The House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee favorably reported the 2009 education spending bill, which would increase the maximum Pell Grant and maintain funding for student aid that programs the Bush Administration proposed eliminating.
Details about the annual Labor-HHS-Education spending bill have not been released, but a press release by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) provided some details about the bill.
(Editor's Note: The press release states, "This bill invests an additional $3.1 billion over last year to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $169 over 2008 ($100 over the request) to $4,100." The $4,100 figure is a typo; the correct amount should read $4,410.)
The bill reported by the subcommittee would:
- Invest an additional $3.1 billion more than last year to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $169 over the 2008 level ($100 over the Bush Administration's request) to $4,410. Combined with the additional mandatory spending under the College Cost Reduction Act, which adds $490 to the appropriated amount, the 2009 fiscal year Pell Grant maximum would be $4,900. Congress will have increased the maximum Pell Grant by $850 since 2006.
- Reject the President's eliminations of student aid programs like Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and continues these programs.
- Restore $240 million in cuts made by the Administration to health professions and nursing education and invests an additional $69 million over last year to train the doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.
Complete details of the bill will not be released until the full committee considers the bill, currently scheduled for June 25. However, Obey made it clear that the current inequity in higher education access should be a serious concern for the committee as it moves the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill through Congress.
"If you are a student from a family that is in the top 20 percent of earners in the country, college expenses consume about 5 percent of household income," Obey said in the press release. "But, if you are in the bottom 20 percent of earners, college expenses consume a gigantic 70 percent of household income. That is not a level playing field."
A Long, Uncertain Road Ahead
The House and Senate are pressing ahead with annual appropriations process despite much uncertainty about what the process will look like this year.
President Bush has promised to veto any appropriations bill that provides more funding than he requested in his budget proposal. This causes many to speculate that Democratic leaders will delay FY 2009 appropriation spending bills until after the November elections and possibly until a new president takes office next year. However, if Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) beats Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in the presidential election, Democrats in Congress may find themselves in a similar position, with McCain threatening to veto bills with too much spending.
Despite the uncertainty, the Senate and House Appropriations Committees will work to lay the groundwork for the 12 annual spending bills however the process proceeds. The Senate Appropriations Committee plans to begin work on its version of the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill next week, although an official schedule has not been released.
Last year, the appropriations process turned into a showdown between Congress and the Bush Administration. In the end, President Bush signed into law only two appropriations bills (Homeland Security and Defense) of the 12 annual spending bills. President Bush vetoed the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill and fifty-one Republican Representatives joined with Democrats and voted to override the veto, but Congress fell just short of the votes needed to override the President's veto.
Congress was forced to pass a Continuing Resolution to provide funding for the 2008 fiscal year. This year seems to be headed down the same path, but the Fall elections could drastically change the final outcome.
By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Assistant Director of Communications
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