Recap: 2025 Budget and Tax Briefing 

Thanks to all members who joined us for Workforce Matters’ 2025 budget briefing and discussion on March 27.  A special thanks to Economic Opportunity Funders for their excellent Annual Budget and Tax Briefing, which provided the foundation for our conversation, and to our speakers, Katie Spiker and Melissa Johnson from the National Skills Coalition and Dr. Kayla Elliott from the Joint Center.

During our call, Workforce Matters provided a brief recap of this year’s EOF Budget and Tax Briefing, focusing mainly on the federal session:

• Critical federal safety net programs that support children and families including Medicaid, SNAP, housing, and early childhood are facing serious cuts this year. 
• Congress will be debating the extension of $4 trillion in tax cuts from the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act. Extending these cuts will set the stage for reductions in health and human service programs that impact every community and every corner of philanthropic work, including not only workforce development but also early childhood, health care, state and local government services, climate change, housing, senior services, family support services, and much more. 
• Federal workforce development investments fall into a category of spending called “non-defense discretionary” or NDD programs. The recent continuing resolution was supposed to leave funding for these programs and services at 2024 levels, but it remains to be seen whether all of the funding will actually go out the door. Looking to the 2026 budget negotiations, Republican budget plans propose significant cuts to NDD programs, including $330 billion assigned to the Education and Workforce Committee. While the final budget picture may not be as severe, it seems likely that we are not entering a time of investment. 

We also reviewed the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ framework of six key actions: 

1. Blocking harmful policy actions when possible
2. Delaying action to limit the time a harmful policy is in effect
3. Mitigating the burden of harmful policies when they can’t be stopped
4. Documenting the impact on people to build a case for undoing harmful policies later
5. Looking for opportunities to make progress where possible, and;
6. Continuing to lay the groundwork for future advances

In the weeks and months ahead, workforce funders can:

• Support work that helps partners on the ground tell the story of how funding cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and NDD programs cause real harm to families and communities. 
• Adopt a “one fight” mentality. Make connections and align efforts across your portfolios. Support coalition and partnership building efforts across all issue areas subject to potential federal cuts. 
• Support work that educates members of Congress and the administration and makes them aware of the impact of cuts on working people and families in their districts.
• Support access to data, research, and analysis that can help document the impact of cuts on working people and families.
• Support efforts to preserve and/or archive research and data, especially those data that highlight disparities related to education and workforce outcomes.
• Fund flexibly and for the long term. Support defensive work. Implement trust-based philanthropy principles to reduce grantee burden.
• Fund implementation and accountability work, as well as organizing and advocacy.

Workforce Matters will continue to provide space for workforce funders to brainstorm, align efforts and build partnerships to advance strategies that support working people and their families. If you’re interested in joining these ongoing policy conversations, sign up here!

Read EOF’s Federal recap here.

Read EOF’s State recap here.