Washington
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $160.7-billion spending bill this afternoon that would increase the maximum Pell Grant in the 2010 fiscal year by $200, to $5,550, and would allocate $31.3-billion for the National Institutes of Health, a jump of $942-million from the current fiscal year.
The bill would increase support for the Adult Basic Literacy Education State Grants by $74-million, to $628-million, and raise funds for the TRIO and Gear Up programs for disadvantaged students by $20-million each, to $868-million and $333-million, respectively.
The House passed the bill, 264 to 153, largely along party lines, with Democrats in support of the bill.
Several Republicans pushed for an amendment to the bill that would have prevented the federal government from ending its bank-back guaranteed-student-loan program, which President Obama has called inefficient and proposed shifting to the alternative direct-lending program. But that amendment was voted down last Friday in a subcommittee session.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to discuss its version of the spending bill on Tuesday.
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