Nation’s Education & Workforce Needs Met, Health and Social Safety Net Protected in Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) praised the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2010 for its vital investments in our national priorities – supports the health and social safety net, provides the educational opportunity critical to long-term prosperity, as well as makes the investment to train people for jobs. The bill was approved by the full Appropriations Committee and will now be debated by the House, following passage there, the legislation will also need to be voted on by the Senate, approved by both chambers and signed by the President.
"As we work to bring the country out of the economic recession, it is critical that we protect the most vulnerable among us. To that end, the Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill, makes key investments to accomplish this – investing in worker training, reinforcing our health and social safety nets to help hard-working Americans struggling to make ends meet, and ensuring that an education remains accessible," said DeLauro.
The $160.65 billion Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill, which is below the President's request, provides $13.356 billion for the Department of Labor; $73.7 billion for the Department of Heath and Human Services; and $64.68 billion for the Department of Education.
In addition to working to include language that will increase investment in food safety functions at the Center for Disease Control; recommend that the National Cancer Institute rescind its decision to eliminate the Cancer Information Service; and recommend that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration develop a standard to protect health care workers in the event of a pandemic flu; DeLauro continued to advocate for increased funding for other key programs:
o Low-Income Home Energy Assistance: $5.1 billion, which is the fully authorized funding level – the same as 2009
o Dislocated Workers: $1.4 billion for training and supportive services to the thousands of Dislocated Workers
o Volunteerism: $1.059 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service – a $169 million increase over 2009 – to implement the new Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act – including $2 million to launch ‘Summer of Service'
o Even Start: $66 million to continue to integrate early childhood education with family literacy – despite the Administration's proposal to eliminate the program
o CDC Gynecologic Cancer: $6.8 million – the same funding level as in 2009
o Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): $3.6 billion including $75 million for homeless programs and $40 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative
Other key investment in critical programs include:
o Pell Grants: maintains the maximum Pell Grant award at $4,860, which, when combined with a mandatory supplement of $690, will support a $5,550 maximum Pell Grant in fiscal year 2010 – $200 more than the 2009 award level
o After-School Programs – 21st Century Community Learning Centers: $1.8 billion – $50 million over 2009
o TRIO & GEAR UP: $868 million for TRIO education programs – $20 over 2009 – and $333 million for GEAR UP to assist approximately 1.7 million disadvantaged and first generation college students
o Head Start: $7.2 billion – an increase of $122 million above 2009
o National Institutes of Health (NIH): $31.3 billion – $941 million above 2009
o Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB): $40 million for fiscal stabilization grants to reach local public television and radio stations
o Women's Bureau: $12.6 million – a $2.1 million (20%) increase over 2009
o Occupational Safety & Health: $554 million – $41 million above 2009
o WISEWOMAN: $20.6 million – a $1 million increase over 2009
o National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection: $214.6 million – a $8.8 million increase over 2009
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill includes funding for the following Connecticut initiatives:
o Caroline's Room Fund/Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, $300,000: for the construction of 25 family support and counseling rooms in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units of hospitals across the country.
o CT Technical High School System, $250,000: to align the manufacturing curriculum with the needs of the changing industry and workforce at Vinal Technical High School.
o CT Technical High School System, $350,000: to provide the support to Eli Whitney Technical High School's Manufacturing Technology Program.
o Griffin Hospital, $300,000: for the expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department.
o Helen Keller International, $1.2 million: for their Child Sight school-based program run by chapters in Connecticut and across the country, which provides vision screening and free prescription eyeglasses for children who live in urban and rural poverty.
o Leadership, Education & Athletics in Partnership, Inc. (LEAP), $300,000: to support its after-school and mentorship program.
o National Center for Electronically Mediated Learning, Inc. - P.E.B.B.L.E.S. Project, $150,000: for the continuation of an innovative technology program to deliver educational connection to children who are hospitalized due to medically debilitating diseases and thus, unable to attend school.
o National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, $200,000: to continue the National Energy Assistance Survey to document the experiences of low income families coping with high energy prices for the winter heating and summer cooling seasons and allow NEADA to include an additional sampling to do a separate report on the effectiveness of LIHEAP on low income families in Connecticut.
o New Haven Reads Community Book Bank, Inc., $200,000: to expand their after-school tutoring program.
o University of New Haven, $350,000: to purchase equipment to support the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science Learning Center. The learning center will be open to students, as well as the public, dedicated to forensic science and crime scene investigation.
o Southern Connecticut State University/CT State University System, $200,000: to create an Autism Center for Excellence that would serve as a resource center for teachers, parents and community service providers.