The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, which advanced by a bipartisan vote of 26-2, and provides $224.4 billion in discretionary funds. 

“This bill supports working families through increased resources for affordable childcare, helps eligible students afford the cost of high education, invests in workforce training, and provides increased funding for life-saving biomedical research,” said Senator Collins.

In drafting the budget for the Education Department, the Senate plan would increase the maximum Pell Grant award from $7,395 to $7,645 for the 2024-2025 school year—a $250 million increase. 

“This bill maintains provisions critical to the departments overseen by the subcommittee and does not include controversial policies that have derailed similar legislation in the past. Addressing the health, education, and labor needs of our country should not be partisan, and I believe this effort reflects that,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Ranking Member of the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

According to the committee summary, the bill will provide $117.0 billion for HHS and about $370 million more in discretionary funds to the Department of Education. 

Few Bill Highlights: 

• $943 million increase for the National Institutes of Health (47.8 billion), and includes $100 million more for Alzheimer’s disease and $100 million more for mental health.
• Over $5 billion to opioid treatment, prevention, and recovery, an increase of $132.5 million above the enacted FY23 level. 

“This bill will help more families get the child care they need with another much-needed boost in child care funding, will make Pell Grants go farther for students, and will strengthen our investments in K-12 schools across the country,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “It will also deliver additional resources to address the growing opioid and mental health crises and to bolster medical breakthroughs that will give people more time with their loved ones. And I am really glad we were able to sustain critical funding to support workers and retirees, protect their rights, and put money back in their pockets—where it belongs.”