Midterm election 2014: the potential impact on federal support of afterschool programs

After more than a year of anticipation, the 2014 midterm elections finally came and (mostly) went this week. With a few races still not officially decided, the headline is that the Republican Party will take over as the majority in the Senate in the next Congress with at least 52 seats, and they also added to their majority in the House. The 114^th Congress, when it is sworn in early next year, will be one half of a divided government in Washington, opposite President Obama in the White House.  

The shift in control of Congress is potentially historic. In the House, the Republicans increased their majority to at least 243 seats, with Republican candidates leading in several undecided races. It is possible the Republican Party will control as many as 250 seats in the House, the largest Republican House majority since 1928.

For supporters of afterschool programs the shift in the make-up of Congress next year provides an opportunity to reach out to newly-elected officials about the value and importance of afterschool and summer learning programs in contributing to student success, helping working families, and keeping young people safe. There will be at least 69 new members of Congress to get to know: 11 in the Senate (one Democrat and 10 Republicans) and 58 in the House (18 Democrats and 50 Republicans). A number of resources on the Afterschool Alliance website can help you introduce new members of Congress to the power of afterschool.

The education and appropriation committees in both chambers of Congress that make funding and policy decisions around programs that support afterschool will see changes in leadership and membership. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), an original co-sponsor of S. 326 the Afterschool for America’s Children Act, is likely to replace Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) as the senior Democrat on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, while former Secretary of Education and past Governor of Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will become the new chairman of the HELP Committee. In the recent past, Alexander has proposed Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization legislation (S. 1101) that would reduce the role of the federal government would consolidate a number of education funding streams, including the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, into two block grants.

In the House, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) is likely to become the new ranking member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) announced his retirement earlier this Congress. Chairman Kline (R-MN) will likely continue to lead the House Education and the Workforce Committee; however, he will need a waiver from the Speaker of the House, as he has served for six years as Chairman.  While Speaker Boehner is expected to grant the waiver, this has not been confirmed. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), a member of the committee, was defeated, as was Senate HELP Committee member Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC).  

Changes will also occur to the membership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, particularly the subcommittees overseeing education spending. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee was defeated, and two other Democratic appropriators are in jeopardy: Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) is trailing in his race and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) faces a runoff election on Dec. 6th. While committee assignments for the new Congress will not be known until next year, House Afterschool Caucus Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) was elected to serve as the newest Senator from West Virginia.

Stay tuned for additional blog posts on the upcoming lame duck session of Congress: a session that will see action on fiscal year 2015 spending as well as reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant program.