By Laura Walling, Senior Director of Government Relations, Goodwill Industries International
Approximately six months into Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill, funding the government for the remainder of the year, which ends on September 30. Until this point, the government had been running on a series of short-term continuing resolutions, the last of which was set to expire on March 11. While the House and Senate passed the measure before the deadline, another short-term resolution was put in place until March 15 to allow time to prepare the bill for the President’s signature. The final bill was a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that reflects key demands of Republican negotiators – a preservation of longstanding policy riders and parity in the overall level of funding increases – with a 6.7% increase for domestic programming and defense-related programming increased by 5.7%
To reach bipartisan agreement needed for passage, significant cuts to the increases for domestic programs proposed by the Administration and Congressional appropriators. The funding allotted to programs in the Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education accounts reflects this agreement — a 7.7% total increase, which is significant, although far below the 28% increase included in the House Labor-HHS bill or 21% increase in the Senate Labor-HHS bill.
Total Department of Labor funding grew by 3.6%, with a 4.5% bump for the Employment and Training Administration ($455 million), largely coming from three accounts – a $235 million increase for UI state operations, additional $50 million for Apprenticeship programming, and $137 million allotted for earmarks. The Department of Education only received a 3.8% increase, despite the Administration’s budget request seeking a historic 41% increase.
Of note to Goodwill® includes level funding for the Senior Service Community Employment Program, which supports older workers, and slight increases for employment and training programs focused on youth, adults, apprentices, dislocated workers, veterans, and those impacted by the justice system.
The bill initially included additional funding for COVID-related items including treatment, testing, and domestic and international vaccine distribution. However, the proposed $15 billion came out of funds already allocated to states and localities. Due to opposition over the pay, the provision was taken out of the bill and may be voted on by the House in a separate measure with an uncertain fate in the Senate.
With the FY22 bill finally enacted, we are shifting our focus to Fiscal Year 2023. President Biden’s budget proposal is expected to be released soon.
