Last week, the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations released its Fiscal Year 2024 bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. The proposed legislation provides for a cut of nearly $63.8 billion from 2023 funding, including a reduction of $4.8 billion from the enacted funding level of the Administration for Children and Families, and a reduction of $750 million from Head Start and Early Head Start funding.

If passed, the bill will have an immense impact on early childhood education programs—many of which are already struggling with maintaining necessary staffing. Specifically, the proposed cut will result in over 50,000 children losing access to Head Start and Early Head Start programs and it will eliminate in excess of 16,000 jobs. These reductions will have devastating consequences on young children from low-income families and deprive communities of crucial educational services.

The funding bill is in an early stage of the appropriations process as it has yet to pass through a vote of the House and, ultimately, it will have to be reconciled with the United States Senate’s funding bill.

We will continue to monitor the Fiscal Year 2024 funding bill as it moves through the legislative process and we will update its status in future client alerts.