The House and Senate were both in session this week, with congressional action on voting rights holding most of the focus in Washington. Action on CTE-related measures was rather minimal. The Senate has canceled a planned recess scheduled for next week, citing weather challenges and additional work on voting rights. After voting rights discussion, the Senate could return to debate on the Build Back Better Act, where there is still no agreement between Democratic congressional leaders, President Biden and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). You can still contact your senators – especially Democratic senators – and ask them to maintain the $700 million investment in Perkins, $5 billion for community college and industry partnership grants and the overall $40 billion allocation for workforce development included in the House-passed version of the bill. In the meantime, here is the most important news from Washington:
- Secretary of Education Visits Connecticut Technical High School: On January 14, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) visited Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Technical High School to tour the school’s manufacturing programs and discuss how CTE can help meet workforce needs in Connecticut, as well as the importance of federal workforce development funding.
- Congressional Appropriations Leaders Meet to Discuss FY 2022 Appropriations: On January 12, the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees – Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Kay Granger (R-TX) – met for the first time since November about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations process. While these members have not yet scheduled another time to meet, reports indicated the meeting was constructive. Government funding will expire on February 18 without final bills being passed or an extension through another continuing resolution (CR).
- Department of Education Adds CTE to Three Department Discretionary Grant Priorities: As a result of comments submitted to the Federal Register on the Department of Education’s competitive grant priorities for this year, the Department has added career and technical education programs to additional parts of the document. These priorities include Priority 2—Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources, Opportunities, and Welcoming Environments; Priority 3—Supporting a Diverse Educator Workforce and Professional Growth to Strengthen Student Learning; and Priority 4—Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs. These final priorities and definitions may be used across the Department of Education discretionary grant programs.
- State of the Union Scheduled: The White House and Congress have scheduled President Biden's first official State of the Union address on March 1. It is also likely that the President's FY 2023 budget request to Congress will not be submitted until after this date, or even later, depending on when Congress is able to complete work on FY 2022 bills.
- Administration Announces New Developments in COVID-19 Testing for Schools: On January 12, the Administration released a fact sheet outlining new initiatives to increase the availability of COVID-19 tests for schools, including new test distribution. More details will be sent to school leaders directly from the Department of Education.
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