This week, Congress was primarily focused on continuing the FY 2024 appropriations process. The House and Senate considered several additional FY 2024 appropriations bills at the Committee level, and the House scheduled several appropriations bills to be placed on the floor next week as the Senate continued work on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Next week, both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees plan to consider their Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, which you can read more about below.
With the August congressional recess beginning on July 28, Congress is in a full sprint to complete as much work on their appropriations bills as possible. There are many CTE-related updates below and many moving parts, so check them out to keep informed:
- ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Oppose Cuts to Education and Workforce Programs in FY 2024: On July 14, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations billon a party-line vote. The bill reduces overall education funding, including rescissions to some funding that would become available to programs this fall and significant cuts to or complete eliminations of dozens of education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, ESSA Title I and II and more. Learn more about the impact of the proposed cuts and how you can help!
- ACTE Sends FY 2024 Appropriations Letter: On July 21, ACTE and our partners at Advance CTE sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee regarding the impact of the proposed cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.
- Policymaker Perspectives: Rep. Suzanne Bonamici: ACTE is re-launching our Policymaker Perspectives discussion series! In this first Policymaker Perspectives of 2023, ACTE’s Public Policy Department heard from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), co-chair of the House CTE Caucus.
- Senate HELP Committee Plans to Consider JOBS Act, Workforce Bills: On July 27, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee plans to consider several bills focused on CTE and workforce development, including S.161, the JOBS Act of 2023. ACTE has endorsed this legislation.
- Senate CTE Caucus Co-chair Introduces PELL Act: On July 20, Senate CTE Caucus co-chair Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), along with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), introduced S. 2442, the Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning (PELL) Act. The bill creates a Workforce Pell Grant to expand Pell Grant eligibility to high-quality, short-term job training programs. This is the companion bill to the House’s H.R. 496, but is a competitor to the bi-partisan JOBS Act.
- Bobby Scott (D-VA) Reintroduces Direct CARE Workforce Act: On July 20, House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) and Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03) reintroduced H.R. 4720, the Direct Creation, Advancement, and Retention of Employment (CARE) Opportunity Act of 2023. The legislation invests more than $1.8 billion over five years in training and increasing opportunities for direct care workers, including funding to recruit, retain and advance the direct care workforce pipeline and for local and regional innovation to address workforce shortages and needs in this high-demand field.
- Roger Williams (R-TX) Reintroduces Student Debt Alternative and CTE Awareness Act: On July 20, Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) reintroduced H.R. 4819, the Student Debt Alternative and CTE Awareness Act. The bill will require the Department of Education (ED) to publish information on the Office of Federal Student Aid website regarding CTE programs and Perkins funding. Additionally, the FAFSA application must include a one-page summary about CTE programs and requires applicants to sign an acknowledgment box before starting their FAFSA application.
- IES Announces FY 2024 Research Grant Competitions: On July 20, the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research released funding announcements for three FY 2024 grant competitions: education research grants, special education research grants and research training programs in special education. The application deadline is September 21, 2023.
- Department of Labor Awards Funding to Help States Expand Access to Registered Apprenticeships: The Department of Labor announced the award of over $65 million in grants to 45 states to increase their ability to serve, improve and strategically expand their Registered Apprenticeship programs and pre-apprenticeships.
- Department of Labor Awards Funding for Registered Apprenticeships in Education, Clean Energy and More: The Department of Labor announced the award of nearly $17 million in funding contracts to seven organizations to promote Registered Apprenticeships in industries such as education and the care economy, clean energy, cybersecurity, hospitality and transportation.
- Registration Remains Open for Final Family Engagement Learning Virtual Session: On July 25 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET, this session will explore how family engagement supports college and career pathways success.
- OCTAE Assistant Secretary Column on Second Chance Pell: ED’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) Assistant Secretary Amy Loyd and the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Justice Programs Amy Solomon co-authored a column in Newsweek to discuss the expansion of Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals that began on July 1.
- First Lady and Secretary of Education Visit Georgia CTE Programs: On July 18, First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited the Investing in America Workforce Hub in Augusta, Georgia, to discuss ways the community is working to expand pathways to good-paying jobs in fields like advanced manufacturing. You can view pictures from the event here, as well as a recap of the visit here.
- ED Opens Applications for Performance Partnership Pilots: ED issued a Federal Register notice inviting applications for selection as a performance partnership pilot for FY 2023 under the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3) authority.
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