NW Lawmakers Call For Education Funds To Be Released

Several Democrat lawmakers are calling on the Administration to release millions of dollars that support educational opportunities for farmworker students.

Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, representative Suzanne Bonamici, as well as California senator Alex Padilla sent a letter demanding that the Office of Management and Budget and Department of Education immediately release $52,123,000 for the High School Equivalency Program and the College Assistance Migrant Program.

The Department of Education was scheduled to release those funds in early July, but they were frozen in D.C.

HEP and CAMP programs serve thousands of students nationwide from farmworker families. The lawmakers said in their letter the failure to release this previously allocated funding threatens to undermine the students’ success.

“Continuing and potential new grantees, all of which are colleges and non-profit organizations, were slated to receive funding and begin providing support to students by July 1 but have yet to receive the funding that Congress provided earlier this year,” the lawmakers wrote to OMB Director Vought and Education Secretary McMahon. “We understand the Department of Education informed HEP and CAMP leaders in June that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was reviewing these programs, but grantees have not received follow up information as to when the funds will be released, which has imposed challenges on individuals and families served by these programs and applicants and grantees (and their employees) impacted by the uncertainty and delay.”

Lawmakers Say The Program Is Very Successful

In a 2024 report to Congress, HEP and CAMP claimed the percentage of HEP participants who received a High School Equivalency Diploma increased by 4.2 percentage points from FY 2021 to FY 2022, and 84% of those recipients entered postsecondary education or training programs, attained upgraded employment, or entered the military. And CAMP exceeded the national retention rates for first-time college freshmen returning in their second year.

“We should strive to retain more students enrolled in college, just as CAMP programs have achieved. These are results that can help strengthen the economy for agricultural farmworker families and rural communities,” the letter stated.

In addition to Merkley, Wyden, Padilla, and Bonamici, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators: