Summary#
This bill would stop the Department of Education from shifting the work or buying services from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that relate to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSEP). The main change is a blanket prohibition on using HHS for OSEP functions, and it also says several laws that normally permit agency-to-agency transfers do not apply to OSEP. The bill aims to keep OSEP’s duties inside the Department of Education.
- Main change: The Secretary of Education may not procure services from, contract with, obtain goods or services from, transfer activities to, or enter similar arrangements with HHS for functions of OSEP.
- Limits legal tools: The bill says certain laws that normally allow agencies to share or transfer functions (including the Economy Act) do not apply to OSEP.
- Exception: Any agreement or arrangement between ED and HHS that was in effect on February 1, 2025, and renewals of those specific agreements are allowed to continue.
What it means for you#
- Federal agencies and staff
- Department of Education: Must keep OSEP functions within ED unless an agreement existed on Feb 1, 2025. ED cannot rely on HHS for new transfers or shared performance of OSEP roles.
- Department of Health and Human Services: Could be blocked from taking on new OSEP-related work or services requested by ED.
- Contractors and service providers
- Companies or non-profits that would have provided OSEP-related services under a new ED–HHS arrangement may lose those opportunities. Existing contracts in place on Feb 1, 2025, are allowed to continue.
- State and local education agencies, students, families
- The bill does not change program rules for special education services or who is eligible for funding. It only affects who at the federal level performs or supports administrative and related functions. Any local effects would come indirectly if federal administrative arrangements change.
- General public
- This mainly affects how two federal agencies share work. It does not directly create new benefits or duties for individuals.
Expenses#
No direct public cost estimate is provided in the available material.
- No publicly available information on a fiscal note, budget estimate, or cost estimate was included with the bill text.
- Possible fiscal effects that could follow from the restriction (but not stated in the bill) include higher administrative costs for the Department of Education if ED must duplicate services HHS would otherwise provide, or savings if ED already performs the work efficiently. These are not quantified in the bill text.
Proponents' View#
- The bill appears intended to keep OSEP’s work inside the Department of Education. A possible argument for the bill is:
- It could protect continuity, specialized expertise, and accountability by preventing transfer of OSEP functions to another department.
- It may prevent fragmentation of special education administration across agencies.
- It preserves existing arrangements in place as of February 1, 2025, so ongoing work is not disrupted.
Opponents' View#
- The bill does not explain the fiscal impacts or administrative trade-offs. Possible concerns include:
- One concern is that banning transfers could reduce administrative flexibility and make it harder for ED to use HHS expertise or shared services when that would be efficient.
- This may increase costs if ED must replicate services that HHS could have provided more cheaply or at scale.
- It is unclear how the prohibition would affect coordination between education and health programs that serve the same students, since the bill restricts new ED–HHS arrangements even when coordination might help service delivery.
- The bill leaves several technical details unspecified, such as how to define which activities “relate to” OSEP functions, which could create legal uncertainty during implementation.