A View from Washington:
While we are only days away from the 2024 election, we may not have immediate knowledge this Wednesday of the political shifts in Congress or even the White House with election results and counts anticipated to take days or longer. For education and workforce issues, a return to a Trump Administration would have the most impact with a major shuffle of political appointees in January and a potentially long list of U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) regulatory reversals. Lewis-Burke’s chart summarizing the possible outlook for various education policies under various election scenarios can be found here.
In Congress, we are likely to see new leaders and new priorities with potential shifts in party control in both chambers, a number of congressional retirements, and anticipated new leadership in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Details on the potential leadership on relevant committees of interest are included below. Big items are already on the legislative agenda in 2025, as Congress will have to quickly address a looming federal debt ceiling and face expiration of important Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions that will be expiring. Notably, there has been discussion among the current House Republican leadership and relevant tax committees surrounding the tax on private college endowment income and education institutions’ tax-exempt status. If the 2017 tax debate is a guide, other proposals impacting education could also return, including modifications to unrelated business income tax (UBIT), tuition remission benefits, and taxability of student benefits.
With a few weeks left in this remaining Congress, there is both a must pass and a growing wish list of bills on the agenda. Current federal government funding expires on December 20, but there have been no substantive negotiations between the two chambers on the wide variation on spending priorities, including for ED programs and student aid. Congress may be forced to push another continuing resolution (CR) into the new year. There is also congressional interest, but maybe not enough time, to see passage this year of various reauthorizations that could impact education and workforce programs, detailed further below. Congressional ire with education institution’s responses to antisemitism has and will continue this fall, with reports of the Senate leader planning a vote on the House passed Antisemitism Awareness Act, H.R. 6090. Chairwoman Foxx (R-NC) also released this past week her investigative report, Antisemitism on College Campuses Exposed, to highlight university administrators’ failures surrounding antisemitism.
Featured in this edition:
- CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES AND NEWS
Legislative Laundry List | Leadership Changes to Come to Key Education Committees in the 119th Congress - ADMINISTRATION AND AGENCY UPDATES AND NEWS
Final ED Regulations on Distance ED Still Pending| Department of Education “Elevating STEM Education in Rural Communities” Webinar| National Board for Education Sciences Meets - FUNDING AND ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Engagement and Funding Opportunities - FACTS AND FIGURES
College Board Data about Grants, Loans and Other Aid - WHAT WE’RE READING
Early Data Indicate More Students are Poised to Receive Federal Financial Aid this Year | The NCSL Task Force on Higher Education: Final Report In-Brief