NHSA
Secures $160 Million Increase in
Senate
— $37 million more than House;
September 22 Kick Off Marks the
Final Push on Voter Registration
(09/21/2004)
Appropriations
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $489.8 billion bill funding the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on Wednesday, September 15 by a vote of 29-0. Senate appropriators used accounting maneuvers to cram in more funding for community health centers, Title I, and IDEA than the levels approved by the House the previous week. The $496.6 billion House bill, H.R. 5006, was approved by a vote of 223-193 on Thursday, September 9. However, in both bills funding for Head Start was minimal.
You may remember that the House provided Head Start with only a $123 million increase —just barely enough to keep pace with inflation. During the debate on Head Start funding (which was part of the Labor/HHS appropriations bill), NHSA was able to craft and gain support for an amendment that would have increased funding for Head Start for fiscal year 2005 from a $123 million increase up to $197 million. The amendment had four Republican co-sponsors and would likely have passed if a vote was allowed. Regrettably, the Republican leadership was able to block the amendment based on an arcane procedure — an amendment could not be offered to add additional dollars if a program had not been reauthorized. So, in the end, the amendment was defeated based on the objections of the Republican leadership.
Unfortunately, the House bill would push $3.2 billion in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits payments ahead into FY 2006, forcing very low-income elderly or disabled SSI recipients to wait until after a weekend for their monthly check. SSI recipients, whose incomes are on average well below the federal poverty line, are among the least able to – in essence – provide the federal government a loan for a few days until the new fiscal year begins.
Overtime Amendments Pass in Both Houses:
Head Start Teachers and Staff Will Benefit According to Worker Advocates
Advocates for working families scored a major victory on overtime regulations in both the House and Senate. The House adopted an amendment offered by Rep. David Obey that essentially overturns the recently implemented Department of Labor regulations on overtime eligibility. The new rules guarantee that low-income workers earning up to $23,660 would be automatically eligible for overtime, but economists have estimated as many as six million workers could lose their right to overtime. The amendment prevents the Department of Labor from taking away overtime from any worker who was eligible before the new rules while maintaining the new right for workers earning up to $23,660. Senator Harkin (D-Iowa) offered a similar amendment during the September 15 committee mark-up, which appropriators adopted by a vote of 16 to 13. President Bush had earlier vowed to veto the conference bill if it blocks the new overtime regulations.
Many Programs Face Cut-Backs
or Small Funding Increases
The
House bill provides $142.5 billion
in discretionary spending; the Senate
committee bill provides $142.3 billion
in discretionary spending. Most programs
designed to help low- and moderate-income
Americans received no new money.
Last year’s
across-the-board cuts make it appear
as though many programs received tiny
increases from the previous year, but
in truth those “increases” restore
funding to 2003 levels. In the House
bill:
Adult Training
(WIA) is level-funded
at $900 million, the same as the president’s
request. Youth
Training (WIA) is funded
at slightly more than $1 billion, the
same as the president’s request
and a $6 million increase over last
year. Job Corps is funded at $1.542
billion, an increase of 1.8 percent,
and $15 million below President Bush’s
request.
Service Employment for Older Americans
is funded at $440 million, the same
as the president’s request and
an increase of $1.5 million over last
year.
Community Health Centers is funded
at $1.835 billion, a $218 million increase
over last year. (The Senate appropriations
bill funds the program at $1.9 billion.)
The Maternal and Child Health Block
Grant is funded at $729.8 billion,
the same as last year and the same
as the president’s request
The Child Care and Development Block
Grant receives $2.099 billion, the
same level it has received for several
years. The Social Services Block Grant
is funded at $1.7 billion. Congress
has once again failed to keep its promise
to restore SSBG to its 1996 level of
$2.8 billion. Community Food
and Nutrition , funded at
$7.2 million last year, is eliminated
under the House bill.
Promoting Safe and Stable Families
receives $105 million in discretionary
funds, a $5 million increase over last
year. (The program also receives $305
million in mandatory funds.) Although
the president has requested $200 million
in discretionary funds for the last
three years, he has done nothing to
persuade Congress to fund the program
at that level.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) is funded
at $2.249 billion, $42 million below
the president's request. The House
adopted an amendment offered by Rep.
Sanders to increase the energy weatherization
assistance portion of LIHEAP by $22
million.
Title I is funded at $13.4 billion,
a $1 billion increase and the same
as the president’s request. This
represents an eight percent increase
from last year but still falls $7.2
billion short of the amount promised
by the No Child Left Behind education
bill. The Senate committee bill boosts
Title I by $1.1 billion.
Even Start , a reading
program for low-income families, was
cut by $20 million in the House bill.
Special Education Grants (IDEA) are
funded at $11.1 billion, the same as
the president’s request. Though
this amount represents an increase
of $1 billion from last year, it falls
far short of the promise to communities
in the original legislation that the
federal government would pick up 40
percent of the cost of educating children
with disabilities (see story, below).
The Senate committee bill provides
$161 million more than the House bill
for IDEA.
The maximum Pell Grant higher education
awards are frozen at $4,050 annually
per student for the second consecutive
year. In addition, funding for federal Perkins
Loans is cut by $99 million
and College Work Study assistance
is frozen.
21 st Century Community Learning
Centers (after school centers)are
funded at $999 million, the same
as the president’s request.
This amount represents only half
of the $2 billion promised by the
No Child Left Behind Act.
Funding Bills May Not Get
Done this Year
We continue
to hear that Congress may not finish
funding bills before the scheduled
adjournment in early October. Beyond
a lack of funding for Head Start
both bills also contain cutbacks
to many programs targeted at low-income
families, while others face minimal
increases like Head Start. For more
information on the House bill and
a breakdown of how they affected
certain programs please click on
the following links:
For More Information:
House Appropriations Committee
(majority) press release: http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=404
HR 5006 funding levels by program: http://appropriations.house.gov/_files/LHDetail_Housepassed.pdf
House Appropriations Committee minority views: http://www.house.gov/appropriations_democrats/minorityview_labor1.pdf
Head Start Gets More Funding
in the Senate< Last week in
the Senate mark-up, Head Start fared
better. NHSA helped to secure a $160
million increase for fiscal year
2005. While this is not what is necessary
to get back to the high water mark
of 2002, it is of course $37 million
more than the House bill.
NHSA would like to thank the Coalition
for Human Needs for providing us with
these helpful statistics.
Join the Final Voter Registration
Push on September 22
Are
you interested in joining a voter
engagement campaign in your local community
or state? On September 22, NHSA and
Every Child Matters are launching a
final push for voter registration.
We are encouraging everyone in the
Head Start community to meet folks
outside of Head Start centers on September
22 and register parents and staff to
vote! These activities should take
place up until the first week of October
when most state deadlines for voter
registration will pass. For anyone
interested in working on a voter engagement
campaign in your state on September
22, please contact your state association
office or the voter education coordinator
in your state.
Thanks for making this year the best
year for the Dollar Per Child Campaign.
We raised the most ever this year!
Please keep supporting the campaign
so that we can keep up our voter engagement
efforts and successful Save Head Start
campaign!
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