The National Pulse: Congress Explodes Deficits, Expands Nanny State with Disastrous Omnibus Bill

The final outcome of the 2018 budget process warned about by Dr. Effrem a few weeks ago was revealed in a 2000+ page bill that members of Congress had less than 24 hours to review:

Tragically for our children’s futures and freedoms — but predictably, as we warned here and here — Congress heeded very few general principles or President Trump’s good ideas about preserving freedom and privacy, decreasing the federal footprint in education, supporting programs that work, or maintaining fiscal discipline. The House yesterday passed the $1.3 trillion omnibus-spending bill — that will only fund the government for six months — by a vote of 256-197. The Senate followed early this morning with a vote of 65-32.

The damage this bill will do the nation’s fiscal health and to issues outside of education is well discussed elsewhere (also here). Instead of restoring local control by giving federal bureaucrats less to work with, as the President’s budget had suggested, Congress increased funding for the U.S. Department of Education (USED) by $2.6 billion.

Areas of the budget discussed in the full article include:

• Data Privacy
• Mental Health
• Preschool
• After School Programs
• Competency-Based Education
• School Choice