Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill to Be Unveiled

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee will unveil the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which will include Perkins funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. Senate appropriators approved the overall spending cap for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education—known as a 302(b) allocation—at $156.8 billion. The funding bill being considered this week will divide up that total among individual programs like Perkins. The current funding level for the Perkins Basic State Grant is $1.118 billion.

Both the Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee and the full appropriations committee will hold hearings, known as markups, to review and amend the FY 2015 funding bill. Action will begin on Tuesday in the subcommittee. The bill is expected to be completed during the full committee markup on Thursday, after which it will go to the Senate floor for a final vote later this summer. The committee may not release the individual program funding levels until after the Thursday markup.