The U.S. Congress has not passed a single funding bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 which begins October 1, 2015.
The Congress has not acted, in part, because the discretionary caps
established in 2011 under The Budget Control Act are extremely low and
do not provide adequate funding for important health, education,
research, and human services programs. Additionally, Republicans and
Democrats do not agree on where to provide increases and where to stay
the course. Important programs impacting children with disabilities include health, education (e.g. Title of ESEA, IDEA) and other disability programs that help people stay or become independent and self-sufficient. If Congress does not act to raise these caps, these programs may face devastating cuts due to sequestration. After a closed-door meeting last Wednesday, House Republicans have concluded that they are not ready to make a decision about what to do come September 30th – the last day of the government’s fiscal year. This week, they are conducting listening sessions with Members, and the House Freedom Caucus (which is comprised of 42 Members) has publicly stated that they will oppose any Continuing Resolution (CR) that includes funding for Planned Parenthood. Remember with a CR: 1) They are just stop-gap measures and sequestration requirements still apply due to the Budget Control Act. Negotiations will still need to be made down the road, depending how far they kick the can; 2) They don’t include policy riders, funding or program cuts or increases; therefore, no program really wins (except the programs that were on the budget chopping block, such as i3.) IDEA and Title I, for example, due to The Budget Control Act, will receive a required cut even under a CR. Due to timing, the House must pass something this week in order for a CR to pass through the Senate before the September 30 deadline. The clock is ticking and President Obama has said publicly that he will not support a long-term CR that locks in sequester levels. Please help us put pressure on our elected officials to do something about this! We want our leaders to raise the discretionary caps and prevent impending sequestration cuts. Any deficit reduction plan should be more balanced and take into account revenues, not just spending cuts. TAKE ACTION: Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators and Representatives to lift sequestration caps and pass funding bills that provide adequate funding for research, education, employment and training, and other programs that support people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. Help us encourage Congress to act quickly and responsibly. Here are some talking points you can use:
|
Exploring the issues facing Seattle and its public Schools with a focus on wasteful use of tax payers money. Thanks for visiting
Translate
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Tell U.S. Congress to Support Stronger Federal Education Funding for Students With Disabilities
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment