The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Association of American Universities (AAU) sent a letter on April 16 to House and Senate leadership and members of the US House and Senate Budget Resolution Conference Committee urging that the FY2016 budget resolution “include a path to repeal the current sequestration-level discretionary spending caps, reverse the proposed massive cuts to student financial aid programs, and reassert strong support for scientific research.” The letter continues on to detail some of the positive amendments introduced during the Senate consideration of the budget and concerns with the drastic cuts to student financial aid programs in both the House and Senate budget resolutions.

While the budget resolution is non-binding and actual appropriations typically diverge from the amounts put forward in the document, it still sets important guiding principles that influence appropriation conversations as well as a ceiling for overall spending levels. Typically, the House and Senate pass separate budget resolutions and then meet in a conference committee to decide on a final version. Conferees held their first open meeting on the FY2016 budget resolution on Monday, April 20.

More details about the House and Senate budget resolutions as well as the President’s proposed budget are available here: http://www.aplu.org/policy-and-advocacy/federal-budget-and-appropriations/index.html