On Thursday, June 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, by a 16-14 vote along party lines, the FY2013 Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education appropriations bill allowing for $158.8 billion in discretionary funding for FY13, an increase of $2 billion over current levels.

Bill includes, among others, the following provisions:

• Provides funding for the Pell Grant Program at the FY 12 funding level of $22.8 billion which will support a base funding level of $4860 toward the maximum award, anticipated to be $5,635 – an $85 increase above the current maximum Pell award.
• Includes language for limited restoration of Title IV eligibility to “Ability-to-Benefit” students that was eliminated in the FY 12 appropriations bill.
• Funds a $1 million study of higher education regulations.
• Provides $39 million for President Obama’s First in the World program designed to support innovation and scaling up of successful retention and completion programs at institutions of higher education.
• Maintains FY 12 funding levels for all higher education programs.
• Bans institutions of higher education from using federal funds for marketing, recruitment, or advertising.
• Removes room and board from the calculated cost of attendence for 100% on-line programs.
• Eliminates the interest subsidy for students who remain enrolled beyond 150% of program length.

Biomedical Research

The committee increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $100 Million, providing $30.723 billion. This was slightly above the Presidential request but short of the research community’s request. The bill also includes $40 million for the Cures Acceleration Network at NIH.

General provisions

The committee report includes the following language on conferences and other administrative expenses:

The Committee bill includes new provisions intended to prevent excessive spending on conferences and other administrative expenses. The provisions require departments, agencies, boards, and commissions funded in this act to submit quarterly reports to their OIG or senior ethics official on the costs and contracting procedures involved in any conference that costs more than $20,000. The provisions also limit the amount of Federal funding that may be spent on any single international conference and the number of Federal employees who may attend it. The provisions codify the May 2012 OMB memorandum related to planning for and spending on conferences, travel, real property, and fleet management.

Timeline

This measure will not be debated on the floor of the Senate in the near future, if at all.  The Senate Appropriations Committee has completed 9 of the 12 appropriations measures; however, no floor time has been scheduled for any of them.  The House Subcommittee is anticipated to mark-up this same measure in the near future.

News Links:

Senate Panel Passes Bill Raising Pell Grant and NIH Support

2013 Budget Takes Step in Senate