March 14, 2005

WHAT: The full Senate is expected to vote on its version of a budget resolution THIS WEEK. The Senate’s version of the budget resolution contains funding caps for broad program areas and provides a blueprint for Appropriations Committees to determine specific spending levels for particular programs, such as Perkins and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). This year, both the Senate and the House budget resolutions contain deep cuts overall to domestic programs, and there is opposition to this plan from some Senators who will likely seek to amend the budget resolution to restore funding for a number of priorities.

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) are expected to offer an amendment to the Senate budget resolution to support funding for the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. There are also likely to be additional amendments offered to increase funding for other education and job training programs.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact (by email or phone - see instructions below) BOTH of your SENATORS starting TODAY and:

• Ask them to vote YES on the Harkin/Durbin amendment to restore funds for the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education program.
• Ask them to support ALL amendments to increase education and workforce funding in the FY 2006 Budget Resolution.
• Let them know that education and workforce development programs are crucial to our nation’s economic health, and that cuts to such programs would be harmful your community’s ability to educate a highly skilled workforce.

For additional talking points on funding for career and technical education, please visit www.acteonline.org/policy/legislative_issues/upload/ACTE%20funding%20leave%20behind%20FY%2006.doc.

To find contact information for your Senators and to send a direct e-mail, visit ACTE’s Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/acte/home/.  

BACKGROUND: The Bush Administration released its budget request for FY 2006 in February with cuts to or elimination of many domestic programs, including education and job training. The President’s budget seeks to completely eliminate funding for the Perkins program and cuts job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act.

Both the Senate and the House prepare a Budget Resolution that sets a framework for overall spending for the upcoming fiscal year, capping the total amount the Appropriations Committees can allocate to specific programs. The Senate and House Appropriations Committees then work within that framework to set specific spending levels for individual programs such as Perkins. Therefore, it is crucial that you reach out to your Members of Congress during the budget process to help increase overall funds available to the Appropriations Committees for education and workforce development to help protect Perkins, the Workforce Investment Act,
and other important programs.

However, it is important to note that House and Senate Appropriations Committees make final programmatic funding decisions, and that the budget resolution is not binding with regard to individual program level funding. While the passage of the Harkin/Durbin amendment would show the Senate’s strong support of career and technical education, it would still be left up to the Appropriations Committees to decide on the amount of funding that would be provided to Perkins for FY 2006. Also, some amendments may include offset provisions (so that they do not affect the overall budget totals) that force some Members of Congress who generally support funding for CTE to have to oppose some amendments.

ACTE will keep you updated as the FY 2006 federal funding process moves forward. If you have any questions, please contact the Public Policy staff. For further information on funding for career and technical education, please visit www.acteonline.org/policy/legislative_issues/funding.cfm.  

As always, we appreciate your efforts! For more information, contact the Association for Career and Technical Education’s Public Policy Department, 1410 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22315, 1-800-826-9972, www.acteonline.org.  

Christin Driscoll
Senior Director of Public Policy
cdriscoll@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9311

Alisha Dixon Hyslop
Assistant Director of Public Policy
ahyslop@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9331

Keri Haars
Advocacy Manager
khaars@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9337

Robert Zager
Public Policy Associate
rzager@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9316