FY 2012 Appropriations Debate Begins

On April 14th, Congress finally passed a fiscal year 2011 appropriations bill that funds federal education programs subject to the annual appropriations process. After the drawn out process involving seven Continuing Resolutions (CRs), Education policy stakeholders are no doubt suffering from budget fatigue. That’s why many of them haven’t yet realized that the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process is already well under way. Fiscal year 2012 starts October 1st, 2011. What’s more, there are some early portents that the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process will be as messy and drawn out as the 2011 process. Here’s a look at a few of the key numbers that are already shaping the debate.

The final CR for fiscal year 2011 put total federal discretionary spending at $1.050 trillion, down about $38 billion from fiscal year 2010. This is the starting point for negotiations for the fiscal year 2012 process. It’s worth noting that despite this year-over-year spending reduction in the 2011 CR, Congress actually increased funding for the U.S. Department of Education compared to fiscal year 2010. To be sure, lawmakers eliminated some smaller education programs and cut funding for others, but a major increase in Pell Grant funding was enough to boost funding for education overall. (Final numbers are still not available from the Department of Education.)

Back in February the president released his budget request for fiscal year 2012 and put out his request for total appropriations funding: $1.122 trillion. That’s $72 billion more than fiscal year 2011 funding. (Adjusting for a change the president proposed to transportation funding makes the number $79 billion, apples-to-apples.) The president’s budget sets funding for the U.S. Department of Education at $77.4 billion. Keep in mind that the president released his budget request for 2012 before Congress had even finished the 2011 appropriations bill – an unusual occurrence.

The day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final 2011 CR, it also passed a budget resolution for fiscal year 2012. The House-passed budget resolution sets a limit on appropriations funding for fiscal year 2012 at $1.019 trillion. That is a $31 billion reduction in total appropriations funding compared to fiscal year 2011. The limit will govern the 2012 appropriations process in the House that is expected to get underway in the coming weeks. Unlike the president’s budget request, a congressional budget resolution does not specify funding levels for individual programs, so it does not provide a funding level specifically for the U.S. Department of Education.

At this time there are few clues about what number the Senate might support for fiscal year 2012 appropriations. It’s unclear whether the Democratic Majority in the Senate will release or vote on a fiscal year 2012 budget resolution, though Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) says he will bring up a budget resolution that mirrors the plan proposed by the president’s fiscal commission and a second one that is a modification of that plan. For his part, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring up the House-passed budget resolution for a vote in an effort to demonstrate that it doesn’t have the votes to pass.

In short, we know where the president would set the limit for fiscal year 2012 appropriations spending ($1.122 trillion), and we know where House Republicans stand ($1.019 trillion), but we are still waiting to hear from the Senate.

The limit on appropriations spending for fiscal year 2012 will certainly have implications for federal education programs. If Congress ultimately agrees to a further reduction in overall appropriations funding, the House and Senate appropriations committees will find it difficult to further boost funding for education programs – and the rising costs of the Pell Grant program aren’t likely to help matters.

We’ll have more on the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process in the coming weeks.

Note: Total appropriations figures are exclusive of emergency funding, funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other contingent adjustments that the House and Senate Budget Committees may make to those funding limits.

This post was updated and corrected on May 4th, 2011.