March 2, 2021 Senate Confirms Dr. Cardona to Lead the Department of EducationYesterday, the Senate confirmed Dr. Miguel Cardona to serve as Education Secretary with a bipartisan vote of 64 – 33. A former educator who grew up as an English language learner from a low-income background, Dr. Cardona is the first Latino to serve as Secretary of Education. Dr. Cardona will be officially sworn in by Vice President Harris today at 6:00 PM ET. Department of Education (ED) Provides Answers Regarding HEERF 2 QuestionsLate last week, ED provided written responses to several questions posed by the higher education community – including ACCT – related to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF 2) recently authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA). The responses are expected to be officially posted on the Department's website in the coming days. House Appropriations Committee Chair Announced Community Project Funding in Fiscal Year 2022On Friday, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) announced that the House will accept requests from Members for Community Project Funding (previously referred to as earmarks) in upcoming appropriations bills. Chairwoman DeLauro outlined restrictions and transparency requirements for Community Project Funding requests, such as precluding requests on behalf of for-profit entities or for recipients in which the Member of Congress has a financial interest. A full list of requirements and more information can be found on Chairwoman DeLauro's press release. Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the Senate is working on an agreement for its appropriations process. 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. |