Every year, Congress and the President must agree on a federal budget that sets general funding levels for government programs. This year’s process is complicated by the staggering deficit, a divided Congress and the fact that the battle is happening on two fronts:

• Funding levels for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (FY11), which covers March 18 through Sep. 30, 2011, andM
• Fiscal year 2012 (FY12) budget; President Obama released his FY12 budget proposal on Feb. 14, 2011.

Currently, funding for FY11 continues to be debated. Congress has voted on another stopgap measure to keep the government running through April 8th, also known as a Continuing Resolution, though funding the government for weeks at a time is no way to operate. In the meantime, Congress must decide on the budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year before they can move to the FY12 budget. Unfortunately, the House-passed measure – H.R. 1 – that would fund the remainder of the current fiscal year, cuts at least $7 billion in non-security discretionary spending on children, a decrease of 8.2 percent compared to FY10 (9.7 percent cut in inflation adjusted terms).

Read this Action Alert Federal Budget Advocacy Opportunity - Visit Your Senators Next Week! on what you can do NEXT WEEK when Michigan's Congressional delegation are back in the district.