Legislative Update: The Final Months of the 111th Congress — What We Can Expect

With Election Day behind us, Congress returned to work in Washington on November 15, kicking off the two-month lame duck session of the 111th Congress. The participants of the lame duck session are the sitting Members of the existing Congress, not the newly elected Members of Congress who begin their term in January 2011, the start of the 112th Congress. Since 1940, Congress has held a total of 17 lame duck sessions. History has shown that lame duck sessions vary in accomplishments; some have included short sessions tackling minor items while in other lame duck sessions the Congress has reauthorized major bills.

During the current lame duck session, Congress has much on its plate. Its top priorities are the START treaty, the annual defense bill, the DREAM Act, unemployment benefits, passing the Medicare “fix” which prevents the recurring 23% cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, and extending the Bush tax cuts. The Democrats also need to fund the government for 2011; Congress has not passed a single spending bill and without some kind of spending measure the federal government will shut down.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Reauthorization

Marking the longest time between reauthorizations since its passage in 1965, Congress failed to address the updating of the nation’s largest federal education law, currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). While both the House and Senate held numerous hearings to inform the process, and committees on both sides claimed continued work on a bi-partisan basis, neither chamber introduced ESEA bills. Given the make-up of the incoming 112th Congress, a full-blown reauthorization of ESEA is considered by many to be unlikely. Therefore, a bill to address NCLB’s most pressing issues could be seen in 2011.

Federal Funding for IDEA

The current Congress will likely not complete work on the FY 2011 appropriations bills that provide funding for the U.S. government, including education funding. The appropriations for education funding, part of the Labor, Health and Human Services Education bill, include funds to assist states and local school districts with the excess cost of special education as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has proposed an increase of 3.3% for IDEA over FY 2010, while the Senate full Appropriations Committee bill contains an increase of $448 million over the previous year, or 3.5%. Both proposals leave the funding level far below the promised amount of 40% of the average per pupil expenditure nationally.

Whether passed as a free-standing Labor, HHS, Education bill or as part of a larger Omnibus appropriations bill, significant increases for IDEA are unlikely, primarily because of the enormous additional funding for IDEA provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or Stimulus bill passed in 2009. The ARRA IDEA funding, which totaled $12.2 billion, must be obligated by the end of September 2011. Congress will decide by the end of this week if it extends the Continuing Resolution (which currently funds the government) or if there would be one vote on an Omnibus spending bill. The Omnibus would group together the budgets for all of the departments in the United States government for one year.

Happy Birthday IDEA! Celebrating 35 Years of Progress in Educating Children with Disabilities

On November 29, 1975, the U.S. Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Public Law (P.L.) 94-142. This landmark law—together with subsequent amendments as currently reflected in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; P.L. 108-446) — supports states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving results for infants, toddlers, children, and youths with disabilities and their families. Read Assistant Secretary Alexa Posny’s remarks at the IDEA – 35th year Anniversary Celebration held on November 18, 2010 in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010

Congress passed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, legislation that will significantly improve accessibility of communications services and equipment for Americans with disabilities. Among other things, the bill requires the captioning of any online video that is closed captioned on TV, and asks the FCC to study captioning of Web-original video. It also requires smart phones and other mobile devices to be accessible to the disabled, if that is achievable, and restores the FCC's video description rules thrown out by the courts in 2002.

Rosa’s Law

A bill to replace the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” with “intellectual disability” and “individual with an intellectual disability” throughout federal health, education and labor policy passed the Congress with bipartisan support. The bill, named after Rosa Marcellino, a Maryland girl who has Down syndrome, was signed into law by President Obama in early October.