The US Senate and US House are both in recess this week for the July 4 holiday. Last week, there were several pieces of budget legislation that were discussed in the House and Senate.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill on a vote of 30 to 21, and the Senate approved on a vote of 16 to 14. The $153 billion measure reflects a reduction of $3.7 billion in the House version and $3.6 billion below current enacted levels in the Senate version. These are both roughly $14.5 billion below the President’s budget request.
The House version would block new discretionary funding for further implementation of the Affordable Care Act and seeks to rescind unspent program funds, including $6.8 billion from the Center for Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Senate version includes a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health as well.
The House bill reduces funding for the Department of Labor by $206 million, and the Senate by $575 million, though both maintain current funding levels for state and local workforce programs. The Senate bill also includes a reduction of $27 million to the National Labor Relations Board, and zeros out funding for preschool development grants. The Senate bill allows the full 15 percent state training grant funding reserve for governors to address statewide workforce training needs and other services as needed.
For the Department of Education, the bill would reduce spending by $2.8 billion compared to the current level and would eliminate 19 programs, though it would increase funding for special education grants to states under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The House increased grant funding by $500 million, and the Senate by $125 million.
The Senate focused more time on Transportation funding. Their version of the spending plan includes funding for the Department of Transportation that is $17 million below enacted levels, while increasing funds for the Federal Railroad Administration by $53 million, including $289 million for Amtrak, up from $250 million in fiscal year 2015.
Some amendments were approved before the holiday recess, the most significant was an amendment that moved $90 million from environmental programs and management accounts at the Environmental Protection Agency to the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.