This week, the House and Senate passed a joint budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 70), officially kicking off the fiscal year 2009 (FY09) appropriations cycle.  This is the first time a budget resolution has passed Congress in an election year since 2000. 

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will debate their Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-Ed) subcommittee bills in the near future.  Be sure that your legislators know what you expect from these important funding bills this year.

Budget Resolution
The joint budget resolution is a document that sets broad funding limits that Congressional appropriators use to begin crafting their funding bills.  The FY09 joint budget resolution recommends $84.3 billion for the broad category that includes education.

Ultimately the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will allocate the money they’ve been provided among the different subcommittees, and each subcommittee will assign specific funding levels to individual federal programs (i.e., Title I and IDEA).  The House subcommittee has scheduled debate of its Labor-HHS-Education bill during the week of June 16, marking the importance of the programs under its jurisdiction.  (Often this domestic spending bill is one of the last appropriations bills debated.)  Senate appropriators have indicated that they hope to debate their own subcommittee bill that same week.

Only time will tell whether Congress will attempt to complete all or some of the appropriations bills before recessing late this summer or early fall.  NAESP believes Congress will complete work on a few high-priority appropriations bills but probably not Labor-HHS-Ed.  Instead, appropriators indicate that they will pass a Continuing Resolution, or CR, to fund federal programs before recessing to return home to campaign for reelection in November. 

It’s important to note, however, that work done on the appropriations bills now (including the Labor-HHS-Ed bill), will likely serve as the starting point when Congress reconvenes to finish the funding bills sometime after the elections.  Educators should speak up now to make sure their priorities are reflected in the appropriations bills being debated this month.

Green School Construction Bill Passes House
NAESP is very pleased that the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, sponsored by Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY), on Wednesday evening.  The Senate has not scheduled a vote on this bill.

H.R. 3021 would provide grants to states for construction, renovation, modernization, and improvements of high-need schools.  The bill would require construction to meet certain “green” standards set by the Leadership in Environmentally Efficient Design (LEED).  Additionally, a portion of the funds provided in this bill would be reserved for high-need schools in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to continue rebuilding and repairs required as a result of hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.

NAESP sent a letter of support for H.R. 3021 to the Chairman of the House Education & Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller in April. 

Key Points