Dec. 15: House and Senate Leaders have signed off on a compromise budget deal that will fund federal agencies through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2012. A vote is expected in the House and Senate later today, just in time to approve the bill before the current temporary extended budget expires at midnight.
The compromise was worked out using a conference report that was drafted by negotiators in both chambers of Congress, not the funding bill that House Republicans unveiled a day earlier. There are however, only minor differences between the two bills, and few changes to what we reported was in the funding bill yesterday (see below).
The biggest change is that the proposed 1.83 percent cut to all Department of Education (ED) programs is not expected to clear the Senate. However, the 0.189 percent across-the-board cut to many ED programs remains in the bill.
There is no apparent agreement on a Social Security payroll tax cut extension or an extension to Unemployment Benefits for the long-term unemployed. It is likely that a separate vote will take place on a two-month extension of the current payroll tax cut and extended unemployment insurance, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate these items in the new year.
Previous Updates
12/15/2011 3:30 p.m.
Work Continues as Budget Deadline Looms
With little more than 24 hours left to avert a federal government shutdown, there's still plenty of work for Congress to do before it can approve a budget. However, leaders from both parties have signaled that a compromise is likely before a temporary federal budget extension expires December 16. This isn't the first time Congress will need to approve an eleventh-hour budget deal, and during an election year, neither party wants to receive blame for shutting the government down—but there is no definitive agreement yet.
As we've chronicled in past stories on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 federal budget, this has been a continually changing story. Overnight, House Republicans made public an appropriations bill that would fund the remaining nine federal agencies that do not have a final FY 2012 budget in place, which includes the Department of Education (ED).
If the new House Republican package, which Democrats have not agreed to, gains approval in both chambers and becomes law, Title I and IDEA would see very small increase from FY11 funding levels. Title II set-asides for professional development grants would increase from 1 percent to 1.5 percent. School Improvement Grants as well as Race To The Top are funded, but at reduced levels from the previous year. House Republicans had previously proposed to eliminate these programs.
Included in this funding bill is a 0.189 percent across-the-board cut to many ED programs, on top of any reduction in funding for specific programs from FY 2011 funding levels. In addition, House Republicans have included a 1.83 percent across-the-board cut, which would impact most federal agencies, and result in a roughly $1.3 billion additional cut to the ED budget. This funding reduction is used to offset disaster aid spending. If the current bill becomes law, both across-the-board cuts would go into effect.
In addition to negotiating the pending funding bills, Senate leaders are working on a separate bill to renew the expiring payroll tax cuts, which is not included in the House Republican bill. They are also working on a compromise to maintain extended unemployment insurance benefits. The House Republican budget bill drastically reduces the number of weeks unemployment insurance is available to the long-term unemployed. Earlier this week, the House passed a bill that would extend the payroll tax cut. However, this bill was a non-starter in the Senate and the President threatened to veto because of some contentious provisions.
We will provide updates once any final budget agreement is reached.
12/15/2001
12:00 p.m.
Final 2012 Budget Agreement Now in Question
With a mere two days left before a government shutdown, there seems to be no clear path to move forward on number of “must-pass” bills currently pending before Congress. Once again, education funding for the rest of the fiscal year is up in the air.
Earlier this week, an apparent budget deal on the nine remaining FY 2012 Appropriations bills seemed to be in the works between the House and Senate. (See background in our blog post.) However, any semblance of an agreement evaporated when common ground was not reached on an extension of the payroll tax cuts or extended unemployment insurance benefits, which are set to expire at the year’s end.
The House passed a bill Tuesday along party lines that included an extension to payroll tax cuts. This bill also included contentious provisions such as one that would expedite the Keystone XL oil pipe line. Despite passing in the House, this bill is not positioned to pass in the Senate, and President Obama has threatened to veto.
Such uncertainly raises many questions as to how Congress will finish its work in the remaining days this year. The option of moving yet another temporary FY 2011 budget extension before Friday, December 16, in order to avoid a government shutdown, is a strong possibility.