WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-04) — member of the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee — filed a slate of amendments to Congressional Republicans’ fiscal year 2026 funding bill to restore critical support for mental health services, federal student aid, medical research, and more.
Currently, the FY26 LHHS funding bill includes a cut of $23.9 billion — an 11% reduction from FY25. To combat these cuts, Congresswoman Dean introduced amendments to reinstate:
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$1.3 billion for federal student aid programs, including Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, which provide need-based aid to eligible undergraduate students to help reduce financial barriers to postsecondary education, and Federal Work-Study programs;
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$67.4 million for housing programs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency, including Homeless Prevention Programs and Treatment Systems for the Homeless;
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$60 million for firearm injury and mortality research at the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health (offered in partnership with Rep. Mike Quigley, IL-05); and
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$23 million to support women in the workforce by fully funding the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor and grants for the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act.
Additionally, Congresswoman Dean introduced an amendment to remove language that prohibits federal funding for overdose prevention centers.
“Our budget reflects our values — and a funding bill that abandons low-income workers, cuts life-saving healthcare research, slashes education funding, and fails to address the cost-of-living crisis is not worthy of the constituents we represent,” Rep. Dean said. “My amendments would reverse Republicans’ cruel cuts and restore desperately needed funds for recovery, gun violence prevention, student aid, and women in the workforce. We must not shrink from our moral obligation to support children, working families, and our most vulnerable.”
Read the full text of Congresswoman Dean’s amendments here.
Rep. Madeleine Dean is a mother, grandmother, attorney, professor, former four-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania.
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