This week in Washington...

Week of December 7

 

·       This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in session for legislative business.

 

o   Both chambers may vote on an Omnibus Appropriations Act to provide discretionary funding for federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, and keep the federal government open past this Friday’s expiration of the current short-term Continuing Resolution (CR). Absent this action, both the House and Senate are expected to extend the CR until next Friday, December 18, to give negotiators additional time to reach a comprehensive budget agreement.

 

o   Both chambers may consider legislation to temporary extend a series of smaller tax provisions that expired earlier this year, including allowing teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies to take a $250 deduction on their taxes. 

 

o   The Senate is expected to vote on, pass, and send to the President the Every Child Succeeds Act (S. 1177), which would replace the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind. Among the bill’s provisions, the legislation allows states and school districts to spend federal funds on: 1) college and career guidance and counseling programs, such as postsecondary education and career awareness and exploration activities, training counselors, and financial literary and federal financial aid awareness activities; and 2) enrollment in dual or concurrent enrollment programs and early college high school courses.

 

·       Today at 9:30 a.m., the Brookings Institution holds an event titled, “A Discussion of the Key Economic Issues in Election 2016,” to discuss some of the key issues on the economic agenda leading into the presidential campaign, including advancing social mobility and opportunity, increasing economic growth, and tax reform and fiscal policy. Participants include: Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum; Glen Hubbard, Dean, Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School; and Neera Tanden, President, Center for American Progress.

 

·       Today at noon, the American Enterprise Institute holds an event entitled, “Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee Conference.” The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (SFRC) is a group of independent experts on the financial services industry who meet regularly to study and critique regulatory policies affecting this sector of the economy. SFRC members will present their adopted policy statements on a variety of current financial regulation issues including: new Federal Reserve capital requirements, the status of deposit insurance, government guarantees, and too-big-to-fail problems, and the application of corporate versus individual sanctions. Participants include: Franklin Edwards, Professor Emeritus and former Arthur F. Burns Chair of Free and Competitive Enterprise in Finance and Economics, Columbia University; Robert Eisenbeis, Vice Chairman and Chief Monetary Economist, Cumberland Advisors; Richard Herring, Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking and Co-director of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Edward Kane, Finance Professor, Boston College; George Kaufman, Finance and Economics Professor, Loyola University Chicago; Albert Kyle, Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, University of Maryland; Erik Sirri, Director of Market Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and Chester Spatt, Pamela R. and Kenneth B. Dunn Professor of Finance, Carnegie Mellon University.

·       Today at 1:00 p.m., Academic Impressions hosts a webinar entitled, “Understanding the Essentials of Direct Assessment,” where participants will learn about the role of assessment in competency-based education (CBE), accreditation in CBE programs, and accessing financial aid for CBE programs. The instructor for the webinar is Kate Kazin, Chief Academic Officer at College for America at Southern New Hampshire University.

 

·       Today at 3:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve releases its “Consumer Credit – G.19” report, which includes the amount of outstanding federal and private student loans. 

·        On Monday and Tuesday, all day, Academic Impressions hosts a two-day conference entitled, “Career Services: Measuring and Communicating Student Outcomes,” where attendees will learn how to collect student career data and demonstrate the impact that institutions have made on students’ employability and career success. The conference’s sessions include: Student Outcomes Goal Setting and Benchmarking; Establishing Partner Data Expectations and Needs; Sustainably Tracking and Analyzing Key Metrics; First Destination Collection and Reporting; and Using Data to Tell the Story. 

·       On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.” Witnesses include: The Honorable Richard Cordray, Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; The Honorable Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; The Honorable Martin Gruenberg, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; The Honorable Timothy Massad, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; The Honorable Debbie Matz, Chairwoman, National Credit Union Administration; The Honorable Melvin Watt, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency; The Honorable Mary Jo White, Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission; and The Honorable Roy Woodall, Jr., Independent Member with Insurance Expertise, Financial Stability Oversight Council.

·       On Wednesday through Friday, all-day, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) holds its 22^nd Higher Education Government Relations Conference titled, “Higher Education and the Public Good,” in Austin, TX. The conference, a partnership among AASCU, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, is the premier annual professional development venue for government relations and public affairs professionals who work on behalf of public higher education institutions, systems, coordinating/ government boards, and policy organizations. The conference’s agenda includes sessions on: What the Presidential Campaign Means for Higher Education; State and Federal Free Community College Plans: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown; Championing the Public Good of Higher Education in an Era of Polarization, Privatization, and Change; An Update on the Voluntary System of Accountability and Voluntary Framework of Accountability; and a Washington Update.

 

·       On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which challenges the university’s use of racial preferences in admissions decisions. This is the second time that Abigail Fisher’s case against the university has reached the Court. In 2013, the Supreme Court directed the lower court to scrutinize more closely the university’s justification for its use of race and compliance with Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) which held that schools can use race to achieve diversity in some cases. The lower court reaffirmed its previous ruling, and the Supreme Court agreed to take the case again, which surprised many observers who now anticipate a major decision changing the face of affirmative action in the country.

 

·       On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee meets to consider a number of legislative measures and nominations, including the reappointment of The Honorable Jessica Rosenworcel to the Federal Communications Commission.

 

 

Forwarded from SASFAA's Legislative Relations' Committee.