On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee finally released the text of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which includes a $5.4 million increase for Perkins! As we reported in June, the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee voted to advance the bill to the full committee, however that markup was indefinitely postponed and the text of the bill was not made public. Though it is now available on the committee’s website, no further action on the funding measure has been announced.
The bill seeks to increase the Perkins Basic State Grant to $1.123 billion (up from $1.118 billion in FY 2014), with no additional funds for CTE National Programs. The subcommittee also rejected a proposal by the Administration to set aside $100 million from the state grant program for a new competitive CTE innovation fund; ensuring funds continue to flow to states under the current formula. Additionally, they recommended a $13 million increase for the Adult Education State Grant, as well as a combined $36 million increase for the adult, dislocated worker and youth training grants to states under the Workforce Investment Act.
ACTE has called on Senate appropriators to complete their work on this bill and approve the increase in Perkins funding without further delay. Let your Members of Congress know that building our investment in CTE can’t wait!
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