Federal budget: Government shutdown averted
Congress passes competing budget proposals for 2014
Published: April 1, 2013
Here’s the good news: Congress has approved an amended version of a continuing resolution, HR 933, for fiscal year 2013 that keeps most federal spending levels the same as last year and averts a government shutdown. But—and here’s the bad news—it also leaves intact automatic sequestration cuts. Many public education advocates, including CSBA, have lobbied against sequestration and the devastating cuts it brings.
The president also hoped that Congress would address the sequestration issue, but he has promised to sign the legislation.
There’s a small silver lining: The resolution includes minor changes that will soften the blow to a number of programs. Agencies like the Department of Defense received additional authority to determine how to implement cuts—unfortunately, Congress did not provide this flexibility for the U.S. Department of Education. A few programs, including Head Start, actually received small funding increases. Head Start will receive a boost of $33.5 million, but the funding increase will only marginally reduce the impact of sequestration.
The resolution also contains a number of technical fixes and new provisions, including one that clarifies the allocation of funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Department of Education has interpreted current law to require a permanent reduction in funding when a state fails meet its Maintenance of State Financial Support requirement. With the technical fix in place, U.S. DOE must now distribute funds without repeating the penalty for another fiscal year. This is good news for schools in light of the sequestration cut to IDEA.
With federal funding levels settled, agencies will now begin to finalize 2013 program funding levels. Under sequestration, federal agencies must issue information on their plans to implement cuts within 30 days, so more information on agency plans is expected by the end of March. However, it may take a little longer for the DOE to release the final formula allocations for states and districts.
With the passage of the continuing resolution, focus now turns to the 2014 budget. The House of Representatives recently passed its own budget resolution for 2014 which was authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. The House budget would slash federal funding in order to bring down the deficit, shrink the scope of federal programs, including programs in education and health, and repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.
On March 23, the Senate narrowly passed its 2014 budget proposal. It includes $1 billion in new taxes and repeals sequestration. The Senate also approved Amendment No. 267, sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., to establish an Office of Rural Education Policy within the Department of Education, which could include a clearinghouse for information related to the challenges of rural schools and districts. The office would also provide technical assistance within the DOE on rules and regulations that impact rural schools and districts.
Both houses must now agree on a compromise.
“We are pleased that Congress has finalized the funding for 2013 as it provides stability to districts when planning their budgets,” said CSBA’s Senior Legislative Advocate Erika Hoffman. “However, we are disappointed that sequestration remains for this fiscal year and that important education programs were, once again, funded at current—inadequate—levels. As for the 2014 budget: We support the Senate proposal to end sequestration, but we still need to see final funding numbers and hope that there will be an increase in education funding, especially for Title 1 programs and special education.”
Related link:
Visit the federal issues page at csba.org for an overview of CSBA’s analysis of federal education issues.