House Appropriations Committee Passes Education Funding Bill

Last Friday, the House Appropriations Committee passed its version of the FY2010 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill at $160.7 billion by voice vote. With Committee passage, the bill now heads to the House floor for consideration. It is expected that the bill will be considered this week or next week. The bill is $5.2 billion over last year’s funding level, but $52 million less than what President Obama requested.

The bill maintains the maximum Pell Grant at $4,860; combined with the mandatory funding of $690 for the Pell Grant program, this equals a $5,550 maximum. Also, the Career and Technical Education programs are level funded at $1.2 billion.

The Committee provides $130 million for the new Career Pathways Innovation Fund (formerly called the Community-Based Job Training Grant program). The allocation for this program is $5 million more than the FY2009 total. It appears that the Departments of Labor and Education will have a role in running this program. The Committee requires that $65 million be used for nursing programs. Additionally, the Committee is providing $50 million to prepare workers for careers in emerging green industries.

The Senate Subcommittee is expected to consider its version of the bill in the next couple of weeks.

For more information, visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_lhhse.shtml