Last week, the House and Senate advanced the most important spending bills for disability programs – Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-ED). Both would maintain overall sequestration funding levels and include a number of substantial cuts to programs, earning the promise of a veto by President Obama.
L-HHS-ED – Senate – The Senate bill passed the Appropriations Committee along party lines on June 25. The bill’s discretionary funding level is $3.6 billion below the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 enacted level and includes numerous policy riders that would limit the activities of federal agencies. Several federal agencies would receive significant cuts and a small number would receive increases. Notable examples include:
- LABOR: Includes a 4% cut for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs.
- HHS: Includes a 28% cut for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program management that would restrict the agency’s ability to operate the Affordable Care Act programs, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- EDUCATION: Includes a $1.1 billion cut for the Department. However, the IDEA state grant program would receive a nearly 1% increase.
L-HHS – House – The House bill passed the full Appropriations Committee along party lines on June 24 and would provide discretionary funding at $3.7 billion below the FY 2015 level. The bill also includes numerous policy riders. The House bill included spending cuts and select increases similar to those in the Senate bill:
- LABOR: Includes a 2% cut for the Employment and Training Administration that helps to implement Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs.
- HHS: Includes a $344 million cut for CMS.
- EDUCATION: Includes a cut of $2.8 billion to the Department of Education. However, this includes an increase of $12 billion (4.3%) for IDEA grants to states.
See the funding levels for specific disability related programs.
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