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Category: Higher Education

This Week in Congress

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An overview of relevant House and Senate committee hearings and markups on the schedule this week:

TUESDAY, June 4th

Senate Appropriations
2014 Appropriations: Transportation, HUD
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 pm, 138 Dirksen

House Science, Space, & Technology
STEM Education Reorganization
Full Committee Hearing
2 pm, 2318 Rayburn

WEDNESDAY, June 5th

Senate Appropriations
2014 Appropriations: Defense
Subcommittee Hearing
10 am, 192 Dirksen

Senate Appropriations
2014 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
Subcommittee Hearing
10 am, 138 Dirksen

Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Veterans Benefits Legislation
Full Committee Hearing
10 am, 418 Russell

House Armed Services
Defense Authorization
Full Committee Markup
10 am, 2118 Rayburn

THURSDAY, June 6th

Senate Appropriations
2014 Appropriations: Commerce, Justice, Science
Subcommittee Hearing
10 am, 192 Dirksen

House Passes HR 1911

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The House just approved the bill HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act. The bill passed by a vote of 221 to 198 — largely by party lines: 8 Republicans voted against the bill while 4 Democrats supported it.

Before the vote, several higher education associations agreed to be listed as supporters of the legislation, including Association of American Universities (AAU), American Council on Education (ACE), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).

After the vote, the House adjourned for the week and will reconvene the first week in June.

The NASFAA issued this statement after the bill’s passage.

Veto threat to HR 1911, Smarter Solutions for Students Act

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As we have previously posted, the House is slated to consider HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act on Thursday of this week or tomorrow. Yesterday, Education Secretary Duncan all but endorsed the legislation. While the House Rules Committee has yet to meet and determine how to proceed and what amendments will be made in order on the legislation for consideration by the full House, the White House has just announced in a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) that the President veto the legislation as it currently stands.

Click here for the SAP on HR 1911.

Secretary Duncan advocates long-term student interest rate solution

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Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, testified before the House Committee on Education and Workforce today. During the hearing, House Chairman Klein specifically asked Secretary Duncan to clarify the Administration’s position on the student loan issue. The Republican attempted to elicit an endorsement from Duncan of their bill, HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act,  which is founded largely on a market-based rate proposal included in the president’s fiscal 2014 budget request. While Duncan stopped short of explicit endorsement, he in his response Duncan dismissed the the Senate Democrats’ short-term fix (S 953) to simply extend the current 3.4 percent interest rate. With a strongly worded response, Duncan advocated for a long-term, budget-neutral fix for student loans rather than a short-term fix.

“We are very interested in a long-term solution,” Duncan said. “The idea of coming back every two years to try and fix something, with all the real challenges we face, and the fact that we can’t take this off the table… I just don’t understand it. I look forward to working with you and others to find some common ground.”

Duncan’s response to Klein here. 

HR 1911 is expected to be considered by the full House this Thursday.

Senate focuses on Farm Bill and House focuses on Student Loans for the bulk of the week

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The Senate and House continue to work though legislation that respective committees addressed last week.

The full Senate will consider the Farm Bill (S 954), which the Senate Agriculture Committee passed last week. The Farm Bill reauthorization , which would overhaul farm subsidies and food stamp programs, is expected to be considered by the Senate for the bulk of the floor action this week and again after the Memorial Day recess as well.

The full House is expected to consider and pass two bills passed by the House Education and Workforce Committee last week. First, HR 1949, the IPEDS Act is expected to pass on Wednesday of this week as a Suspension bill — or a bill that is considered a noncontroversial measure. Then, on Thursday, the House will consider  HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act. This legislation would set interest rates on federal student loans to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus 2.5 percentage points for undergraduate loans and plus 4.5 percentage points for graduate loans as of July 1. Rates would be capped at 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, and the interest rates would be calculated yearly. Amendments are expected to be offered to the bill.

The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring both bills closely and will continue tracking their progress.