The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” aka the federal budget, passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025, despite opposition from Democrats, labor unions and citizens across the country. Our parent union AFT has released a summary of the bill’s harmful impacts, and a timeline of when parts of the law go into effect.

The federal budget will put tremendous strain on state governments as Washington shifted much of the burden for healthcare, food assistance and other programs onto the states. It is not yet known precisely what impact that will have here in New York, but job and service cuts are likely —directly impacting New Yorkers who rely on public services and the PEF members who provide them. More than $90 billion of New York’s $254 billion budget is funded by federal money. In broad strokes, here is how just some of that money is allocated:

Medicaid $56 billion
Additional healthcare programs (ACA, etc.) $15 billion
Social welfare programs $5.5 billion
Education, museums, libraries $4.4 billion

 

So how can every PEF member help? We’ve summarized a few high-impact ways in this Campaign Primer, but it comes down to this: Make. Some. Noise. Personal stories about the impact these cuts will have on the services PEF members provide and the New Yorkers who benefit from them are the best way to get noticed by the media and policymakers.

If you’d like to make a video like these telling Congress to “Stop the Cuts,” get in touch with PEF Communications at Comms@pef.org or just record the video, post it to your favorite social media platform, and tag any of the union’s social media accounts: Facebook, X, Instagram, and Bluesky.