Summary of FY12 budget workforce proposals.

On April 15, the House of Representatives approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget resolution (H.Con.Res.34). The budget resolution, which is supposed to be adopted jointly by the House and Senate each year, sets spending limits across nineteen broad federal “functions” (such as agriculture, transportation, etc.), creating an overall blueprint for the appropriations committees as they allocate federal funding for specific programs. The budget resolution can also include instructions to authorizing committees, requiring them to develop legislation that results in long-term savings – although it is ultimately up to the committees to determine how to achieve these savings – and often includes a range of other substantive policy recommendations which, though technically non-binding, can significantly shape policy debates in Washington.

The FY 2012 House budget resolution seeks to reduce federal spending by approximately $4.3 trillion over the next ten years, primarily through steep cuts and structural changes in health care, income support, and other programs that have traditionally provided the social “safety net” for working individuals and their families. Of particular concern to workforce development advocates are a series of recommendations and assumptions included in the House budget resolution relating to job training and education assistance programs that promise to significantly reduce access to these critical services for a broad range of U.S. jobseekers and students.

The Democratically-controlled Senate will not adopt the House-passed budget resolution. However, House leaders have made clear that they intend to push for adoption of annual federal spending caps – likely as a condition for raising the debt ceiling – at or near the levels proposed in the House budget. If adopted, such caps almost certainly ensure that appropriations for workforce and other discretionary programs in FY 2012 and beyond will be significantly lower than current funding levels.

Read National Skills Coalition’s summary of key workforce–related recommendations in the budget resolution.