipline, reduce the federal role in education and give states more authority to make their own fiscal decisions, the budget document said.

Many of the proposed cuts are to programs that the Trump administration said are too “woke” or rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion practices. For example, the White House said it wants to eliminate $315 million for Preschool Development grants that the administration said was a “push” to include DEI practices into early childhood programs. Another $77 million is recommended for cuts to Teacher Quality Partnerships because the grants were used to “indoctrinate new teachers,” the White House said. Equity Assistance Centers, which are funded at $7 million currently, would be eliminated because the technical assistance work includes divisive topics such as critical race theory, DEI, social justice activism and anti-racist practices, according to budget documents.

On a positive note, one program previously thought to be considered for elimination — the Head Start early learning program for young children — is now recommended for level funding at $12.3 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For more details from K-12 Dive, click here.

“One Big Beautiful Act” Could Have Significant Effect on SNAP and Medicaid (May 28, 2025)

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which narrowly passed 215-214, sees House Republicans proposing to scale down funding for the two programs for low-income Americans as a cost-savings measure, while also aiming to prioritize tax cuts. According to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the bill would cut $267 billion in federal funding to SNAP by 2034. The CBO also estimates there would be $698 billion less in federal subsidies to Medicaid.

In addition, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities should those significant cuts to these federal programs move forward, millions of children and their families could lose access to SNAP benefits and Medicaid coverage. 

Now in the Senate, it remains unclear exactly how much federal funding going to states and school districts will be impacted until the bill reconciliation process is complete.

For more from K-12 Dive click here.