After months of uncertainty, federal lawmakers approved a spending package that rejects Trump administration efforts to alter the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and do away with some disability programs.
President Donald Trump signed a bill this week to fund much of the federal government through September. The deal brings to a close a tumultuous period for disability programs punctuated by two government shutdowns.
“This vote blocks many of the most damaging proposed cuts, keeps key disability programs level funded, and preserves the (U.S.) Department of Education’s authority to enforce education laws,” The Arc of the United States said in a statement. “People with disabilities and families need stability they can plan around, not constant uncertainty about the supports they rely on.”
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In his budget request last year, the president called for altering IDEA to allow federal funding for certain programs to be consolidated in order to give states more control over spending, but Congress chose not to act on that plan. Advocates said that if such a change had gone through, it would have affected Parent Training and Information Centers, technical assistance centers, training for new special educators and general educators, assistive technology and accessibility supports and more.
What the federal funding bill approved this week does include, however, is language designed to thwart the Trump administration’s efforts to move special education out of the Education Department.
“Congress listened to families and advocates and refused to ‘block grant’ IDEA programs and clearly stated that no authorities exist for the department to transfer fundamental responsibilities,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. “While the protections in the package are much appreciated, it remains to be seen what the administration will do in response.
Trump had also urged Congress to eliminate funding for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, or UCEDDs, and some programs serving people with disabilities at protection and advocacy agencies, but lawmakers chose to maintain them. Disability advocates had been particularly concerned about the fate of UCEDDS, which have existed in every state for more than 60 years and provide everything from early intervention programs and autism evaluations to training on developmental disabilities for families, self-advocates and professionals in the community.
In addition, the spending plan retains the Administration for Community Living, which oversees programs helping people with disabilities access all range of services in their communities and advocates for the needs of people with disabilities, older adults, families and caregivers across the federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services had last year to break up the Administration for Community Living as part of a broad reorganization plan.
“Disability advocates worked hard to educate members of Congress about the value of and critical need for the disability programs funded by the federal government. As a result, Congress unequivocally rejected the cuts to disability programs proposed in President Trump’s budget,” said Alison Barkoff, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University who previously led the Administration for Community Living. “Advocates will need to ensure that agencies quickly disburse critically needed appropriated funding and that the administration heeds to the directives of Congress regarding agency reorganizations.”
