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News and updates

House to Vote on ESRA Reauthorization

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The House is expected to consider H.R. 4366, the Strengthening Education through Research Act on Wednesday of this week. The legislation would reauthorize the Institute of Education Science, which is the research arm of the Department of Education.

Reauthorizing legislation of research agencies is typically noncontroversial, and surprisingly, that spirit has held true this year with the IES reauthorization — so far. The House is expected to pass the legislation as a Suspension bill, which requires 2/3rd of the House in the positive for the bill to pass.

This measure is one of several higher education reauthorization bills the Office of Federal has been tracking.

This Week in Congress

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Here is a list of hearings the Office of Federal Relations will be paying attention to throughout the week.

TUESDAY

Senate Budget Committee
Fiscal 2015 Budget: Education
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 AM; 608 Dirksen Building

House Energy & Commerce – Subcommittee on Health
State of Biomedical Innovation
Subcommittee Panel Discussion
3 PM; 2123 Rayburn Building

WEDNESDAY

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee
Farm Bill Implementation
Full Committee Hearing
9 AM; 328-A Russell Building

Senate Appropriations Committee
Investing in Cybersecurity: Understanding Risks and Building Capabilities for the Future
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
2 PM, 192 Dirksen Building

Senate Appropriations Committee
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations: CDC, HRSA, ACF, CMMS
Subcommittee Hearing
10 AM; 138 Dirksen Building

House Floor
HR 4366 – Strengthening Education through Research Act
HR 4438 – American Research & Competitiveness Act
10 AM; House Chamber

THURSDAY

House Education & Workforce Committee
Big Labor on College Campuses: Examining the Consequences of Unionizing Student Athletes
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM; 2175 Rayburn Building

House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
Veteran Education
Subcommittee Hearing
10 AM; 334 Cannon Building

 

New Report on Trends in State Funding for Higher Education

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The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a study late last week about national trends in state funding allocations to public higher educational institutions. The report explains broad national trends in cost shifting of tuition from the state to the student. Overall, after counting for inflation, forty-eight states are still spending less per student in higher education than before the recession.  Since the start of the recession, states have cut higher education funding by 23 percent per student. While states have begun to restore funding, resources are well below what they were in 2008.

Some additional take aways:

  • Simultaneously, public higher education institutions must educate more students, raising costs. In part due to the “baby boom echo” causing a surge in the 18- to 24-year-old population, enrollment in public higher education increased by about 1 million full-time equivalent students, or 10 percent, between the beginning of the recession and the 2012-13 academic year (the latest year for which there is actual data).
  • The recession also played a large role in swelling enrollment numbers, particularly at community colleges, reflecting high school graduates choosing college over dim employment prospects in the job market and older workers entering classrooms in order to retool and gain new skills.
  • The cost shift from states to students has happened over a period when absorbing additional expenses has been difficult for many families because their incomes have been stagnant or declining. Tuition was up 26.1 percent between the 2007-08 and 2012-13 school years, while real median income was down roughly 8.3 percent over the same time period

The full report is here.

 

FY 2015 Appropriations Update

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Both the House and Senate are in session this week. The Senate could consider energy efficiency and tax extenders legislation, while the House considers charter schools legislation and contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner.

Senate appropriators will learn about their committee allocations for their FY 2015 spending bills. This will allow them to begin drafting each of the 12 annual measures. The allocations, known as 302(b)s, won’t be official until approved by the full panel, which generally happens as the first appropriations markup for the year now set for May 22nd. Committee members will then have less than 90 days to mark up and debate as many of the 12 annual spending bills as possible before the August recess.

Meanwhile, House appropriators are about a month ahead of the Senate and are ready to move two more domestic funding measures: Transportation-HUD and Commerce-Justice-Science. House appropriators are due to back their allocations this week and have already moved their first two spending bills, Military Construction-VA and Legislative Branch, with temporary allocations.

House Passes Two Appropriations Bills and Looks Forward

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This week, the full House considered and passed the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Legislative Affairs bills on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.  Both measures are considered uncontroversial and passed by overwhelmingly.

It is unclear when the full House will take up the Commerce, Justice, and Science bill, which the House Appropriations Committee also unveiled and passed this week. Potential policy riders, including NASA’s involvement with Russia, could derail it.

The House is expected to unveil the Transportation, HUD Appropriations Bill next week, and rumors are that Homeland Security will follow soon after.

As these measures continue through the Appropriations process, the Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor them and provide period updates on their progress.