The Senate passed the FY 2008 education spending bill (H.R. 3043) by a 56 to 37 vote, after Republicans used a procedural rule to extract the veterans' affairs spending bill that had been attached to the bill.
Senate Democrats were unable to get the two-thirds majority needed to override President Bush's impending veto. The separated spending bills must now go back to the House for another vote. The House is expected to vote on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill as early as today.
The Labor-HHS-Education spending bill is expected to be the first spending bill sent to the president. The bill includes a $125 increase in the Pell Grant - bringing the maximum grant to $4,925.
"The President is rejecting this bill because it includes $4.5 billion more for education than the President included in his budget," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) during debate on the Senate floor. "He has requested $158 billion for the war in Iraq this year - that's $433 million per day."
Democrats had hoped that combining the Labor-HHS-Education bill with the popular veterans' affairs bill would enable them to gain enough Republican support to overturn the president's veto, but so far, they have been unable to secure the two-thirds majority needed to overturn a veto.
Since Bush's re-election, the administration has worked to cut Labor-HHS-Education spending below prior year levels. Lawmakers have rejected the cuts and this year has been no different. Bush's FY 2008 budget issued February recommended approximately $2.2 billion in program eliminations for the Department of Education. Student aid programs slated for elimination in the President's budget request included SEOG, Perkins Loan cancellations, and LEAP accounting for more than 40 percent of the total cuts the administration sought. Congress has rejected those cuts and restored funding at the FY 2007 levels for the three programs.
Media Coverage
By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Assistant Director for Communications
Posted 11/08/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
