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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2013 Appropriations Overview



Karen E. Lynch, Coordinator
Specialist in Social Policy

David H. Bradley
Specialist in Labor Economics

Gail McCallion
Specialist in Social Policy

Pamela W. Smith
Analyst in Biomedical Policy

Scott Szymendera
Analyst in Disability Policy


This report provides an overview of actions taken by Congress to provide FY2013 appropriations for the accounts funded by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-ED) appropriations bill. The L-HHS-ED bill provides funding for all accounts subject to the annual appropriations process at the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Education (ED). It provides annual appropriations for most agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with certain exceptions (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration is funded via the Agriculture bill). The L-HHS-ED bill also provides funding for more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration.

Congress did not enact a regular L-HHS-ED appropriations bill prior to the beginning of FY2013. Instead, FY2013 funding for programs typically supported by the L-HHS-ED bill has been provided—through March 27, 2013—by a government-wide continuing resolution (CR). The CR (H.J.Res. 117) was signed into law (P.L. 112-175) on September 28, 2012, and generally maintains funding for discretionary programs at their FY2012 rates, plus 0.612%.

Before enacting the FY2013 CR, both the House and Senate had initiated actions on FY2013 LHHS- ED bills. The House Appropriations L-HHS-ED Subcommittee approved a draft FY2013 LHHS- ED bill on July 18, 2012. This bill has not yet been marked up by the full committee and a detailed table on programs that would be funded by the bill has not been made publicly available. As such, this report includes only limited information on the draft House subcommittee bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its FY2013 L-HHS-ED bill on June 14, 2012 (S. 3295, S.Rept. 112-176). The committee report estimates that this bill would provide $166.0 billion in discretionary funds, which is about 1.2% more than the committee’s estimate of comparable FY2012 funds ($164.1 billion). In addition, the committee report estimates the bill would provide $611.6 billion in mandatory funds, for a combined total of $777.6 billion (+4.9% from the comparable FY2012 funding level).

On February 13, 2012, prior to the initiation of congressional action on FY2013 appropriations, the Obama Administration released the FY2013 President’s Budget. The President’s Budget, as estimated in the committee report accompanying the FY2013 Senate bill (S.Rept. 112-176), called for $166.1 billion in discretionary funding for L-HHS-ED accounts (+1.2% from FY2012). In addition, the President’s Budget requested $611.6 billion in mandatory funding, for a combined total of $777.6 billion (+4.9% from FY2012) in L-HHS-ED appropriations. 

DOL:
The FY2013 Senate committee bill would provide roughly $12.3 billion in discretionary funding for DOL. This amount is 1.7% less than the comparable FY2012 funding level of $12.6 billion and 3.0% more than the FY2013 request of $12.0 billion, as estimated in S.Rept. 112-176. 

HHS:
The FY2013 Senate committee bill would provide roughly $71.0 billion in discretionary funding for HHS. This amount is 2% more than the comparable FY2012 funding level of $69.6 billion and 1.4% more than the FY2013 request of $70.0 billion, as estimated in S.Rept. 112-176. 

ED:
The FY2013 Senate committee bill would provide roughly $68.5 billion in discretionary funding for ED. This amount is 0.6% more than the comparable FY2012 funding level of $68.1 billion and 2.0% less than the FY2013 request of $69.9 billion, as estimated in S.Rept. 112-176. 

Related Agencies:
The FY2013 Senate committee bill would provide roughly $14.1 billion in discretionary funding for related agencies included in L-HHS-ED appropriations. This amount is 2.3% more than the comparable FY2012 funding level of $13.8 billion and 0.2% less than the FY2013 request of $14.2 billion, as estimated in S.Rept. 112-176.



Date of Report: October 26, 2012
Number of Pages: 39
Order Number: R42588
Price: $29.95

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