The Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Thursday to approve a bill providing a $10 million funding boost in 2025 for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for investigating antisemitism and other discrimination complaints at schools and universities. 

But the proposed allocation comes in $12 million short of the administration’s budget request for the office, and some in the Jewish community are calling it insufficient.

The committee voted to provide $150 million in funding for the office, known as OCR, in 2025. The administration requested $162 million. Department of Education officials have said that, in light of the significant increase in complaints since Oct. 7, each officer in OCR is currently working on 50 cases and the office is severely under-resourced.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee approved a $10 million cut to OCR funding in a meeting last month. The Senate’s bill passed the committee on a bipartisan basis.

Language in the explanatory report accompanying the Senate bill acknowledges OCR’s funding needs and states that the $10 million increase should be used to combat antisemitism and help schools comply with their anti-discrimination obligations.

It also directs OCR to ensure it is processing antisemitism complaints in a timely manner, and to report quarterly to relevant congressional committees on the status of antisemitism and other related investigations.

The report includes an amendment, proposed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), stating that the committee is “deeply concerned” by antisemitism on campuses.

It urges the department to provide guidance to schools on developing religious discrimination and harassment and “encourage the prompt reporting” of discrimination and harassment incidents and how the schools.

The report further calls on the secretaries of education, health and human services, and labor to issue public reports on how their departments are addressing antisemitism, including steps they’ve taken to implement the administration’s national antisemitism strategy.

Some Jewish lawmakers and groups called the $10 million funding boost insufficient given the scope of current campus antisemitism.

“At a time when students are facing a wave of antisemitism on college campuses, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights needs significantly more resources to keep Jewish students safe from discrimination,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told Jewish Insider. “I’ll keep working with my colleagues to ensure that this year’s final spending bill includes more funding to combat campus antisemitism.”

Lauren Wolman, director of government relations at the Anti-Defamation League, thanked the committee for the $10 million increase and for its “prioritization of combating antisemitism on campuses and processing investigations in a timely manner.”

But, Wolman continued, “a 7% increase over current funding levels is insufficient to address the historic 321% increase in antisemitic incidents and harassment of Jewish students.”

“As the caseload of Title VI discrimination complaints reaches record levels, the Department of Education must have the resources to rapidly investigate these cases in order to protect the rights, safety and well-being of students on campus,” Wolman said. “We will continue working with Congressional leaders to advocate for the highest possible funding.”

Julie Fishman Rayman, the managing director of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, said the department has been “providing much needed interventions to support and protect students from all forms of harassment, bigotry, and hate” and that OCR has been “an invaluable resource in enforcing Title VI protections and ensuring safe learning environments for every student, including Jews.”

“We will continue to urge Congress to provide the necessary funding so that OCR has the resources to meet the demands of this current climate,” Rayman said.

“Over the last year, we have seen how surging antisemitism is impacting students across the country. The Department of Education is providing much needed interventions to support and protect students from all forms of harassment, bigotry, and hate. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been an invaluable resource in enforcing Title VI protections and ensuring safe learning environments for every student, including Jews. We will continue to urge Congress to provide the necessary funding so that OCR has the resources to meet the demands of this current climate.”

Also included in the Senate’s bill are earmarks for a series of local Jewish institutions, including $312,000 for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation for antisemitism education, requested by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); $1.2 million for Tree of Life in Pittsburgh for antisemitism education initiatives, requested by both Pennsylvania senators; $2.45 million for National Jewish Health in Colorado for facilities and equipment, requested by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO); and $675,000 for the Met Council, requested by both New York senators.

It remains unclear whether 2025 funding levels will be approved before the end of the current Congress, and how the outcome of the November election will impact the process.