Ford expressed "strong support for full educational opportunities for our handicapped children" according to the official White House press release for the bill signing.[102]
The economic focus began to change as the country sank into the worst recession since the Great Depression four decades earlier.[103] The focus of the Ford administration turned to stopping the rise in unemployment, which reached nine percent in May 1975.[104] In January 1975, Ford proposed a 1-year tax reduction of $16 billion to stimulate economic growth, along with spending cuts to avoid inflation.[99] Ford was criticized for abruptly switching from advocating a tax increase to a tax reduction. In Congress, the proposed amount of the tax reduction increased to $22.8 billion in tax cuts and lacked spending cuts.[95] In March 1975, Congress passed, and Ford signed into law, these income tax rebates as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. This resulted in a federal deficit of around $53 billion for the 1975 fiscal year and $73.7 billion for 1976.[105]
When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975, Mayor Abraham Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. 