Early Friday morning, the Senate voted (64-35) to send a two-year budget agreement to the president’s desk—following on the heels of the House, which passed the measure (266-167) earlier in the week. The bill increases discretionary funding caps for domestic programs, including education and workforce training, by $25 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 and $15 billion in FY 2017 above the current limits established by the Budget Control Act in 2011. This deal paves the way for Congress to complete its work on a final FY 2016 funding bill in the coming weeks, while providing an opportunity for individual programs, like Perkins, to receive an increase. The budget package also includes a measure to raise the “debt ceiling,” which increases the federal government’s borrowing authority to pay existing funding obligations through 2017.
The federal budget is currently operating under a short-term continuing resolution that will extend funding at current levels through December 11. As Congress works to complete a long-term FY 2016 funding bill before the December deadline, now is a critical time to reach out to Capitol Hill and let your Members of Congress know that we need to build our investment in CTE.
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