With a second continuing resolution that extended FY 2020 funding until December 20, 2019 due to expire, late Thursday Senator Richard Shelby (D-AL) and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) as respective chairs of the two appropriations committees announced a final deal on the 12 appropriations bills.

How funding is divided should be released soon along with how the 12 bills will be voted on. There appears to be an agreement not to pass one omnibus but at least two or more. The House had adopted spending level that was much higher than the final agreement reached between the House and Senate in the late summer. As a result, many of the increases in the House-passed appropriations, especially Labor-HHS-Education, will be reduced. The more complex challenge of the President’s demand for $5 billion in new funding for the wall between Mexico and the United States has not been formally announced but there have been suggestions that the bill will not prevent the President from transferring funds from one area to the next but that Congress would not “backfill” those cuts/transfers. The President has been attempting to build some of the wall by taking it from the Military Construction budget.

The Senate marker for the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations is legislation they released on September 18 that was never voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate bill provides virtually no increases for child care, Head Start, CAPTA state grants, CB-CAP child abuse prevention funds, and many other vital human services.

CWLA has been focusing on key funding increases in the House FY 2020 Labor-HHS appropriations. CAPTA state grants receive an increase to $90 million (a $5 million increase) and a historic $35 million increase for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) to $75 million. The bill maintains the Adoption-Kinship Incentive fund at $75 million to cover the anticipated incentives.