July 23, 2007
 
SCHIP Expansion Deal Reached: After months of negotiations, the Senate Finance Committee has reached a deal to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  Under the bipartisan agreement, $35 billion in additional funding will be raised over 5 years through a 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax.  The agreement falls $15 billion short of the $50 billion allowed under the FY08 budget resolution passed by Congress earlier this year.  SCHIP, a joint federal-state program created in 1997 to provide health insurance for low-income children and pregnant women who do not qualify for Medicaid, currently covers 6.2 million children and 600,000 adults.  The $35 billion expansion agreement would allow the program to serve an additional 2-4 million children who are currently eligible but unenrolled. Legislation was approved by the Senate Finance Committee (17-4) on July 19 with a floor vote expected before the August month-long recess.  The House plans to move forward with action after the recess, although time is running short as the program is set to expire on September 30.

Higher Education Bill Passes: On July 11, the House of Representatives passed a bill reauthorizing the Higher Education Act by a vote of 273-149.  The bill would increase the maximum Pell grant to $5200 and halve interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4%.  It also allows for loan forgiveness up to $1000 per year for a total of five years for child welfare workers, child care workers, Head Start and Early Head Start teachers, and nurses.  The Senate began considering its version of the bill on July 19th and is scheduled to continue debate this week.

House Approves Labor-HHS Appropriations: After several days of debate last week, the House of Representatives voted 276-140 to approve the FY08 spending measure for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.  The bill, the largest of the 12 annual spending measures at $607 billion overall, provides for $151 billion in discretionary funding which is $10.6 billion (8%) more than President Bush requested and $7 billion (5%) more than the current spending level.  Please see the June 11 and June 25 federal updates for more detailed information on the House and Senate versions of the Labor-HHS spending bill.  Once the Senate passes its bill, conference committee members will have to negotiate important differences between the two bills, including large discrepancies in funding allocated for Head Start/Early Head Start and child care.  The President has vowed to veto the Labor-HHS spending measure as well as any other appropriations bill which exceed his requested funding levels.  For more information on all the appropriations bills, please visit: http://www.thomas.gov/home/approp/app08.html.

July 9, 2007 

Appropriations Process Continues: After returning from the July 4th recess, Congress will continue to move the remaining spending bills for FY08 through the time-consuming approval process.  To date, eight of the twelve bills have passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and are pending final approval by the full Senate.  Meanwhile, all six of the bills which have passed the House Appropriations Committee have also received final approval by the full House.  In addition to the provisions outlined in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Related Agencies bill (see the June 25 federal update), infant and toddler policies are also impacted by funding allocations in the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill which includes spending for juvenile justice programs, drug courts, and prevention and treatment services.  On June 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $54.4 billion in discretionary funding for CJS, $1 billion more than the House Appropriations Subcommittee approved on June 11.  Congress has the next three weeks before the month-long August recess to complete action on this bill as well as all the remaining spending bills in order to meet their preferred deadline, a goal which may prove difficult to achieve and set them up for passage of a continuing resolution (CR) in order to continue departmental funding once the new fiscal year begins on October 1.  For more information on all the appropriations bills, please visit: http://www.thomas.gov/home/approp/app08.html.

Early Childhood Investment Legislation:  In other news, last month, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro  (D-3rd CT) and Congressman Joe Courtney (D-2nd CT) introduced The Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007 (S. 1573 / H.R. 2616).   The legislation would establish or enhance existing public-private partnerships by awarding competitive grants to state and local community initiatives and programs serving young children birth through five and their families.  Partnerships will be able to leverage funding from nonprofit or for-profit organizations, private entities, and state government to supplement existing state and federal funds in order to improve access to high-quality early childhood programs such as Head Start/Early Head Start, child care, preschool, and home visiting programs, among others.  Funding is authorized at $8 billion in FY08, $10 billion in FY09, and such sums as necessary for FY10, 11, and 12, with the federal share of funding diminishing from 50% in the first year to 40% and 30% in the second and third years.  For more information about both bills, visit http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/issues/bills/.