FY21 Appropriations process kicks off in the House

This week the House of Representatives officially began the FY 2021 appropriations process with multiple subcommittee mark-ups. On the evening of July 7 the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS-ED) and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY 2021 spending bill, passing the measure along partisan lines by a vote of 9-6. The bill includes a $13 million increase to the Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Center (21^st CCLC) initiative – the only federal funding stream dedicated to afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. While the increase is a much needed positive step, growing afterschool program costs and demand for programs as a result of the pandemic warrant a substantially greater investment.    

The FY 2021 LHHS-ED bill includes $196.5 billion in overall funding, an increase of $2.4 billion above the FY 2020 enacted level and $20.8 billion above the President’s 2021 budget request after accounting for offsets and adjustments. The bill also rejects nearly all of the programmatic cuts that President Trump proposed in his FY 2021 budget request, including the elimination of 21^st CCLC. Congress’ continued support of 21^st CCLC, including the proposed $13 million increase, is a testament to the thousands of parents, students, providers, and other friends of afterschool and summer learning who reached out to their members of Congress urging support for the program.

For the Department of Education (ED), the bill provides $73.5 billion, an increase of just $1.2 billion (1.7%) over the funding level for FY 2020 due to the statutory cap on non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding that was included in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2019.

In her opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro paid tribute to full House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), noting her longstanding commitment to issues “from access to quality education to the protections of working men and women, to afterschool programs.” Congresswoman Lowey is also long-time co-chair of the House Afterschool Caucus and a tremendous champion of afterschool programs for more than 25 years.

Key funding provisions of the bill that will support afterschool and summer learning programs include the following:

• $13 million increase for the Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Center program which supports before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs for almost 2 million students. The program would receive $1.262 billion (although the subcommittee’s press release rounds it up to $1.3 billion).
• $100 million increase for Child Care and Development Block Grant, for a total of $5.9 billion. This Department of Health and Human Services program supports school-age children with afterschool and summer programs, in addition to providing child care to infants and toddlers.
• $254 million increase for ESSA Title I grants to a total $16.6 billion. These Education funds can be used by school districts to support afterschool and summer learning.
• $23 million increase for ESSA Title II state grants, the only dedicated funding for teacher professional development for many States and districts to a total of $2.2 billion.
• $208 million increase for IDEA State grants to a total $14.1 billion.
• $10 million increase for Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for a total of $1.2 billion. These funds can be used for afterschool Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) as well as physical activity and a host of other uses.
• $172 million for an initiative to support social-emotional learning and “whole child” approaches to education. This includes $30 million, an increase of $5 million over the FY 2020 enacted level, for Full-Service Community Schools to provide comprehensive services and expand evidence-based models that meet the holistic needs of children, families, and communities.
• $20 million increase, for grants to expand opportunities in STEM, including computer science within the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program for a total of $85 million.
• $18 million increase for Career and Technical Education State Grants for a total of $1.3 billion.
• $10 million increase for TRIO to $1.1 billion and $5 million increase for GEAR UP to $370 million. These programs help prepare students for college.
• Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS): a $50 million increase for CNCS for a total of $1.2 billion. Within the total amount, the bill includes $447 million for AmeriCorps, an increase of $18 million and $35 million for National Civilian Community Corps, an increase of $2 million.

The spending bill now advances to the full House Appropriations Committee, where it’s likely to face sharper debate. Ranking member Tom Cole (R-Okla.) indicated during the mark-up that he would introduce a number of amendments to the proposal. The Senate has yet to announce its schedule for marking up its LHHS spending bill. The full text of the House bill can be accessed here. Also, to view the Subcommittee markup, go here.