Both chambers of Congress will be back in session this week after spending the month of August in recess. With only a few weeks left until government funding runs out, lawmakers face a hectic September as they work to avoid a government shutdown. Congress will either need to pass all 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution to keep the government open past September 30.
House GOP appropriators have drafted a slate of spending bills that are tens of billions of dollars below the bipartisan agreement reached in May to raise the debt ceiling, and the House Appropriations Committee has approved 10 out of the 12 FY24 appropriations bills along entirely partisan lines. Notably, one of the bills that has not been approved is the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, which proposes deep cuts to the Departments of Education and Labor while level-funding Perkins.
On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate is working in a bipartisan fashion, which has allowed all 12 spending bills to be passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, with some bills adopted unanimously. Senate Appropriations Committee members approved their version of the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill on a bipartisan vote. This bill proposes a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant.
Both the House and the Senate have a long way to go before the full chambers vote on their own versions of each bill – let alone reconcile the vast spending differences in each chamber before the legislation lands on the president’s desk. Senate lawmakers are aiming to move a three-bill appropriations package this week that will consist of Military Construction-VA, Agriculture, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development measures.
Your advocacy will be critical to attempt to maintain the higher level for Perkins included in the Senate bill, as well as the Senate funding levels for programs across the education and workforce spectrum. Ask your lawmakers to show their support!
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