Senate appropriations committee approves bipartisan bill to restore year-round Pell

By: Sabrina Rodriguez

Politico

The Senate Appropriations Committee today advanced a bipartisan Labor-Health and Human Services-Education spending bill that would restore year-round Pell Grants, but also redirects some of the program's surplus funding away from student aid.

Senators overwhelmingly showed support for the bill in a 29-1 vote to report it out.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers praised the move to restore year-round Pell Grants, which were included as part of a deal reached by Labor-HHS appropriations subcommittee chairman Roy Blunt and ranking member Patty Murray.

Murray and Senate HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander celebrated the compromise agreement for including the restoration of year-round Pell. Murray called it "important steps in the right direction" and Alexander said it was "the most important news to come out of Congress for college students this year."

But while senators celebrated, education advocates have expressed their frustrations with the use of Pell surplus funding for other programs in the bill. The Pell Grant program has an estimated $7.8 billion surplus. Under the bill, some of that surplus will be allocated towards helping fund other programs, such as a $2 billion boost to research at the National Institutes of Health.

"It is deeply concerning to see funding taken out of a program designed to expand access to higher education," said Rory O'Sullivan, deputy director of Young Invincibles, in a statement. "While the impact may not be felt today, this decision undermines our country's commitment to hard-working students."

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21e1a50ccbffae7ab04471bf0b178b5f5ff6c0c4a06575589edc3232988f1b71