After months of debt ceiling negotiations, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act into law on June 3, 2023. The bill suspended the debt ceiling until January 2025 and included other provisions such as the restart of student loan payments at the end of August. While the bill did set spending caps for FY24 and FY25, it did not include a spending floor and as appropriators resumed their FY 24 work in earnest many lawmakers hoped to capitalize on this.
House FY 2024 LHHS Appropriations Bill
In late June, the House of Representatives, which is typically the first chamber to move their appropriations proposal, unveiled the allocations for all 12 government funding bills – known inside the beltway as 302(b) allocations. These allocations came after weeks of internal debate within the House Republican majority on whether the bills should be capped at FY22 spending levels or FY23 levels. Ultimately, Chair Kay Granger (TX-12) unveiled allocations at the FY22 level, conceding victory to the small but vocal segment of the Republican conference that called for such cuts. The House allocations contain a $60.292 billion cut, or 29% from FY23 levels.
On Friday July 14, 2023, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee (LHHS) approved its FY 2024 funding bill, which marks the lowest LHHS allocation since 2008. While the bill text outlines general funding levels for accounts and certain programs, we will not know the level of funding for every program until the Committee Report is released just before the full committee markup, which has not yet been scheduled.
Below is an overview of the cuts that have been released which are most of interest for community colleges.
Department of Education (ED) –The bill includes a total of $57.1 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED, a 28% cut –$22.5 billion– from the FY 2023 enacted level. Of this amount
The bill eliminates funding for Federal Work Study, a cut of $1.2 billion that would eliminate work-based assistance to 660,000 students nationwide.
The bill eliminates funding for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, a cut of $910 million that would eliminate need-based financial aid for 1.7 million students nationwide.
The bill eliminates funding for Child Care Access Means Parents in School, a cut of $75 million below the enacted level.
The bill eliminates funding for HBCU, TCU, and MSI Research and Development Infrastructure Grants, a cut of $50 million below the enacted level.
The bill fails to provide an increase for the maximum Pell Grant award for the first time since 2012, which if enacted would lead to a loss of purchasing power for the students that need the most help with college affordability.
The bill level funds Career & Technical Education (CTE) and Adult Basic Education state grants, providing $1.43 billion and $32 million respectively.
While it’s not yet clear how other programs such as Title III & V programs or competitive grants that support student success fared, based on the significant cuts to the overall bill, we can expect at best level funding, and potentially more programs on the chopping block.
Department of Labor (DOL) –The bill includes a total of $9.1 billionin discretionary appropriations for DOL, a 34% cut –$4.7 billion– from FY23 enacted levels. Of this amount:
The bill eliminates funding for WIOA Adult Job Training state grants, a cut of $886 million that would result in 300,000 adults who face barriers to employment no longer being able to receive job training and employment services.
The bill eliminates funding for WIOA Youth Job Training state grants, a cut of $948 million that would result in 128,000 youth who face barriers to employment no longer being able to receive job training and employment services.
The bill eliminates the Women’s Bureau, a cut of $23 million below the enacted level, including the elimination of the Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations program.
The bill level funds the Strengthening Community College Training Grants, providing $65 million for FY24.
The bill would typically now go before the full Appropriations Committee for a markup, which will likely be planned sometime before August recess. ACCT is extremely concerned about the devastating impact the proposed slashes could have on our institutions' most vulnerable students.
Senate FY 2023 LHHS Appropriations Bill
The Senate unveiled their 302(b) allocations before the 4th of July break, keeping their funding levels in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act caps. The Senate allocation contains a $12.157 billion cut, or 6% cut from FY23 levels.
While it’s been nearly a month since they approved their 302(b) allocations, the Senate Appropriations Committee has been moving at a much slower pace, yet the prospects there are significantly better. Not only did Appropriators agree to follow the spending levels agreed during the debt ceiling negotiations and enacted into law, but they also plan to utilize emergency spending protocols to plus up accounts on both the defense and nondefense discretionary accounts.
The LHHS Subcommittee plans to markup their FY24 spending bill on Thursday, July 27. We anticipate the bill language, and the pertinent information on how higher education programs fared may not be public until the day of the markup.
What’s Next?
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) bills received cuts in both chambers, but at markedly different levels. This means House and Senate appropriators will have to reconcile a $48.135 billion difference in their proposals before we can get final FY24 legislation enacted into law, the larger the gap the more unpredictable the conferencing process becomes.
While we do not know what the funding numbers in the Senate will be, we are hoping the proposal will be less drastic than the House. We also believe that the House proposal could be improved upon before it goes to the full Appropriations Committee for approval in order to blunt the negative impacts of their proposed cuts. We encourage our members to contact your federal representatives and share how funding slashes would negatively impact their constituents as soon as possible.
Rosario Durán is the Senior Government Relations Associate at ACCT
José N. Miranda is the Director of Government Relations at ACCT
