November 6 , 2007
In this issue:
Upcoming Activities
EDUCATION
The Senate and House education committees appear to be losing interest in reauthorizing No Child Left Behind this year. Instead, House Education Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) has announced plans to move an HEA reauthorization bill this month. No language has been released yet.
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APPROPRIATIONS
Congressional leaders this week may send the President the first of the FY08 appropriations bills. After numerous attempts to bundle several spending bills, Democratic leaders have scheduled for a floor vote the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill combined with the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs measure. The President has made clear that he would veto a stand-alone Labor-HHS-Education bill or a two-bill package, and Senate Republicans may be able to use Senate rules to split the two bills, in which case the Democratic strategy is unclear.
The conference report provides $30 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is higher than either the House or Senate numbers ($29.7 billion and $29.9 billion respectively) and about $1.1 billion above the FY07 level of $28.9 billion. The Education Department would receive $60.7 billion, a 5.6 percent boost above last year and $601 million more than Bush requested for his signature No Child Left Behind programs.
Of particular interest in the higher education programs:
- The Pell Grant maximum award is raised to $4,435, an increase of $125 in discretionary funding above the current level of $4,310. The House proposed $4,700 and the Senate proposed no increase. (The increase in the conference report is in addition to the mandatory funding provided through the College Cost Reduction Act);
- The Pell Grant program, as a whole, is funded at $14.5 billion, the same as the Senate-approved level. The total is $838 million , or 6.1 percent, above the FY07 level. The House proposed $15.58 billion;
- Unobligated funds within the ACG and SMART grant programs would be made available for Pell Grants in the 2008-2009 award year;
- The TRIO program is funded at $868.18 million, an increase of $40 million (4.8 percent) above the FY07 level. This is the same as the House-proposed level; the Senate proposed $858.18 million;
- The GEAR UP program is funded at $318.42 million, an increase of $20 million (6.6 percent) above the FY07 level. This is a split between the House-proposed level of $323.42 million and the Senate level of $313.42 million;
- Student aid, as a whole, is funded at $16.38 billion, an increase of $838 million above FY07. The House proposed $17.46 billion and the Senate proposed $16.37 billion;
- International Education and Foreign Languages programs would be funded at $105.75, the same as FY07. The House proposed $115.65 million; the Senate proposed flat-funding;
- The $3.2 million proposed in the House bill to increase the number of academic year and summer foreign language fellowships for International Education and Foreign Language Domestic programs was NOT included in the conference report;
- The House provision to establish a coordinating group on international education and foreign language studies was NOT included in the conference report.
In related news, House and Senate leaders are preparing a continuing resolution to last through December 14, although extending that by another week is not out of the question given the heavy remaining workload. None of the 12 FY08 appropriations bills have been signed into law.
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HEARINGS OF NOTE
Tuesday, November 6
House Science and Technology
Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation
Title: The Globalization of R&D and Innovation, Pt. IV: Implications for the Science and Engineering Workforce
2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 7
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee
Title: Examining U.S. Government Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
10 a.m.
House Veterans' Committee
Full Committee
Title: Markup of H.R. 3882 to amend title 38, United States Code, to change the length of the obligated period of service on active duty required for receiving certain education benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
10 a.m.
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee
Title: "Carbon Sequestration Technologies."
Witnesses: TBA
2:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 8
Health and Human Services Department (HHS
President's Council on Bioethics
Meeting of the President's Council on Bioethics to continue its inquiry into the "crisis" of the healing professions with expert presentations and Council discussions; and its inquiry into the moral foundations of health care.
9 a.m.
Location: Hotel Washington, 515 15th St., NW, Washington, D.C.
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Recent Actions
HIGHER EDUCATION
Congress yesterday cleared a five-month extension of the Higher Education Act (HEA) (S. 2258), extending the law through March 31, 2008 (see above story on HEA reauthorization). Along with maintaining authorization for student aid and other higher education programs, the measure includes a provision to clarify language in the College Cost Reduction Act (P.L. 110-84) regarding what type of lending organization qualifies as a nonprofit. The goal is to ensure that for-profit companies that have purchased nonprofit lenders or loans originated by nonprofit lenders do not receive the higher subsidy provided to nonprofit lenders.
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CAMPUS SAFETY
The U.S. Department of Education released new guidance to parents and educators about the circumstances under which information about troubled students can be disclosed under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, a federal law governing student records that is often criticized for being too complicated. The guidance in a series of pamphlets for parents, elementary and secondary-school officials, and college administrators is meant to provide some "rules of the road" regarding the law in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said at a news conference during a visit to a high school in a Washington suburb. Specifically, the guides state that the law, which is known as FERPA, permits educators to share confidential information with law-enforcement officers, medical personnel, and others without student consent when necessary to protect the health or safety of students or other individuals. In addition, institutions can disclose education records to parents if a health or safety emergency involves their son or daughter, according to the department's interpretation of the privacy law.
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ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has set in motion a plan to modernize the medical histories of 3.6 million patients by moving from paper records to an electronic format.
A five-year demonstration project is meant to encourage 1,200 small- and medium-sized physicians' offices to adopt electronic health records. The project will offer physicians financial incentives for adopting electronic health records and using them to meet unspecified quality benchmarks. CMS plans to begin recruiting physician practices to take part in the demonstration in the spring.
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STUDENT LOANS
The Department of Education has issued final rules for student loan programs that are intended to strengthen and improve their regulation, including providing greater “sunshine” on loan arrangements between lenders and institutions. The regulations, which cover the Perkins Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL), and the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program, reflect changes in law prompted by the 2006 reconciliation act and the negotiated rulemaking process that occurred earlier this year. The regulations note that there are no significant differences between the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and these final regulations. The regulations take effect July 1, 2008, but the Department is encouraging the voluntary implementation of many of the provisions before the effective date.
The regulations can be viewed at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/07-5332.htm.
In related news, six Democratic senators want an investigation into whether the Education Department overpaid millions of dollars to student-loan firms under a program that guaranteed the lenders a 9.5 percent interest rate. In a letter to the department's inspector general, the
Senators said their concerns were prompted by a settlement reached this year with the lender group Nelnet Inc., after an IG audit found the firm received special payments from the loan program. The letter was signed by Democratic Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).
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DHS CHEMICAL MONITORING
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted on its website a final version of Appendix A to the DHS Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1193971111885.shtm . Appendix A is a listing of chemicals and the quantity thresholds of those chemicals that could result in a need for CFATS security compliance. This pre-publication listing of Appendix A allows the public to view the revised list which now includes fewer chemicals than the initial listing as well as specific quantity thresholds for each chemical included. If an institution meets the threshold quantities for chemicals included in the revised Appendix A, a "Top-Screen" report to DHS is required. Based on the report, DHS will determine whether facilities need to comply with the security requirements of CFATS.
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INDIRECT COSTS
146 AAU and NASULGC university Presidents and Chancellors signed a higher education association letter to Congressional leaders and key appropriators urging Congress not to include in the final Defense appropriations bill a cap on indirect costs of Defense basic research as approved by the House. Reports from the conference negotiations indicate the cap will remain in the Defense bill, but at a higher threshold of 35%.
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TAXES
The House Ways and Means Committee approved a tax extender bill November 1 that includes two education provisions requested by the higher education community. The $80 billion measure (H.R. 3996), which focuses on preventing expansion of the alternative minimum tax to more taxpayers, would extend several expiring tax provisions, including the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses and the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) charitable rollover. The measure also would extend the R&D tax credit.
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