The House Appropriations Committee on June 13 approved a bill that would finance the Department of Education at $56 billion in fiscal 2007, a 2.4 percent decrease from fiscal 2006, according to a department analysis.
The measure was approved on a voice vote.
Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that deals with education funding, announced at the hearing that committee members set aside $500 million of the appropriation for labor, education, and health and human services programs for earmarks, which are typically spent on local projects or programs.
Democrats on the committee put forth a substitute amendment that would have added $6.3 billion for health, education, and labor programs. The substitute failed on a party-line vote, 36-26.
