The U.S. House of Representatives elected Rep. John Kline (R-MN) to chair the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee.
Rep. Kline has indictated that his priorities for the upcoming congressional session include:
This past week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to extend the FY10 budget through FY11 and provide $5.7 billion to pay off the pending Pell Grant funding shortfall.
The Continuing Resolution maintains funding for programs in FY11 at the same levels as in FY10 with some exceptions. The Resolution reduces spending to some programs to pay for other spending priorities like the Pell Grant Program.
If passed by the U.S. Senate the Continuing Resolution would become effective when the current continuing resolution expires on December 18. The Resolution is necessary because Congress has not passed the twelve appropriations bills needed to pass a FY11 budget.
It is unclear, however, how the Senate will act. There has been some indication that current leadership would like to combine all appropriations bills into one an omnibus spending bill. Another option would be for the Senate to pass their own continuing resolution, which could last the entire FY11 similar to the House or opt for a shorter timeframe such as a few months.
This past week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act with a vote of 216-198.
The DREAM Act authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant conditional nonimmigrant status to undocumented students who were brought to this country before the age of 16 and have been here at least 5 years as of the enactment date. They also must be under 30 years of age. After 10 years, participating individuals would be eligible to have their status adjusted from conditional nonimmigrant to legal permanent resident if they have received a degree from an institution of higher education, completed at least two years toward a bachelor’s (or higher) degree, or served at least two years in the military.
This upcoming week the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the version of the DREAM Act passed by the House. This past week the Senate introduced a different version of the DREAM Act but have tabled this version in order to vote on the House’s version.
The House’s version of the bill is a bit more conservative than the Senate version introduced earlier this month. Under the House bill, unauthorized residents could qualify for conditional nonimmigrant status if they:
The initial conditional nonimmigrant status available under the bill would be valid for a period of five years after which individuals could apply for a single five-year extension. Individuals would be eligible for an extension if they had earned a degree from an institution of higher education, completed at least two years toward a bachelor’s (or higher) degree, or served at least two years in the military, and had met other standards. After completing the second five years, individuals who met the criteria for the five-year extension could have their status adjusted from conditional nonimmigrant to legal permanent resident (LPR) status.
The tentative federal tax deal dominating the news includes potential benfits for students and their families.
Yesterday, the Obama administration struck a tentative deal with Republicans to temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts in order to garner support for additional tax breaks, including a two-year extension of the American Opportunity Tax Credit.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, provides a tax credit of up to $2,500 per student for those who make less than $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers). This credit is partially refundable making it available to low-income families that don’t owe any taxes.
Despite the deal, there is a lack of consensus, making final passage of the tax-cut extension deal uncertain, especially in the House where there appears to be more opposition to parts of the agreement.
In addition to the American Opportunity Tax Credit several other provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of this year if the 111th Congress is unable to extend expiring higher education tax breaks before it adjourns.
Students and parents will be able to take advantage of these benefits when they file taxes in April 2011, but won’t know if they will be able to take advantage of them for the 2011 tax year (when they file in 2012) until Congress makes it clear if they will be extended or not.
In addition, several higher education tax benefits expired in 2009, including:
On Friday, the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform voted on the final proposal released earlier last week.
The proposal received 11 of 18 votes in favor of the final plan which would reduce the deficit by nearly $4 trillion over the next decade.
Though this is too few votes to command quick action in Congress, it does constitute more votes in favor of the plan than was expected.
The Commission’s final report proposed ideas and solutions to bring the federal budget into primary balance in 2015 and improve the long-run fiscal outlook.
The Commission recommended that a cap on discretionary spending be put into place through 2020. Higher education would be impacted by this cap. The intention of this recommendation was to hold spending to 2012 or lower than 2011 spending levels and return spending to precrisis 2008 levels in real terms in 2013. In addition, the recommendation limits spending growth to half the projected inflation rate through 2020.
Another recommendation by the Commission was to eliminate the in-school interest subsidy on federal loans. This would allow for the elimination of income-based subsidies for federal student loan borrowers and better target hardship relief for loan repayment.
Last week, the U.S. House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) that extends the FY 2010 budget until December 18. The original Continuing Resolution expired on December 3.
Both the House and Senate ,the 12 appropriations bills they must now close the budget process through either an omnibus spending bill, which combines all 12 bills in to one, or through yet another CR.
Many speculate that the House will pass a CR that will extend throughout the entire FY2011. The scenario in the Senate is a little less clear. There appears to be some support for an omnibus bill, though it may not be able to garner enough votes for passage. If the Senate does not pass an omnibus bill they could pass a year-long CR, or another temporary CR extending only through the early part of the year. The latter would allow the new Congress to address the issue.
A new version of the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 3992) was introcuced by U.S. Senator Harry Reid.
S. 3992 would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant conditional nonimmigrant status to undocumented students who were brought to this country before the age of 16, have been here at least five years as of the enactment date, and are under 30 years of age. After 10 years, individuals could have their status adjusted from conditional nonimmigrant to legal permanent resident status if they have received a degree from an institution of higher education, completed at least two years toward a bachelor’s (or higher)degree, or served at least two years in the military.
Key provisions in the bill include:
A vote on S. 3992 coud come as early as next week in the Senate. It is unknown if the House will introduce and vote on its own version of the bill or take up the Senate’s version.
This week U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan convened a subcommittee of the Department’s National Advisorty Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity to develop a set of legislative recommendations for the 2013 renewal of the Higher Education Act.
The subcommittee plans to make recommendations regarding the nation’as decentralized system of accreditation as well as on non-accreditation issues.
Susan Phillips, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at State University of New York Albany, Chair of the subcommittee, framed the charge of the subcommittee in an outline. The outline targets several key issues facing higher education:
The subcommittee plans to host a policy forum in February 2011 to seek input from the public. The goal is to have a set of recommendations to the Secretary by December 2011.
In addition to Chair Phillips the subcommittee includes:
This week, U.S. Senator Lautenberg introduced legislation to require lenders to make clear the obligations of co-signers in the event of a student’s death.
The Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act is the culmination of a multi-year battle fought by the Bryski family. In July 2006, Christopher Bryski died at the age of 25. Today, his parents continue to make monthly payments on the $44,500 in private student loans that Mr. Bryski took out to attend Rutgers University.
The Act introduced this week would require lenders to provide students and parents with more information about what happens to loans in the event of death.
Federal student loans can generally be discharged if a student dies or becomes permanently disabled, however, private student lenders are not required to discharge loans in the event of death or disability, leaving co-signers, typically parents, on the hook for the balance.
The House passed its version of the bill in September, and the nearly-identical Senate version, which does not have funding attached, is also expected to pass, according to people familiar with the legislation. A compromise between lawmakers and industry groups, the current version would not require lenders to discharge private student loans. However, it would require all private lenders, to define the obligations of the co-signer, typically a parent, in the event of the student’s death or disability, and to provide information on power of attorney.
The Senate version of the bill designates the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as the agency responsible for handling the issue. Final approval will be needed in the House after Senate passage before it can be signed into law.
Today, the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released their final report, The Moment of Truth.
The report proposes ideas and solutions to bring the federal budget into primary balance in 2015 and improve the long-run fiscal outlook.
The Commission recommends that a cap on discretionary spending be put into place thorugh 2020. Higher education would be impacted by this cap. The intention of this recommendation is to hold spending to 2012 or lower than 2011 spending levels and return spending to precrisis 2008 levels in real terms in 2013. In addition, the recommendation limits spending growth to half the projected inflation rate through 2020.
Another recommendation by the Commission is to eliminate the in-school interest subsidy on federal loans. This would allow for the elimination of income-based subsidies for federal student loan borrowers and better target hardship relief for loan repayment.
A final vote on the report is expected tomorrow, Friday.