(March 25, 2009). The House and Senate began marking up the FY2010 budget proposals. Overall, the House and Senate versions of the budget are similar. Both would propose to spend less than the Obama administration in FY2010. For discretionary spending, the Senate budget would spend $525 billion, while the House would propose to spend $533 billion. According to the most recent estimate from the CBO, the Obama budget would result in $540 billion in spending in the next fiscal year. Perkins Loans are not specifically referenced, either the current program or the Administration’s new Perkins proposal. In other words, it will be up to the House and Senate education committees to decide what to do about the proposal at a later date.

The Chairman’s Mark in the House noted that the bill “supports the President’s plan to make new investments in early childhood education, improve student achievement in elementary and secondary education, and increase the number of high school graduates that attend and complete higher education by making college more affordable and accessible.”

The Chairman’s Mark says that it accommodates the President’s mandatory spending higher education proposals but does not assume or require that they will be enacted. For 2010, it provides for the sum of the President’s discretionary request for education plus the continuation of discretionary funding for Pell grants in support of the President’s request to increase the maximum award to $5,550. (It will be up to the Appropriations Committee and the Congress to actually provide the funds in separate legislation later this year.)

It includes a “deficit-neutral reserve fund” that provides the committee maximum flexibility in finding offsets for legislation that will help more students afford and complete college. The reserve fund could accommodate the President’s proposals for the Pell grant program, student loan programs, or other changes in law that increase assistance to college students (including the Perkins Loan Program), consistent with the House pay-as-you-go principle.

The Chairman’s Mark also includes a reconciliation instruction for the Education and Labor Committee to report legislation by September 30 that cuts the deficit by $1 billion over 2009-2014.

Finally, the House includes a “Sense of the House” statement expressing that nothing in the resolution should be construed to reduce any assistance that makes college more affordable and accessible for students, including but not limited to student aid programs and services provided by nonprofit State agencies.

In the Senate, a summary of the Chairman’s Mark says that it makes “investments in education and training programs that will help our economic growth and build a highly skilled workforce to compete in the global marketplace. Increasing access to higher education is central to this effort.” The bill assumes a Pell grant level of $5,550 in 2010 and includes a deficit-neutral reserve fund to allow for increases in Pell grants in line with those proposed in President Obama's budget. “This will make college more affordable and thus more accessible for millions of Americans.”

The full budget proposal from the President is expected in April. At that time, additional details and cost estimates will be forthcoming. We will keep you informed as more information is forthcoming.

To view a summary of the Chairman’s Mark in the House visit: http://budget.house.gov/.

To view of summary of the Chairman’s Mark in the Senate visit: http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/

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