Senate Committees Continue Progress on FY2011 Appropriations Bills

Financial Services and General Government

On July 29, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 18-12, its FY2011 Financial Services and General Government spending bill (S. 3677). The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved, by voice vote, the bill on July 27. Additional information will be available when the committee report is printed.

According to the subcommittee summary, the bill would provide $25.4 billion in discretionary funding for FY2011. This amount is $905.2 million over FY2010 and $117.751 million below President Obama’s request.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) would receive $1.1 billion in FY2011, $276 million over FY2010 and $108 million over the president’s request. Funding for the SBA would include $22 million for the microloan program and $118 million for the Small Business Development Centers. The Women’s Business Centers program and Women’s Business Council also are funded through the SBA allocation.

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

On July 29, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 18-12, its FY2011 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies passed the bill, by voice vote, on July 27. The House Appropriations Subcommittee approved its version of the spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered) on July 15 (see The Source, 7/16/10).

According to the subcommittee summary and funding table, the bill would provide $169.6 billion in discretionary funds for FY2011. This amount is $5.9 billion over FY2010 and $986 million below the administration’s request. Additional information will be available once the committee report is printed.

The Department of Labor would receive $13.9 billion in FY2011, while the Department of Health and Human Services would receive $74.6 billion; the Department of Education would receive $66.4 billion in FY2011.

The bill would provide $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund that would provide competitive grants to states for early childhood programs. Specifically, the program would “encourage states to coordinate quality improvement activities across early learning settings, including child care, Head Start, and prekindergarten programs; expand the number of low-income children in high-quality programs; and ensure that more children enter kindergarten ready to succeed.”

The bill also would fund the following programs in FY2011:

• The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Innovation Fund at the Department of Labor would receive $185 million; the fund at the Department of Education would receive $57 million. The total is $19.462 above the president’s request; the program did not receive any funding in FY2010.
• The Green Jobs Innovation Fund would receive $65 million. This amount is $25 million over FY2010 and $20 million less than the president’s request.
• Family planning programs would receive $327.356 million, which is $10.524 million over FY2010 and equal to the administration’s request.
• The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program would receive $118.455 million. This amount is $4.021 million over FY2010 and $15.218 million below the president’s request.
• The Runaway and Homeless Youth program would receive $123.705 in FY2011, which is $8 million over FY2010 and President Obama’s request.
• The Education for Homeless Children and Youth program would receive $75.427 million. This amount is $10 million over FY2010 and the administration’s request.
• Special education grants for infants and families would receive $459.427 million in FY2011. This amount is $20 million over FY2010 and the president’s request.

During consideration of the bill, the committee rejected, 2-28, an amendment by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) to increase funding for NIH by $1 billion in FY2011.

State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

On July 29, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 18-12, the FY2011 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs spending bill (S. 3676). The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs approved its version of the FY2011 spending bill on June 30 (see The Source, 7/2/10).

According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $54.06 billion in discretionary funds for programs at the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other foreign activities. This amount is $5.29 billon above FY2010 and $2.6 billion below the administration’s request. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill would provide $52.656 billion in FY2011. Additional details will be available once the committee report is printed.

The State Department would receive $17.297 billion in FY2011, which is $1.354 billion over FY2010 and $52.3 million over President Obama’s request. The House subcommittee would provide $14.489 billion.

During consideration of the bill, the committee approved, 19-11, an amendment by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to repeal the Mexico City policy, which prohibits overseas nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. aid from using their own money to provide referrals for, or perform, abortions, or to lobby their government on abortion policy.