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Special Report: Fiscal Year 2012 Funding Finalized
On Saturday, December 17, the Senate passed by a vote of 67-32 the fiscal year 2012 nine-bill omnibus appropriations package to carry federal funding through next September for most federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-ED). The day before, December 16, the House had passed the measure 296-121, with 147 Republicans and 149 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. House and Senate appropriators had been working in closed-door sessions to arrive at an agreement on the appropriations measure.
AUCD is pleased to report that most of our core network programs maintained their current appropriations levels in spite of the extremely difficult budget environment. Overall, the conference agreement provides a total of $1.043 trillion for discretionary programs - which is $7 billion less than FY 2011. This number reflects the overall discretionary figure Congress and the President agreed to when they passed the Budget Control Act in August. The bill provides $156.3 billion in discretionary funding for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education programs. This total is $1.1 billion below last year's level and $24.5 billion below the President's request. According to a House press release, the bill "eliminates 23 programs totaling more than $240 million that are ineffective, narrowly targeted to a small constituency, or have fulfilled their federal purpose."
Please read AUCD's full report on the final appropriations package for more information and a chart detailing disability-related program funding.
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