The U.S. House of Representatives Will Vote on Compromise
Year-End Funding Bill, including VAWA and VOCA Funding, on
Tuesday, December 11;
The Senate Will Vote Later in the Week
BACKGROUND
The House will take up a bill on Tuesday combining all unfinished
appropriations for FY 2008, including the Labor-Health and Human
Services and Education (LHHS) and Commerce, Justice, Science
(CJS) appropriations bills, which include VAWA and VOCA funding
(e.g., SASP, Rural Grants Program, RPE) and many other
programs on which survivors and their children rely including, Head
Start, child care, housing assistance, and home energy aid.
October 27,
2007 Includes funding levels for programs affecting sexual
and domestic violence for Fiscal Year 2008.
The Senate is expected to take up the bill later in the week. In
order to win over enough votes to increase buy-in from Members of
Congress, the Democratic leadership is expected to cut $10.6
billion from its previously approved total – “splitting the difference”
between Congress' funding request and the President's budget
request. Although we have not seen the exact bill yet, we
know that this is our last chance to possibly see the increases we
have won throughout the appropriations process. While
Congress has had to make cuts to their spending request, to align
closer to the President, we hope that our grassroots calls have
encouraged Members of Congress to maintain the increases to
VAWA and VOCA programs.
WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT
The President has threatened to veto the compromise bill and has
refused to negotiate. If Members of Congress vote for the original
bill, they are more likely to vote to override the President’s
threatened veto.
If the President’s veto is sustained, then Congress has to go back
to the drawing board to cut domestic spending to President’s
recommended levels or enact a “continuing resolution,” a measure
to fund the programs while decisions are at a stalemate. Both
options have dire consequences. A cut in domestic spending to
President’s levels will be a blow as well as a continuing resolution
which could last until March, and would not include increases to
our programs and would leave us at a lower point for negotiations
next year.
We may also need you to call again if the President does decide to
veto, to urge Members of Congress to override his veto.
