As Senate HELP Committee Discusses WIOA Reauthorization Today, the Full House Prepares to Debate the National Defense Authorization Act, Which Could Include Deliberations on Key Higher Education Policy Issues, AND, the House Education & the Workforce Committee Prepares for Marathon Mark Up Of Multiple Bills Impacting Higher Education

Overview
June 11, CSPEN shared with you an email blast detailing the pending U.S. House of Representatives floor consideration of H.R. 8070 – Service-member Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, legislation providing funding for our nation’s defenses, but also potentially including several key amendments related to higher education – chief among them:

  • a bi-partisan Amendment #943 (Submitted by Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Robert Scott (D-VA)) that allows for Pell Grants to support low-income students enrolled in high-quality, short-term education programs that will equip students with the necessary skills to be prepared for work in high-demand fields that are aiding our national security and global competitiveness, such as advanced manufacturing, shipbuilding, cybersecurity, and other fields that the Department of Defense has identified as necessary for filling shortfalls in the defense industrial base workforce.
  • a Democratic Amendment #1167 (Submitted by Representative Ramirez (D-IL) which seeks to provide that educational assistance paid under Department of Veterans Affairs educational assistance programs to an individual who pursued a program or course of education that was suspended or terminated for certain reasons shall not be charged against the entitlement of the individual.

Today, the House Rules Committee continues to consider over 1,300 Amendments that were submitted prior to the Friday, May 31^st deadline. The Rules Committee’s goal is to complete the review and determination of the amendments determined to be in order in the next day or two and then proceed to Full House floor consideration of the bill as soon as possible. CSPEN will keep you informed whether one, or both, of these amendments is determined to be in order and thus eligible to be debated for inclusion in the bill.

The email also noted today’s Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act hearing entitled “The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Supporting Efforts to Meet the Needs of Youth, Workers, and Employers” scheduled to begin this morning at 10AM ET. If you are interested in watching the proceedings, you can do so live here (www.help.senate.gov/hearings/the-workforce-innovation-and-opportunity-act-supporting-efforts-to-meet-the-needs-of-youth-workers-and-employers). Or you can await CSPEN’s summary of the hearing later in the week – as we will once again try to be several places at one time.

Why? Well, because in addition to monitoring the Seante WIOA hearing and House Floor action, after yesterday morning’s briefing the House Committee on Education & the Workforce announced their intent to host a markup of eight bills and one Congressional Review Act resolution, many of which have implications for the entire higher education community. Below is a very brief summary of the bills and resolution that will be considered beginning tomorrow morning. Thursday, June 13th, at 10:45AM ET. Again, if you are interested in watching what is likely to be a very long mark up, you can watch the proceedings live here, or again you can await a summary of the key details of the markup provided by CSPEN in the days ahead.

SO, we have several busy days ahead. And don’t forget that we are still closely monitoring the Office of Management and Budget’s, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for the posting of the Department of Education’s submission of the 2004 Program Integrity and Institutions Accountability NPRM.

We have it all covered, but it may take us a little time to share the information. But you can catch up on all of this and more on next Thursday’s Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update!

What’s Next
House Committee on E&W Markup
Tomorrow, the Full House Committee on Education and the Workforce will consider the following Congressional Review Act resolution and eight bills, many focused on higher education policy and labor law. Of the nine different proposals to be considered, the ones drawing the most attention heading into tomorrow’s markup are:

H.R. 8648 (www.congress.gov/118/bills/hr8648/BILLS-118hr8648ih.pdf), the Civil Rights Protection Act of 2024 – a bill in furtherance of concerns regarding institutions of higher educations’ policies and actions to address antisemitism on college campuses; and
H.J. Res. 165 (www.congress.gov/118/bills/hjres165/BILLS-118hjres165ih.pdf), providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance” – a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s final Title IX rule.

Also to be considered are:
H.R. 618 – The Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act
H.R. 8606 – The Never Again Education Reauthorization and Study Act of 2024
H.R. 6816 – The Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings (PROTECT) for Our Kids Act
H.R. 8649 – The Transparency in Reporting Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE Act)
H.R. 7227 – The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Polices Act
H.R.8534 – The Protecting Student Athletes Economic Freedom Act
H.R. 5567 – The Combating the Lies Authoritarians in School Systems (CLASS) Act