News

“Fiscal cliff” averted after deal clears House

Congress has started its climb back up the “fiscal cliff.”

After House Republicans finally relented to the Senate’s “far from perfect” plan (as many members put it), the House Tuesday night passed the bill 257-167 with GOP and Democratic support.

The bill received 85 Republican votes, after GOP lawmakers huddled for hours Tuesday, wringing their hands over the lack of spending cuts in the bill. House leaders considered holding a vote on an amendment to add a $323 billion package of spending cuts, but the Democratic-led Senate said it wouldn’t accept an amended bill. Democrats, while also expressing concerns about the deal, largely supported the measure with just 16 voting against it.
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Education

If ‘fiscal cliff’ talks fail, teachers’ jobs, student aid, Head Start could at risk

If budget talks fail and automatic spending cuts take hold, federal spending on education would be cut by about 8 percent across a broad range of programs, including money for special education, low-income students and schools near military bases, The Sun Herald reported.

Compounding the potential problem is that many states have been hammered by the recession and don’t have funds to cover the shortfall. The U.S. Department of Education reported that 80 percent of school districts in a recent poll said they would not have state or local funds to make up for the lost federal money. […]