Gregg, Sununu Vote Against Special Education Amendment
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON–Sens. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and John Sununu (R-NH), both notably strong supporters of federal grants for special education, voted against an amendment Wednesday that would have provided the full 40 percent of local costs next year that Congress had promised when it adopted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975. Their vote prompted much disapproval from the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
The Senate, by 27-71, rejected the amendment to the fiscal 2004 budget resolution offered by Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN).
The vote came only days after the Senate accepted Gregg’s amendment, which would place the IDEA law on what Gregg described as a “glide path” toward full promised 40 percent of special-education costs in six years, with 26 percent funded by 2005. Gregg’s amendment was approved, 89-10.
In a statement, Dayton called for removing the President’s proposed dividend tax exemption from the budget or retaining current rates for the top three tax brackets to compensate for the increase in special-education funds. He noted that the federal government currently meets less than 17 percent of the IDEA target.
“The need for more funding is so urgent that surely we can postpone half of the tax cut this budget provides the wealthiest people in America,” Dayton said in the statement.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Gregg expressed concern that Dayton’s amendment would increase IDEA spending by 250 percent in one year and cost $229 billion over 10 years. That, he said, would boost the federal share to more than 60 percent, much more than the 40 percent Congress committed to in 1975.
“At some point, we have to recognize that what is happening here is not an attempt to have fiscal responsibility or proper budgeting but simply to put forward a show,” Gregg said on the floor.
Jeff Turcotte, Gregg’s press secretary, said Gregg’s view is that government spending “simply has to be put under control,” emphasizing that the vote against the Dayton Amendment was bipartisan, including liberal Democrats.
“Full funding [for special education] is something [Senator Gregg] is still committed to on aggressive levels,” Turcotte said.
Sununu agreed with Gregg’s take on the Dayton’s amendment, saying that it would cause excessive spending and a substantial tax increase.
“Since I was elected to Congress in 1996, I have voted consistently to increase special- education funding – from $3.1 billion in 1997 to $8.6 billion in 2003,” he said in a statement. “Additionally, the budget resolution just passed by the Senate funds IDEA at its highest level ever. This represents real results, not partisan rhetoric, and I will continue working toward full funding as we reauthorize IDEA this year.
In his statement, Sununu expressed continued support for the Gregg amendment,, saying it “places the federal government on a direct path to full funding of special-education costs and it does so while controlling the growth of the overall budget.”
Kathy Sullivan, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party expressed disappointment in the Granite State’s Senate delegation, saying that if special education was receiving the promised 40 percent, it would mean lower taxes for New Hampshire residents, who, she said, must pay to compensate for the inadequate federal funds for special education.
“It’s another case of Senators Gregg and Sununu making the wrong choices for New Hampshire,” she said. “… If they voted to fully fund special education, it would mean a local property tax break for every one in New Hampshire.”
She also noted that while the Senators support the tax cut for the wealthy, they did not vote in favor of an amendment that would
“[The New Hampshire Senators] are very happy to give away money to a few, but…by not fully funding special education, it shows that their priorities are not right,” she said.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
