Since taking office, the President has fought to create opportunity and advance equity—not as a one-year project, but as part of a sustained commitment to make the promise of America real for every American, including communities of color, rural communities, women and girls, Tribal communities, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and communities impacted by persistent poverty.
Over the last three years, the Administration made significant progress advancing equity across the Federal government, including by reinvigorating Federal civil rights enforcements, increasing procurement opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses, prioritizing the advancement of gender equity and equality, expanding access to economic opportunities in underserved communities, expanding community engagement, increasing food security, advancing efforts to end homelessness, improving children’s education, robustly supporting Tribal sovereignty, and honoring the Nation’s sacred obligation to America’s veterans and servicemembers.
The President’s Budget builds on this progress by making historic investments to support the advancement of all Americans—especially in underserved communities—and combat racial and gender disparities across the Nation. The President’s Budget:
Addresses Inequity in Health Care
Expands Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care. The Budget allows states to extend continuous eligibility for children in the Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from 12 to 36 months and provide continuous eligibility for children from birth until they turn age 6. The Budget also prohibits enrollment fees and waiting periods in CHIP. The Budget also provides Medicaid-like coverage to individuals in States that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act to expand coverage and advance health equity.
Advances Maternal Health and Health Equity. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, and rates are disproportionately high for Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women. The Budget includes $376 million to support maternal mortality initiatives across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Budget provides $172 million to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) for the Healthy Start Initiative, a program designed to improve health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy and reduce disparities in rates of infant death and adverse perinatal outcomes. The Budget expands Medicaid maternal health support services during the pregnancy and postpartum period by incentivizing States to reimburse a broad range of providers including doulas, community health workers, peer support initiatives, and nurse home visiting programs. In addition, the Budget builds on the success of the more than 40 States, Washington D.C., and the U.S. British Virgin Islands, that extended Medicaid postpartum coverage by requiring all States to provide continuous Medicaid coverage for 12 months postpartum, eliminating gaps in health insurance at a critical time for all women. In addition, the Budget includes resources for HHS to launch a new initiative focused on maternal health and hypertension and directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a pilot to provide maternal health care kits for veteran mothers.
Promotes Mental and Behavioral Health Equity. The Budget proposes investments to expand access to mental health and substance use care, including for underserved communities. The Budget provides resources for behavioral health, including a nearly $200 million increase for the Substance use And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to reduce suicide, improve women’s and children’s mental health, and support the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics that serve anyone who needs care, regardless of ability to pay. Further, the Budget provides $17.1 billion to the VA for mental health, which includes resources for treatment and healthcare costs, in addition to initiatives that improve suicide prevention and address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the Nation’s veterans.
Invests in the Treatment and Prevention of Infectious Diseases. A critical component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to addressing health equity is addressing the disproportionate impact of infectious diseases, including HIV, on racial and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ communities. The Budget invests in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases, including Hepatitis C, HIV, and vaccine-preventable diseases. The Budget proposes a national program to significantly expand screening, testing, treatment, prevention, and monitoring of Hepatitis C infections in the United States, with a specific focus on populations with high infection levels. The Budget also includes proposals to expand access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to end the HIV epidemic and to vaccines for adults and children.
Closes Research Gaps in Women’s Health. The President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, recognizing that women have been understudied and underrepresented in health research for far too long. The Initiative is working across government to better integrate women’s health within the Federal research portfolio and catalyze significant private and philanthropic commitments to increase funding for women’s health research. The Administration proposes to transform the way the government funds women’s health research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including by creating a new nationwide network of centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health—and the Budget would double current funding for the Office of Research on Women’s Health at NIH.
Expands Housing Access, Builds Thriving Communities
Increases Access to Safe and Affordable Housing. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) currently provides 2.3 million low-income families with rental assistance to obtain housing in the private market. The Budget includes $32.8 billion, and assumes Public Housing Agencies will draw from HCV program reserves to maintain services for all currently assisted families. The Budget also expands assistance to an additional 20,000 households, particularly those who are experiencing homelessness or fleeing domestic violence. Additionally, the Budget provides up to $100 million through HUD for Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing), a competitive program that rewards State, local, and regional jurisdictions that make progress in removing barriers to affordable housing developments, such as restrictive zoning. Finally, the Budget provides $18 million for the Tribal Housing program at the Department of the Interior (DOI) to support critical housing needs in Tribal communities.
Bolsters Efforts to End Homelessness. The Budget provides more than $4 billion, an increase of $427 million over 2023 levels, for HUD Homeless Assistance Grants. This funding level enables HUD to continue supporting approximately 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness each year and includes $134 million to expand assistance to 25,000 additional households, specifically homeless youth and survivors of domestic violence. The Budget also provides $8 billion for competitive grants to rapidly expand temporary and permanent housing strategies for people experiences or at risk of homelessness. It also provides $505 million for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program, serving a population with a disproportionately high rate of homelessness and providing a critical link to services. In addition, the Administration plans to use approximately $100 million in program recaptures to fund coordinated interventions to support nearly 11,000 additional homeless individuals and families. These new resources support the Administration’s commitment to the goals laid out in the All In: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness and build on efforts that have expanded assistance to roughly 140,000 additional households experiencing homelessness since the President took office.
Prevents and Redresses Housing Discrimination. The Budget provides $86 million to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support State and local fair housing enforcement organizations and to further education, outreach, and training on rights and responsibilities under Federal fair housing laws. This investment continues the Administration’s efforts to fight discrimination in housing and real estate related transactions. The Budget also preserves robust funding for HUD staffing and technical assistance to affirmatively further fair housing and improve access to affordable housing.
Prevents Evictions. The Administration stood up a historic national eviction prevention infrastructure during the pandemic, helping keep eviction filings 20% below historical averages in 2021. The Budget provides $3 billion in mandatory funding for competitive grants to promote and solidify State and local efforts to reform eviction policies by providing access to legal counsel, emergency rental assistance, and other forms of rent relief. The Budget also includes $10 million for HUD’s Eviction Protection Grant program, which provides legal assistance at no cost to low-income renters at risk of or subject to eviction.
Increases National and Global Food Security. The Budget includes $7.7 billion to support nearly seven million individuals expected to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The Budget also includes funding to increase food security among children in low-income households during the summer through the new Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program and the rural non-congregate Summer Food Service Program. In addition, the Budget provides $1.1 billion, an increase of $83 million above the 2023 enacted level, for senior nutrition programs that work to reduce food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition among older Americans. Lastly, the Budget provides more than $1 billion to support the President’s pledge to alleviate global food insecurity, including $100 million for the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative to foster more resilient food systems and nutritious food crops in underserved regions.
Helps Underserved Communities Navigate Infrastructure Funding. The Budget includes $25 million for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Thriving Communities Program, which provides planning, technical assistance, and capacity building support to underserved and under-resourced communities, enabling them to successfully compete for Federal funding and deliver transformative infrastructure projects that support community-driven economic development, health, environment, mobility, and access goals.
Advances Education, Access to Opportunity
Invests in High-Poverty Schools. To help ensure that every student receives a high-quality education, the Budget includes $8 billion in mandatory funding to provide Academic Acceleration and Achievement Grants to close opportunity and achievement gaps and speed the pace of learning recovery. These grants to school districts would support evidence-based strategies to increase school attendance, provide high-quality tutoring, and expand learning time, including both in the summer and in extended day or afterschool programs. The Budget also provides $18.6 billion for Title I, which would continue historic progress for a program that has increased by over $2 billion since the start of the Administration. Title I delivers critical funding to 90 percent of school districts across the Nation, helping them to provide students in low-income communities the academic opportunities and support they need to succeed. This funding works to narrow the chronic funding gaps between high-poverty schools—which disproportionately serve students of color—and their wealthier counterparts. In addition, the Budget includes $200 million, to support Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) that provide comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students, students’ family members, and community members that will result in improved educational outcomes for children.
Bolsters Support for Children with Disabilities. Every child with a disability should have access to the high-quality early intervention, special education services, and personnel needed to thrive in school and graduate ready for college or a career. The Budget invests over $14 billion, $1.5 billion higher than when the President took office, in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants through the Department of Education (ED) to support special education and related services for more than seven million students with disabilities in grades Pre-K through 12. The Budget also invests $545 million in IDEA Grants for Infants and Families to support early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities.
Builds a Strong Foundation for Families with Universal Pre-K and Head Start. The Budget funds voluntary, universal, free preschool for all four million of the Nation’s four-year-olds and charts a path to expand preschool to three-year-olds. High-quality preschool would be offered in the setting of the parent’s choice—from public schools to child care providers to Head Start. In addition, the Budget increases Head Start funding by $544 million to support the Administration’s goal to reach pay parity between Head Start staff and public elementary school teachers with similar qualifications over time. Together these proposals would support healthy child development, help children enter kindergarten ready to learn, and support families by reducing their costs prior to school entry and allowing parents to work.
Improves Postsecondary Access and Success and Increases Equitable Funding for Low-Resourced Institutions. The Budget proposes to increase the discretionary maximum Pell Grant by $100—helping more than seven million students pay for college, building on successful bipartisan efforts to increase the maximum Pell Grant award, and maintaining a path to double the maximum award by 2029. In addition, the Budget expands free community college across the Nation through a new Federal-State partnership and provides two years of subsidized tuition for students from families earning less than $125,000 enrolled in a four-year Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Tribally Controlled College and University (TCCU), or Minority-Serving Institution (MSI). The Budget also increases institutional capacity at HCBUs, TCCUs, MSIs—including HSIs—and under-resourced institutions, including community colleges and provides $100 million to expand research infrastructure at four-year HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs. The Budget also invests $100 million to increase completion and retention rates among underserved students.
Expands Pathways for Economic Mobility
Increases Workforce Training and Career-Connected Learning that Provide Pathways to Good Jobs. The Budget proposes investments to help ensure all students and workers—including women, workers of color, and workers in rural areas—have the skills they need for the good jobs being created by the President’s historic legislative accomplishments. The Budget doubles funding for Career and Technical Education National Programs to better connect high schools to employers and community colleges through dual enrollment, work-based learning, and career advising. Further, the Budget proposes a new $8 billion Career Training Fund that would provide approximately 750,000 workers with training and wrap-around supports to ensure that workers from all backgrounds have access to high-quality training that leads to good jobs. The Budget also provides $50 million for the Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness program, which supports the development and expansion of public-private partnerships to equitably deliver high-quality training in growing industries, and invests $70 million to help community colleges partner with industry to develop and expand high-quality training programs in communities across the Nation.
Supports Minority-Owned Business to Narrow Racial Wealth Gaps. The Budget increases the capacity of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) by providing $80 million to bolster services provided to minority-owned, including women of color-owned, enterprises by expanding the Business Center program, funding Rural Business Centers, and supporting innovative initiatives to foster economic resiliency.
Helps Historically Marginalized Communities Catalyze Economic Development. The Budget builds on a more than 40 percent increase for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration and proposes $41 million for the Good Jobs Challenge to make equity-driven investments in high-quality, locally led workforce systems that provide good job opportunities for American workers and promote economic mobility and security. Further, the Budget proposes $41 million for the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program, which provides flexible investments that reduce prime-age (25-54 years) employment gaps in communities experiencing significant disinvestment and neglect. The Budget also provides $5 million for the Assistance to Indigenous Communities program, with a focus on increasing outreach and support for Indigenous communities, particularly through technical assistance.
Promotes Access to Credit. The Budget provides $325 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a 20 percent increase since the President took office. This provides underserved and often low-income communities access to credit, capital, and financial support to grow businesses, increase affordable housing, and reinforce healthy neighborhood development. Research continually demonstrates that low-income communities, communities of color, and women have a harder time accessing capital from traditional financial institutions overall. Nearly 70% of CDFI customers are low-income persons, 59% are racial minorities, and 52% are women. To better address the shortage of long-term affordable credit for development projects in disadvantaged communities, the Budget also includes a $10 million subsidy for the CDFI Fund’s Bond Guarantee Program.
Supports Economic Opportunity in Rural and Tribal Communities. The Budget provides resources for the Rural Partners Network (RPN), an all-of-government program led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that partners with rural and Tribal communities to access resources and funding to create and preserve good jobs, build infrastructure, and support long-term economic stability on their own terms.
Delivers Environmental Justice
Advances Equity and Environmental Justice. The Administration continues to prioritize efforts to deliver environmental justice in communities across the United States, such as by meeting the President’s Justice40 commitment to ensure at least 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments – including in climate and clean energy – flow to disadvantaged communities, including rural, urban, and Tribal communities. A total of 518 programs across 19 Federal agencies are being reimagined and transformed through the Justice40 Initiative to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities such as cleaner air, good-paying jobs, and affordable clean energy. The Budget bolsters these efforts by investing nearly $1.5 billion through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support creating high-quality jobs, cleaning up pollution, and securing environmental justice for communities that bear the brunt of toxic pollution and impacts of climate change, including increased health risks.
Accelerates the Replacement of All Lead Pipes and Upgrades the Nation’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure. The Budget includes $101 million to remediate lead contamination in water, nearly doubling previous levels of funding. The Budget also provides EPA with $2.6 billion for the water infrastructure State Revolving Funds that upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure nationwide, with a focus on decreasing health disparities in disadvantaged and rural communities that have historically been overlooked.
Reduces Health and Environmental Hazards for At-Risk Communities. The Budget provides $661 million for EPA’s Superfund program to continue cleaning up some of the Nation’s most contaminated land and respond to environmental emergencies and natural disasters. This is in addition to an estimated $2.2 billion in Superfund tax revenue estimated to be available in FY 2025 by the Department of the Treasury. Further, the Budget includes investments for the Department of Energy (DOE) to address legacy waste and contamination in communities used during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War for nuclear weapons production, and resources for grants to reduce emissions in the most polluted areas of the country. The Budget continues to build on core capacity under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and modernize Information Technology and data software for the Chemical Risk Review and Reduction program with an investment of $132 million.
Supports Tribal Conservation Through Co-Stewardship of Public Lands and Waters. The Administration is committed to improving Federal stewardship of public lands, waters, and wildlife by strengthening the role of Tribal governments in Federal land management. The Budget provides resources to facilitate and support agreements with Tribes to collaborate in the co-stewardship of Federal lands and water across the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service. The Budget also proposes a new $25 million grant to facilitate direct implementation of EPA programs in Indian Country.
Bolsters Climate Resilience. Building on the National Climate Resilience Framework, the Budget makes significant investments in climate adaptation and resilience across the Federal government to address the increasing severity of flood, wildfire, drought, and other extreme weather events fueled by climate change. This includes expanding conservation and ecosystem management, strengthening America’s natural disaster response capabilities, increasing the resilience of rural housing to the impacts of climate change, and ensuring the resilience of our nation’s defense to climate change. The Budget provides $4.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help vulnerable families access home energy and weatherization assistance, and proposes to allow States the option to use a portion of their LIHEAP funds to provide water bill assistance to low-income households. The Budget also includes specific investments to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in low-income and disadvantaged communities, including $105 million for DOE to plan, design and demonstrate community-scale energy solutions.
Strengthens Working Families and the Economy by Investing in Care Infrastructure
Advances Equitable Access to Home and Community-Based Care. The President recognizes thatmore than three-quarters of home and community-based care service providers are not accepting new clients, leaving hundreds of thousands of older Americans and Americans with disabilities on waiting lists for home and community-based services or struggling to afford the care they need.The Administration invested $25 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to help states strengthen their Medicaid home and community-based care programs, including over $9 billion in spending to boost wages for home care workers as well as improve overall job quality.The President’s Budget invests $150 billion over 10 years to improve and expand Medicaid home and community-based services, which would allow older Americans and individuals with disabilities to remain in their homes and stay active in their communities as well as improve the quality of jobs for home care workers.
Provides National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave. The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to employer-provided paid family leave, including 73 percent of private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately women and workers of color, 94 percent lack access to paid family leave through their employers. The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to ensure that all workers can take the time they need to bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment; find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or grieve the death of a loved one. The Budget also provides funding to the Department of Labor (DOL) for grants and technical assistance to support the development, improvement, and implementation of paid family and medical leave programs in States and localities.
Advances Equity in the Child Welfare System. Improving the child welfare system will benefit all Americans, including the Black and Native American families who are overrepresented in, and too often failed by, the current system. The Budget includes $4.9 billion over ten years for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to expand access to evidence-based and culturally appropriate foster care prevention services while also improving child and family well-being in the child welfare system. The Budget also doubles flexible funding through the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. Together, these reforms are aimed at achieving better outcomes for children, enabling children to remain safely with their families, and ensuring permanency for children in foster care. In addition, the Budget provides States with resources to reduce the number of children entering foster care, decrease the over-representation of children of color in the system, ensure that more children in foster care are placed with family members or other kin caregivers and not in group homes, and increase supports to youth aging out of foster care. At DOI, the Budget provides $26 million, a nearly 50 percent increase over 2023 enacted levels, for implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Lowers Child Care Costs for Hard-Working Families. The President is committed to providing relief to hard-working families. His Budget creates a historic new program under which working families with incomes up to $200,000 per year would be guaranteed affordable, high-quality child care from birth until kindergarten, with most families paying no more than $10 a day, and the lowest-income families paying nothing—providing a lifeline to the parents of more than 16 million children. The Budget also includes $8.5 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) which will help states expand child care assistance to serve over 2 million low-income children.
Invests in Caregiving for Military Families and Veterans. Caregivers play an important role in supporting the health and wellness of servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The Budget invests nearly $3 billion in stipend payments and support services to help empower family caregivers of eligible veterans. The Budget also includes resources for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Exceptional Family Member Program, which provides a comprehensive, coordinated, multi-agency approach for community support, housing, medical, educational, and personnel services to military families with disabilities.
Makes Communities Safer, Invests in Civil Rights
Invests in Federal Law Enforcement, Public Safety, Community Violence Interventions, and Prevention to Combat Gun Violence and Other Violent Crime. The Budget makes robust investments to bolster Federal law enforcement capacity and reduce gun violence. The Budget includes $17.7 billion for Department of Justice (DOJ) law enforcement, including a total of nearly $2 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to increase regulation of the firearms industry, an increase of over 30 percent since the start of the Administration, and $100 million for DOJ community violence intervention and prevention initiatives. And the Budget provides $51 million to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to support the continued implementation of enhanced background checks required by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The Budget also includes $100 million for CDC to fund evidence-informed, community-based programs that reduce gun violence. Lastly, the Budget proposes $60 million for CDC and the NIH to fund research into the causes of and solutions for gun violence. In addition to these amounts, the Budget requests $1.5 billion over 10 years in mandatory funding at both DOJ and CDC to supplement funding for community violence intervention programs.
Reinvigorates Federal Civil Rights Enforcement. In order to address longstanding inequities and strengthen civil rights protections, the Budget invests $201 million in the DOJ Civil Rights Division. These resources would continue supporting vigorous prosecution of hate crimes, enforcement of voting rights laws, and ending gender-based violence and discrimination. Additionally, the Budget proposes a new $10 million DOJ grant program supporting the modernization of HIV criminal statutes.
Promotes Equity Across Government Services
Improves Language Access. The Budget includes funding for multiple agencies, including DOL, USDA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DOE to strengthen language access services to promote meaningful access to government programs, services, and benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency.
Enables Policymakers to Understand the Needs of the American People and Economy. The Budget provides resources at the Census Bureau to support a Puerto Rico economic statistics program and to bolster the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which is a leading source of information on the economic wellbeing of Americans, including low income and historically disadvantaged populations.
Supports Public Participation and Community Engagement in Government Decision Making. The Administration is committed to ensuring that the voices of all Americans, including underserved communities, inform and shape the design and delivery of Federal programs, policies, and services. The Budget includes resources for multiple agencies, including DOE, DHS, SSA, HHS, and the VA, to strengthen their public participation and community engagement activities across the country, with a focus on hard-to-reach populations.
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