U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she has secured funding and provisions for Maine in the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee with a 26-3 vote and will now move to the full Senate and House for consideration.
The legislation includes $197 billion in discretionary funding. Senator Collins stated, “To address Maine’s shortage of health care professionals, we must invest in workforce development programs, provide support for students in lower-income communities seeking higher education, and increase access to affordable child care. This bill would provide support in each of these areas, as well as make targeted investments into life-saving research on Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, and tick-borne diseases. As the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to advocate for this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”
For local projects in Maine, $112.4 million is allocated through Congressionally Directed Spending.
Within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), $48.7 billion is provided for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is an increase of $400 million from previous levels. The bill maintains language prohibiting changes to NIH indirect cost rates after Senator Collins voiced opposition to a proposed cap that could have affected biomedical research institutions both locally and nationally.
Other HHS highlights include $41.5 million for CDC Alzheimer’s disease activities; $9 million for CDC Muscular Dystrophy activities; $27 million for CDC Lyme activities; $64.6 million directed at vector-borne diseases under Senator Collins’ Kay Hagan Tick Act; and $110 million allocated specifically to NIH Lyme and tick-borne disease research.
Funding continues efforts against substance use disorders with $1.6 billion for State Opioid Response Grants; $1.9 billion toward Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant; and $145 million supporting rural opioid response programs.
Support for health workforce initiatives totals over $300 million: Title VIII Nursing Workforce programs receive $303.5 million while HRSA Geriatric workforce education receives $48.2 million.
Other allocations include:
- Building Communities of Recovery grants ($17 million)
- Rural EMS training/equipment program ($13.5 million)
- Lifespan Respite Care Program ($11 million)
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) receives a total of $4 billion—an increase over prior years—with Maine having received more than $41 million in FY 2025 funds from this program.
Report language addresses concerns about CDC’s dog importation rule by urging a pause on implementation until further review takes place.
In early education funding:
- Child Care & Development Block Grant: nearly $8.8 billion
- Head Start: nearly $12.4 billion
Department of Labor priorities include:
- Job Corps ($1.8 billion): Senator Collins has publicly opposed efforts to eliminate this program.
- Apprenticeship Grant Program ($285 million)
- Foreign Labor Certification administration ($60.5 million) aimed partly at improving H-2B visa processing
- DOL Workforce Opportunity Initiative targeting rural communities ($6.5 million)
In educational support:
- TRIO programs receive over a billion dollars nationally.
- Title I Grants total more than $18 billion nationwide.
Maine expects about $61.7 million from Title I funds in FY 2025.
IDEA Grants bring approximately another estimated allocation of nearly seventy-one-million-dollars statewide next year.
Career/Technical Education state grants are expected to deliver roughly seven-million-dollars locally.
The Pell maximum award remains at its current level with Maine students anticipated receiving more than one hundred twenty-six-million-dollars via Pell Grants next fiscal year.
Rural school districts benefit from REAP's two-hundred-twenty-five-million-dollar fund.
Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools get thirty-six-million-dollars nationwide.
