Last Week’s Washington Times Op-ED, This Week’s Subcommittee Hearing on Tip, and Next Week’s FAFSA Failures Hearing Show House Education Committee Remains Focused On Higher Education Issues
Overview
Those who participated in last Thursday’s CSPEN Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update webinar were provided with updates on the publication of two very important articles in last week’s Washington Times and last week’s announcement of a House Education & the Workforce Subcommittee hearing focused on tip income that we would be tracking.
With respect to the newspaper articles-
The first was an article written by Valarie Richardson, entitled “Career Colleges Targeted by ‘Biased’ Biden Bureaucracy with Loss of Student Aid” (www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/sep/11/career-colleges-targeted-by-biased-biden-bureaucra/) which CSPEN stated was a must-read as it provided a very intriguing look at the Department of Education’s enforcement efforts across the higher education community. We also noted a separate Op-ed (short for “opposite the editorial page”) penned by House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) entitled, “Department of Education’s Selective Regulation Hurts Our Military” (www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/sep/11/department-of-educations-selective-regulation-hurt) detailing how the Biden-Harris administration is pigeonholing veteran students into traditional public and state university education.
And we shared that the hearing, while not on higher education issues related to tip earnings, sought to further discuss regulations that harm service-related employees and ways to provide relief for them. Noting the cross-over to the gainful employment debt-to-earnings and earnings premium calculations.
In today’s email update we provide additional information on these issues, a new Washington Times Op-ed that was printed on Friday, and the announcement of yet another House Education Committee Subcommittee hearing of interest.
Chairwoman Foxx’s Op-Ed
A complete reprint of last week’s Op-Ed is provided below.
Higher Ed Is Broken, and Republicans Have a Plan to Fix It
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Washington Times, September 13, 2024
Democrats and Republicans rarely see eye-to-eye these days, but I think we can all agree that earning a postsecondary degree or certification is just too expensive … [Y]ounger generations have waning confidence in the current postsecondary model, with two-thirds of high school students signaling they are better off without a degree. With tuition, fees, and inflation on the rise, we need solutions that ease the challenge of college affordability while holding schools accountable for the outcome of today’s students and tomorrow’s workforce.
That’s why earlier this year I and almost 150 of my colleagues introduced H.R. 6951, the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), which offers much-needed accountability, transparency, and affordability to the college marketplace. The CCRA treats the disease, not just the symptoms …
… The CCRA would promote a new quality assurance model that ensures colleges have skin in the game. The bill holds every college in the country financially responsible if they overcharge for degrees that simply don’t pay off and leave students and taxpayers with debt they cannot afford.
By contrast, the Biden-Harris administration is repeatedly attempting to force American taxpayers to pay for a wide-sweeping student loan bailout scheme. The Biden-Harris plan puts the loans of degree holders—to the tune of nearly $138 billion—on the backs of workers who have either paid off their loans or who chose not to attend college at all. The CCRA curbs this unconstitutional power grab and takes action to rein in the Biden-Harris Department of Education….
Students, families, and taxpayers can no longer afford the status quo when it comes to financing college. As an elected official, it is my duty to help foster freedom, good competition, and an environment where every American has a pathway to success. The CCRA lives up to this promise, offering real solutions that deliver the kind of postsecondary education students need and our economy demands.
CSPEN continues to monitor and report on all of the legislative proposals important to your students, our community, and the employers who look to us to help fulfill our nation’s skilled workforce demands.
Attack On Tipped Workers Subcommittee Hearing
Tomorrow, September 18, at 10:00 a.m. the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), will host a hearing entitled “Examining the Biden-Harris Attacks on Tipped Workers.”
The primary focus of the hearing, as stated in a press release by Chairman Kiley is to “highlight pro-market initiatives that can improve workers’ earnings, provide businesses with more flexibility, and lessen the regulatory burden.” While the focus of the Subcommittee’s hearing is not directly related to higher education policy, and instead will seek to address the need for policies that make it easier for tipped workers to earn a living and debating new rules that further penalize workers and job creators who utilize the tip credit; CSPEN has reached out to the committee to remind them of the equally important and tangential issues of the underreporting of tip income and its impact on regulatory oversight under the gainful employment regulations.
CSPEN will monitor the hearing tomorrow in the hopes that members may highlight the issue will remaining focused on the other concerns related to the tip regulations.
FASFA Failures Subcommittee Hearing
Nest Tuesday, September 24, at 10:15 a.m., the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, chaired by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), will hold a hearing entitled “GAO Uncovers Biden-Harris FAFSA Failures.”
As stated in today’s press release. Chairman Owens believes…
“Even though the Education Department has refused to cooperate with the investigation, congressional watchdog GAO has uncovered new and troubling information about the Biden-Harris FAFSA fiasco. Instead of being honest and transparent, the Department decided to cover up systemic issues and poor communication before, during, and after the launch.
Continuing, “Missed deadlines, false promises, and students left in limbo – and now the Biden-Harris administration is on track to repeat its mistakes given the 2025-2026 FAFSA is already delayed until at least December. This hearing is about accountability and ensuring students and schools don’t have to go through this again.”
CSPEN will monitor this hearing next week and provide an update during next week’s Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update webinar. To that end, please note that CSPEN will not be hosting a webinar this week, but we will share additional information as warranted in a timely, accurate, and sourceable manner!
