June 7, 2006

Earlier this morning the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) marked up their FY2007 appropriations bill and reported the recommended bill to the full Appropriations Committee. This bill would fund the Perkins Loan Program.

The Subcommittee rejected the President’s proposal to eliminate the Perkins Loan Program and transfer $664 million in Perkins Loan funds during the year to other programs. The bill funds Loan Cancellations at last year’s level – approximately $65.4 million. Unfortunately, the bill again fails to fund the Federal Capital Contribution, choosing instead to add $349 million in funding for Pell Grants so as to increase the maximum grant to $4,150.

The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to mark-up the bill early next week with floor action occurring before the end of June. The Senate Appropriations Committee is also expected to begin action on its version of the legislation this month, although final action is likely to be delayed.

For more information on the entire appropriations bill visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/_files/LH_Detail_SCWEB.pdf

COHEAO will keep all members updates as more information becomes available.

Andrew Stringer
Legislative Associate
Washington Partners, LLC
(P) 202-289-3903
(F) 202-371-0197
astringer@wpllc.net