This weekly report captures developments from the US executive and legislative branches related to higher education policy, and also includes additional information such as relevant reports and upcoming events.… Continue Reading
Legislative Update Student Data Privacy On Thursday, February 12, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education will hold a hearing titled “How Emerging Technology Affects Student Privacy.” The hearing will feature a conversation about student data privacy and the Subcommittee will likely discuss the need for legislation, as … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, April 29: The House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the Department of Education’s FY 2015 budget request, with Secretary Arne Duncan testifying. Tuesday, April 29: The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing titled “Driving Innovation through Federal Investments” for which it solicited … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Budget Resolution Last Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the House Republican FY 2015 Budget Resolution, the Path to Prosperity. It was approved in the House Budget Committee on a party-line vote last Wednesday and the House plans to consider the Budget Resolution on the floor next week. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Child Care and Development Block Grant Before leaving for recess, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its legislation (S. 1086) to reauthorize the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by a vote of 97-1. The bill will renew the federal funding provision for state support of child care services for low-income families and institute educational, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Child Care Development Block Grant Reauthorization While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) previously filed cloture on the motion to proceed to legislation (S. 1086) to reauthorize the Child Care Development Block Grant, which expired in 1996, a vote on the legislation has been delayed again due to consideration of executive nominations and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FY 2014 Appropriations Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) stated last week that negotiators are making progress on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which is typically the most contentious of the 12 appropriations bills. A draft of the bill – expected to be released Friday, January 10 – … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Reform Senators continue to work on a bipartisan deal to address federally subsidized student loan interest rates, which expire July 1. The long-term deal, which is expected to (1) peg the rates to the 10-year Treasury bill, (2) include a consolidated rate cap – something Democrats have called “non-negotiable,” and (3) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates Last week, the Senate held votes on two competing measures to address federally subsidized student loan interest rates, which expire July 1. Both measures failed to garner the 60 votes needed for passage, setting up likely bipartisan negotiations this and next week to work on a compromise bill before … Continue Reading
