The "IDEA Full Funding Act" amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to authorize and appropriate specific funding levels for special education from fiscal year 2026 through 2035 and subsequent years, ensuring funds are spent in accordance with "cut-as-you-go" rules.
Jared Huffman
Representative
CA-2
The IDEA Full Funding Act aims to increase federal funding for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from fiscal year 2026 through 2035 and subsequent years. It authorizes and appropriates specific funding levels for IDEA, excluding section 619, with increasing amounts each year. The funding is determined by both a set dollar amount and a percentage based on the number of children with disabilities and average per-pupil expenditure, whichever is greater. The bill also mandates that the increased funding adhere to "cut-as-you-go" rules, ensuring fiscal responsibility.
IDEA Full Funding Act Proposes Decade-Long Funding Boost for Special Education, Mandates Offsetting Budget Cuts
This bill, the IDEA Full Funding Act, aims to significantly increase federal funding for special education over the next decade. It lays out a specific schedule of increasing dollar amounts authorized and directly appropriated for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B grants, starting in Fiscal Year 2026 and ramping up through 2035. The goal is to finally reach the funding levels originally promised when IDEA was enacted.
Putting Dollars Towards Disability Education
The core of the bill is a ten-year funding plan outlined in Section 2. It starts with roughly $16.6 billion authorized and $6.4 billion appropriated for FY 2026, steadily climbing each year. By FY 2035, the plan commits to $69.6 billion annually. These funds, available from July 1st each fiscal year for about 15 months, are intended to support states in providing special education and related services to eligible children. For schools struggling to meet the needs of students with disabilities, this predictable funding increase could mean more resources for specialized staff, updated technology, or tailored learning programs. The bill also specifies that the funding level will be the greater of the listed dollar amount or a calculation based on the number of children served and average national per-pupil spending, adding another layer to how the final figures are determined.
The Catch: Paying the Tab
Here's the crucial detail tucked into Section 3: this new IDEA funding comes with strings attached. The bill mandates that the appropriations must follow "cut-as-you-go" rules. In plain terms, this means the increased spending on special education must be offset by cuts or savings elsewhere in the federal budget. While boosting IDEA funding is a long-standing goal, this requirement raises questions about which other programs might face reductions to make room for this increase. It sets up a potential budget shuffle where gains in one critical area could mean sacrifices in another, a trade-off that will likely be watched closely as budget decisions are made down the line.