Congress returned to considering regular legislation this week in Washington as Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) began his first full week in charge as the new Speaker of the House. Activity mostly centered around support for Israel and the appropriations process (read more below). Reminder to continue letting your Members of Congress know about the importance of Perkins funding to CTE for programs across the nation as this process resumes in full swing. Read more news and notes below:
- Congress Makes Progress on FY 24 Appropriations Bills: In an 82-15 vote, the Senate successfully passed three of its FY 2024 appropriations bills this week: Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The House also cleared the Legislative Branch and Interior and Environment bills, as well as a supplemental bill with emergency funding for Israel. Neither chamber has considered the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.
- Biden Administration Releases Executive Order on AI: On October 30, the White House issued an Executive Order titled, “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).” The Executive Order contains several relevant sections, including on supporting worker and students as well as attracting AI talent.
- Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on AI: Following the release of the Executive Order, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workforce Safety held a hearing to discuss relevant issues. The hearing was titled “AI and the Future of Work: Moving Forward Together.” While it primarily focused on the impact of AI on jobs, Sen. Kaine was able to promote the JOBS Act and the need for high-quality short-term CTE programs during the conversation.
- National Student Clearinghouse Releases Updated Postsecondary Enrollment Data: The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has published a preliminary update sharing an early look at fall 2023 postsecondary enrollment numbers. The release includes insights on student diversity gains and enrollment increases for community colleges and four-year universities. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.
- Department of Education Announces Efforts to Provide Debt Relief for More Student Loan Borrowers: Ed has announced the release of new draft regulatory text that would provide relief for specific categories of student borrowers. This new draft would serve four groups of borrowers including those experiencing economic hardship, those that currently have outstanding federal student loan balances that exceed the originally borrowed amount, students that took out loans to attend training programs that created unreasonable debt loads or provided insufficient earnings upon graduation, and individuals involved in programs like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
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