May 17, 2023

Leading the news this week: Yesterday, President Biden and Vice President Harris hosted the “Big Four” leaders to the White House for another round of talks on the debt-limit. The meeting proved to be productive as they tentatively agreed to an overall structure yesterday, and will start full-on negotiations today. With only 15 days left until the US reaches the debt-limit, known as the X date, we expect to see talks pick up steam.  

On the appropriations front, the House Appropriations Committee is moving forward with mark ups for 4 out of the 12 FY24 appropriations bills this week— the Labor-HHS-Ed bill will not be one of them. We expect the Labor-HHS-Ed bill to be marked up in early June. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to begin mark ups on their appropriations bills in early June. 

Now let's dive into the latest news in higher education.

House Ed  & Workforce Hearing 

Yesterday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held the "Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education" hearing.  Secretary Cardona severed as a witness during the hearing answering federal lawmakers' questions on everything from student loans, mental health needs, to Title IX. The Secretary also outlined key budgetary increases that were included in the President's FY24 budget proposal of the Department of Education. Of note, during part of the hearing Secretary Cardona and Representative Wild (PA-07) spoke about the vital role community colleges play across the nation. 

To watch the full hearing, click here.

118th Workforce Pell Bills

As we previously shared, three separate bills in support of Workforce Pell  have been introduced throughout the 118th Congress: JOBS Act, PELL Act, and the Jobs to Compete Act.

ACCT has published a Workforce Pell backgrounder to provide an understanding of the importance of Workforce Pell for our institutions, as well as a brief overview of the key similarities and differences between these three bills. For a more in-depth understanding of the requirements and guardrails each respective bill includes, we have published fact sheets on each piece of legislation, which can be found here. 

Coalition Letter

This week, ACCT joined a coalition of over 760 organizations in a joint letter to Congressional Leaders which outlined the devastating impacts deep cuts to non-defense discretionary appropriations could have. The letter urged Congressional Leaders to reject these cuts and instead set funding at a level that recognizes both rising costs and the need for investments in these crucial programs which foster economic growth.

To read the full letter, click here. 

Final Reminder: SIP Deadline

The SIP Program provides grants to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to help them become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen the institution's academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability.

The deadline to apply is May 22, 2023. The Department has posted a FY2023 application booklet with tips and assistance for prospective applicants, which can be found here. For more information on the grant or requirements, please visit here. 

• May 1 - pre-applications open on a rolling basis for CHIPS Incentives Program – Commercial Fabrication Facilities

• May 22 - deadline to apply for Strengthening Institutions Program

• May 25 - deadline for DOE Industrial Assessment Centers concept papers

• May 30 - deadline to apply for MSEI

• May 30 - deadline to apply for AANAPISI Institutions Program

• June 20 - deadline to apply for Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Grant Program

• June 20 - deadline to apply for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH) Program

• June 23 - deadline to apply for Modeling and Simulation Program 

• July 7 - deadline to apply for Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant

• July 31 - deadline to apply for DOE Industrial Assessment Centers program

• October 2023 - deadline to apple for Advanced Technological Education

Outreach Efforts

Is your institution meeting or hosting an event with federal elected officials?

We created a Congressional Contact Form that will help us track outreach efforts of community college leaders across our membership. By filling out the form, you are better informing ACCT's advocacy efforts and our advocacy team is able to continue those conversations with congressional staff in DC. 

We also put together an outreach toolkit and an advocacy guide to share best practices for meeting with elected officials and set your team up for success.

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. Read the Latest Articles on ACCT NOW:

Have a Question?

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. For more information about ACCT's advocacy services, visit acct.org/advocacy

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 and LinkedIn, or like us Facebook.