Congressional recess has begun. Congress is now officially out of session for the next two weeks, with all members home in their districts from April 6 – April 19. The recess comes well deserved after both the House and Senate worked hard to pass the first versions of Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2010. Well, most worked hard – zero Republicans in both the House and the Senate voted in favor of the passed budget resolutions, twenty-two Democrats voted against it as well.

The House passed their version of the budget with a vote count of 233-196 and the Senate adopted their version with a 55-43 vote. Both versions of the $3 trillion budget included spending for education, health care, climate legislation and energy investments. The next step after recess will be to agree on a final version of the federal budget between the House and Senate during a process called Conference.

Congress seems to be aligning with President Obama’s priorities for health care reform and investments in education and clean energy, thanks to so many Americans calling for support of Obama’s budget these past few weeks, however it’s not over yet. Many fiscal conservatives on both sides of the aisle are still fighting to reduce spending in the budget and are especially weary of mandatory spending for climate legislation, such as a cap and trade proposal. Special interests, such as student loan companies opposing the increase in Pell Grants, oil and coal companies against cap and trade and health insurance companies fighting health care reform, are kicking into full gear over the next few weeks to impact the final budget resolution. Republicans and many conservative Democrats are speaking out against the budget claiming they want to cut vital investments in order to reduce a burden on our generation. We can’t let them speak for us.

Be sure to attend town halls and meetings with your Congress members while they are home in their districts and let them know that we demand a big, bold investment in our future.. Check out our Guide to Lobbying for a Progressive Budget for step-by-step instructions on what to do and say during the recess!