Here’s my statement in response to the passage of House Resolution 38, a bill instructing the House Budget Chair to reduce non-security discretionary spending to fiscal year 2008 level, or less, by a vote of 256-165:
A blanket resolution to roll back federal spending to 2008 levels would have grave consequences for the Pell Grant, a cornerstone financial aid program used by close to 9 million low and middle income students currently, to help pay for college.
Based on preliminary estimates, the Pell grant maximum under this proposal would be slashed by over $1,500 from current award levels to the neediest students, while hundreds of thousands more would see their grant aid reduced by over 25 percent. Most importantly, a $1,500 cut would immediately impact college students’ ability to get the training they need to graduate and join the recovering workforce.
We encourage the House of Representatives to fully fund the education programs that are vital to economic recovery.