February  01, 2023

Leading the news this week:  President Biden is set to deliver this year's state of the union address next week Tuesday, February 7 at 9:00 pm ET. We anticipate the President will outline his legislative priorities for the year and we hope to hear mentions of his budget requests, which we hear will be released March 9th. The  address will  take place right after the NLS awards banquet and we strongly recommend NLS attendees to make watch plans in advance. 

Publishing note: we will take a break from LAW Alerts next week as we’ll be at the 2023 Community College National Legislative Summit. We hope to see many of you there! 

HEERF Performance Report

This afternoon, the Department of Education (Department) released the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) 2021 Annual Performance Report.

The report estimates that nearly 6 million community college students have received direct financial aid under HEERF since 2021. With over $4.5 billion in emergency financial grants to community college student, the average student received $1,290.  It also reports that the funds helped 94% of community colleges keep students at risk of dropping out enrolled through financial support, 88% of community colleges provided students with computers and internet access, and 51% of community colleges discharged unpaid student balances. 

The White House released a general fact sheet of the report and the Department released a community college specific fact sheet. To read the full report, click here.

Update on Congressional Committee Assignments 

After weeks of waiting, the House finally finalized the members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee (list below) for both the democrats and republicans. We are still waiting to see the final roster for the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee, but we do have the republican roster.

House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee (Republicans)

• Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04) – Chair
• Rep. Mike Simpson (ID-02)
• Rep. Andy Harris (MD-01)
• Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03)
• Rep. John Moolenaar (MI-02)
• Rep. Julia Letlow (LA-05)
• Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA-09)
• Rep. Jake LaTurner (KS-02)
• Rep. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)

House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee (Democrats)

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) – Ranking Member
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
• Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-12)
• Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02)
• Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22)
• Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
• Rep. Josh Harder (CA-09)

Over on the Senate,  we still do not have any full committee assignments. As it stand we have the rosters for the democrats on the Senate Committees on Appropriations and on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. We are still waiting for the republican rosters on both of those. We do not have rosters from either party for the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee.

Final Reminder: YouthBuild Grant

The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA)  YouthBuild grant program closes on February 7, 2023 .

The YouthBuild program model prepares participants for quality jobs in a variety of careers and contains wrap-around services. Grant recipients will be expected to provide pre-apprenticeship services that support education, occupational skills training, and employment services to opportunity youth, ages 16 to 24, while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. YouthBuild applicants must include construction skills training and may include occupational skills training in other in-demand industries

The prospective applicant webinar and webinar transcript can be found here. For more information on the funding opportunity and to apply, click here.

Final Reminder: Public Comments

The deadline to submit comments for  RFI Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs and Proposed Regulations for Improving Income Driven Repayment Plans is next Friday, February, 10, 2023.  We encourage our members to work with their college Presidents and staff to submit written comments they believe to be pertinent.  

For additional information regarding the RFI or on how to submit a comment, click here. The Department's fact sheet can be found here. For additional information or on how to submit a comment regarding Income Driven Repayment Plans click here. The Department's fact sheet can be found here. 

• February 7 - deadline to apply for the YouthBuild grant program
• February 10 - deadline to submit comments for Proposed Regulations for Improving Income Driven Repayment Plans and RFI Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs

• February 15 - deadline for preliminary proposals for the NSF Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity program

• February 23 - deadline to apply Lead of a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Network
• 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.

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