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News and updates

News and updates

What We’re Reading this Week, January 26

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Here’s a selection of articles the Office of Federal Relations is reading this week.

NCLB? – The first item on the agenda for the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions (HELP) Committee is the reauthorization of ESEA or No Child Left Behind. New HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) talks about how his views on the reauthorization and what might be coming for NCLB. Read it in Time.

$ Today for $$ Tomorrow – An op-ed on the changing nature of federal student loans, and the student loan landscape generally, and why higher education is becoming increasingly funded by the federal government, rather than state government. Read it at The New York Times.

Meet Our Demands! – As states try to fill the gaps in their budgets, many have started increasing the costs of licensing fees on applicants. Licensing discourages some applicants from pursuing those careers, which leaves nearly 3 million unfilled jobs. Additionally, many states require applicants to have taken certain courses to be eligible to apply for the programs, and these courses must be accredited. Read about it at The Washington Post.

Initial Offer – The President’s Budget Request for FY16 is expected to be $74 billion over budget levels set by the Sequester. Read about the budget at The Washington Post.

Plan B – The House Republican caucus is tossing around alternative ideas to stopping the Administration from implementing any immigration reform. The current idea is to sue the President. Read about it at Roll Call.

Out of State? – A recent study has found a correlation between falling state funding and public universities admitting more out of state students. Read it at The Chronicle.

ED Seeks Summer Interns

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The Department of Education is seeking interns for summer 2015. The Department is a great place to explore fields like education policy, education law, business and finance, research and analysis, intergovernmental relations and public affairs, or traditional and digital communications, all while learning about the role federal government plays in education.

Applications are being accepted through March 15, 2015. Click here for more information on how to apply.

President to Propose an End to Sequestration

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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.

Senate HELP Committee Approves Education Research Act

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The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee today approved S227, the Strengthening Educational through Research Act, which would reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act (ERSA). A nearly identical measure was passed by the full House and the Senate HELP Committee last year but, unfortunately, was not considered by the full Senate for approval to be sent to the President for signature into law.

ERSA authorizes funding for the research activities of the Department of Education, including the Institute for Education Sciences. The measure helps improve the quality of education research in the US and make research more relevant and usable for teachers, principals, school districts and states. The bill would authorize ERSA programs through 2021.

For more information, a copy of the legislation is here.

President Obama Drops Controversial 529 Plan

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President Obama has officially dropped the proposal outlined in his recent State of the Union Address that would eliminate the tax advantage of 529 investment programs after facing severe push-back from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and parents across the country.

Per the proposal, any money earned from future contributions to 529 college savings plans would have been subject to a tax. That revenue would have offset the cost of expanding the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which gives a tax break for higher-education expenses of up to $2,500 per student. Administration officials say the majority of families that would have lost a tax break on a 529 plan would have gained a break from the expansion of the AOTC tax credit. Critics warned the proposal would inequitably tax middle-class families at a time when college affordability is a significant issue.

The director of Washington State’s 529 program, called the Guaranteed Education Tuition plan (GET), shared concerns with Obama’s proposal in a Seattle Times article, which can be viewed here. The New York Times coverage of the Administration’s backpedaling can be read here.