Last week in Washington was quiet, with Congress in recess for the July 4 holiday and policymakers in their states and districts for a planned work period. Congressional leadership in the Senate focused on crafting a potential budget reconciliation package, as more uncertainty surrounding the future of the bipartisan, bicameral America COMPETES/USICA legislative package swirls. Both chambers will return this week, where there will be action on several appropriations packages for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 and the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). ACTE is continuing to monitor the Labor-HHS-Education FY23 spending bill as it moves to the Senate and will provide updates as they come. As we await Congress’s return, here are some news and notes:

• America COMPETES/USICA Update: Recently, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declared that the Senate would immediately halt bipartisan negotiations on the America COMPETES Act/USICA, which contains several top ACTE priorities, if Senate Democrats continued ahead with plans to negotiate and pass a budget reconciliation package with drug pricing and climate provisions before the November midterm elections. The House of Representatives may look to pass the Senate-approved version of the bill, known as USICA, in order to bypass the conference negotiation process, but the Senate version of the bill does not include short-term Pell. ACTE will provide any updates as they come.

• Department of Education Releases Proposed Regulations on Student Loan Debt Relief: The Department of Education has released proposed regulations that would expand student loan discharge programs for borrowers whose schools closed or were untruthful with borrowers, for those who are totally and permanently disabled and for public service workers who have fulfilled requirements of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. View the proposed regulations here and a fact sheet here.

• Department of Labor Awards Apprenticeship Building America Grants: The Department of Labor has awarded $121 million in Apprenticeship Building America grants, which are designed to strengthen and modernize registered apprenticeship programs. Read more about the grant recipients and funding categories above.

Last week in Washington was a fairly light one for CTE. Congress focused on additional January 6 committee hearings, responding to Supreme Court rulings, negotiating a potential budget reconciliation package and marking up additional appropriations bills, including the spending package that provides funding for the Departments of Education and Labor. Congress is now in recess until the week of July 11, where they will continue work on the appropriations packages and potentially continue conference committee negotiations on the bipartisan, bicameral America COMPETES Act/USICA. In the meantime, here are some news and notes:

• House Appropriations Committee Marks Up FY23 Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill: On June 30, the House Appropriations Committee marked up and approved by a vote of 32-24 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. The legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, a year-over-year increase equal to what was enacted in FY22.

• Ask Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the RAISE Act: ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act, legislation designed to boost teacher pay for early childhood and K-12 teachers. Now, we need your assistance to help retain teachers in the profession and attract more high-quality professionals to the teacher workforce. Contact your Members of Congress to ask them to cosponsor and support the RAISE Act!

• Swiss Embassy Hosts Apprenticeship Training Panel: On June 28, the Swiss Embassy in the United States held a reception at the residence of Ambassador of Switzerland Jacques Pitteloud to highlight the Swiss, Austrian and German apprenticeship models, and discuss lessons that can be applied to the U.S. apprenticeship system. Read more about the event here.

• Department of Labor Awards Grants to Provide Pre-release Job Training and Services to Incarcerated People: The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has awarded Pathway Home grants to provide training and employment services to incarcerated people who are scheduled for release within 20 to 270 days from the time they enroll in the project. Read more about the grants here.

On June 30, the House Appropriations Committee marked up and approved by a vote of 32-24 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.

The legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, a year-over-year increase equal to what was enacted in FY22. In addition, $50 million is allocated to a new competitive grant program as proposed by the Administration in their Career Connected Learning proposal. Overall, the bill provides a 15% increase to the Department of Education and a 12% increase to the Department of Labor.

The bill maintained the investments put forth in the draft text of the legislation.

An amendment was offered by Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) to prevent the Department of Labor from proposing any regulation after the date of enactment of the bill that is not estimated to support the “quality and availability” of CTE. The amendment was defeated by voice vote. An amendment to continue funding industry-recognized apprenticeship programs (in addition to registered apprenticeship programs) was offered by Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), but was also defeated by voice vote. 

The next steps are for the full House to approve the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, and for the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee to draft and mark up a FY23 spending bill in the Senate. The previously agreed upon timeline for this was July, but an injury to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) could extend that timeline. ACTE will continue to push for robust funding in the FY23 appropriations cycle. If you have any questions, you can reach out to ACTE Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis (zcurtis@acteonline.org) or Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, Jori Houck (jhouck@acteonline.org).

Trends in Financial Aid: Recently, the National Center for Education Statistics published a report covering trends in student financial aid during the 2017-18 academic year. After examining financial aid data by type and source across 1,900 Title-IV-eligible institutions, researchers shared the following findings:

• Roughly 55% of students at community colleges received some type of financial aid, with the most common form being grants or loans, and were awarded $5,300, on average.
• Among community college students that received financial aid, 47% received federal aid, 24% received state aid and 6% received institutional aid.
• For students at public less-than-two-year institutions, 41% received some form of financial aid and they were awarded $5,500, on average.
• About 42% of community college students received Pell grants and 28% of students at public less-than-two-year institutions received Pell grants. ACTE supports the expansion of Pell grants to cover high-quality short-term programs so that more students at these institutions can access education and training for careers.

Analyzing Equity in Postsecondary Education: The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania collaborated to publish a report on equity trends in the postsecondary education system. The report reviews national and state data on equity as well as historical data on Federal TRIO programs, which are outreach and support services programs targeted at individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, with the goal of identifying policies and practices that improve overall postsecondary education attainment and equity in postsecondary outcomes.

Prospective and Current Students’ Perspectives: As postsecondary institutions seek ways to enroll and retain students, a report by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation provides helpful insights from prospective and current students. In 2021, researchers surveyed adults enrolled in an associate or bachelor’s degree program, adults with some postsecondary education who stopped out, and adults who never enrolled in postsecondary education. Some of their key findings are detailed below:

• Among adults who have never enrolled in postsecondary education, 40% have considered enrolling. In addition, 85% of those who stopped out in the past few years have considered reenrolling. For these adults, associate degrees and certificates were the top credentials of interest.
• Most enrolled students report that they are pursuing postsecondary education to obtain knowledge and skills, pursue a more fulfilling career and obtain a higher paying job.
• About 41% of associate degree students said they considered stopping out in the past six months with many citing emotional stress as a cause. However, about half report that financial aid and the value of their degree were important factors in helping them remain enrolled.

Postsecondary Education in Southern States: This May, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) published a factbook that provides a comprehensive overview of postsecondary education in the 16 SREB states. The book addresses statistics on the population and economy, enrollment, completion, affordability, faculty and administrators, and revenue and expenditures. In addition, the book includes over 100 tables of data related to these topics.

Financing Postsecondary Education: Recently, the State Higher Education Executive Officers association (SHEEO) released this year’s State Higher Education Finance Report, which gives a detailed analysis of state and local postsecondary education funding, tuition revenue and student enrollment during the 2021 fiscal year. The following are selected statistics about public two-year institutions from the report:

• Total state and local support for public institutions was $9,347 at two-year institutions, 88.6% of the amount at four-year institutions ($10,555).
• About 29 states increased state financial aid for full-time students at public two-year institutions. State aid for these students grew by 4.6%, reaching $510 per full-time student.
• Total education revenue for public two-year institutions averaged $11,928 per full-time student, which is an 8% increase from 2020.

On June 28, the Swiss Embassy in the United States held a reception at the residence of Ambassador of Switzerland Jacques Pitteloud to highlight the Swiss, Austrian and German apprenticeship models, and discuss lessons that can be applied to the U.S. apprenticeship system.

Ambassador Pitteloud welcomed the attendees and introduced representatives of the three countries featuring their apprentices at the panel discussion. Additional welcome remarks were given by Ambassador of Austria Martin Weiss and Ambassador of Germany Emily Haber.

The companies included Buhler Aeroglide of Switzerland and North Carolina, Engel Machinery of Austria and Pennsylvania and Linde + Wiemann of Germany and Georgia. Each of the three companies’ attendees noted that they were drawn to their apprenticeship programs by a desire to obtain debt-free education and hands-on learning opportunities.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was in attendance and discussed her support for registered apprenticeships, highlighting the ongoing challenges for American global economic competitiveness and emphasizing the availability of jobs in high-demand fields.

The event concluded with remarks from Brent Parton, Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor, on the takeaways from the event.

On March 3, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation that would boost compensation for all public early childhood and K-12 teachers, including those in CTE. The legislation, titled the RAISE Act, would provide refundable federal income tax credits between $1,000 and $15,000 to eligible teachers annually. The amount of the credit would be determined by a sliding scale based on the school poverty level where the teacher works. 

Specifically, the RAISE Act would:   

• Provide all eligible K-12 and early childhood teachers with a minimum $1,000 refundable tax credit, regardless of school poverty level.  
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 for early childhood teachers with a bachelor’s degree and all eligible K-12 teachers. 
• Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for early childhood teachers with an associate degree or Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.  

Additionally, the bill would invest in educator recruitment and retention programs, incentivize local education agencies to increase teacher salaries, provide labor protections to prevent the tax credit from being unfairly used in salary negotiations and increase the educator tax deduction to $500 for all early childhood and K-12 teachers.   

ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act. Now, we need your assistance to help retain teachers in the profession and attract more high-quality professionals to the teacher workforce.  

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Members of Congress to ask them to cosponsor and support the RAISE Act! 

If you have a direct contact in your Member's office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested congressional office. Please contact your Members of Congress today!

Last week in Washington was a busy week for both Congress and CTE. The focus was on negotiating and passing gun safety legislation, school nutrition program support, subcommittee appropriations bill markups, court security funding and additional January 6 committee hearings. Congress is set to be on recess this week in advance of the July 4 holiday, which means that lawmakers have now missed a self-imposed deadline of July 4 for completing negotiations on the bipartisan, bicameral America COMPETES Act/USICA. As we await new details, here are some key developments:

• Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations Subcommittee Markup: On June 22, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies released the first draft of its fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill. While a full, detailed funding table has not yet been released, according to the committee’s initial summary, the legislation proposes a $45 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program. Read more about the legislation and markup here.

• Reps. Thompson, Kilmer Introduce Bill to Expand Career Counseling for Adult Learners: On June 23, Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced legislation to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to allow for additional career guidance for adult learners through public outreach, including Public Service Announcements (PSAs), social media campaigns, job fairs and other measures to educate the public about workforce development programs. ACTE has endorsed this legislation, and ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson was quoted in the accompanying press release.

• Department of Education Hosts Career Pathways Summit: To promote the Department’s Career Connected High Schools initiative proposed as a part of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request, the Department of Education held a webinar on June 21 to discuss best practices for creating and supporting effective career and college pathways and reaching more learners. Speakers at the event included community college representatives, employers, school districts, workforce boards and community organizations.

• Department of Labor Hosts Good Jobs Summit: On June 21, the Department of Labor (DOL) in collaboration with the Families and Workers Fund held a summit focused on improving job quality and access to good jobs. Speakers represented federal agencies, Congress, state and local government and the workforce. Read more about the event here.

• New Education Funding in Gun Safety Bill: On June 25, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. The legislation contains several new education investments designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of students in addition to gun safety provisions. Read more about the bill here.

• Department of Education Releases Proposed Changes to Title IX Regulations, Seeks Comment: The Department of Education has released for public comment proposed amendments to Title IX regulations, including requiring that all students receive appropriate support, strengthening protections for LGBTQI+ students who face discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and requiring that school procedures for complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual violence and other sex-based harassment, are fairly addressed. Read more from Inside Higher Education and the Department of Education’s press release, where additional information and fact sheets can be found.

• Department of Labor Awards Grants to Provide Job Training and Employment Services to Justice-involved Youth: The Department of Labor has announced awards to organizations in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin to support paid work experiences for young people affected by community violence. The funding supports skills training and employment and mentorship services. Read more about the awards here.