State of the Union Address, Presidential Elections, Budget and Appropriations, House Adult Literacy Caucus Briefing, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Extension, ESEA Reauthorization, and Raising the Debt Ceiling

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

State of the Union Address

Both chambers of the Congress were in Washington this week following an extended recess. President Obama greeted them with a lengthy State of the Union (SOTU) address that was—not surprisingly—praised by Democrats and panned by Republicans. Now…

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

In this month’s update, learn more about the status of the budget and appropriations process for FY2012 and what this means for adult education; find updates and breaking news on extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) employment benefits and how it may impact undereducated workers, new jobs legislation that includes adult education, and see more progress made on WIA reauthorization in the House.

• Budget and Appropriations
• UI Alert
• WIA Reauthorization
• Pathways Back to Work Act
• Adult Literacy Advocacy – What this means for you

http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/?p=4822 By Washington Partners

With the clock ticking toward December 16^th, which is when the current continuing resolution that is keeping government funds flowing is set to expire, little progress was made last week on a FY 2012 budget plan.  Appropriations Committee conferees met on Thursday, just long enough to make opening statements and make public a widely known secret, that of the nine unfinished spending bills, the troublemakers were Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) and Interior.

For LHHS, the issues are both funding and so-called policy riders.  The key funding issue…

Rumor has it we are going to hear a word spoken on Capitol Hill in the next few weeks that we haven’t heard in a while.  That word is yes.  It appears the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, after months of saying no to any kind of compromise with Democrats, and Democrats similarly recalcitrant about working across the aisle, may come together to finish the pressing legislative business before the Congress in time for the holidays.  There are of course many opportunities for yes to turn into no in the world…

Budget and Appropriations

Though the House was in recess this week, Members of the Super Committee were meeting around the clock to try to reach agreement on a debt reduction proposal before the approaching November 23^rd deadline.  From outside, it appears that discussions have reached a stalemate, despite assertions that “progress is being made” from the Committee leadership.  Pressure is mounting, however, and lobbying from all sides to protect interests that, rumor has it, are on the chopping block is in full swing.

Another fast-approaching deadline is the November…

The separate work schedules for the House and Senate make a week when everyone is in town a rarity.  It happened last week, and finally there was progress on the FY 2012 appropriations front.  The budget is by no means decided, but the Senate did succeed in passing a so-called “minibus”—a bill that would fund several government agencies.  The bill passed on a vote of 69-30, vindicating Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) strategy to move forward.  House Republicans had questioned the minibus strategy, but…

—October 2011

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

Action items are listed first in this month’s update:

• American Jobs Act (Action)
• WIA Reauthorization (Action)
• Budget and Appropriations (Update)
• Joint Deficit Reduction Committee (Update)
• ESEA Reauthorization (Update)
• Advocacy Workshops & Tools
• 2012 House Calendar and Congressional Visits

American Jobs Act

A few weeks ago, the American Jobs Act was brought to the Senate floor where it died quickly. The only way both Democrats and Republicans…

Add a preconference to your schedule: Register today for our day long preconference on Effective Advocacy Strategies. Early registration has been extended until October 21. Register here.

http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/?p=4441 By Ellen Fern, Washington Partners LLC

On Thursday, September 29, the House Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee released their FY2012 appropriations bill.  The legislation includes funding for programs within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and other related agencies.  In total, the draft bill includes $153.4 billion in discretionary funding, which is $4 billion (-2.5%) below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level and $27.5 billion (-15.2%) below the President’s budget request.  The bill also contains several provisions intended to stop…

It felt like Groundhog Day all over again on Capitol Hill this week.  The House of Representatives took up a continuing resolution (CR) on Wednesday that was necessary to keep the government functioning beyond September 30th, the last day in the current fiscal year.  The bill failed when 42 Tea Party Republicans turned their backs on Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) in protest for what they considered too generous spending levels contained in the bill.  In an unusual show of unity, all but six Democrats also opposed the legislation because of…