March 23, 2021 Senate Confirms Marty Walsh to be Secretary of LaborYesterday, the Senate confirmed former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as Secretary of Labor by a bipartisan 68-29 vote. The Senate has now confirmed all of President Biden’s 15 Cabinet Secretaries. Secretary Walsh is expected to be sworn in by Vice President Harris today at 5:25 PM ET. FCC Establishes Emergency Broadband Benefit for Pell Grant RecipientsThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken steps to formally implement the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which aims to help low-income households pay for broadband services and connected internet devices. The EBB program was authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was signed into law in December 2020. The EBB program will provide eligible households, including those with Pell Grant recipients, with discounts of up to $50 per month towards broadband services and up to $75 per month for households on Tribal lands. The FCC is working to make the benefit available to qualifying recipients as soon as possible. More information on the EBB program can be found here and here. ACCT NOW is the go-to resource for issues affecting community colleges. Our new website features original reporting and research, as well as of-the-moment legislative updates. ACCT NOW also includes articles, reports, and research from outside sources that benefit the ACCT community. Spread the word. Please encourage your fellow trustees, presidents and colleagues to stay up to date about legislation that affects their community colleges by joining the Latest Action in Washington (LAW) E-Alert network. To join, simply e-mail publicpolicy@acct.org with 'LAW Alert' in the subject of the e-mail. For more community college news from inside the beltway, follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/CCTrustees) or like us Facebook (facebook.com/CCTrustees). Have questions? Contact us with any questions or concerns about public policy and ACCT's advocacy on behalf of two-year colleges and two-year college trustees. ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts are sent to interested ACCT members to keep you up to date on important legislative activities that impact community colleges. If you no longer wish to receive ACCT's Latest Action in Washington alerts, reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. |