On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee released the text of a Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 continuing resolution (CR) that will temporarily fund federal programs, including Perkins, through December 15. Congress has yet to approve any of the 12 full-year appropriations bills for FY 2014. A stopgap funding bill is necessary to prevent a government shutdown when the current fiscal year ends on September 30. The CR will essentially put the federal budget on autopilot for a few months, continuing funding levels from FY 2013. For Perkins, FY 2013 funding was cut by 5.2 percent below the previous year, incorporating the across-the-board sequester cut, which has resulted in $58 million reduction in the federal investment in CTE for the 2013-14 school year.
Though the House had initially scheduled a vote on the CR this week, the Republican leadership announced on Wednesday that a vote on the House floor would have to be delayed until next week. Conservative Republicans have been pushing to include a provision in the CR that would cut off funding for implementation of the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare.” House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) put forward a plan to vote on a separate bill that would defund Obamacare, which would allow the CR to proceed without opposition from Democrats in Congress and the White House. House conservatives balked at Speaker Boehner’s plan, arguing that they would have greater leverage to force the defunding of health care reform as part of the must-pass CR. The Republican leadership made the decision to delay consideration of the CR until they can gain enough support to pass the bill and avert a government shutdown. Tell Congress that it is time to stop the cuts and invest in CTE! We will continue to provide updates on the CTE Policy Watch Blog as new information becomes available.
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