Federal Update: November 13, 2020 - Government Affairs (CA ...



From:Michael Brustein, Julia Martin, Steven Spillan, Kelly ChristiansenRe:Federal UpdateDate:November 13, 2020The Federal Update for November 13, 2020 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Legislation and Guidance PAGEREF _Toc56165123 \h 1President-Elect Crafts Plans for New Administration PAGEREF _Toc56165124 \h 1Senate Proposes Modest Increase for Education Funding PAGEREF _Toc56165125 \h 3News PAGEREF _Toc56165126 \h 4Rep. Marcia Fudge Aims for Agriculture Secretary PAGEREF _Toc56165127 \h 4Legislation and Guidance President-Elect Crafts Plans for New AdministrationWhile President Trump has continued to challenge election results in a number of key States, the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden has started to create “landing teams” and plans for immediate policy actions for the first few weeks of January. In education, the team draws heavily from Obama-era agency staff as well as delegates from key teachers’ unions (some education activists have expressed concern that having so many people from unions will inhibit negotiations with conservatives or “education reform” moderates, but others argue that such concerns are misplaced as these teams do not represent the final makeup of the agency).Among the proposals Biden named as his priorities during his campaign are increased funding for Titles I and IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and “full funding” for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – both key federal statutes that help students at risk of falling behind. Biden has also said he will work with Congress on a stimulus bill that would contain significant funding for distance learning and reopening of public schools.Though increased funding requires Congressional approval, there are also a number of actions Biden could take on his own, through Executive Orders. This includes using the Defense Production Act to ramp up manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for schools, hospitals, and essential business (members of the healthcare transition team have also suggested prioritizing reopening schools by taking efforts to reduce community spread). Lawmakers like Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have called on Biden to cancel the first $50,000 of student loan debt for all borrowers, something they say he can do without Congressional approval, and there has been discussion of Biden extending a suspension of payments for outstanding loans until September 2021. Biden has also said that he will reinstate Obama-era guidance on protecting the rights of transgender students in schools, racial discrimination in school discipline, and sexual assault and harassment at schools and colleges. The President-elect has also committed to a broad expansion of public education to include “high-quality, universal” prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds.The National Skills Coalition has sent a memo to the transition team asking for adjustments in the organizational structure of the agency. The group has requested the creation of a role for an Assistant Secretary of Community and Technical Colleges which would administer needs specific to those organizations and administer new proposed grant programs.But Biden faces a number of obstacles. The General Services Administration (GSA), which allocates office space and funding for a transition team, has not yet declared Biden to be the “apparent” winner of the election and thus has not authorized any resources or permitted existing agency staff to brief the incoming administration on urgent issues. Without those resources, transition activities including staffing will likely happen at a much slower pace. At ED in particular, employee morale is at record low levels and the number of employees has dropped more than 14 percent between December 2016 and December 2019, leaving fewer staff to carry out new policies starting on Inauguration Day.Administration officials have indicated that the President may try to push policy priorities through the remainder of his Presidency, including using pandemic stimulus money to provide vouchers to parents whose local schools were shut down by the pandemic to allow them to use the funds to send their children to private or parochial schools (the details of this proposal are still unclear). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is also moving forward with President Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2022, a document usually presented to Congress in February. Though Congress rarely implements Presidential budget proposals, this represents another area where the federal workforce may have to make abrupt changes after the Presidential inauguration in late January. Resources:Evie Blad, “Joe Biden’s Election as President Tees Up Massive Shifts for K-12 Policy,” Education Week: Politics K-12, November 7, 2020.Megan Cassella, Alice Miranda Ollstein, “Transition 2020: Shrinking Federal Workforce Could Hold Biden Back,” Politico, November 11, 2020.Nancy Cook, Gabby Orr, “Trump’s Team Rushes to Execute Lame-Duck Moves – Even without a Concession,” Politico, November 11, 2020.Caitlin Emma, “OMB Plows Forward with Trump Budget Despite Election Loss,” Politico, November 10, 2020.Anya Kamenetz and Elissa Nadworny, “What A Biden Presidency Could Mean for Education,” NPR? November 10, 2020.Valerie Strauss, “What Biden’s New Education Transition Team Tells us About his Agenda – and What it Doesn’t,” Washington Post, November 12, 2020.Author: JCMSenate Proposes Modest Increase for Education FundingThe Senate Appropriations Committee released drafts of all 12 appropriations bills this week, as Congress begins work on finalizing fiscal year (FY) 2021 spending levels. The bill including funding for the U.S. Department of Education (ED), known at the Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education bill, would provide a modest increase in funding of approximately $433 million, or less than one percent, compared to FY 2019 levels. ED would receive a total of $73.2 billion under the Senate proposal, only slightly less than the $73.5 billion amount passed by the House earlier this year, and significantly more than the proposed cuts by the Trump administration in the FY 2021 budget. The Senate rejected President Trump’s proposal to eliminate certain Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) programs, like the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant and the proposal to consolidate a number of ESEA programs into a single block grant to States. Most major formula-funded programs would see slight increases, including an additional $125 million for ESEA Title I, a $75 million boost for Perkins Career and Technical Education State grants, an additional $125 million for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and an increase by $150 of the maximum Pell Grant award. The House bill provides slightly higher increases for many of those formula-funded programs, with the exception of Perkins, which would see an increase of only $18 million under the House bill. Other differences between the House and Senate bills include a decrease in funding for the Charter Schools Program in the House bill, while the Senate proposes an additional $10 million, and the exclusion of certain partisan policy proposals from the Senate bill that were included in the House legislation. Typically, the Senate Appropriations Committee would mark up their draft bills, allowing lawmakers to offer amendments, and then send the legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. However, given the tight timeline Congress faces to finalize funding before the current continuing resolution expires on December 11th, the Committee will skip marking up the legislation. Instead, appropriators will immediately begin negotiations with the House to craft a compromise on a funding package that would include all 12 appropriations bills, known as an omnibus. Should Congress fail to negotiate an omnibus bill before the December 11th deadline, or if lawmakers can only come to agreement on some of the 12 bills, a second continuing resolution for all funding, or only for particular agencies, may be necessary in order to avert a full or partial government shutdown. Resources:Michael Stratford, “Senate Funding Bill Includes Modest Boost for Education,” Politico, November 10, 2020.Author: KSCNewsRep. Marcia Fudge Aims for Agriculture SecretaryCongresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) is positioning herself to become the first African-American woman as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.As a longtime member of the House Agriculture Committee and advocate of quality public education, health care, and healthy foods, Congresswoman Fudge would add both experience and dedication to the position. As a conservation advocate, Fudge supports boosting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) conservation programs. In 2018, she led an effort to include in the Farm Bill, measures to protect water quality from agricultural runoff and improve soil health. Recently, Congresswoman Fudge advocated against Trump administration cuts to the USDA’s food stamps program. Despite her qualifications, Marcia Fudge faces strong competition from longtime frontrunner, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). Senator Heitkamp is both a longtime public servant, advocate for rural issues, and was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from North Dakota. Fudge has pointed to changing demographics and the need for people of color in leadership roles to make her case for why she should be the next Secretary of Agriculture. “When you look at what African American women did in particular in this election, you will see that a major part of the reason that this Biden-Harris team won was because of African American women,” Fudge said in a media interview. Fudge pointed out that Black politicians tend to be relegated to a limited number of cabinet positions, like those in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). “As this country becomes more and more diverse, we’re going to have to stop looking at only certain agencies as those that people like me fit in,” she said. She encourages leaders to “look outside the box” and fulfill their promise to create “a cabinet that is representative of this country as well as representative of the people who have supported them.”In addition to her longtime membership on the House Agriculture Committee, she currently serves as chair of the Nutrition Subcommittee, which has oversight of USDA operations. She has also received support from the Congressional Black Caucus, maintains a strong relationship with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and helped secure a Biden victory by urging Democratic Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) to go public with his endorsement of Biden before the South Carolina primary. As of late, the Biden transition team has not commented on contenders for Secretary of Agriculture.Resources:Natasha Korecki, Helena Bottemiller Evich, Liz Crampton, “‘I’ve Been Very, Very Loyal’: Marcia Fudge Makes the Case for Ag Secretary,” Politico, November 11, 2020. Author: ASBTo stay up-to-date on new regulations and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, register for one of Brustein & Manasevit’s upcoming virtual trainings. Topics cover a range of issues, including COVID-19 related issues, grants management, the Every Student Succeeds Act, special education, and more. To view all upcoming virtual training topics and to register, visit HYPERLINK "" \o "Brustein & Manasevit web page on Virtual Trainings"virtualtrainings/.The Federal Update has been prepared to inform Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC’s legislative clients of recent events in federal education legislation and/or administrative law.? It is not intended as legal advice, should not serve as the basis for decision-making in specific situations, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC and the reader.? Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC 2020Contributors: Julia Martin, Kelly Christiansen, Andrew BallPosted by the California Department of Education, November 2020 ................
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