CTC Appropriations Move on the Hill

Congress has returned to work this week, and among the many items on their plate are the 11 unfinished appropriations bills that must be passed before the scheduled adjournment date of October 6. On June 30, the Senate voted on its FY 2001 Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations bill, which is where the Department of Education's CTC program funding rests. The Senate, voting 52 to 43 in favor of the bill, recommended funding for CTCs at $65 million.

This is double the amount recommended in the House bill, but still $35 million less than the President's request. A conference committee met in July to reconcile the House and Senate bills, but we do not know at this time what was included in the conference report. This is because the conference report has not yet been filed, and there is no definite word as to when it will be filed. It is likely that the report is being held because there is either uncertainty that it would be signed by the President, or certainty that it would be vetoed by the President.

Earlier this summer, the Clinton Administration sent out letters, known as Statements of Administrative Policies (SAPs), that outlined its dissatisfaction with both the House and Senate bills. The House SAP) and Senate SAP state the Administration's objections with specific references to proposed CTC funding levels.

As a further consideration, the new fiscal year starts on October 1, 2000. In the absence of an approved spending package, Congress will be forced to either pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating, or in an extreme situation, would have to shut the government down. Given the concern with the political consequences in an election year, a shutdown is not likely. In order to avoid a negative appearance, Congress will most likely combine any spending bills remaining to be passed into what is known as an omnibus spending package.

As was the case last year, we most likely expect the Labor, HHS, Education bill to be included in an omnibus bill. The Administration has said it will support $100 million for CTCs. Since this is an election year, the President has enormous leverage in negotiations with House and Senate leadership over spending. The final amount for CTCs could therefore range anywhere from $32.5 to $100 million.

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