This week, Congress approved a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 to provide temporary funding for the federal government through December 9. The Senate passed the bill (72-26) on Wednesday morning, with the House following suit (342-85) later in the day. Efforts to enact a short-term CR had been delayed by disagreements between congressional Republicans and Democrats over emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, address the Flint, MI water crisis, as well as aid to flood-impacted parts of Louisiana. The president quickly signed the measure into law before the fiscal year deadline Friday night—averting a government shutdown.
The CR is intended to put the federal budget on autopilot by continuing the current funding levels for Perkins and other programs until a long-term agreement can be reached. The bill also includes a 0.496 percent across-the-board reduction that was needed to keep overall spending within the required budget caps for the year. Because of the way Perkins funds are budgeted and distributed, this reduction will impact Perkins Basic State Grant advance funding from FY 2016 that is available for allocation to the states beginning on October 1. While the reduction in funding will likely be very small for those states that see a reduction (some will not be cut at all), we will work to ensure those funds are restored in the final FY 2017 funding bill, as has happened in previous years.
Comments