Update on FY2013 Continuing Resolution

In late July, House and Senate leadership announced a deal on a six-month Continuing Resolution (CR) at a funding level of $1.047 trillion—the level set for FY2013 in the Budget Control Act (BCA) that passed last summer.  With August recess coming to a close today, more information on the CR was released yesterday evening, bringing good news for afterschool and education advocates: due to a variety of factors, the FY2013 CR reflects an across-the-board increase of 0.612 percent.  For the Department of Education, that is an aggregate increase of $416.8 million.  For 21^st CCLC, the increase would be approximately $705,000, allowing an additional 705 students to be served in the next school year.  The CR would fund the federal government through March 27, 2013.

Under the CR, all programs will operate under the same terms and conditions as in the FY2012 bills, so no new programs will start and no programs will be eliminated. While there are several changes addressed by the CR, the bill does not include the 21^st CCLC language allowing funds to support a longer school day or school year that was added in the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) spending bill that passed the Appropriations Committee last summer. The House LHHS spending bill did not include that language either.    

The CR is scheduled to go to the House Rules Committee tomorrow afternoon and will likely be voted on by the full House this Thursday.  Assuming it passes the House, the Senate will move to take up the measure on Thursday, but may not vote on passage until next week on Wednesday as the House and Senate are not in session next Monday and Tuesday.