Government Shutdown Ends
On Wednesday, November 12, the House of Representatives voted 222-209 to reopen the federal government after 43 days, the longest government shutdown in history. The President signed the legislation into law soon after the House vote. The House vote follows a Senate vote of 60-40 on November 10. Eight Senate Democrats, including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, joined Republican Senators in supporting a procedural motion Sunday, November 9 to pave the way for legislative action to end the shutdown. The same Senators supported the final Continuing Resolution (CR).Bipartisan negotiations had continued throughout the weekend, resulting in a deal to reopen the government which includes: a CR to temporarily fund the government until January 30 combined with the bipartisan Agriculture, Veterans/Military Construction, and Legislative Branch Appropriations bills; and a commitment to a December vote in the Senate on extending the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Key Impacts for Education:
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Department of Education Staff – The CR requires that employees who were laid off during the shutdown be rehired and compensated along with all other federal employees. This is of particular importance for the Department of Education as both the Office of Special Education Programs and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education had been the targets of Reductions in Force (RIFs) during the shutdown. The bill prohibits future RIFs until January 30.
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SNAP and Child Nutrition Funding – The spending deal included passage of the annual Agriculture Appropriations Act which contains year-long funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and child nutrition programs such as the National School Lunch Program, protecting these programs from further delays in funding. The bill also includes funding to reimburse the contingency funds for SNAP and WIC for expenditures during the shutdown.
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Education Program Funding – Much of education funding is “forward funded,” meaning funds are appropriated in advance of the coming fiscal year, and was therefore not impacted by the shutdown. The CR restores funding for education programs that are not fully forward funded, such as the Impact Aid program, which provides funding for schools with federal lands in place of local tax revenue. The reopening of the government will also restore grant making and other functions of the Department of Education, which had lapsed during the shutdown.