The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee met on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 to mark up their fiscal year (FY) 2014 legislation (S. 1284). The bill passed by voice vote.

On Thursday, July 11th, the full Senate Appropriations Committee took up the FY 2014 LHHS bill for consideration. S. 1284 passed the full Committee with a vote of 16-14. The bill and accompanying report are included below.

Senate Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Bill by DrinkerBiddle

Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Committe… by DrinkerBiddle

It is unclear what will happen next. Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) made it clear that she would like to see this bill, and the others that have been approved by the Committee, considered on the Senate Floor. She stated in her introductory statement:  “I was dismayed to hear comments recently that we should not even consider Appropriation bills on the Senate Floor until there is a Conference Agreement on the Budget Resolution. But at the same time, six Senators have objected to a conference on the budget resolution, where this problem should be resolved.” Her full statement is available on the Appropriations website.

To date, the House has been silent on the LHHS bill. The most likely scenario is a Continuing Resolution (CR) before September 30th.

While the Senate bill may never become law, it will be used to negotiate the CR. The report is also a clear message to agencies and in many cases, agency responses to the report language are included in President’s budget the following year.