Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Student Aid

Additional Details from Labor-HHS/ Defense Conference Report Available

Posted on

Additional details from the conference report for the Labor-HHS/ Defense package that will be considered by both chambers in the near future are provided below.

As noted before, NIH would receive $39.1 billion, an increase of $2 billion.  The new funding level would include $711 million designated for the agency from the 21st Century Cures Act.  Within the $39.1 billion, the conference report calls for the following:

  • $2.34 billion for Alzheimer’s disease reserach
  • an increase of $86 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative
  • an increase of $29 million for the BRAIN Initiative
  • a $100-million increase for the Cancer Moonshot

Of the $711 million for the NIH that would come from the 21st Century Cures Act:

  • $400 million would be for the National Cancer Institute
  • National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke would each receive $57.5 million
  • $186 million would be dedicated to the Precision Medicine Initiative
  • $10 million for regenerative medicine

Under the conference agreement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would receive $7.95 billion and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is slated to receive $334.0 million.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health would receive $336.3 million and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency would be funded at $5.47 billion under this bill.

Within the Department of Education, the Institute for Education Sciences would receive $615.5 million in FY2019, an increase of $2 million over the current level.

 

 

Agreement Reached on Labor-Health-Education and Defense Package

Posted on

House and Senate conferees yesterday officially agreed to a massive spending package for FY2019 that combines the two biggest annual appropriations bills, the Labor-HHS-Education and Defense measures.  The explanatory statement for the conference report is available here.  The text of the conference report is also available on-line here.

The Senate could take up the $855-billion package, which represents approximately 65 percent of all discretionary spending for FY2019, next week with the House following suit the following week.  The current plan is to add a short-term continuing resolution to this bill that would fund other agencies and programs whose spending bills haven’t been passed by the October 1 deadline through December 7.

Here are some of the details with respect to the Labor-HHS-Education component of the bill:

Biomedical and health

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH):  $39.1 billion, an increase of $2 billion over current level
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA):  $7.16 billion, an increase of $146.8 million
  • Nursing programs:  level-funded at $249.5 million

Student aid and higher education

  • Pell Grant:  maximum grant of $6,195 ($100 increase)
  • Title VI international programs:  level-funded at $72.6 million
  • Federal Work-Study:  level-funded at $1.13 billion
  • SEOG:  level-funded at $840 million
  • TRIO:  $1.06 billion, an increase of $50 million
  • GEAR UP:  $360 million, an increase of $10 million

A summary of the Labor-HHS-Education part of the agreement is available here.

Office of Federal Relations will provide additional details, including those about the defense part of the bill, throughout the day.

First Spending Bills to be Cleared by Friday?

Posted on

The conference report for the package that contains the first three appropriations bills of FY2019– Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs– was quickly adopted by the Senate yesterday by a vote of 92 to 5.  An agreement between the House and Senate negotiators was reached on it earlier this week.

The House is scheduled to take up the measure later today and is expected to clear it by Friday, clearing it for the President’s signature.  As noted above, these three bills, if signed into law, would represent the first spending bills approved for FY2019, which starts on Oct 1.

On a related note, House and Senate conferees are scheduled to formally meet today on two other sets of spending bills.  The first combines the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and Defense bills and second pulls together the Interior, Agriculture, Transportation-Housing, and Financial Services bills.

Progress as Deadline on Spending Bills Approaches?

Posted on

Even as most of the national media is focused on the Supreme Court confirmation hearings as Congress returns to work this week, we could see progress on the appropriations front.  The next fiscal year, FY2019, starts October 1 and none of the 12 spending bills have been signed into law so far.

Although hurdles still remain, it appears that House and Senate negotiators are making progress on a package of three bills– made up of the Energy and Water Development, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch measures– as they get ready to formally meet as a conference committee later today.  At the same time, on a separate track, there appears to be movement on a second package of bills, which contains the Labor-Health and Human Services and Defense bills, which are the two largest spending measures.

Both chambers have agreed to their respective versions of the three-bill package and negotiators must hash out the differences.

On the other hand, while the defense bill has been passed by both houses, only the Senate has been able to move on the Labor-HHS measure.  Because the House version of the latter bill is viewed by some as being much more controversial than the Senate version with respect to policy provisions contained in it, it will not be brought to the House floor for a vote.  Instead, the House agreed yesterday to go to conference with the Senate on the two-bill package without the full House having considered the Labor-HHS bill.  In addition, negotiations between the two sides have begun on the contours of a package.

Congressional leadership hopes to get these five bills signed into law before October 1.  The current thinking is that programs funded through spending bills not adopted by the start of FY2019 would be funded on a short-term basis through a continuing resolution until the other measures can be signed into law.

 

Two Biggest Spending Bills Likely to See Senate Movement

Posted on

After the Senate returns from its abbreviated August recess this Wednesday, it is expected to start debate on the two biggest spending bills, the Defense and Labor-HHS Appropriations Bills. The Senate will most likely combine the two measures into a single package, which, if passed, would include a total of approximately $857 billion in total spending for defense, health, education, and labor programs.

The House, which remains in recess through Labor Day, has made no announcements regarding its plans for the two bills.