With the new fiscal year beginning Saturday, October 1, Congress is poised to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past the November mid-term elections. The CR maintains current FY 2022 funding levels across the government and includes additional funds for the war in Ukraine. Supplemental funding for COVID relief and monkeypox vaccines was dropped from the CR, but emergency assistance was added for clean water in Mississippi, flood relief in the Midwest, and hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.
The extension expires December 16, allowing time for members to reconvene in a lame duck session and finalize FY 2023 funding levels.

The next few months provide an opportunity for additional advocacy in support of increasing the Pell Grant maximum and increasing funding for the other programs.  Both House and Senate Democrats proposed a $500 increase in the Pell Grant maximum for next year, and varied increases for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Federal Work-Study, TRIO, GEAR UP, and the Titles III and V Institutional Aid programs.

Regardless of the outcome of the mid-term elections, Democrats will still be in charge during the lame duck session, which provides a continued opportunity to push for the highest funding levels between the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill.