On Monday, the House approved a resolution, along party lines, that would set the topline discretionary spending level for House appropriators for fiscal year (FY) 2022 to $1.506 trillion. The “deeming” resolution, however, does not specify the 302(a) allocations, which are the topline funding levels for both defense and nondefense discretionary spending. Once those are set, Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) can begin to establish the 302(b) allocations for each of the twelve spending bills prior to the beginning of subcommittee mark-ups, which are slated to begin June 24.
The resolution, which was included in a larger rule that would set up debate for two non-related bills, did not come without criticism. House Republicans argued that Democrats were abdicating their duty by moving forward with the appropriations process before debating and passing a FY 2022 budget resolution. In response, Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) said that putting the deeming resolution in a rule was a “housekeeping item” that Democrats needed to adopt in order to get the appropriations process started. He further pointed out that “given the timing of the president’s budget, the Appropriations Committee will need to get started prior to having a budget resolution.”
Under normal circumstances, the budget resolution is an agreement between the House and Senate on a budgetary plan for the upcoming fiscal year. Once agreed to by both chambers, the budget resolution creates parameters that may be enforced by points of order and using the budget reconciliation process. When the House and Senate do not reach an agreement on this plan, Congress may employ alternative legislative tools to serve as a substitute for a budget resolution, which are usually called “deeming resolutions.”
It is important to note that deeming resolutions do not include reconciliation instructions to authorizing committees, so in order for House Democrats to implement the Administration’s infrastructure and other spending plans, they will still need to introduce and pass a budget resolution for FY 2022.
What’s Next?
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee is expected to mark-up their proposal on July 12, according to a recent announcement from the chairwoman. Typically, the committee does not announce programmatic funding levels prior to the mark-up, so this should provide the first look at the committee’s funding priorities for FY 2022.
While the Perkins Basic State Grant Program received a proposed $20 million increase in the President’s Budget Request, it is not enough to meet the growing needs of CTE programs as the country emerges from the pandemic. We need your help to put pressure on your representatives for a more robust increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant and keep up the fight for CTE! Your advocacy has been instrumental in securing funding increases for CTE for the past several years, and your voice is critical to ensuring policymakers in Washington understand the many benefits of high-quality CTE programs. Please contact your representative today to ask them to support additional funding to support CTE programs.
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