December 7, 2007
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Congress to Move Appropriations Legislation Next Week; Funding Cuts Likely
According to Congressional staff, Congress will move on a fiscal year 2008 appropriations measure next week.  The plan is to combine remaining appropriations bills, including the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bill, into one large omnibus package.  The package will most likely be attached as an amendment to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill.  The text of the amendment is scheduled to be posted on the House Rules Committee's web site (www.rules.house.gov/) on the evening of Monday, December 10.  The House is then scheduled to vote on the legislation Tuesday evening, December 11, with the Senate to vote on Wednesday.
Last month, the President vetoed the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, making good on his promise to veto any appropriations legislation that contains spending levels above the administration's request.  The omnibus legislation reportedly will try to meet the President halfway by making approximately $3.5 billion in cuts to the original Labor-HHS-Education bill.  These cuts will not be across-the-board, but are expected to impact every program under the Labor-HHS- Education bill, according to Congressional staff.
The continuing resolution (CR) that is funding federal government agencies for which a FY 2008 appropriations bill has not yet been signed into law, including the Department of Education, runs through next Friday, December 14.  It is likely that even if Congress passes an omnibus appropriations bill next week, it will also have to pass another week-long CR to accommodate the time constraints surrounding the passage of the omnibus legislation.
Take Action!
Because Congress is likely to impose cuts on all programs to draft an FY 2008 appropriations bill that the President will sign, we are urging all of CEC's members to write to their Senators and member of the House to request that they hold the line on the funding levels for IDEA and the Javits grant program for gifted and talented students that were included in the original FY 2008 Labor-HHS- Education appropriations bill that was vetoed by the President.  In the original legislation, IDEA programs received marginal increases over FY 2007 levels, and Javits is at the same funding level as last year.  States and local school districts are already strapped to provide services to children with exceptionalities, and reducing increases will only exacerbate this problem.  Write your Senators and member of the House today and tell them to keep the funding levels for IDEA and Javits!

Send your letter now!

Tell Congress to Include Moratorium on Proposed CMS Regulations in SCHIP Extension or Omnibus Appropriations!
As you know, efforts to impose a moratorium on proposed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations have been thwarted due to the presidential veto of the politically-charged State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization legislation.  This legislation contained a moratorium on proposed CMS regulations that would eliminate rehabilitative, transportation, and administrative claiming for students with IEPs.  If these proposed rules are allowed to stand, states, local school districts, and early childhood providers will have to pay for these much needed services out of their own pockets because Congress has not provided additional funds in IDEA to make up for the estimated $6.7 billion savings over 5 years these regulations would create.
Time is running short to ensure a moratorium on the proposed CMS regulations becomes a reality.  Congress may include the moratorium on an SCHIP extension bill or it may include the moratorium in an omnibus appropriations bill that includes appropriations for the departments of Labor-Health and Human Services-Education for fiscal year 2008.  Urge your member of the House and your Senators to ensure that a moratorium on the proposed CMS regulations is included in either of these pieces of legislation!

Send your letter now.

Justesen Nominated for Assistant Secretary of OSERS
President Bush nominated Tracy Justesen to become the assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the Department of Education. Justesen currently serves as the deputy director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. He previously worked as an attorney in the disability-rights area at the Department of Justice. Justesen also worked at the White House as Associate Director for the Domestic Policy Council. In that position he handled the President's New Freedom Initiative and issues important to individuals with disabilities. It is anticipated that the confirmation hearing will take place in January 2008.

New Center on Response to Intervention
The Department of Education awarded a $14.2 million dollar grant to the American Institutes for Research to create the National Center on Response to Intervention. The Center will serve as the primary source of knowledge, expertise, and resources on Response to Intervention (RTI). School administrators, teachers, and parents will have access to the Center's information, and the Center will also work with schools and districts that wish to expand their RTI programs.
For more information, click here.