This Week in Legislation - Week of March 13, 2017

 

Week of March 13, 2017

·         This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in session for legislative business. However, neither chamber is expected to consider student financial aid-related legislation.

·         On Tuesday and Wednesday, all day, the Federal Reserve holds a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee. The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the committee, which include a description of economic and financial conditions, are made available three weeks after its policy decisions are posted in the Federal Reserve Board’s Annual Report.

·         On Tuesday at 12:00 p.m., the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program awards the 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's preeminent recognition of high achievement and improvement in America's community colleges.

·         On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development holds a hearing entitled, “Improving Federal Student Aid to Better Meet the Needs of Students.” Witnesses will be announced at a later date.

·         On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies holds a hearing entitled, “STEM Education: Preparing Students for the Careers of Today and the Future.” Witnesses include: Sarah Tucker, Ph.D., Chancellor, West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education; Larry Plank, Ed.S., Director of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, Hillsborough County Public Schools; Neil Lamb, Ph.D., Vice President for Educational Outreach, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology; and Caroline King, Chief Policy and Strategy Officer, Washington STEM.

·         On Thursday at 10:00 a.m., the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade holds a hearing entitled, “Sound Monetary Policy.” Witnesses will be announced at a later date.

·         On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., insideARM hosts a webinar titled, “An Insider’s Guide to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) New Complaint Portal.” Former CFPB Senior Advisor Jim McCarthy will: (1) highlight key risk areas for compliance professionals to track and address; (2) suggest risk mitigation strategies for companies affected by the CFPB’s complaint portal; and (3) expose any added risk the new portal presents to companies in the credit and collection industry.

·         On Friday at 9:00 a.m., the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosts a panel discussion titled, “Improving Economic Opportunity in America: A Discussion with Raj Chetty.” Dr. Chetty, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” award and the John Bates Clark Medal, will talk about his Equality of Opportunity Project that has focused on detailing the state of the American dream and learning from cities, neighborhoods, and schools that have managed to foster upward mobility to inform public policy. After the discussion, AEI will host a panel discussion with: Dr. Raj Chetty, Professor of Economics, Stanford University; Robert Doar, Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies, AEI; Jason Furman, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Melissa Kearney, Professor of Economics,University of Maryland.

This information is shared by SASFAA's Legislative Affairs' Committee and NCHER.