The House Education and Labor Committee approved this morning its portion of the larger COVID relief package by a vote of 27 to 21, making it the first committee of many to move on the budget reconciliation process. Among other provisions, the bill (a section-by-section summary is available here) includes $39.6 billion for higher education. A number of other House committees are scheduled to markup their bills today: Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, Financial Services, and Agriculture (the text of the bill it is marking up is available here).
Category: Higher Education
Split Screen: COVID Package in House, Trump Trial in Senate
As noted yesterday, House committees that received instructions to craft specific parts of the larger COVID relief package will begin to act today, with the Education and Labor Committee marking up its bill at 3 PM today (the session will be webcast here). The Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I), Financial Services, and Agriculture Committees are scheduled to follow suit by marking up their bills on Wednesday. Copies of the T & I and Financial Services bills were released late yesterday.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to take up its piece of the COVID package next week during a markup that is expected to take multiple days. The entirety of the Ways and Means package and summaries of each section are available here. Provisions of interest in the bill include, for example:
- $1,400 credit for both children and non-child dependents;
- Tax credits for state and local governments to provide paid family and medical leave created by Families First Corona Response Act, which would become effective March 31, 2021; and,
- Extension of the employee retention tax credit.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol complex, the full Senate today is scheduled to start the trial to convict former president Donald Trump. Once the trial officially starts, both sides can use up to 16 hours to make their case.
After Approval of Process, COVID Package Getting Put Together
With both chambers of Congress having approved last week the processes by which the Biden Administration COVID relief package will move, House committees with jurisdiction over different pieces of the legislation will begin to craft their portions starting Tuesday.
The House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to move first tomorrow with its bill. The committee staff has produced a summary of the legislation.
The Democrats’ proposal would provide $39.6 billion for higher education; 91 percent of the funds would be allocated to institutions based on the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund formula. Institutions would have to spend at least 50 percent of the funds it receives on student grants but they would have the flexibility on determining which students receive aid.
In addition, the legislation would provide $100 million for Institute for Education Science to conduct research on learning loss as well as $135 million each to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Following the Education and Labor Committee’s markup tomorrow, a slew of other House committees are scheduled to follow suit throughout the rest of this week and next week.
Please continue to check back for additional updates on the relief package.
Education Names Initial Political Appointees
The Education Department has released its initial list of political appointees. The list is available here.
Texts of Biden Executive Actions Now Available
As noted earlier yesterday, President Biden was expected to take a number of executive actions on a host of issues on his first day, including COVID-19, DACA, and student loan repayments, among others. He did take those executive actions after being sworn in and the texts of those executive actions are now available.
- The text of the Presidential Memorandum on “Preserving and Fortifying DACA” is available here.
- The text of the Presidential Proclamation ending the “Muslim ban” is available here.
- The text of the Executive Order on a review of regulations that negatively impact the climate issued during the Trump Administration is available here.
- The text of a memo from the White House Chief of Staff to agency heads halting “midnight regulations” is available here.
- A statement regarding student loan repayments is available here. The Education Department has already updated its website to reflect an extension on the repayment pause through September 30.
Texts of other executive actions taken by the new President are available here.