January 03, 2006
JNCL-NCLIS Legislative Alert
On January 6 and 7, the State Department, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and the Education Department are hosting a meeting-"the U.S. University Presidents Summit and Education Stakeholders on National Security Foreign Language Initiatives." On Thursday, January 6, the President of the United States will address the assembly regarding our national foreign language needs and new policies. For more information visit the JNCL-NCLIS website at www.languagepolicy.org
In the final weeks of the year, the House and the Senate worked out the different between the two appropriation proposals and passed the conference report on HR 3010, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations for FY 2006. The President signed this bill into law on December 30, 2005.
Funding for numerous education programs was reduced in the FY06 budget process. The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) was one of the few programs that received an increase. FLAP received $21.7 million, a $4 million increase from the FY05 funding level. As in previous years, the President and the House Appropriations Committee did not request funding for FLAP, in effect attempting to eliminate the program. The Senate Appropriations Committee restored the program within the Education budget. There is no information yet on whether these funds will be distributed as FLIP grants (as they were in FY02) or as FLAP grants (the competition-based process). When the application is published, we will post it on the JNCL-NCLIS website. Educational and Cultural Exchanges also was increased from $360 million to $437.1 million.
In higher education, international education and foreign language studies, graduate assistance in areas of national needs, and Javits fellowships all experienced a one percent across-the-board decrease. The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) was stripped of any earmarks and funded at $22 million.
The budget decreased the level of funding for bilingual education programs. The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) (what was formerly OBEMLA), received $669.7 million for FY 2006, a $6.7 million decrease from FY 05’s level of $675.7 million.
President Bush is expected to release his budget for FY 2007 in February. Please check the JNCL-NCLIS website in the beginning of February. We will be asking you to write your members of Congress to request an increase funding for FLAP and Title VI programs.