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House Appropriations Releases Draft Labor-HHS-Ed Spending Bill

The House Appropriations Committee released their draft Labor-HHS-Education spending bill today in which they executed several spending cuts and revoked all additional funding for “Obamacare”. Some highlights:

Health & Human Services

  • The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is funded at $6.7 billion, a $1.5 billion increase over FY11 levels
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funded at $31.76 billion, which is $1.4 billion above FY11 and designed to support at least 9,150 new and competing research projects
  • Head Start would receive $8.09 billion, approximately $500 million above FY11
  • The Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services takes a cut of $290 million from FY11 with an FY12 funding level of $3.2 billion

Education

  • Investing in Innovation (i3) funding is eliminated by the House in their FY12 bill
  • International Education & Foreign Language (Title VI) is cut by approximately $10 million to $66.7 million from already reduced FY11 levels
  • Federal Work Study is level funded at $978.5 million
  • TRIO is level funded at $826.5 million
  • GEAR UP is level funded at $302.8 million
  • the Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (FIPSE) is eliminated by the House for FY12
  • The Pell Grant Program is maintained at a maximum award amount of $5,550 but in order to fill the shortfall in the program, the Committee suggests limiting lifetime eligibility to 6yrs (from 9yrs), rolling back recent changes to the qualification formula, and eliminating eligibility for students who attend school less than half time or students who do not have a diploma/GED

CR Agreement Finalized

Late yesterday, Congressional leaders agreed to a deal that will avert a government shutdown as the end of the federal fiscal year looms.  The Senate approved a week-long continuing resolution (CR) that will run through October 4th, which is expected to be approved by the House – through a pro forma session – sometime on Thursday.  A longer term CR will still be necessary and will be the main topic of debate when both chambers reconvene next week after this week’s recess period.  The deal will do little, however, to end partisan fighting over FY12 spending.

The Senate bill is a considered a “clean” CR that will fund the federal government through October 4th at the $1.043 trillion limit set by the debt limit law (PL 112-25) enacted in August.  The bill would eliminate the $1 billion in fiscal 2011 disaster aid for the FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers included in the House version, as well as offsets for an energy loan program.  The House plans to approve the measure by voice vote in a pro forma session on Thursday, paving the way for the President to sign the measure and avoid a federal shutdown when the new fiscal year begins October 1st.

The overall deal was agreed to after the Senate passed a revised version of Majority Leader Reid’s six-week stopgap measure that would provide government funding through November 18th and eliminate disaster aid for FY11 and the energy offsets.  While both chambers favor the longer-term stopgap, it will not be cleared until next week after the House returns from recess and has had a chance to debate it.   Appropriators are expected to use the next six weeks to draft a year-end omnibus spending bill, but with partisan divisions forcing lawmakers to spend nearly two weeks on the short-term deal, it seems far from certain that an agreement can be reached by November 18th on a broader spending bill.

The good news for now is that we are avoiding a government shutdown but the path forward on FY12 appropriations is far from certain.

Sources:  Congressional  Quarterly, Roll Call

Five Days to Shutdown

With just five days until the end of the current federal fiscal year, congressional leaders continue to work to resolve an impasse over how to pay for disaster aid that threatens to shut down the government on Friday at midnight. 

There appears to be bipartisan support for a continuing resolution (CR) that would allow the government to keep operating through November 18th at a rate that reflects the $1.043 trillion annual limit set by the debt limit law (PL 112-25) enacted in August.  Disaster aid funding appears to be the main stumbling block.  While no one questions the need for the assistance in the wake of a string of natural disasters this year, there is much disagreement over how to pay for this aid.  Democrats believe it is unfair to call for the emergency aid to be offset, something they say has not been done before, while Republicans say offsets are needed to keep federal spending constrained so that is doesn’t contribute to the federal deficit.

The Senate is scheduled for a procedural vote tonight at 5:30pm on an amendment, proposed by Majority Leader Reid (D-NV), to the House-passed CR that would remove the spending offsets for the bill’s recovery aid.  It would require 60 votes to pass and would also require the House to agree to the changes before it could be sent to the President for signature.  However, Senate Democrats may not have the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.  If the Senate does not accept the House-passed CR that would keep the government operating when FY12 starts on Saturday (October 1st) or if the Senate does not come to an agreement to change the measure that might win unanimous consent in the House, the issue probably cannot be resolved before Tuesday at the earliest.  With both chambers scheduled to be in recess this week to observe the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah (beginning at sundown on Wednesday), congressional leaders have limited time to come to a resolution to avoid a government shutdown. 

Sources:  Congressional Quarterly, Politico

President Obama Announces New Push for Education Reform

President Obama today announced that it was time to commit to tackling education reform and that he would allow states to apply for waivers that will give them flexibility from mandates under the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law that many officials agree is outdated and no longer effective.

The President stated that many states and school districts have initiated education reforms and innovations to support excellent teaching and encourage all students to learn and achieve success. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has since become a barrier to implementing these practices and reforms.

The goal is to support states and local school districts transitioning to college and career ready standards and assessments, developing systems of differentiated recognition, accountability, and support, and evaluating teacher and principal effectiveness and supporting improvement. For example, a state will no longer have to set a target requiring all students to be proficient by 2014, but instead be allowed to establish ambitious but achievable goals in reading/language arts and math. States and school districts under a waiver would also have more flexibility related to the use of federal education funds.

In order to receive a waiver a state must develop a rigorous and comprehensive plan addressing the critical areas that are designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps and increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.

Link to White House speech/press release

Fate of CR Uncertain

Late last night (or early morning, if you want to be more accurate), the House approved a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal government running past September 30th but the bill faces challenges in the Senate this morning.  Even before passage of the House bill, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) warned his caucus would block approval in the Senate and instead take the debate into next week when lawmakers had hoped to be on recess for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

Running through November 18th, the House CR keeps faith with the August budget accords, imposing a 1.5 percent across-the-board cut on domestic and defense agencies alike to meet the target of $1.043 trillion for FY12.  But the level of disaster aid, $3.65 billion over the next 13 months, is less than half of what the Senate wants and Republicans have insisted on about $1.6 billion in offsets targeted at Democratic priorities.  The House bill would take $1.5 billion from an advanced technology manufacturing program for the auto industry to pay for a portion of disaster relief.  Additionally, a new $100 million cut was added to the bill late Thursday, rescinding unobligated money in an alternative energy loan fund that helped finance Solyndra LLC, the controversial solar panel manufacturer in California that has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The Senate is poised to reject the House-passed CR this morning, leaving congressional leaders scrambling for a deal to avert a government shutdown at the end of next week.  It is predicted that the Senate will amend the House bill and then pass the package to eliminate $1.5 billion in offsets. This will certainly anger House Republicans and almost guarantees that passage of any CR won’t happen today.  Yesterday, Senate leadership released a statement saying they are ready to stay in Washington next week to “do the work the American people expect us to do and I hope the House Republican leadership will do the same.”

If the House had removed the offsets instead of adding to them in the second CR attempt, Democrats say that would have paved the way for Democratic votes in both chambers to approve the measure.

House Republicans and Senate Democrats have been at odds for more than a week over whether any of the disaster aid should be offset.  The House-passed bill (HR 2608) was largely unchanged from a measure defeated Wednesday in the House by a unified Democratic party and four dozen conservatives seeking to hold the line on spending.  The only major change was the addition of a new $100 million offset rescinding money for the loan program that supported the defunct solar panel maker Solyndra.  House GOP conservatives, who opposed the initial version, said they switched their votes after becoming convinced by party leaders that there was no better option.

The fun will continue this morning in the Senate.  Stay tuned for more…