Senate Sequester Bills

March 7, 2013  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

February 28, 2013

Dear Senator:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 106 national education associations and institutions from birth to postgraduate education, writes in support of S. 388, the American Family Economic Protection Act of 2013 and in opposition to S. 16, to provide flexibility to the Administration to determine where the sequester cuts occur.

CEF, our member organizations, educators, students, schools, colleges and libraries are strongly opposed to the harmful sequester cuts scheduled to take effect tomorrow. These sequestration cuts would chop funding for programs in the Department of Education by $2.5 billion. In addition, Head Start would be cut by $398 million. This would be the largest cut EVER to education programs. Sequestration would move us backwards, by slashing Department of Education non-Pell grant discretionary funding below the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 level. Institutions of higher education will also be hit hard by cuts to vital research programs, including NIH (-$1.54 billion) and NSF (-$358 million).

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Letter to Representative Eric Cantor

November 13, 2012  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

November 7, 2012

Dear Republican Colleague:

This election was filled with good news, and bad news. The good news is that the American people responded to two years of House Republican leadership by sending us back with a strong majority. It is clear that our efforts to improve the economy and create the conditions for job growth were well-received, and I congratulate you all for sharing that message and returning to Washington to finish the job. The bad news is that we did not get the partner in the White House that we desired. After an arduous campaign, it is disappointing, but there is still work to get done and we must achieve as many of our goals as possible working with President Obama. We now know the results of the election, but what are the results for the American people?

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Education is not welfare

October 24, 2012  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

Dear Senator Sessions:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 99 education associations and institutions from PreK to postgraduate education, is writing to express our astonishment and deep disappointment with your recent statement equating federal funding for critical education programs as welfare (Sessions Comments On Congressional Report Showing Welfare Is Single Largest Federal Expense).

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Senate Budget Resolutions

May 15, 2012  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

May 15, 2012

Dear Senator:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 95 education associations and institutions from birth to postgraduate education, is writing to express our strong opposition to several proposed Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Resolutions that will be voted on tomorrow.

H. Con. Res. 112, the House-passed Budget Resolution would severely slash funding for education programs, decimate student financial assistance and make college less affordable. It will move our nation backward in efforts to close achievement gaps, improve overall student achievement, and increase high school graduation, college access and college completion rates.

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Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012

May 10, 2012  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

May 9, 2012

Dear Representative:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 95 education associations and institutions from birth to postgraduate education, writes in strong opposition to the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012, reported from the Budget Committee, and to the overall approach to sequestration contained in the House-passed Budget Resolution (H. Con. Res. 112).

The Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Resolution and this legislation would replace the sequester, but do so by imposing dramatically deeper cuts to education and all other nondefense discretionary programs.  First, in FY 2013 the Budget Resolution and the Sequester Replacement Act (HR 4966), which has been incorporated into this bill, cut overall FY 2013 discretionary spending by $19 billion and nondefense spending by $27 billion below the levels established on a bipartisan basis in the Budget Control Act (BCA).

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302b FY 2013 letter

March 19, 2012  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

March 16, 2012

 

The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye                                                  The Honorable Thad Cochran
Chairman                                                                                                 Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations                                                       Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate                                                                                             U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510                                                                     Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Harold Rogers                                                      The Honorable Norm Dicks
Chairman                                                                                                 Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations                                                       Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives                                                      U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515                                                                     Washington, DC 20515

 

The 902 undersigned organizations—representing the full range of stakeholders in the programs of the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Labor—urge you to provide the largest possible FY 2013 302(b) allocation to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee within the discretionary cap established by the Budget Control Act (BCA). Rebuilding our investment in these domestic programs will boost the economy and reduce the deficit through prevention of costly chronic diseases, increased earnings, and reduced expenditures for unemployment and other social service programs.

 

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PASS the FIX AMERICA’S SCHOOLS ACT, S. 1597

December 2, 2011  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

December 2, 2011

PASS the FIX AMERICA’S SCHOOLS ACT, S. 1597

 Dear Senator:

 The following 173 organizations are writing to support the Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Act, S.1597.  Modernizing schools and community colleges in local communities will create better learning environments for students and generate much needed jobs.  The FAST Act will invest resources to repair, renovate and modernize America’s schools and community colleges while stimulating and creating some 300,000 jobs. Much needed local jobs will be generated in the construction industry among suppliers, ranging from architects and engineers to electrical, plumbing and roofing contractors and other construction workers who modernize, renovate and repair schools.

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CHF-CEF-CIAW 302b Letter

November 8, 2011  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

November 4, 2011

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:

The Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, the Coalition for Health Funding and the Committee for Education Funding, representing the workforce investment, health and education communities, are jointly writing to urge you to recognize health, education, job training, children’s and social services programs as critical national priorities by providing the largest possible 302(b) conference allocation for the Fiscal Year 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The allocation should be consistent with the aggregate discretionary appropriation level of $1.043 trillion included in the Budget Control Act (BCA).

Additional investment in these domestic programs will boost the economy and reduce the deficit through prevention of costly chronic diseases, increased earnings, and reduced expenditures for unemployment and other social service programs.

The FY 2012 bill as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee has a discretionary allocation (including cap adjustments) of $158.027 billion. The draft House proposal released by
Chairmen Rogers and Rehberg, by contrast has a comparable allocation of $153.414 billion, a level that is $4.613 billion below the Senate.

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Joint Committee

October 21, 2011  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

October 20, 2011

The Honorable Patty Murray
The Honorable Jeb Hensarling
Co-Chairs
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
Congress of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Senator Murray and Representative Hensarling:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 90 education associations and institutions from preschool to postgraduate education, is writing to express our views to the Joint Select Committee on the importance of federal funding for education

As highlighted below, education is the key to economic growth and nearly every economist has indicated that growing the economy is part of the solution to our nation’s budgetary crisis. Thus, we urge you to do the following three things. First, reject any further cuts to education programs. Second, include in your recommendations two key education provisions that will create jobs and improve the economy in the short term. Third, support increased investments for education to foster long-term economic growth and improve our nation’s global competitiveness

To read the full letter, click here

S 1723 Letter

October 19, 2011  |  No Comments  |  by Broddy  |  Letters to Congress

October 18, 2011

Dear Senator:

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a coalition of 90 education associations and institutions from preschool to postgraduate education, is writing to express our strong support for S. 1723, The Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act.

This bill would provide $30 billion to create or save almost 400,000 education jobs for teachers and other school employees, including school counselors, school social workers, school nurses, librarians, paraprofessionals, custodians and other school personnel. Without these funds students will be shortchanged by reductions in school weeks, program eliminations, and unreasonable class sizes.

S. 1723 appropriately responds to the layoff crisis in our schools. Students, schools and colleges are struggling with significant state and local budget cuts that have resulted in large numbers of educator layoffs and major cuts to and elimination of a range of critical education programs.

In the past two years local governments have slashed over 250,000 education jobs, with 24,000 educator jobs lost just last month. Not only do those individuals who are laid off and their families suffer, but these reductions in force are also extremely harmful to local communities and the overall economy.

To read full letter, click here

  • When Our Students Succeed, Our Nation Succeeds.

    Founded in 1969, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) and its 80 member organizations have worked toward the common goal of achieving adequate federal support for our nation's education system.

    Nonpartisan and nonprofit, CEF is America's largest education coalition, reflecting the broad spectrum of the education community.

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