House Subcommittee Passes Education Spending Bill

Today, the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee passed its version of the FY2010 spending bill at $160.7 billion. The Subcommittee is providing $5.2 billion over last year’s funding level, but $52 million less than what the President requested. While each programmatic funding level was not disclosed, the Subcommittee did provide funding levels for key programs.

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 Adult Education funding is slated at $2 billion, or $72 million over FY2009. It is unclear how these funds are distributed amongst the various programs.

The Subcommittee provided $135 million for the new Career Pathways Innovation Fund (formerly called the Community-Based Job Training Grant program). The allocation for this program is $10 million more than the FY2009 total. It appears that the Departments of Labor and Education will have a role in running this program. Additionally, the Subcommittee is providing $50 million to prepare workers for careers in emerging green industries.

The next step will be for the House Appropriations Committee to consider the bill next week, with the full House considering the bill later this month. 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