The House today passed two appropriations packages that would provide funding for Fiscal Year 2020, after agreement on the spending deal was reached by congressional and Administration leaders on Monday. The Senate is expected to pass the bills (the Labor-HHS-Ed bill is one of eight large bills that make up one minibus package, while four national security bills make up another minibus package) prior to the December 20 midnight deadline when the current Continuing Resolution ends. Overall, the bill includes $184.9 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $4.9 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $43 billion over the President’s 2020 budget request.
The bill includes a total of $94.9 billion for HHS, an increase of $4.4 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $16.8 billion above the President’s budget request -- with the largest increase ($2.6 billion) directed to the National Institutes of Health. The bill provides $7.04 billion for HRSA, a $193 million increase over the FY 2019 level. HRSA Title VII health professions programs will receive $424.5 million, a $32.3 million increase over the FY 2019 level. The Behavioral Health Workforce Education & Training program receives $102 million, geriatric programs receive $40.7 million, and the Health Careers Opportunity Program will be funded at $15 million.
The Department of Education receives a total of $72.8 billion in discretionary appropriations – $1.3 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $8.7 billion above the President’s budget request. For Higher Education programs, the bill provides $2.5 billion, an increase of $163 million above the 2019 enacted level and $941 million above the President’s budget request. For federal student aid programs, the bill provides $24.5 billion, which is $75 million above the 2019 enacted level and $1.5 billion above the President’s budget request. Within this amount, the bill provides $865 million for the SEOG program, $1.2 billion for Federal Work Study, and an increase to the maximum Pell grant to $6,345.
The legislative package which includes the Labor-HHS-ED bill may be accessed here and a division by division summary may be found here. A table included HRSA Title VII programs be accessed here.