Federal Update: April 2, 2021 - Government Affairs (CA ...



From:Michael Brustein, Julia Martin, Steven Spillan, Kelly ChristiansenRe:Federal UpdateDate:April 2, 2021The Federal Update for April 2, 2021 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Legislation and Guidance PAGEREF _Toc68247300 \h 1President Proposes $100 Billion Investment in School Infrastructure PAGEREF _Toc68247301 \h 1News PAGEREF _Toc68247302 \h 2ED Expands Debt Forgiveness for Disabled Borrowers PAGEREF _Toc68247303 \h 2Reports PAGEREF _Toc68247304 \h 3ED Tracking of ESSER “Incomplete,” GAO Says PAGEREF _Toc68247305 \h 3GAO Says OMB Should Collect Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Flexibilities PAGEREF _Toc68247306 \h 4Legislation and Guidance President Proposes $100 Billion Investment in School InfrastructurePresident Joe Biden released his proposal for infrastructure investment this week, the American Jobs Plan, which includes over $100 billion for K-12 and higher education school infrastructure, as well as additional funding that would benefit education. The proposed $100 billion for K-12 education would be used to upgrade and build schools through a combination of directs grants and bonds. The plan aims to use the K-12 funding to ensure school environments are safe and healthy, including having good air quality, as well as upgrade schools with newer technology, improve energy efficiency of facilities, and improve school kitchens. The $12 billion designated for higher education would be targeted to community colleges to make physical building upgrades, as well as technological improvements, and to increase access to community college in rural areas. Other portions of the proposal, while not specific to education, would benefit schools and students as well, including a $100 billion investment in broadband access, which could improve internet access for students in rural communities. In addition, the President proposes $45 billion for an existing Environmental Protection Agency water program that could help reduce lead levels in water at some schools across the country. The plan would cost $2 trillion overall and would be partially paid for by tax changes, including increasing corporate tax rates. The price tag of the proposal will make it challenging to gain Republican support in Congress, particularly after a third major stimulus bill was signed into law last month. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated on Thursday that his members will not vote for the package. Democratic leaders may decide to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the infrastructure legislation, which would only require a simple 50-vote majority to pass in the Senate. Resources: Evie Blad, “Biden Infrastructure Plan Calls for $100 Billion for School Construction, Upgrades,” Education Week, March 31, 2021.Lilah Burke, “Biden’s Billions for Higher Ed,” Inside Higher Ed, April 1, 2021.Author: KSCNewsED Expands Debt Forgiveness for Disabled BorrowersThe U.S. Department of Education (ED) has said that it will make it easier for disabled borrowers who can no longer work to receive forgiveness of their federal student loans. These borrowers qualify for the “Total and Permanent Disability Discharge” program, which says that borrowers can have their loans forgiven if they are no longer able to work – and if they can show that their income has been affected for at least three years. But in December 2019, a study of the program showed that only 28 percent of borrowers eligible for the program were receiving loan forgiveness. Advocates say that this process can be confusing or burdensome, especially for people who already struggle to get through routine daily tasks as a result of their disability, or who have memory loss.“Borrowers with total and permanent disabilities should focus on their well-being, not put their health on the line to submit earnings information during the COVID-19 emergency,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “Waiving these requirements will ensure no borrower who is totally and permanently disabled risks having to repay their loans simply because they could not submit paperwork.” According to ED, the change will apply to more than 41,000 borrowers with permanent disabilities, who collectively hold about $1.3 billion in student loan debt. Many of these borrowers already had their loan balances erased, but due to confusion about the applicability of requirements during the pandemic – when federal student loans were already in forbearance – failed to submit income-monitoring paperwork and had their debts restored. ED says it will not require annual income paperwork for the duration of the pandemic. The agency is also reportedly considering additional changes to the loan forgiveness program to make it easier for borrowers to receive forgiveness – for example, amending its data-sharing agreement with the Social Security Administration to allow it to directly collect income information.This week ED also announced it would pause debt collection for borrowers who have defaulted on federally-guaranteed private loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan program and will set the interest rate to zero percent on those loans. In addition, following recent pressure from Congressional Democrats on President Joe Biden to cancel some amount of student debt for all federal borrowers, a White House official said this week that the President has requested a memorandum from ED analyzing his legal authority to cancel student debt through executive action. The Trump administration crafted its own memo on this issue prior to leaving office, which determined the President does not have legal authority to wipe out student debt, but the new administration could change that interpretation with its own review of the issue. Resources:Cory Turner and Clare Lombardo, “Education Dept. Restores Debt Cancellation for Some Borrowers with Disabilities,” NPR, March 29, 2021.Michael Stratford, “Cardona Eases Loan Relief for Disabled Borrowers, Advocates Say It Falls Short,” Politico, March 29, 2021.Michael Stratford, “Klain Expects Education Department Memo on Debt Cancellation in a ‘Few Weeks,” Politico, April 1, 2021.Author: JCMReportsED Tracking of ESSER “Incomplete,” GAO SaysIn a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Wednesday, the organization praised the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for tracking stimulus spending but said that the agency’s methodology resulted in “incomplete” data.GAO notes that ED is tracking funding under the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief Fund (ESSER) as “spent” only when States request reimbursement for the expenditures – not when the State or school district commits in writing to spend it. This means that while ED’s data shows the funds which have been drawn down from the U.S. Treasury, it does not show funds that have been obligated, and therefore does not provide an accurate picture of how much money districts and States are likely to leave unspent. But many of those funds have already been committed to projects or other expenditures in writing, known as obligation. “Absent information on the degree to which school districts have obligated their COVID-19 relief funding, policymakers will not have an accurate, complete picture of the status of school district spending,” the GAO said. “Further, given the gap that often exists between when funds are obligated and when they are disbursed, absent information on obligations, policymakers will not have complete information on how these funds are being used to address the pandemic-related education needs of America’s schoolchildren.”Some lawmakers in Congress had pointed to the data published by ED to demonstrate that schools have sufficient funding, but States have pushed back, suggesting that much more of the funds are accounted for than is shown in that data. ED has agreed to track funds that are obligated as well as those that are drawn down from the Treasury and says it will publish updated information on its data portal in April. This will mean requesting data on obligations, as well as outlays, from grantees.The report also notes the impact of the pandemic on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program data, including nutrition services data. Both USDA and ED have acknowledged that school meal programs are not providing complete and accurate data given that most programs are operating under wide-scale waivers. GAO recommends in the report that USDA “(1) provide sufficient context to help stakeholders and the public understand and interpret data on federal nutrition assistance programs during the pandemic and (2) disclose potential sources of error that may affect data quality during the pandemic, such as manual processing.”The full GAO report is here.Resources:Michael Stratford, “GAO Dings Education Department for ‘Incomplete’ Tracking of Covid Relief,” Politico, March 31, 2021.Author: JCMGAO Says OMB Should Collect Lessons Learned from COVID-19 FlexibilitiesThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report this week examining the grant flexibilities the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided to federal agencies and grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was conducted and released as part of GAO’s oversight and monitoring work related to COVID-19, which was mandated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and it examines how certain federal agencies implemented the available OMB grant flexibilities, how grantees used the flexibilities, how OMB and other agencies developed and implemented the flexibilities, and how OMB has identified lessons learned from the grant flexibilities. The OMB grant flexibilities, which were first made available last spring and lasted through June 2020, with some limited flexibilities available through December 2020, were established in order to reduce administrative burden while still ensuring accountability of federal funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to develop the flexibilities, OMB sought input from federal agencies on how to achieve a balance between accountability and flexibility and then authorized agencies to implement the established flexibilities. Through GAO’s review of how OMB is tracking lessons learned from offering the COVID-19 grant flexibilities, the GAO found that there is no central process for tracking. Agencies are currently tracking lessons learned individually, but OMB has not established an overarching process for documenting that information. GAO recommends that OMB establish a centralized process for tracking lessons learned so that that information is available for reference for future decision-making at OMB.The full report from GAO on COVID-19 grant flexibilities is available here.Author: KSC To 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 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 2021Contributors: Julia Martin and Kelly ChristiansenPosted by the California Department of Education, April 2021 ................
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