Washinton, DC March 16, 2006 The Specter/Harkin amendment passed 73-27, with the support of half the Republican Senators. Passage of this amendment is a first step in increasing funding for programs in the jurisdiction of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee.

The next hurdle is the vote on final passage of the overall Budget Resolution later tonight. Senior Members of the Budget Committee indicated to us, as late as an hour ago, that the vote on final passage will be very tight, there may not be enough votes to pass the overall Budget Resolution.

However, even if the overall resolution does not pass, the Specter/Harkin vote sends a very strong signal that the Administration's funding proposal for Labor- HHS programs is inadequate and Senate Appropriators, who are charged with dividing up the overall budget into specific program funding levels, need to provide much greater resources for Labor- HHS programs this year.

Learn more...