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

April 13, 2021

HOUSE and SENATE
The House and Senate were in recess last week. The Senate returned on Monday, April 12, and the House returned for legislative business on Tuesday, April 13.

ADMINISTRATION
The Biden Administration released an overview of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released the second volume of its COVID-19 Handbook.

ED announced the beginning of its process to comply with President Biden’s Executive Order on sexual harassment and discrimination.

ED’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a set of responses to State requests for waivers from standardized testing requirements during the 2020-2021 school year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that nearly 80 percent of teachers, school staff and childcare workers have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Education News Headlines
[Click on the link to read the article online]
CDC funds info clearinghouse for colleges fighting COVID [Inside Higher Ed]

Op-Ed: Do college campuses still need COVID-19 surveillance testing? [The Hill]

Study suggests American colleges explain diversity in a way that appeals to white, not Black, people [Inside Higher Ed]

Will free summer classes and scholarships bring students back to community colleges? [Inside Higher Ed]

California’s community colleges at critical crossroads as more students opt not to attend [EdSource]

Adapting workers to the modern economy: Alternative training and certification [Brookings]

Biden’s $103B budget proposal for the Ed Dept would boost Pell, MSI funding [Higher Ed Dive]

More Colleges Say They’ll Require Students To Have COVID-19 Vaccines For Fall [NPR]

College transfer enrollment still lagging this spring, survey says [Higher Ed Dive]

Can Colleges Require Covid-19 Vaccines? [The New York Times]

New Jersey pilots partnership to help residents earn free credit at 3 colleges [Higher Ed Dive]

Why expanded student supports can improve community college outcomes and boost skill attainment [The Brookings Institute]

The faces of student debt [The Washington Post]

Poll: Nearly half of parents don’t want their kids to go to a four-year college [The Hechinger Report]

Committee News and Schedule, Schedule for House and Senate Floor:
Speaker of the House
Press Release: Pelosi Statement on President Biden’s FY22 Budget Request

Senate Majority Leader
Press Release: Across The Country, Senate Democrats Lay Out How The American Rescue Plan Is Improving Lives, Helping Communities Recover From COVID Pandemic

House Education and Labor Committee
April 15: Subcommittee Hearing: Meeting the Moment: Improving Access to Behavioral and Mental Health Care
Witnesses: Dr. Brian D. Smedley, Ph.D., Chief of Psychology in the Public Interest, Public Interest Directorate, American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, New York, NY; Mr. James Gelfand, Senior Vice President, Health Policy, The ERISA Industry Committee, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Meiram Bendat, J.D., Ph.D., Founder, Psych-Appeal, Santa Barbara, CA
10:15 a.m. via Zoom

Press Release: Chairman Scott: Biden Budget Makes Long-Term Commitment to Our Nation’s Students

Press Release: Chairman Scott Applauds Comprehensive Review of DeVos Title IX Rule

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
April 15: Full Committee Hearing: Nomination of James Kvaal to serve as Undersecretary of Education
Witness: James Kvaal, Washington D.C.
10:00 a.m. via Webcast

April 20: Full Committee Hearing: “COVID-19 Recovery: Supporting Workers and Modernizing the Workforce Through Quality Education, Training, and Employment Opportunities”
Witnesses: Ms. Maria Flynn, President And CEO, Jobs For the Future, Boston, MA; Ms. Deniece Thomas, Deputy Commissioner Of Workforce Learning And Development, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Nashville, TN; Dr. Scott Ralls, President, Wake Technical Community College, Raleigh, NC; Mr. Alejandro Mendoza, Human Resources Director, Optimax Systems Inc., Ontario, NY
10:00 a.m. in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building or webcast

Press Release: Senator Murray Statement on Education Secretary Cardona Announcing a Review of the DeVos Title IX Rule

Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
April 13: Subcommittee Hearing: “The Student Debt Burden and Its Impact on Racial Justice, Borrowers, & The Economy”
Witnesses: Panel I: The Honorable Ayanna Pressley, Representative (MA-7), United States House of Representatives. Panel II: The Honorable Maura Healey, Attorney General, State of Massachusetts; Mr. James H. Steeley, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency; and Mr. John F. Remondi, President and CEO of Navient. Additional witnesses may be added at a later date.
2:30 p.m. via webcast

House Committee on the Budget 
Press Release: Chairman Yarmuth Statement on President Biden’s FY22 Discretionary Funding Request

Senate Committee on the Budget 
Press Release: NEWS: Sanders Statement on President Biden’s Discretionary Budget Request

House Committee on Appropriations
Press Release: DeLauro Statement on President Biden’s FY2022 Discretionary Funding Request

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Press Release: Statement of Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On President Biden’s Budget Blueprint

House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Press Release: Chairwoman Johnson Statement On President Biden’s FY22 Discretionary Budget Request

House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Press Release: Pallone Applauds President Biden’s Budget

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis
April 15: Hybrid Hearing: “Reaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Science-Driven Approach to Swiftly And Safely Ending the Pandemic”
Witnesses: Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health; David Kessler, MD, Chief Science Officer, COVID Response, Department of Health and Human Services
10:00 a.m. via webcast

U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee
April 14: Hearing: “Vaccinations and the Economic Recovery”
Witnesses: Dr. Paul Romer, Nobel Prize Winning economist and NYU Professor, New York, NY; Dr. Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine & Infectious Diseases, NYU School of Medicine & Bellevue Hospital, CEO of Just Human Productions, New York, NY; Dr. Alexander Tabarrok, Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center and Professor of Economics George Mason University, Fairfax, VA; Dr. Belinda Archibong, Assistant Professor, Economics, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY
2:30 p.m. via webcast

U.S. Department of Education and the Administration:
White House Press Release: Remarks by President Biden before Meeting with Bipartisan Group of Members of Congress to Discuss the American Jobs Plan

White House Press Release: Remarks by President Biden on Gun Violence Prevention

ED Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Releases “COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs”

ED Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Announces More Biden-Harris Appointees

DOL Press Release: U.S. Secretary Of Labor Marty Walsh Addresses President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Discretionary Funding Request

GAO Report: “Graduate Medical Education: Programs and Residents Increased during Transition to Single Accreditor; Distribution Largely Unchanged”

IES Blog: What Does This Mean for Me? A Conversation about College and ADHD

IES Report: “Using high school data to predict college readiness and early college success on Guåhan (Guam)”

Legislative Movement in Congress Last Week:
H.R.2418 – To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the front line in response to COVID-19.
Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12]
Committees: House – Education and Labor; Financial Services; Ways and Means
Latest Action: House – 04/08/2021 Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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 committee concerned.
Press Release: Maloney Joins Health Care Professionals, Union Leaders, and Educators to Introduce Bill to Forgive Student Loans for COVID-19 Frontline Health Workers

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices:
ED Comment Request: Pell Grant Reporting under the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System. Comments due on or before May 13, 2021.

ED Grant Notice: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), Section 314(a)(2); Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) for Institutions of Higher Education That Meet the Criteria for the Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) Program. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until July 12, 2021.

ED Grant Notice: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), Section 314(a)(2); Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA) for Institutions of Higher Education That Meet the Criteria for the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until July 12, 2021.

FCC Final Rule: Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.

HHS Comment Request: Child Care Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions. Comments due within 60 days. 

ED Correction Notice: CRRSAA Supplemental Aid to Institutions of Higher Education Application. The comment closing date of June 1, 2021 is wrong, and the correct closing date is May 3, 2021.

ED Correction Notice: FY2021 for the Supplemental Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education, Assistance Listing Number 84.425S. Notice corrects the year of the Pell Grant recipient percent that institutions must meet to be eligible under Absolute Priority 6. Notice also clarifies the eligibility requirements under Absolute Priorities 2 and 5.