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

August 17, 2021

HOUSE and SENATE
The U.S Senate passed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget resolution.  The resolution instructs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) to produce legislation that spends $726 billion over ten years and instructs the House Education and Labor committee to produce legislation that spends $779 billion over the same ten-year period. The House is expected to return the week of August 23^rd to consider the Senate passed resolution.

The Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This bipartisan infrastructure bill includes provisions for more traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as well as resources for broadband expansion.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) scheduled floor action on the nomination of James Kvaal to serve as Undersecretary of Education in the Biden Administration for when the Senate returns on September 13th.

ADMINISTRATION
The Biden Administration announced an extension of the existing moratorium on student loan interest, payments and collections through January 2022.

The U.S Department of Education (ED) approved six more State plans for the use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds under the American Rescue Plan.

Education News Headlines
[Click on the link to read the article online]
Jobs for the Future VP Nominated for Assistant Secretary [Inside Higher Ed]

Ed Department finds closed for-profits owe over $6M [Higher Ed Dive]

Warren drops opposition to Biden’s higher education nominee [POLITICO]

Being Unvaccinated For COVID Will Cost Students At A Small College An Extra $750 [NPR]

Surge in pandemic debt forgiveness is about students reenrolling — and also colleges’ bottom lines [Higher Ed Dive]

Campuses Are Virus Incubators, but These Colleges Can’t Require Vaccines [The New York Times]

Campuses Anticipate Housing Shortages and Surpluses This Fall [Inside Higher Ed]

Committee News and Schedule, Schedule for House and Senate Floor:
The House adjourned for recess and is presently set to return the week of August 23, 2021 to conduct business on the FY2022 budget resolution and a voting rights bill. The Senate adjourned for recess after the completion of work on the FY2022 budget resolution and will return the week of September 13, 2021.

Speaker of the House
Press Release: Dear Colleague on Path Forward to Build Back Better

U.S. Department of Education and the Administration:
White House Press Release: Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda Will Deliver Historic Investments in American Families and Communities

White House Press Release: Fact Sheet: How President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda Helps Rural Communities

ED Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Takes Action on Student Aid Violations and School Closure

Legislative Movement in Congress Last Week:
H.R.5016 —  To authorize the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Attorney General, to establish a pilot program to make grants to historically Black colleges and universities to provide educational programs to offenders who have recently been, or will soon be, released from incarceration, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2] (Introduced 08/13/2021)
Committees: House – Education and Labor
Latest Action: House – 08/13/2021 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Press Release: Reps. Hill, Cohen, Sewell, and Turner Reintroduce legislation to Assist Ex-Inmates as they Transition Back to Society

H.R.5019 —  To direct the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, to award grants for arts and creative workforce programs.
Sponsor: Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] (Introduced 08/13/2021)
Committees: House – Education and Labor
Latest Action: House – 08/13/2021 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Press Release: Leger Fernández and Obernolte Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Revamp Creative Economy, Put Artists Back to Work

S.2711 — A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide rules of construction that nothing in those Acts requires the use, teaching, promotion, or recommendation of any academic discipline, program, or activity that holds that the United States is a Nation founded on white supremacy and oppression, or that these forces are at the root of American society.
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (Introduced 08/11/2021) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action: Senate – 08/11/2021 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Press Release: Lee Bill Protects Schools From Critical Race Theory

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices:
ED Notice: Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship Program Survey on Postgraduate Employment Outcomes. Comments due on or before October 15, 2021.