Below is an abridged version of RAMC’s weekly Washington Wrap Up. Find out more about Wrap Up and other RAMC resources here. 

June 25, 2018

HOUSE and SENATE
The House voted on one of two immigration related bills last week. The Securing America’s Future Act (H.R. 4760) was rejected by a vote of 193 to 231. The Border Security and Immigration Reform Act (H.R. 6136) was originally scheduled to be voted upon last week, but now could be considered this week by the full House.

The Senate voted to reject the Administration’s rescissions package (H.R. 3) by a vote of 48 to 50.

The House Budget Committee approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Budget Resolution by a vote of 21 to 13.  The resolution includes instructions for $302 billion in overall reconciliation cuts over the next 10 years, including $20 billion in reconciliation instructions for the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill on Tuesday, June 26.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is scheduled to mark up the yet to be released Senate version of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) reauthorization bill on Tuesday, June 26.

On Tuesday June 26, the Senate HELP Committee is also scheduled to consider the nominations of Scott Stump to be the Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and John Lowry to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

ADMINISTRATION
The Administration proposed merging ED and DOL into one Federal agency named the Department of Education and the Workforce (DEW), as part of a larger executive branch reorganization plan. The proposal would require Congressional approval.

ED announced that Tammy Proctor has been named as the new acting director of ED’s Office of Early Learning.

The Federal Commission on School Safety met this week to examine how entertainment, media, cyberbullying and social media may affect violence and student safety. The Commission is scheduled to hold its second listening session in Lexington, Kentucky next week on Tuesday, June 26.

A Federal Judge for a U.S. District Court in California issued a modified order directing ED to stop collecting debts from any student who borrowed a Direct Loan to attend Corinthian Colleges.

DOL announced the launch of apprenticeship.gov, which aims to connect job seekers, job creators, training providers, parents, teachers, and Federal and local workforce agencies with information and resources to learn more about apprenticeships, how to establish an apprenticeship program, and how to access open apprenticeship opportunities.

Education News Headlines
[Click on the link to read the article online]
Senate Draft of Career and Technical Education Bill Would Let Secretary Withhold Funds [Education Week]

Defections from AP program raise question of whether it still has admissions cachet [Inside Higher Ed]

Perspective | Hands-on learning is a necessary part of college, but here’s what it doesn’t teach students [The Washington Post]

Trump Officially Proposes Merging U.S. Departments of Education, Labor  [Education Week]

Trump Wants to Drastically Alter the Education Dept. Here’s What You Need to Know. [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Democratic senators blast DeVos for mishandling a temporary expansion of loan forgiveness for public servants [The Washington Post]

Op-Ed: Bill to protect work licenses of student loan debtors is welcome development [The Hill]

Big racial and sectoral gaps in student loan default rates mostly persist even after controlling for wealth and income [Inside Higher Ed]

Education Department closes 1,200 Obama-era civil rights probes [The Hill]

Judge rejects DeVos’s interpretation of order to halt partial student debt relief plan [The Washington Post]

More college students attending summer classes thanks to yearlong Pell Grants [Inside Higher Ed]

Think Tank Proposal Would Aim for No Student Borrowing [Inside Higher Ed]
Center for American Progress Report: “Beyond Tuition”

Community college enrollment rates expected to keep falling [Inside Higher Ed]

Are Betsy DeVos’s policies exacerbating racial inequities in student debt? These lawmakers think so. [The Washington Post]

Thousands of Professors Call Trump’s Family-Separation Policy ‘Government-Sanctioned Child Abuse’ [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Op-Ed: Fixing accreditation: The third rail of higher education reform [The Hill]

New Plan for Consolidating Conn. Community Colleges [Inside Higher Ed]

Committee News and Schedule, Schedule for House and Senate Floor:
House Education and the Workforce Committee 
Press Release: Foxx, Thompson Statement on Senate CTE Developments

Press Release: Foxx Statement on Proposed New Department of Education and the Workforce

Press Release: Scott Statement on Trump Administration’s Proposal to Merge Departments of Labor and Education

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Press Release: Murray Demands Answers From Trump Health Secretary on Safety, Reunification of Separated Children

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Press Release: Senate Appropriations Schedule for the Week of June 25, 2018

Press Release: Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Senate Rejecting President Trump’s Rescission Package

House Committee on the Budget 
Press Release: House Budget Committee Approves FY 2019 Budget Resolution

U.S. Department of Education and the Administration:
White House Press Release: Readout from First Lady Melania Trump’s Visit to the Students Against Destructive Decisions National Conference

ED Press Release: Statement from Secretary DeVos on the Government Reform Plan

ED Blog: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Visits the Netherlands

ED Media Advisory: Federal Commission on School Safety to Hold Second Listening Session

IES Report: “Four Years Later: 2007-08 College Graduates’ Employment, Debt, and Enrollment in 2012”

Legislative Movement in Congress Last Week:
H.R.5738 — CSA OPPORTUNITY Act
Sponsor: Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-17] (Introduced 05/09/2018) Cosponsors: (8)
Committees: House – Ways and Means, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce
Latest Action:  House – 06/22/2018 Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition.

H.R.6195 — To limit the separation of families seeking asylum in the United States and expedite the asylum process for individuals arriving in the United States with children.
Sponsor: Rep. Brat, Dave [R-VA-7] (Introduced 06/22/2018) Cosponsors: (0)
Committees: House – Judiciary
Latest Action:  House – 06/22/2018 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Press Release: Rep. Brat Introducing Protect Kids and Parents Act to Keep Illegal Immigrant Families Together

H.R.6196 — To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies to implement a policy on allergy bullying in schools.
Sponsor: Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-17] (Introduced 06/22/2018) Cosponsors: (0)
Committees: House – Education and the Workforce
Latest Action:  House – 06/22/2018 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce

S.3102 — A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account.
Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (Introduced 06/21/2018) Cosponsors: (8)
Committees: Senate – Finance
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/21/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Press Release: Sen. Cruz Introduces the Student Empowerment Act

S.3106 — A bill to authorize the Secretary of Education to establish an Advisory Commission on Serving and Supporting Students with Mental Health Disabilities in Institutions of Higher Education, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] (Introduced 06/21/2018) Cosponsors: (6)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/21/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Press Release: Casey, Colleagues Look to Improve Access to Mental Health Services for Students

S.3110 — A bill to support educational entities in fully implementing title IX and reducing and preventing sex discrimination in all areas of education.
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (Introduced 06/21/2018) Cosponsors: (11)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/21/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

H.R.6156 — To prohibit States from suspending, revoking, or denying State-issued professional licenses or issuing penalties due to student default.
Sponsor: Rep. Ferguson, A. Drew, IV [R-GA-3] (Introduced 06/20/2018) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: House – Education and the Workforce
Latest Action:  House – 06/20/2018 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Press Release: Ferguson, Cicilline Introduce Bill To Protect Student Loan Borrowers

H.R.6166 — To require the Secretary of Energy to develop a solar workforce training course for certain members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV-3] (Introduced 06/20/2018) Cosponsors: (3)
Committees: House – Education and the Workforce, Armed Services
Latest Action:  House – 06/20/2018 Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the…

S.3101 — A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to require a State to conduct State leadership activities that reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket expenses related to enrollment in a career and technical education course or dual or concurrent enrollment program for students in special populations.
Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/20/2018) Cosponsors: (0)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/20/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

S.3081 — A bill to identify and develop best practices for the training of elementary and secondary school counselors regarding career counseling.
Sponsor: Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI] (Introduced 06/18/2018) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/18/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

S.3083 — A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to improve career and technical education opportunities for adult learners, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (Introduced 06/18/2018) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/18/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

S.3084 — A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to allow Members of Congress to tour detention facilities that house unaccompanied alien children.
Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (Introduced 06/18/2018) Cosponsors: (2)
Committees: Senate – Judiciary
Latest Action:  Senate – 06/18/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices:
ED Comment Request; Correction: Gainful Employment.

ED Comment Request:  Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (TA&D) program. Comments due July 11, 2018. 

ED Final Rule: Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects: Six Month Delay of the General Compliance Date of Revisions While Allowing the Use of Three Burden-Reducing Provisions During the Delay Period.

ED Grant Notice: Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program. Applications due July 24, 2018. 

ED Grant Notice; Correction: Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs State Grant Competition (GEAR UP State NIA). This notice revises information provided in Section II of the GEAR UP State NIA under Award Information.