AUCD’s Community Inclusion Team supports the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Network in partnership with the Administration for Community Living.
AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health Engagement supports the Autism CARES Programs, including LEND and DBP Programs.
AUCD’s Public Health Team works to create health promotion and public health efforts that include people with disabilities.
AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes trainees, early career professionals, self-advocates, and family members from AUCD member Centers and Programs.
AUCD's Disability Policy News (DPN) is a weekly newsletter highlighting federal policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families. DPN features updates in plain language and action steps that people can take to educate policymakers. DPN is published every Friday.
In this edition:
The current continuing resolution (CR) expires at the end of January, which makes passing a new CR or full-year funding bill a time-sensitive priority in Congress. Senate and House leaders are working on passing a few funding bills.
On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee released a bipartisan Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-H) bill, along with the Defense-Homeland Security bill and the Transportation-Housing bill. These bills were negotiated between the House and the Senate. The House voted to advance the entire package, which set it up for a floor vote. Because the package of bills did not reflect the guardrails that Democrats wanted to see implemented for Homeland Security programs—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—Democrats pushed for a standalone vote on the Defense-Homeland Security bill so that they could vote against it and show their objection to the Administration’s enforcement tactics. That bill advanced with a vote of 220-207.
On Thursday, the House voted 341-88 to pass the Labor-H bill, which rejected the Administration’s plans to reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), close the Department of Education, and make significant cuts to their budgets—the bill largely level-funds those Departments. The Labor-H bill includes language saying that the Education Department does not have the authority to shift its responsibilities to other federal agencies and that it must “support staffing levels necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibilities including carrying out programs, projects, and activities…in a timely manner.”
Labor-H text and committee report
Now, the Labor-H bill will be packaged with the other appropriations bills that have passed the House, and will be sent to the Senate. When Senators return from recess next week, they will vote on the appropriations package, which also includes Financial Services and General Government-National Security, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior, Defense, and Homeland Security.
In the Labor-H bill:
Administration for Community Living (ACL): $2.5 billion
UCEDDs: level funded at $43,119,000
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): $8.9 billion, an increase of $929 million above FY2025
LENDs: not specifically cited, but Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (which includes LENDs) has a $1 million increase to $57,344,000, so we can assume LENDs are level funded also
National Institutes of Health (NIH): $48,716,000,000, an increase from FY25 and from the President’s budget
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (where the IDDRCs are housed): increased from last year to $1,769,078,000
Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSIDs): $13,800,000
State Councils on Developmental Disabilities: level funded at $81,000,000
Protection & Advocacy: level funded at $45,000,000
Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities: $10,000,000
Developmental Disabilities Projects of National Significance: $12,250,000
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding was increased by $20,000,000
Grants to states (Part B): $14,233,704,000
IDEA Part C: $540,000,000
Head Start: $12,356,820, an increase of $85 million from 2025
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): $9,202,991,000, level funded from last year and more than double what the President requested in his budget proposal
Extends the “hospital at home” program for five years — through Sept. 30, 2030 — which authorizes people to receive inpatient care in their homes
At the end of last year, Congress passed a continuing resolution (also called a CR), which is a funding bill that makes sure the government has enough money for a few more months. This CR will fund the government until the end of January, so Congress needs to figure out how they will fund the government after that. This process is called "appropriations." Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.
Senate and House leaders are working on a few funding bills.
On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee released a bill to fund the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. This bill is sometimes called "Labor-H." The House had worked with the Senate to figure out what they wanted in the bill. The House also released bills that would give money to police and other parts of the government that make sure people are following the law. On Thursday, the House voted to pass the Labor-H bill. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the bill. The President had wanted to make a lot of changes at HHS, but the bill does not make those changes. The President had also wanted to close the Department of Education, but the bill gives the usual amount of money to the Department. The bill also says that the Education Department is not allowed to move its work to other federal agencies. It has to make sure it has enough staff to follow the law and do all of it projects and activities.
Now, the Labor-H bill will be put together with the other appropriations bills that have passed the House. This package of bills will be sent to the Senate. When Senators return from recess next week, they will vote on the appropriations package. Recess, or state work period, is a time when Members of Congress leave Washington, D.C. and go to their home states. They are going home to their states to have meetings and events. They need to come back from recess on January 26 to finish the appropriations process by the end of January. The House also has a recess scheduled for the week of January 26.
AUCD Programs received the usual amount of money in this bill.
UCEDDs: level funded at $43,119,000
Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (which includes LENDs): $57,344,000
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (which includes IDDRCs): $1,769,078,000
The bill funds many other disability programs at the usual amount of money as well.
View past issues of Disability Policy News to learn more about AUCD's policy priorities and how you can engage in policy actions.
