The 118th Congress will have its work cut out for it next year, with several major reauthorizations overdue or on the horizon. Three of these reauthorizations fall under the purview of the education committees: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), National Apprenticeship Act (NAA), and the Higher Education Act (HEA). . On all these bills, the balance of power determined by this year’s midterm elections will have a significant impact on these major pieces of legislation.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Of all the education reauthorizations, WIOA has the highest odds of a bipartisan compromise. The bill was last reauthorized in 2014, however, both parties have been motivated to update the law due to changes in the needs and nature of the workforce since the pandemic. Earlier this year, House Democrats passed a WIOA reauthorization (H.R. 7309) largely along party lines. Due to a difference in priorities, the Senate decided not to take up the bill this year. Regardless of party control of Congress, this bill will likely represent the starting point in WIOA negotiations for House Democrats next year.
Notably, the bill would create a set-aside fund for American Job Center infrastructure costs, removing the requirement for other systems like CTE to contribute funding. It also gave programs more leniency to serve eligible populations by removing the mandated split between in-school and out-of-school youth. Despite these improvements, the bill could have gone further in giving CTE representation in the workforce system and by more intentionally aligning WIOA with Perkins V.
Republicans did not pass a WIOA alternative while they were in the minority, but they criticized the bill for its price tag and its restrictions on employers. Should they control one or both education committees, it is expected that their version of the bill would be very different.
National Apprenticeship Act
The national shift in focus toward work-based learning opportunities has NAA firmly back on Congress’s legislative agenda. NAA has not been updated since it was passed back in 1937, but House Democrats sought to update it via a bill, H.R. 447, which passed the House in February of 2021. Language from this bill was again passed in February of 2022 via the America COMPETES Act; however, neither bill was taken up by the Senate due to a lack of Republican support. This bill would have increased federal funding to expand apprenticeship opportunities and codified regulations and standards, including the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. Republicans opposed the bill largely due to a disagreement on the exclusion of industry-recognized apprenticeships (IRAPs) that are not registered with the Department of Labor. No matter the results of these midterm elections, it is unclear whether the parties will be able to find a compromise on this disagreement in order to update the law for the first time in 85 years.
Higher Education Act
While both parties might agree that the Higher Education Act is in the direst need of reauthorization, the delta between their proposed solutions remains very large. Both parties have put forth several piecemeal and comprehensive proposals to update the law since it was last reauthorized in 2008.
Most recently, House Republicans led by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced the REAL Reforms Act (H.R. 8655) in August. This bill would focus on changing the student borrower system by reforming loan repayment options, limiting the amount of interest accrued, putting caps on graduate borrowing limits, and eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Additionally, it would expand eligibility to the Pell grant for students enrolled in short-term certification programs at public, non-profit, and private for-profit institutions that meet a certain standard of quality.
The most recent limited reauthorization proposal issued by House Democrats, the Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now (LOAN) Act (H.R.8872), takes a different approach at tackling college affordability. The bill would double the maximum Pell Grant award, modify PSLF by shortening the time to forgiveness from 10 years to 8, expand access to subsidized loans, and lower interest rates. The last comprehensive reauthorization drafted by House Democrats was the College Affordability Act (H.R. 4674) of 2019, which had similar aims to the LOAN Act.
No matter which party is in the majority in the 118th Congress, it will be difficult to find common ground between their stark policy differences on HEA. Given the prevalence of student loan debt and the rising cost of college, however, a HEA reauthorization will be in high demand.
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