(Washington) – A bill sponsored by Senator Judd Gregg to fully fund special education will be voted on next Wednesday by the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP). The bill would increase funding for special education by $2 billion each year over the next ten years, thus meeting the federal government's previous commitment to pay 40 percent of the cost of this program. Following its expected approval in the HELP Committee, the bill will be acted on by the full Senate.

In addition, Senator Gregg was able to secure another special education funding increase this year, including an additional $1.29 billion in the education appropriations bill. If enacted, this amount would increase the federal share to 15.9%, up from 6% just four years ago.

Senator Gregg has been the leading voice in the Senate for full funding of special education. As a member of the key education panels in the Senate -- the Senate Appropriations' Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and the HELP Committee -- Senator Gregg has been able to make significant progress in increasing the federal government's share of the special education costs nationwide, raising it from $3.1 billion in 1996 to a proposed $6.29 billion for 2001. This translates into more than a 100 percent increase for New Hampshire over the last four years. New Hampshire's share has gone from $10.6 million in 1996 to over $21.7 million in 2000. (See attached chart for additional information.)

Senator Gregg stated, "Governments lose public trust when they fail to live up to their commitments. The chronic under-funding of special education costs by the federal government has forced local governments and taxpayers to make up the difference. Until I started working to make the federal government live up to its commitment to fund 40 percent of the costs, the government was paying only 6 or 7 percent. Over the last four years, I have been able to double the federal government's contribution to 12.6 percent.