This week in Washington continued to revolve around the appropriations process as Congress made last-ditch efforts to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. On Thursday, the Senate voted 76-22 to continue moving forward on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open, but procedural rules could delay an actual vote until the weekend. Meanwhile, the House approved three of its FY 24 appropriations bills in a partisan fashion, including legislation for foreign affairs, homeland security and defense spending. However, these bills will not be able to pass the Senate, and the House has failed on votes to pass its own CR. A shutdown of some length now appears increasingly likely with little time remaining on the clock before the midnight Saturday deadline. You can read more on the appropriations process from early this week here, and we will share the latest updates on Monday! Further news and notes below:
- Department of Education Announces Final Gainful Employment Rules: ED has released final regulations that establish new metrics that all certificate programs at public community and technical colleges and all programs at for-profit institutions must meet to remain eligible for financial aid. Read more on the blog.
- White House Hosts Event on Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education: On September 28, the White House Domestic Policy Council joined ED to host a virtual event with postsecondary leaders focused on increasing diversity and opportunity at their institutions, including community colleges. The event also highlighted a new report from ED: Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higer Education.
- Department of Labor Announces Funding to Train and Expand Pathways for Women in Registered Apprenticeships, Nontraditional Occupations: DOL has announced an award of $5 million aimed at increasing the number of women in registered apprenticeship programs. The grant will be dispersed across seven different states and has the goal of connecting more women to good-paying jobs in nontraditional occupations.
- Department of Labor Announces Funding to Improve Job Quality and Expand Access to Jobs in Critical Sectors: DOL has announced multiple grants totaling $16 million aimed at improving job quality and increasing the availability of jobs in the care, climate resiliency and hospitality sectors. The grants will support organizations across 12 states in their efforts to pilot strategies to guide employers, local workforce systems and other partner organizations to enhance the job quality of local communities across the nation.
- ACTE and Advance CTE Submit Comments on Unemployment Compensation Information Data: ACTE and Advance CTE have submitted comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) in response to a request for information (RFI) regarding unemployment compensation (UC) records and related access to these sources of data. Our comments emphasized the importance of UC records as a key source of information on the labor market outcomes of learners enrolled in CTE and other workforce development programs. They also encourage DOL to make UC information more explicitly accessible to CTE stakeholders as they work to better support learners, workers and employers regularly served by CTE programs across the nation.
- Department of Education Releases Updated Data Strategy Handbook: ED has released its annual data strategy handbook that describes its vision for accelerating progress toward becoming more data-driven to fully leverage the mission and the purpose of the Department. The strategy is intended to help ED realize the use of high-quality data in advancing priorities and improving education outcomes, policy insights and excellence for the nation’s learners.
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