Perkins Level Funded in Senate Spending Bill
This week the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education marked up their FY13 appropriation bill, which allocated approximately $158 billion to be divided up among its programs, including the Perkins Act. We are happy to report that Perkins was level funded. Given threats to non-defense discretionary programs from sequestration and other budget proposals, we think that level funding is a victory. Thank you to all of you who made outreach to your Senators! Hearing from constituents really can make a difference.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Labor-HHS-Education bill yesterday by a party-line vote of 16-14. The bill proposes to change the name of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education to the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education. In order for this to happen the House would also have to propose such a change in their bill or agree to the change in conference.
During the mark up the full Committee approved an amendment to restore Pell grant eligibility for Ability to Benefit (ATB) students participating in career pathway programs. Pell eligibility for ATB students was eliminated in the FY12 appropriations bill.
Contact Your Representative Today to Maintain Perkins Act Funding!
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg (MT) previously stated that his subcommittee would not mark up their appropriations bill until after the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act. We are now hearing that he plans to mark up their bill on June 20th.
If your Representative is a member of the Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, we urge you contact them today and ask that they maintain Perkins Act funding. Because the House’s allocation for education and labor programs is lower than that of the Senate, it is even more important that House members hear from constituents about the importance of Perkins and CTE in helping to prepare students for jobs that remain unfilled, and in turning around the economy. There is a greater possibility that Perkins could be cut in this House bill.
House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee members:
- Denny Rehberg, Montana (Chair)
- Jerry Lewis, California
- Rodney Alexander, Louisiana
- Jack Kingston, Georgia
- Kay Granger, Texas
- Michael K. Simpson, Idaho
- Jeff Flake, Arizona
- Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming
- Rosa L. DeLauro, Connecticut (Ranking Member)
- Nita M. Lowey, New York
- Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois
- Lucille Roybal-Allard, California
- Barbara Lee, California
Call Your Member of Congress TODAY!
-  Call the House switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask to be connected to your Members’ office.
- Once connected to the Member’s office, ask to speak to the staffer that works on appropriations or education issues.
- Tell them that cuts to CTE and Perkins will hurt CTE students in every state. Include concrete examples and data from your Member’s district about how students and programs will be impacted by any cuts to Perkins. Make the case, where appropriate, that cuts will hurt the local economy
If you have any questions or to update NASDCTEc on your contact with Congress, please call Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager, at 301-588-9630 or email her at nconneely@careertech.org
Tags: advocacy, appropriations, budget, career pathways, Congress, funding, OVAE, Perkins, postsecondary