Press Release from Congressman David Weldon

May 3, 2000

Rep. Weldon Votes to Increase Education Funding
IDEA bill authorizes full funding for special education programs

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure which will fully fund the federal government’s goal under part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The goal, as was established in 1975, was to support 40% of the federal mandates to educate special needs children. The $160 billion bill, H.R. 4055, authorizes appropriations to fully fund the federal share by 2010.

Rep. Dave Weldon, (R- Palm Bay) said, “Under the Democrat Congress only 7% of the federal share was funded by the federal government. Over the past five years, Republicans have been able to nearly double that, each year out funding President Clinton’s request. But it is still not enough. Today we have taken a step in the right direction to fully fund the federal government’s goal of 40% of our federal mandates.”

Rep. Weldon continued, “Our children deserve the best education possible. For years, the federal government has enacted mandates that it has been unwilling to fully fund. Unfortunately, that means that these mandates had to be paid for out of the local school district’s general budget, taking money away from their other priorities and forcing that money to be spent on these federal programs. By keeping our promise and fully funding IDEA, local school districts can use their own money to pay for their priorities whether that be books, school construction, more teachers, or additional technology equipment.”

“Liberals in Congress want to create broad new federal programs to address a host of issues, I say let’s fully fund the massive unfunded mandate in IDEA and free up state and local dollars so that schools can meet their own priorities.”

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