November 3, 2023

With 15 days left before the current continuing resolution (CR) expires and government funding runs out, both the House and Senate moved appropriations bills this week. The Senate finally approved the three-bill package that had been stalled since September. The House is up to 6 out of 12 bills passed on a party line basis. Meanwhile, the Department of Education continues its regulatory agenda.

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

House Appropriations Update + Action Alert

Speaker Johnson indicated that the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill will get a floor vote the week of November 13 and will not get a full committee markup. What this means is that there will not be an opportunity during the committee process to restore the program eliminations and cuts included in the bill. House Members have until the end of today to submit proposed amendments for the Rules Committee to consider including in the debate. ACCT continues to be alarmed by the proposed cuts - setting funding levels on par with 2008 - and the detrimental effects they'll have on student success. We ask all community college trustees supporters to contact your Representative and ask them to reject the cuts and eliminations proposed in the bill. You can use ACCT's Action Center to get help with contacting your legislator and seeing sample language that you can use. 

One-Time Debt Relief Updates

The Department of Education (ED) announced this week that it was releasing draft regulatory text for specific categories of borrowers who could get relief. The text will be used by the negotiating committee to provide feedback to ED and also includes instructions for the committee to discuss a fifth category to help the Department identify a way to support borrowers experiencing hardship.  The draft regulatory text can be found here. While the issue paper with instructions on considerations for borrowers experiencing hardship can be found here. 

Student Loans Repayment Re-Start Challenges

This week, ED announced that 2.5 million borrowers did not receive billing statements from their servicer - the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority or MOHELA - in a timely manner, resulting in over 800,000 borrowers being delinquent on their loans. ED is withholding $7.2 million in payment to MOHELA for October and has directed the servicer to place all affected borrowers in forbearance until the issue is resolved. Any months these borrowers are in forbearance will count as credit towards loan forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income Driven Repayment plans.

Besides the MOHELA issues on the first month back into repayment, a small number of borrowers received incorrect payment amounts on their billing statements, and borrowers who have pending Borrower Defense claims were incorrectly placed back in repayment status. All borrowers affected by these errors will be placed in forbearance by their servicer until the issues are resolved and any months in forbearance will count as credit towards loan forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness or Income Driven Repayment.

• Accepting Applications on a Rolling Basis - CHIPS Incentives Program – Facilities for Semiconductor Materials and Manufacturing Equipment

• July 3 - Prison Education Program (PEP) applications open on a rolling basis

• November 14 - deadline to apply for Strengthening Community College Training Grants
• November 27 - Department of Energy's Career Skills Training Program
• November 30 - deadline for letters of intent for Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal and Great Lakes States, Tribes, and Territories Initiative

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.

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