September 15, 2004

The Senate Appropriations Committee marked-up the FY2005 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill today. The full committee approved the subcommittee's decision to fund the Perkins Loan Federal Capital Contribution and Loan Cancellations at FY2004 levels. This will mean that for FY2005, the Perkins Loan Program will receive $98.8 million for the Perkins Loan Federal Capital Contribution and $66.7 million for Loan Cancellations. At this point, there is no information on when the appropriations bill will be brought to the Senate floor for debate.

Last week, the House passed its FY2005 Labor, Heath and Human Services, and Education bill, which does not fund the Capital Contribution.

So far, the letters and calls to Members of Congress have been instrumental in letting them know how important Perkins Loan funding is. We need to the letters to continue as the FY2005 appropriations process enters the endgame to ensure that the Perkins Loan Program continues to receive funding in FY2005 and beyond.

Harrison: hwadsworth@wpllc.net
Andrew: astringer@wpllc.net