Today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up HR 5, the Student Success Act, a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
There were 26 amendments offered. Only five amendments passed (including a Chairman’s substitute), 16 failed, 4 were withdrawn and one was ruled not germane to the bill by the Chair. The amendments also with largely down party lines.
The committee passed HR 5 by a final, party line vote of 21-16.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Todd Rokita (R-IN) introduced legislation to improve K-12 education and replace No Child Left Behind.
Based on a proposals passed by the House in 2013, HR 5, the Student Success Act, the House Committee says the measure will reduce the federal footprint and restore local control, while empowering parents and education leaders to hold schools accountable for effectively teaching students.
Other highlights of the bill include:
To learn more about the Student Success Act, click here.
President Obama will release his FY2016 budget today and it will push for tens of billions of dollars more in federal spending by arguing the deficit has been cut and the economy is much improved since he first took office six years ago. His fiscal 2016 budget plan will flip that by making the case that the economy has turned around, which should allow for more federal spending to ensure the improving conditions benefit everyone.
Obama will propose a mix of tax increases and changes in spending programs that, besides paying for the repeal of the sequester, would reduce cumulative deficits by $1.8 trillion over 10 years according to an administration fact sheet.
The administration said the increases would be more than offset by other spending cuts and closing of tax breaks. The plan also proposes repealing the post-sequester discretionary caps through their scheduled end in 2021, raising both defense and non-defense spending on a dollar for dollar basis. The increases would total $74 billion in spending above sequester caps — raising defense spending by $38 billion, to $561 billion, and non-defense accounts by $37 billion, to $530 billion. Obama has suggested the non-defense increase will go toward more infrastructure spending, new research into precision medicine, education programs, and foreign aid for Central American nations to combat child migration. To be sure, the White House also views entitlement spending as an investment and is not expected to make any significant calls for scaling back Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
The budget debate will play out over the next several months as appropriators write the annual spending bills and focus on whether to raise the sequester caps. Congress has found ways around those caps three out of the past four years, but that was when Democrats controlled the Senate. The latest sequester proposal seeks Republican support by calling for equal increases between defense and non-defense spending.
Additional reading:
Obama’s Budget: Five Things to Watch
Obama to unveil $4 trillion budget that busts spending limits
The Department of Education announced the maximum Pell grant levels for 2015-2016 today. The agency said the maximum award amount will be $5,775, which is an increase of $45 over the 2014-2015 award maximum.
The amount is affected by the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which was incorporated as part of Public Law 111-152. SAFRA provides for an automatic annual increase, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index—through award year 2017-2018—to the appropriated Federal Pell Grant maximum award. This change has resulted in a 2015-2016 maximum award of $5,775. The corresponding maximum Pell Grant eligible expected family contribution (EFC) for 2015-2016 will be 5198.
President Obama will advocate for an end to sequestration by proposing equal budget increases in both defense and non-defense discretionary spending in his FY2016 budget to be released on Monday. Obama is giving a ‘sneak peak’ of his budget to House Democrats at their retreat in Philadelphia today. According to a White House source, the proposal would reverse cuts for domestic priorities and match those investments dollar-for-dollar with the resources our troops need to keep America safe.
Spending caps for FY2016 are due to be set at $1.016 trillion as required the 2011 Budget Control Act (PL 112-25), which exchanged an increase in the deficit for a decade’s worth of strict spending caps, and across-the-board cuts if Congress does not adhere to the caps.
Both Republican and Democrats have expressed a desire for raising some spending levels, but Obama’s proposal is not likely to gain support among Republicans because of how he plans to pay for them. Obama’s plan would be fully paid for with cuts elsewhere and closing tax loopholes. But any tax increase will be a non-starter with Republicans, who have rejected similar proposals before. Obama is probably hoping that his proposal for increased defense spending will help draw the GOP into negotiations.