Support training, other human services in FY'12.

UPDATE: The final version of the joint letter, with more than 500 signatories, was sent to appropriators on September 2.

National Skills Coalition has joined with nearly 300 other organizations on a letter urging congressional appropriators to prioritize funding for health, education, job training, social services, and children’s programs under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bills.

The recent legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling—the Budget Control Act of 2011—established an overall spending cap for non-security discretionary spending in FY 2012 that is about $3 billion below the levels authorized under the FY 2011 continuing resolution. The House and Senate appropriations committees must now set specific funding levels (referred to as “302(b) allocations”) for each of the appropriations bills, including the Labor-HHS bill. The letter, which is being circulated by the Committee for Education Funding, the Coalition on Health Funding, and the newly-forming Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, calls on appropriators to ensure that the final 302(b) allocations for the Labor-HHS bill support meaningful investments in federal programs that contribute to the health and well-being of millions of Americans.

The deadline for signatures on the letter is Friday, September 2; organizations should contact Broderick Johnson at BJohnson@rabengroup.com to sign on.