Today President Trump released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget, proposing $163 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary spending. This includes all budget areas that Congress is required to authorize annually but does not include mandatory spending already obligated for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Trump’s proposal represents a cut of approximately 23 percent from current levels and includes sharp reductions for federal programs related to education, health and labor.
“The White House budget proposal is likely to cause substantial harm to rural Georgians and those experiencing poverty, with significant funding cuts to public health, public education and more,” said Staci Fox, President and CEO at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “Decisionmakers at the federal level have an opportunity to pursue a path that supports Georgians, following a roadmap to opportunity for the state and stewarding federal funds to help ensure a strong future for our children. Compared to other states, Georgians are already hungrier, sicker, and have fewer pathways to economic security, especially in rural areas.[1] The cuts proposed in the White House Budget proposal would aggravate those conditions, even as trade war measures reduce the value of every rural Georgian’s hard-earned dollar.”
Major changes include:
- $12 billion in cuts to education programs and services (a decrease of 15%), including $4.5 billion in cuts to Title I funding for schools with the highest percentage of students living in poverty. These cuts could impact some of Georgia’s most vulnerable kids, including those in rural school districts receiving over one third of their funding from federal dollars.[2]
- More than $33 billion in cuts to Health and Human Services (HHS), which represents a reduction of 26% overall. This includes cutting funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by more than 50 percent, from approximately $9 billion to $4 billion. Many of these cuts will be borne by our fellow Georgians, with the vast majority of the CDC’s employees in metro Atlanta; these cuts also reduce Georgia’s stagnant and insufficient public health funding, leaving rural communities more vulnerable to chronic conditions and to future pandemics.[3], [4]
- Nearly $5 billion in cuts to the Department of Labor (35%); the majority of Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) funding (84%) is covered by federal dollars; those dollars help support Georgia workers in unemployment insurance administration as well as re-employment.[5] As Georgia’s federal employees are cut and trade war measures drive layoffs, the Georgia DOL will need more resources, not less.
Cuts to programs and funding on the federal level could have deep and lasting impacts on Georgians and on the state’s ability to meet the needs of all its residents. For more information, see GBPI’s collection of resources on federal policy, available at https://gbpi.org/federal-policy/.
Endnotes
[1] https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/politics/2024/12/23/georgia-food-insecurity-among-children/77073490007/; State Summaries Georgia | 2023 Annual Report | AHR; The Opportunity Atlas
[2] Federal Funding for Georgia Public Schools – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
[3] Federal Workers in Georgia – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
[4] Public Health for All Y’all: How A Thriving, Fully Funded Public Health System Can Support a Stronger, Healthier Georgia – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
[5] Georgia Human Services Budget Primer for State Fiscal Year 2024 – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
