U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee releases summaries for fiscal year 2022 funding bills

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee recently posted the legislative text and summaries of nine funding bills for fiscal year 2022, including legislation for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The announcement and legislation are available here at https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/chairman-leahy-releases-remaining-nine-senate-appropriations-bills.

The following details funding levels proposed for select K-12 programs:

• For Title I grants, the legislation proposes about $33 billion of which about $22.2 billion would become available to states on July 1, 2022, and approximately $10.8 billion would become available October 1, 2022. This proposal would almost double the amount of funding for Title I programs for disadvantaged students.
• An appropriation of $15.5 billion is recommended for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B grants, which would be an increase of more than $2 billion from FY2021. These funds would support services to an estimated 7.6 million students with disabilities, ages 3-21.
• The bill recommends almost $2.2 billion for Title II, Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants.
• $146.5 million is proposed for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program, of which state education agencies would be required to subgrant not less than 75 percent of funds received to school districts.
• The legislation would level-fund rural education programs at $200 million, including the Small, Rural School Achievement Program, which provides funds to districts that serve a small number of students, and the Rural and Low-Income School Program, which provides funds to districts that serve concentrations of indigent students.
• The recommendation for ESSA Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) Grants is $1.32 billion to help support activities that provide students with a well-rounded education, ensure safe and supportive learning environments, and use technology to improve instruction.
• $917.4 million is proposed for Title III, the English Language Acquisition (ELA) program, which would be an increase of more than $120 million from the current funding amount.

The House passed its version of the fiscal year 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education appropriations bill last July (H.R. 4502). This Senate appropriations bill could be used as a reference for negotiations with the House for a final bill. There has not been an announcement yet regarding next steps for Senate consideration.