Blog - Where the Continuing Resolution is Going to Hurt (Companion Piece)

The 109th Congress only passed bills to fund the departments of Defense and Homeland Security for the next year. Every other area, covered by 9 other appropriations bills, is going to see major impacts in their funding. The areas where people will probably feel it the most would be covered under the Labor, HHS (Health and Human Services), Education Appropriations Bill. But since it didn’t pass, and because of the 110th Congress’ plan to deal with it, programs that affect the day-to-day for tons of people are likely going to have to cut back their services.

Basically, the budgeting process works like this: Programs request a certain amount of funding, the Appropriations Committee approves the funding and puts it in their bill, they submit the bill to Congress, and if it passes, the program gets the money. Programs plan on them passing. They rely on their approval from appropriators, and plan accordingly. It is one of Congress’ basic jobs to pass these bills.

I wrote about how this is all going to go down in the 110th Congress in the previous post. Check it out for all the details.

Below is a list of some of the programs that were expecting money in 2007, but now are likely to get much less, or none. This info is straight from the House Appropriations Committee’s website. I am basically changing the money that they were bragging they were going to give out to programs, into money they told programs they were going to get, but wont be giving out because the bill never passed:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be out $70 million, the cost of immunization for 380 thousand children.
• Community Health Care Centers won’t be seeing an expected $206 million that they were going to use to build 300 medical facilities.
• Health Professions Training won’t see “devastating budget cuts” restored
• Instead of $29 million, Area Health Education Centers will receive $0000
• Rural Hospital Flexibility Grants will get $0 instead of $40 million
• The Ryan White AIDS program will be missing $70 million that it could have used for “a new testing initiative at CDC to help stop the spread of this disease through increased levels of testing.”
• Special Education State Grants won’t actually be getting $150 million this year
• Gear Up thought it would get $303 million, but actually will be eliminated. The program “fosters partnerships between low income secondary education institutions and community organizations to encourage students to pursue higher education opportunities.”
• Safe and Drug Free Schools State Assistance program will be eliminated instead of receiving $310 million.
• Head Start will lose funding that will result in 19,000 fewer children in the program.