Late last night, the House and Senate appropriations committees released the final FY 2015 omnibus appropriations bill, which will fund most government programs for the rest of the fiscal year (until September 30, 2015). Despite cuts in many areas, including an overall $166 million reduction in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, Perkins was level funded! The 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act includes $1.118 billion for the Perkins Basic State Grant program and $7.4 million for National Programs.
ACTE and the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) had urged congressional appropriators to fund Perkins state grants at $1.123 billion, a $5.4 million increase over FY 2014, but the tight budget caps left little room for increases in individual programs. While a few education programs did see small increases, a number were cut or eliminated, including some of the Administration’s key competitive priorities, such as Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation Fund. Considering the changing political dynamic and focus on reducing spending, CTE has fared well in this budget.
There was also an additional victory in the bill. In other policy riders included in the bill, a key element of our Higher Education Act priorities was addressed. The bill includes a provision that would partially restore “ability-to-benefit” within the student aid program, allowing students without a high school diploma to access student aid funding if they are enrolled in career pathways programs.
The current continuing resolution that is keeping the government operating until this final appropriations bill can be passed expires on Thursday. The House is expected to vote on the bill tomorrow, but since it may take a few more days for it to be cleared by the Senate, another short-term CR, of just a few days, may be approved in the meantime.
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