There was a flurry of activity as Congress prepared to adjourn for it the annual August congressional recess. On August 7, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of legislation focused on health care, the environment and tax policy. After a deal was struck between Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the bill was passed through a complex procedure called budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority of the Senate to pass. It passed along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, 51-50. It is expected that the House will pass the bill without changes on August 12, sending it to President Biden for his signature in time for Members of Congress to depart Washington D.C. until September.
While this bill was greatly scaled down from the earlier proposals of the Build Back Better Act, it represents the largest investment combating climate change in U. S. history and the most significant changes to health care since the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Unfortunately, the workforce and education provisions of Build Back Better were stripped from the Inflation Reduction Act in order to receive the support of all 50 Democrats in the Senate. Instead, the bill will use taxes on corporations and the wealthy to target spending to improving domestic energy security, provide rebates for the purchase of electric vehicles, extend ACA subsidies, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and more. The bill will also use this new revenue to reduce the federal deficit by an estimated $306 billion.
On August 9, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at providing substantial investments for domestic microchip production and innovation, cybersecurity and other science-related provisions. The bill attempts to boost competitiveness with China in key emerging technology sectors while improving national security. Many of the education and workforce provisions contained in this bill’s predecessors, the America COMPETES Act and United States Innovation and Competition Act, were not included in the final bill. However, the bill did authorize funding for some programs that could be relevant to CTE through the National Science Foundation. ACTE will provide further updates as new information is revealed about these funding opportunities.
Lastly, House Republicans introduced a proposal to reform federal student loan programs, called the Responsible Education Assistance through Loan (REAL) Reforms Act. Importantly, the bill proposes an alternative short-term Pell expansion to the JOBS Act. Among several differences, this version would require programs to prove that graduates attain a growth in earnings exceeding the total cost of the program within two years. It is not expected move this calendar year; however, this may be a critical starting point for negotiations should Republicans control the House next year.
Looking forward to the remainder of the year, Congress will be fairly preoccupied with midterm elections until early November, when the fate of the control of the 118th Congress is determined. In September, it is expected that they will pass a continuing resolution, or an extension of the current federal budget, to give them more time to negotiate fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bills without risking a government shutdown. While the House and Senate respectively proposed $45million and $60 million increases to the Perkins Basic State Grant, it is unlikely that they will release any updated or negotiated bills until at least mid-November.
While this will likely be the last congressional update until elected officials return to Washington D.C. after Labor Day, ACTE will be monitoring other developments from the White House and federal agencies to keep you abreast of anything impacting the CTE community. Should you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis ([email protected]).