Latest Action in Washington
House and Senate Move Higher Education Act Extension
May 8, 2008 - The House and Senate passed S. 2929 to extend the programs authorized under the Higher Education Act through May 31, 2008. The President is expected to sign the legislation. For the past several months, Congress has been working to work out a final conference bill. The Education Committee staff have been meeting to hammer out agreements on various issues. Staff have indicated that they are looking to wrap-up action on the bill by the end of the month.
Appropriations and Budget Process Ongoing
May 7, 2008 - Since the House and Senate moved their respective budget resolutions, Congress has been unable to come to an agreement on a FY2009 budget resolution. At a minimum, Congress will need to move a deeming resolution to set the budgetary parameters for the Appropriations Committees. The Appropriations Committee are expected to markup the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill during the summer. Due to the upcoming elections, Congressional leadership have stated that final appropriations action is unlikely until after the elections.
One major concern for higher education funding is the Pell Grant program. The recent changes in the eligibility for Pell Grants has created a $750 million shortfall in the program. Unless Congress provides additional funds for Pell, it is very likely that the discretionary allocation for Pell will be reduced which will reduce the Pell Grant maximum.
House and Senate Move FY2009 Budget Resolutions
March 13, 2008 - Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed its version of the FY2009 budget resolution (H Con Res 312) by a vote of 212-207. The budget resolution provides an increase of $7.1 billion or 9 percent over the President’s FY09 request for education and training. It also includes two deficit neutral reserve funds, one to accommodate a higher education bill to make college more accessible and affordable and one to accommodate a tax credit for school construction.
In addition, the Senate adopted its FY2009 budget resolution (S Con Res 70) by a vote of 51-44. The budget resolution provides $5.4 billion above the President's FY2009 request. The House and Senate are now expected to meet to hammer out a budget resolution which will guide the year's appropriations activities. The President does not need to sign the Congressional budget resolution.
House Passes HEA Reauthorization
Febuary 7, 2008 - On February 7, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, which is the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by a 354-58 vote.
ACCT supported the House bill which does a number of things that will support community college students and community colleges. The bill does the following:
• Increase the authorized Pell Grant maximum to $9,000, and ensuring that year-round Pell Grants will be provided to certificate and part-time students;
• Streamline the federal aid process;
• Make Academic Competitiveness Grants available to part-time and certificate students as well as permanent resident aliens;
• Reject the “single definition” of institution of higher education, and thereby ensuring that the HEA continues to reflect fundamental differences between non-profit and for-profit institutions;
• Provide new assistance for a variety of critical activities undertaken by community colleges, including teacher training, remedial education, rural development, nursing education, and other activities;
• Facilitate transfer between institutions of higher education.
The House passage of HEA paves the way for the House and Senate to begin conferencing their separate bills. Due to strong bi-partisan support, a final version of HEA is expected to be completed by the end of the year. To view the bill, click here.
Administration Releases FY2009 Budget Request
February 4, 2008 - The Administration released its FY2009 budget request for the Department of Education. Overall, the Administration requests a total of $59.2 billion for education programs which was the funding level that was appropriated in FY2008. The budget request would increase the funding for the Pell Grant program increasing the maximum by $69 to $4310. The Pell Grant discretionary total and the mandatory total ($490) would provide for a $4800 maximum.
The budget request seeks to create a new program at the Department that would create a competitive grant program to faciliate the transfer of credits from one institution to another and increase college access through dual enrollment and articulation partnerships between high schools and community colleges. This new program would be funded at $16 million.
Unfortunately, one of the programs slated for elimination is the Career and Technical Education program(including Tech Program). The Administration is voicing concern about the effectiveness of the program. Although the budget request eliminates funding, Congress most likely provide funding for this program because it receives strong bipartisan support.
Program funding levels:
Pell Grant program $16.9 billion, $2.6 billion increase
Pell Grant maximum $4310, $69 increase
Career and Technical Education State Grants $0, $1.16 billion decrease
Strengthening Institutions $78.1 million, level funding
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $0, $757.5 decrease
Additionally, the Department of Labor is seeking $125 million for the Community Based Job Training Grant Program.
Congress Passes Omnibus Spending Bill
December 20, 2007 - The House and Senate finally passed its remaining FY2008 appropriations bills with a $555 billion omnibus spending bill, which includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bills. The President is expected to sign the bill shortly. This essentially concludes action in the first session of the 110th Congress
Congress and the Administration had been at an impasse over the remaining appropriations bills. Last month, the President vetoed the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill because of the increased funding level in the bill. In order to finalize a deal, Congress scaled back the funding levels from their bills and provided $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a means to get Presidential support for the omnibus bill.
In terms of education funding, the revised funding bill is a step back from FY2007 funding levels. Specifically, the Pell Grant maximum was reduced by $69 for a total of $4241. This is the discretionary total. Students will still recieve a $490 Pell Grant maximum as part of the budget reconciliation earlier this year. Additionally, many of the key programs for community colleges from the Perkins program, HSIs, SEOG, and Title III-Part A were reduced by 1.74% from FY2007 levels. For actual funding levels, please visit the federal funding chart.
Conference Committee Finalizes Education Appropriations
November 1, 2007 - The Appropriations Conference Committee finalized the funding levels for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill. Overall, the bill is funded at $150.7 billion, which is $6.2 billion higher than FY2007. Additionally, the allocation for the Department of Education is $60.7 billion, $4.5 billion over FY2007.
In a major victory for students, the committee provides a Pell Grant maximum increase of $125 for a total of $4435. With the additional increase from the reconciliation, this is all time high for students. We are still awaiting the funding levels for some of the smaller programs. But most programs within the bill will likely be level funded.
At present, it is unclear how the House and Senate will proceed on final passage. Inititally, Congressional leaders wanted to merge the Defense, Military Construction and Veterans bills with the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bills. The Defense appropriations bill was later removed, but it is unclear whether Congress will be able to pass a bill that encompasses the Military Construction-Veterans and Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bills. The President has issued a veto threat to the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations because it exceeds his budget request.
House Education Committee Holds Hearing on College Cost
November 1, 2007 - The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the "Barriers to to Equal Education Opportunities: Addressing the Rising Costs of a College Education." The committee heard from individuals that talked about why college costs are increasing. The witnesses provided reasons for the increased costs for 4-yr public and for private institutions. Unfortunately, there was no community college witness that could have talked about what community colleges are doing to hold the cost of tuition and fees at their instiutions. As part the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the committee is going to look at ways to incentivize states and institutions to hold down the cost of tuition and fees. For more information, please visit: http://edlabor.house.gov/
Senates Declines to Consider the DREAM ACT
October 25, 2007 - The Senate failed to get cloture and begin consideration of S. 2025, the DREAM Act, by a vote of 52-44. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), DREAM’s lead sponsor, attempted to bring the bill up for consideration but failed to gather the 60 votes necessary to bring the bill to the floor. Sen. Durbin during comments after the vote indicated that the bill would not be brought up again during this session of Congress. With the looming Presidential and Congressional elections, it appears very unlikely that the bill will be brought up again during the 110 Congress. Unfortunately, even supporters of DREAM voted against the bill because it was perceived to be a piece meal approach to immigration reform.
Senate Passes Education Appropriations Bill
October 24, 2007 - The Senate passed its version of the FY2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill by a veto proof 79-15 vote. The bill’s funding level is much larger than what the Administration had requested in its budget. Therefore, the Administration issued a veto threat to the bill.
Most notably, the bill provides for $4310 Pell Grant maximum. With the inclusion of the Budget Reconciliation, based upon a discretionary maximum of $4310, students would receive a $4800 Pell Grant maximum. Additionally, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) offered an amendment during floor discussion to increase the overall funding level for the Community Based Job Training Grant program by $25 million. The amendment was accepted by voice vote. The bill now heads to the House and Senate Conference Committee. The funding level differences in the two bills. The House bill provides for a $4700 Pell Grant maximum, but staff has indicated that maximum will likely be lowered to the current $4310 level. The conference committee is now working to resolve the overall and individual programmatic funding levels and other provisions. While the Administration issued a veto threat for the bill, it appears that Congressional leaders are going to merge the bill with other appropriations bills including Defense, Military Construction and Veterans appropriations bills. The inclusion of all these appropriations bills would make a veto more unpalatable.