What the Latest Federal Stopgap Spending Bill Means for Early Ed

It’s another game of wait-and-see for early education programs that depend on federal funding.

Technically, the federal government was supposed to adopt a new budget at the beginning of this month, but the House and Senate have yet to vote on what 2012’s budget will look like.  So to keep the federal government running, the House and Senate passed and the president signed a continuing resolution (CR) through November 18, 2011. This CR holds spending constant at fiscal year 2011 levels, less a 1.503 percent cut across-the-board on discretionary spending programs.

And what did those FY 2011 levels look like? Here’s a chart to serve as a reminder:

As federal agencies continue to work with this continuation of funds, Congress is supposed to be working on a budget for 2012 that could be passed by November 18.  But none of the 12 appropriations bills that form the basis of that 2012 budget have been voted into law yet. It’s looking increasingly likely that there will be another drawn-out battle over funding this year.

Check back at Early Ed Watch for further developments in the coming weeks and month. For more information on the federal appropriations process, check out this report from the Federal Education Budget Project.