(June 16, 2008) While no one is expecting any quick resolution to funding levels for important programs for FY09, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are planning to put together legislation to fund programs under their jurisdiction in the very near future.
Those funding levels are expected to demonstrate Democratic Party priorities that will be used to draw distinctions between the parties in the 2008 election.
The congressional Budget Resolution establishes the broad parameters of federal spending in functional areas, such as education, health, transportation, agriculture, defense, and so on. Under congressional rules and law, now that Congress has completed its actions on the Budget Resolution, the Appropriations Committees are free to move their bills through the process toward enactment.
The Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill funds many of the programs of interest to AACOM members, including all of Title VII, the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the higher education and student loan programs in the Department of Education.
While initial action at the subcommittee level is expected to begin this month, it is unlikely the process will reach its conclusion before the November election. Congressional Democrats will want to increase spending on domestic priorities, and the President has already indicated that he will veto any bill that does that. Because the votes to override a presidential veto do not currently exist, it is likely the process will stop short of that point and programs will be funded at current levels until after the election – or even until after the swearing in of a new President on January 20, 2009.
See other Appropriations information.