Both the Senate and House were back in session last week and have been working to finalize several bills before the scheduled August recess. The Senate revealed their coronavirus relief package proposal on Monday, while most of the movement in the House has been around appropriations. Below are a few updates on the happenings on the Hill and in the Administration:
- House Approves Four Spending Bills: On Friday, the House passed a $259.5 billion spending package for fiscal year 2021. The four bills included State and Foreign Operations, Agriculture, Interior and Environment, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The Education spending bill is expected to be voted on in the House this week along with six other spending bills.
- House Subcommittee Hearing on COVID-19 and Higher Education: On Thursday, the House’s Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Subcommittee held a hearing titled “Underfunded and Unprepared: Examining How to Overcome Obstacles to Safely Reopen Public Schools” to discuss how schools can safely reopen in the fall. During the hearing, members heard and questioned four witnesses: Michael Hinojosa, Leslie Boggs, Penny Schwinn and Sean O'Leary. Watch the entire hearing here.
- CTE Caucus Letter to Senate Leadership to Include ACCESS to Careers Act in Next COVID Package: On July 22, CTE Caucus Co-Chairs Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IL) sent a letter to Senate Leadership asking them to include the ACCESS to Careers Act (S.3273) in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package. This proposal, which was endorsed by ACTE, aims to boost student success and career readiness by increasing work-based learning opportunities, ensuring students have access to support services such as career navigators and counselors, and creating career pathways to meet the changing skill demands of the U.S. economy.
- Association Letter to Congress to Include the Emergency Educational Connections Act in Next COVID Package: ACTE, as part of the Homework Gap Coalition, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to include the Emergency Educational Connections Act of 2020 (S. 3690) in the next COVID package. This proposal would appropriate $4 billion towards the FCC's E-Rate program, which would help schools and libraries ensure that all students and educators have internet access for remote teaching and learning this academic year. Click here to read the letter.
- New CDC Resources and Tools: Under significant political pressure, the CDC released new resources and tools related to schools and reopening. Guidance is also given on implementing collaboration between state and local health departments and schools to protect the health and safety of everyone. Some of the tools and strategies recommended are promoting behaviors to prevent the spread, changing the school and school day structure, ensuring a clean environment, taking measures to prevent others getting sick from someone who is infected, and disseminating information to guide decision-making and adapt to local conditions.
- Department of Education Releases New Guidance on CARES Act Additional Funds: The Department of Education has released updated guidance on how it will distribute the “third allocation” of CARES Act funding available to some institutions that originally qualified for small amounts of funding, including many smaller community and technical colleges or area CTE Centers. New requirements include more extensive budget and expenditure reporting for institutions meeting certain parameters.
Comments