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Appropriations Process Moves Forward

Before officially taking up the FY2020 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill, the House Appropriations Committee approved a total of $1.295 trillion in new discretionary spending for the upcoming fiscal year.  The committee also adopted, along party lines, the allocation of funds to each of the 12 subcommittees, or “302(b)s.”

Of the total amount of $1.295 billion, the Labor-HHS-Education bill is slated to receive $189.9 billion under the House Democrats’ plan, an increase of 6.6 percent above the current year’s allocation.  All 12 bills would see increases, with the Military Construction-Veterans Administration bill receiving largest percentage increase and the Homeland Security measure seeing the smallest increase.

Although these allocations were approved by the House Appropriations Committee, it is important to keep in mind that these new spending levels would only become effective if the overall statutory spending caps currently in place are lifted significantly and the Senate agrees to the same levels.

After adopting the subcommittee 302(b)s and taking up a number of amendments, the committee approved the  Labor-HHS-Education measure by a vote of 30 to 23.