May 16, 2013
Today, the House Education and the Workforce Committee marked up and two measures on to improve college costs and data transparency. The committee modestly amended and approved HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act by a vote of 24-13, which ran largely along party lines. The amended HR 1911 would peg interest rates on all… Read More
May 13, 2013
As the Office of Federal Relations continues to track the proposals and progress made on legislation affecting the student loan interest rate, below is a chart highlighting the proposals to date and major proposals. Options continue to multiply as the July 1 deadline raising the 3.4 percent interest rate to 6.4 percent is quickly approaching…. Read More
May 10, 2013
Although both chambers are in recess today, there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes legislating and negotiating. House lawmakers plan to release a draft 2013 farm bill that’s expected to produce $38 billion in savings over a decade. Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats are looking for ways to advance President Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency… Read More
April 11, 2013
Yesterday, President Obama released his FY14 budget request — nearly two months later than required by law. Much of the delay was blamed on the sequester and the prolonged FY13 appropriations process that resulted in a year-long continuing resolution (CR). In a typical year, the President’s Budget Request (PBR) kicks off the annual appropriations season,… Read More
February 14, 2013
Yesterday, President Obama released “The President’s Plan for a Strong Middle Class and a Strong America” as a follow up to his State of the Union address on Tuesday. While the President focused on a few higher education messages during his speech, mainly his College Scorecard, his nine-page document released yesterday laid out a plan… Read More
February 13, 2013
During his State of the Union address last night, President Obama announced a new College Scorecard that would help students and parents make better decisions about which college to attend. The College Scorecard allows you to enter the name of a college of interest or select factors that are important in any college search. You… Read More
October 10, 2012
Inside Higher Ed published a good article in today’s edition that details the higher education issues facing the next Congress. Budget issues will continue to be the most pressing issue confronting lawmakers when they convene the 113th Congress in January. Additionally, Congress will need to deal with looming student loan interest rate increases (July 2013),… Read More
September 18, 2012
Schedule: Both the House and Senate are out until Wednesday in observance of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. When they return, the Senate will take action on the 6-month continuing resolution. Both chambers are expected to recess at the end of the week and not return until after the November elections. OMB Sequester Report:… Read More
July 25, 2012
Today US Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released a detailed analysis of the impact of sequestration on dozens of health, education and labor programs. The report includes State level information on funding cuts and details the impact in every State. The report will be featured at a rally this afternoon in DC with non-defense groups. Read the report… Read More
July 24, 2012
The House Appropriations Committee has not yet announced a full committee markup for its FY 2013 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, and now many are raising doubts that it will ever do so. On Monday, Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, expressed his belief that his GOP colleagues have “indefinitely postponed” further… Read More
