By Kathy Amoroso
August 2, 2010

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $732 billion fiscal spending bill on July 29 for the Departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services in an 18-12 vote along party lines. The draft bill would provide $169.6 billion in discretionary funding that includes $66.4 billion in funding for the Education Department, and $13.9 billion for the Department of Labor – an increase of $5.9 billion, or four percent, over last year’s funding level.

The Committee’s mark funds a host of programs to help create jobs and train American workers, target fraud and abuse, and incentivize states and local communities to reform their health, workforce and education systems. “It responds to the urgent economic needs of the American people,” said Labor, Education and Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Senator Tom Harkin (IA). “It reduces wasteful spending, and it gives states incentives to make needed reforms.” The bill is less than the $176.4 billion spending bill that the House Appropriations Subcommittee cleared earlier this month.

The bill provides $675 million for the Administration’s signature education initiative, Race to the Top – half of what President Obama requested. The House-passed version would provide $800 million. The bill also includes $19.5 billion for student financial assistance, maintaining the maximum discretionary Pell Grant Program award level at $4,860 for approximately $17.6 billion in total Pell Grant funding. The maximum award is maintained at $5,550 for the 2011-2012 school year, when combined with mandatory funding provided in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. The House Subcommittee version would provide about $5.7 billion more in Pell Grant funds than the Senate to cover a budget shortfall.

The measure includes $3.8 billion for state grants to provide job training and employment services, an increase of $164 million over fiscal 2010 levels. The bill would also provide $65 million to the Green Jobs Innovation Fund, which provides workers with job training in alternative and renewable energies, and $242 million for new Workforce Innovation Funds to improve education and training programs for workers – with specific focus on dislocated workers, young people, the disabled, and adults in need of skills upgrades.

The fiscal 2011 draft appropriations bill also includes the following:

• LEAP will remain funded at FY -10 level as will the GEAR UP, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and Federal Work Study Programs.

• TRIO Programs would see an increase of $15 million in FY -11.

• No funding is provided for the Perkins Loan Program.

Harkin indicated during the markup that the bill is not likely to see floor time in the Senate until after the November elections.