This week in Washington, Congress was in recess and there was limited activity in DC. Congressional leaders were focused on addressing national security concerns and the anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Both chambers of Congress will return on February 27. ACTE’s Public Policy team is also focusing on the 2023 CTE Month school visit in Washington, DC, our response to President Biden’s upcoming budget request for fiscal year 2024 (scheduled to be released March 9), the 2023 National Policy Seminar (NPS) and Congressional CTE Caucus activities, such as putting together membership recruitment drives and congressional staff briefings. This work is continuing, and we will keep you posted on how you can get involved. Here are the newest headlines to share:
- ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Co-sponsor the JOBS Act of 2023: Earlier this month, the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act of 2023 (H.R. 793/S. 161), or the JOBS Act, was reintroduced in the Senate by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mike Braun (R-IN), and in the House by Reps. Bill Johnson (R-OH), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Michael Turner (R-OH). This legislation would expand federal Pell Grant eligibility to high-quality, short-term job training programs, which has been a top priority of the CTE community for the past few years. ACTE has endorsed this bipartisan bill. Click here to ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor this legislation.
- Department of Energy Announces Buildings Upgrade Prize: The Department of Energy has announced a multi-year, multi-million-dollar prize competition that will provide funding to 60 teams of organizations working to decarbonize existing buildings in their communities. Learn more about the opportunity here.
- Senate Releases Earmark Guidelines: The Senate Appropriations Committee has released its deadlines and additional instructions for Senate offices to submit requests for “Congressionally Directed Spending.” Education and workforce development related funding requests must be submitted to the Committee by April 13, so individual Senate offices will likely have much earlier deadlines to ensure time to compile requests.
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