Latest from CEF. The news is all about the FY 2017 funding bill. Part II lists the four options for this week. My money is on #1. I still think #2 is possible (if only to hold to my long ago prediction!) but we were told a couple of weeks ago at CEF meeting just before Congress went on recess that staff had not been asked to prepare for a full-year CR, which is what you would expect they would have been asked to do if there was concern among their bosses that this might be needed. Regarding the reference to “funding for ObamaCare” also noted in Part II below, here is what that is all about: Last Friday, Mick Mulvaney, head of OMB, said that what the administration basically wanted to do was trade Republican support for including reimbursement money owed to insurers that gave discounted deductibles to low-income ObamaCare enrollees in return for Democrats backing an equivalent amount for Trump border wall money. I continue to believe that Democrats are not going to agree to this. Remember that while Democrats do control either the Senate or the House, they have *some leverage* — even in the House, where there are enough likely defections on the Republican side (among hard right members, who are not going to vote for anything that doesn’t drastically cut everything) that the House can’t really pass a funding bill without some Democratic support. Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sheryl Cohen <cohen@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update: 04.24.17 - 302(b) sign-on letter, appropriations status, CEF's new bookkeeper > Date: April 24, 2017 at 5:06:19 PM EDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@americancontinentalgroup.onmicrosoft.com> > > > > > Monday, April 24, 2017 > > Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram (both “@edfunding”) to spread our advocacy to a broader social media audience! > > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. Advocacy > · Deadline extended - CEF letter supporting higher funding for 2018 Labor-HHS-Education bill – Thank you to all who have already signed on to the letter <http://www.publichealthfunding.org/uploads/302bSignOn.FY2018.pdf> urging Congressional appropriators to increase the allocation for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Close to 700 organizations have already signed on to the letter, being circulated jointly by CEF, the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce, and the Coalition for Health Funding. We are continuing to push for raising the cap on non-defense discretionary spending from the austere sequester level to allow more funding for a variety of non-defense needs. The Labor-HHS-ED bill did not receive a proportional share of the extra funding when the caps were last raised two years ago. > > We encourage all CEF members and their affiliates to sign the letter. You can check if your organization has already signed by searching for it on the attached spreadsheet (it hasn’t yet been scrubbed, so we know some organizations still appear more than once on the list). If you’d like to sign, CLICK HERE BY COB APRIL 28, 2017 <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFVa1pSlj8S27rus-MkHXOOp9P5ATcoVamDboWyjR3WfwLZw/viewform?usp=send_form>. > > > II. Policy Intelligence and Education News > > · FY 2017 funding decisions due this week – Funding for most government agencies expires at midnight on Friday, but big picture disagreements remain between the White House and Congress about which priorities to include in legislation to fund the government for the remaining 5 months of FY 2017. Negotiations have been ongoing behind the scenes and we’re still hearing that most of the funding issues in the Labor-HHS-Education bill are close to being settled. What is holding up the process are the White House’s request to include some funding to start building a wall along the border with Mexico, funding for Obamacare, and presumably how to handle some perennially thorny policy riders. House members are not back in session until tomorrow, leaving little time to negotiate final compromises. We’ll see one of the following: > 1. yet another short-term continuing resolution (CR) that keeps last year’s funding in place while Congress finalizes the bills; > 2. a year-long CR that signifies an inability to agree on new funding levels (there would need to be many exceptions to accommodate changes that occurred since the 2016 funding bills were enacted); > 3. an omnibus package of individual FY 2017 appropriations bills, possibly mixed with CRs for some bills; or > 4. a government shutdown if Congress cannot pass any of the first three options. Neither the White House nor Congress want a shutdown, so this doesn’t seem that likely. > > We’ll let you know what we are hearing, and circulate funding tables as soon as we have any information. > > III. CEF Events and Administration > > · CEF’s new bookkeeper – As of May 1, Robin Weiner of “Checks and Balances, Inc.” will succeed Daniel Cabrera as CEF’s bookkeeper. Some of you have already interacted with Robin, who works at the ACG offices and has been handling deposits on our end since June. Starting next week, please direct all questions about invoices or other CEF accounting issues her way at Weiner@cef.org <mailto:Weiner@cef.org> or 202-327-8125. As a reminder, please make sure your billing office has CEF’s current address: CEF, c/o American Continental Group, 1800 M Street, NW, Suite 500 South, Washington, DC 20036. (A number of checks for 2017 dues were mailed to CEF’s previous address, causing confusion and delay.) > > · CEF’s schedule for the next month – > o Friday, April 28, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AASCU, 1307 NY Ave, NW). Guest speaker: Emily Goff, Senior Policy Advisor, House Budget Committee Majority Staff > o Friday, May 5, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AASCU, 1307 NY Ave, NW). Guest speaker: Amy Jones, Director of Education Policy, House Education and the Workforce Committee Majority Staff > o Friday, May 12 – No meeting > o Friday, May 19, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AFSCME, 1625 L ST, NW). Guest speaker: TBD > o Friday, May 26, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AASCU, 1307 NY Ave, NW). Guest speaker: TBD > > My best, > > Sheryl > > > Sheryl V. Cohen, Executive Director > > > 1800 M Street, NW > Suite 500 South > Washington, DC 20036 > T: 202-327-8125 > cohen@cef.org <mailto:cohen@cef.org> > www.cef.org <http://www.cef.org/>