On the evening of February 17, the Senate passed a new continuing resolution (CR) by a vote of 65-27. This vote comes after the House passed the CR, H.R. 6617, to extend Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 spending through March 11. The CR was temporarily held up by Republicans in the Senate who attempted to include provisions related to combating vaccine mandates and a Department of Health & Human Services harm reduction program. The amendments were ultimately voted down, with some Republicans voting in line with their Democratic colleagues. The bill now goes to President Biden to sign before government funding runs out after February 18.
Moving forward, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will continue negotiations to hopefully pass an FY 2022 spending package before government funding runs out again on March 11. Committee leadership has stated that they have come to an agreement on top-level funding, however, have given specifics. It is expected that the military will be receiving a larger increase than originally proposed by Democrats, while more modest increases will be given to non-defense spending like education. This is an effort to reach an agreement that will satisfy at least 60 Senators, including ten Republicans who demanded parity between defense and non-defense increases.
Although no specifics have been given about Perkins funding, ACTE continues to urge Congress to maintain the $50 million increase proposed by the House and Senate last year for FY 2022. It is expected that the President’s budget request will not come until after the State of the Union speech on March 1st, which marks the beginning of the FY 2023 appropriations process.
Comments