This blog post was written by Sarah Bodor, senior director of capacity building at NAAEE.

While things are a bit confusing at the moment as far as the federal budget goes, we’re in the early stages of our FY26 appropriations campaign and moving forward! Please keep an eye out for eeADVOCACY emails and action alerts to help ensure Congress funds environmental education programs at EPA and NOAA for the next fiscal year. We need all hands on deck! 

In the meantime, lots of good things are happening at the state level when it comes to EE policy and funding! Here are just a few examples of bills at play in state legislatures this year.

In Virginia, advocates have secured a budget amendment that would plus up a statewide grant program for environmental education from $250,000 to $1 million! This measure has passed and is waiting for the Governor’s signature next week.

A coalition in Colorado is working to advance legislation that would amend existing allocations of state lottery “spill-over funds” to increase support for their Outdoor Equity Fund.

Minnesota legislators are considering a proposal for an Outdoor School for All initiative that establishes a grant program to provide immersive, multi-day outdoor educational experiences for students in grades 4 to 8.

In New York, a proposal is advancing and aims to establish outdoor and nature-based child care/preschools, adapting regulations, launching a pilot program, and integrating it into the state’s child care licensing framework.

The California School Garden Coalition has sponsored a bill to provide funding and infrastructure for a statewide Instructional School Garden Program.

These efforts are an important reminder that our work as advocates for EE continues to yield progress and should be celebrated. What other state and local initiatives are you working on this year? You can search and follow the status of state legislation related to youth outdoor access and education using the Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership’s policy tracker.