|
|
Policy Alerts
October, 2005
Last
Updated:
01/04/2006
MEMORANDUM
To: SPOC Network
From: Art Ellison, Policy Co-Chair ,
NCSDAE
Date:
October 31, 2005
RE:
Information:
Senate Action on Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education Related Agencies Appropriations Bill and FY 07 Perspective
Late last week the full
Senate approved the Appropriations Bill for the Departments and Agencies
listed above by a vote of 94-3. There were no changes in the funding levels
for either adult education or Even State from the figures earlier approved
by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The $585,406 million funding level for adult education is identical to the
figure in the House version of the bill. The Senate's funding level for Even
Start is $0 and the House Even Start figure is $220 million. We anticipate
that the differences on Even Start will be worked out in the conference
committee which will meet later in November. Both the House and Senate would
like to complete action on the bill prior to Thanksgiving.
Conferees named by the Senate for the conference committee are: Specter-Pa,
Cochran-Ms, Gregg-NH, Craig-Id, Hutchison-TX, Stevens-AL, DeWine-Ohio,
Shelby-Alabama, Domenici-NM, Harkin-Iowa, Inouye-HI, Reid-Nevada,
Kohl-Wisconsin, Murray-Washington, Landrieu-LA, Durbin-ILL, and Byrd-WV.
House conferees have not yet been appointed.
MEMORANDUM
To:
Single Point of Contact Network
From:
Art Ellison, Co-Chair, NCSDAE
Date:
October 19, 2005
Re:
Action Alert II for House and Senate Budget and Appropriations
Committee Members
One of the across the board budget cut proposals circulating in Congress
would allow any Department Secretary to determine which programs within
their department would be subject to the cut. Under this scenario the
Secretary could come up with the 2%-4% savings by taking the money from one
or several programs rather than applying the percentage to all programs with
the department. This proposal is only one of many that are being considered.
In the case of the Department of Education it would allow the Secretary to
cut adult education and Even Start by a substantial amount and fully fund
other educational programs that are priorities for the administration. Our
response to this possibility is suggested below.
The message that should be sent by our network to members of the House and
Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees (see attached lists) is:
We are concerned about the potential cuts to adult education if the
Secretary of Education receives the authority to determine what programs to
cut in order to achieve the required savings necessitated by the recent
hurricanes. While we are not pleased with any across the board cuts, we are
willing to contribute our share for hurricane relief if the cuts are made in
a fair and equitable manner, with the same percentage cut applying to all
programs with a specific department.
Many of you are already working on last week's alert asking for support for
full funding of adult education. The issue identified above is related to
that effort but focuses on a more specific problem within that debate. Given
the nature of the action requested in the paragraph above we are asking for
two specific actions:
1. Immediate contact with the staff people in the offices of Senators and
Representatives on the House and Senate Budget Committees by the people in
your state who have established a good working relationship with those
individuals.
2. Faxed letters to those offices from adult education staff people in the
field. Hopefully these letters can be sent WITHIN THE NEXT THREE DAYS.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you again for your work.
|
