COABE News
Public Policy Update, by Jackie Taylor
Dear COABE,
Thank you to everyone for your outstanding advocacy efforts this year to increase adult education funding and to save Even Start. The House and Senate have agreed on a final appropriations bill, which includes a $72 million increase for adult education (breakdown is below). This largely goes to correct a funding calculation error in the funding formula. It also includes level funding for Even Start ($66.454 million).
The full House voted and passed the appropriations bill yesterday (the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2010, a 'minibus' of which adult education is a part). The Senate is expected to vote before December 18, when the Continuing Resolution expires. Then it goes to the White House for the President to sign.
Also, please keep your eye out next week for an alert with respect to reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act - the legislation that makes our federally-funded adult education programs possible.
Thanks again for your advocacy efforts - we can and do make a difference every day.
Happy Holiday...Jackie
Jackie Taylor
COABE Public Policy Chair
NCL Public Policy Co-Chair
From Art Ellison, Coordinator of the Single Point of Contact Network:
The final budget figures are good news for adult education. Even Start will be level funded at $66 million and adult education will receive a $72 million increase. The increase in adult education funding is distributed as follows: $46 million to those states that lost funding from 2003-2008 due to an administrative error in the funding formula. The $46 million will go in July to the following states:
Alabama $2,639,984 Arizona $829,214 Arkansas $1,344,687 California $4,699,085 Delaware $79,866
Florida $6,073,066 Georgia $1,967,783 Kentucky $2,384,222 Louisiana $932,844 Mississippi $1,407,081
Nevada $676,496 New York $4,010,804 North Carolina $4,580,842 Rhode Island $370,557
South Carolina $1,867,302 Tennessee $3,212,112 Texas $2,341,220 West Virginia $1,130,606
District of Columbia $299,654
The remaining $26 million will be distributed to all of the states according to the new ACS formula that the Office of Adult and Vocational Education is now using.
Updated: June 8, 2010