House Passes Budget Resolution With Promise of More Education Funding

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a fiscal-2007 budget resolution with the promise of greater funding for education than the Bush administration originally proposed. The nonbinding resolution cleared the House on a vote of 218-210.

Led by Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., Republican advocates of increased spending on health and education programs won a commitment from the House leadership to raise the overall allocation for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education by nearly $7.2 billion, of which $4.6 billion would be targeted to education accounts. Of the $7.2 billion, $3.1 billion would become available only if offsetting reductions were made elsewhere in the budget. 

The budget resolution establishes overall parameters for spending and taxation decisions, which then are fleshed out in the appropriations process. The House version still must be reconciled with the budget resolution passed earlier this year by the U.S. Senate. But coming so late in the budget process, it’s unclear whether Congress will be able to agree on a final budget resolution.