| March 19, 1999 |
Contacts: Edmund
Amorosi Erin Rath 202-224-3324 202-224-4952 Fax |
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(Washington, D.C.) -- U.S. Senator Judd Gregg successfully included an additional $2.5 billion in funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) over the next 5 years in the FY 2000 Budget Resolution which passed through the Senate Budget Committee yesterday. For the third year in a row, Senator Gregg, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, has successfully worked to increase the federal commitment to special education in the Budget Resolution. This $2.5 billion increase in funding would result in an additional $500 million in special education funding each year, which would bring the federal government closer to paying its fair share of the costs of this important program. When IDEA was originally enacted in 1975, the federal government promised to fund 40 percent of the costs. Today, funding is only at 11.7 percent; however, over the past 5 years, the Senate Republican Leadership has renewed its commitment to fully fund this act. In Fiscal Year 1999, the Republican Congress increased federal grants to states under IDEA by $500 million for a total of $4.3 billion, an increase of nearly $2 billion over the past three years. Senator Gregg commented, "Funding special education remains a high priority of mine, and one that I will continue to fight hard for. Education for disabled students is important, and I am proud that our country has committed itself to ensuring that students receive the education they deserve; however, this mandate is costly and local schools should not have to bear this burden alone. It is crucial that we hold the federal government to its promise of fulfilling its obligation and easing the funding burden on states. I am pleased that Congress continues to work its way up to paying its fair share of special education costs, and the language that I have included in this year's budget take yet another step in attaining that goal." Although the Congress has promised to pay 40 percent, until Senator Gregg got involved, the federal government was paying only a paltry 6 percent. Over the past three years, at Senator Gregg's strong insistence, special education funding for New Hampshire has risen from $10 million in 1996 to $19 million in 1999. Senator Gregg remains concerned that states and local districts are still bearing the major burden in funding special education and will continue to use his positions on the Committee on Appropriations, the Budget Committee, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to work toward fulfilling the federal obligation of funding special education. ### |