House Passes Supplemental Appropriations Bill - July 2, 2010
The House of Representative passed an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 4899, by a vote of 239-182, and one voting present.  The amendment, which was offered by House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI), includes $10 billion for education jobs and $4.95 billion for the Pell Grant shortfall.  With the passage of this new amendment, the bill will have to be sent back to the Senate for reconsideration.   In total, the House added an additional $23 billion for domestics activities over the Senate passed bill.  The Senate and House have adjourned for the July 4^th recess.  The Senate is not expected to take up the bill until later this month.    

During House consideration, the White House threatened to veto the bill because $800 million in education-related rescissions were included to offset additional funding within the bill.  The White House veto threat and additional Senate action raises concerns about whether the House provisions will be passed by the Senate.  There is an expectation that the education rescissions will be removed during Senate consideration.  The House also passed a budget resolution, but this resolution only applies to the House.  

In other news, President Barack Obama called on Congress yesterday to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  In his speech, President Obama renewed his support for the DREAM Act.  ACCT, with the Act on the DREAM Coalition, is encouraging to Congress to start the process and pass DREAM this session of Congress.

HR 4213 – Extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for six months: This legislation would bring about $200 million to Oregon.  Passage of this legislation could happen as early as Friday, however, Senator Wyden is currently reported to have concerns with other parts of the bill. Wyden should be the top priority for this piece.

S. 3206 – Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010:  This legislation would bring about $270 million to Oregon intended to prevent layoffs in public K-12 and post-secondary education.  While this legislation is unlikely to pass on its own, the $23 billion in funding it provides has been added into a supplemental appropriations bill in the House.  We are asking the delegation to support this critical funding to state preserve state education services and jobs.

Oregon’s Budget Shortfall: 
Oregon’s revenue forecast, released this week, shows Oregon facing a $560 million funding gap to the current biennium.  This shortfall triggered the Governor to call for a 4.5 percent across-the-board cut to all state agencies.  Because the cut comes to the last year of the biennium, the 4.5 percent will actually be more like a 9 percent cut to the second year of the current biennium.  With little left in Oregon’s budget reserves and with greatly increased demand on state services like post secondary education, quick federal action is needed to preserve jobs and services.  Avoiding massive layoffs by state governments is critical to keeping the national economic recovery from faltering.