Challenging Funding Environment: Action Required

TELL NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THAT ADULT EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT.

Thank you for your assistance this past year in helping raise the visibility for adult education programs, which resulted in a $25 million federal funding increase in FY 2019 and staved off $87 million in funding cuts! We need your help again this year, in a challenging funding environment and with a divided Congress, to tell our adult education stories, including the impact of its programs.

As the new Congress gets underway, the appropriations committee is preparing for the FY 2020 funding cycle. One of the most effective ways to raise the awareness of adult education with your Congressional delegation is to send a “program letter” request to each member of the House of Representatives in which your adult education programs are located, and to both of your Senators. Program letter is a technical term for a letter ultimately sent by each member of Congress to the appropriations committee in support of his or her own priorities for funding.

Members of Congress appreciate receiving input from their constituents before sending their program letters to the appropriations committee to gain a better sense of which programs matter to their district. Most members are currently accepting this input, either via letter or through a web form on their websites.

The time frame for these program request letters is tight. While the exact timetable has yet to be announced, members of the House and Senate must submit their letters to their respective Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittees, which fund adult education, before the end of March 2019. To meet the appropriations committees’ deadline, members set their own internal timelines for receiving feedback from constituents about funding priorities sometime in January or February, so we ask for your immediate help.

Please use our “quick fire” ignite software to send an email to all your legislators in the House and Senate. It takes just 3 clicks to do this and reaps incredible results. You should feel free to tailor this letter by including relevant, state-level data that highlight the impact adult education programs have in your state. Our legislative firm encourages you to avoid mailing letters because they will take weeks to arrive due to security screening of the mail. Our ignite software also provides the option to call the offices of your Congressional delegation, and we hope you will take a few minutes to call as well as send the email.

Again, thank you for your assistance in this important matter.

Sincerely,

Sharon Bonney
Executive Director
COABE