Appropriations Process, Slowly But Surely

Last Friday we reported on the status of the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills for fiscal year 2009. Committees in both Chambers had agreed to a 302(b) suballocation of $153.1 billion, and sub-committees in both houses adopted approved bills and sent them on to the full Appropriations Committees.

The Senate Committee successfully passed their Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on July 26th. But the House Committee hit a minor (read: politically challenging) road block. Representative Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, offered an amendment to strip the text from the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and replace it with the text from the appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Lewis and his Republican colleagues argued that passing the Interior bill would lessen the burden of rising gas prices before the July 4^th holiday weekend, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) derided the move as a “political stunt.” Stunt or not, Lewis’ amendment effectively stalled the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill in its tracks, postponing action on the legislation until after the July 4^th Congressional recess-and potentially scuttling the Labor-HHS-Education bill’s passage for much longer.

Neither the House nor the Senate Committees have made the text of their appropriations bills public. That means detailed information on funding levels for all federal education programs is not available. Despite this, proposed funding levels for several programs have found their way into the media. These figures should be viewed with a grain of salt, however, until actual bill text becomes available.

According to a press release from the Democratic majority, the Senate Committee bill would appropriate $14.5 billion for Title I Grants. That’s $631 million, or about 4.5 percent, more for Title I than in fiscal year 2008 and about $200 million more than the President requested in his budget. The bill also would allocate $11.4 billion to IDEA special education state grants, about $477 million, or 4 percent more, than the 2008 level. Despite the President’s request to restore Reading First grants to their $1 billion fiscal year 2007 funding level, after a $600 million cut last year, the Senate bill cuts funding for the program entirely. The press release also states that the bill sets the maximum Pell Grant for the 2009-2010 school year at the President’s requested level of $4,310, up $69 from the 2008-2009 level.

Fewer details are available regarding the House bill, particularly because the House Committee has yet to adopt a final bill. Congress Daily reports that the bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant to $4,310 and Head Start Programs would get a total allocation of $7.1 billion, a $200 million increase over 2008 levels. Congressional Quarterly also reports that the House subcommittee mark-up would increase the Title I appropriation to $15.1 billion, higher than both the President’s request and the Senate bill, and would increase IDEA state grant funding by $604 million above the fiscal year 2008 level of $10.9 billion.

So, what happens next? The Senate may bring its committee-approved appropriations bill to the floor for a vote sometime in the coming months. Historically, however, the Senate has been slow to adopt the bill, while the House has moved its version faster. But this year the House looks set for a drawn out process, too. And it might all be for naught. The Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bills making their way through both Chambers include more spending than the President requested in his budget, and veto threats have been issued. A final education funding bill may have to wait for a new President in January.