Congressional Budget Action for Fiscal Year 2011 and its Impact on Education Funding

Typically, Congress puts forward a budget resolution each year that defines a spending and revenue plan for the next five to 10 years for the entire federal budget. The budget resolution and the ensuing budget process itself can have either significant or more subtle and indirect effects on education funding. The arcane procedures Congress uses to produce and act upon the budget resolution are often confusing to the media and education advocates alike. This confusion is made worse by political rhetoric and partisan spin.

This year has been particularly confusing as Congress has opted not to debate or vote on a fiscal year 2011 budget resolution, marking the fourth time in 10 years that Congress has failed to adopt an annual budget resolution. Instead, the House passed a "deeming resolution" in July 2010 as a substitute for a fiscal year 2011 budget resolution. The Senate has taken no action to date to set enforceable fiscal year 2011 spending limits. This brief by the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project sheds light on how this process affects education funding, with special emphasis on the unique circumstances of the fiscal year 2011 budget process.

Read the full issue brief here.