Penn Hill Group’s Washington Wrap Up – January 26, 2016

A quick look at the news from last week, compiled by Penn Hill Group: 

HOUSE

In an interview with The Hill, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), the second-highest-ranking Republican member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, endorsed Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) as the Committee’s next Chairwoman. Current Chairman John Kline (R-MN) previously announced his plans to retire at the end of this Congress.

The House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on educational opportunity and school choice has been postponed, it was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 26.

SENATE

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee passed the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016, a bill to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, by a voice vote. The bill now awaits floor consideration. A similar bill has yet to be introduced in the House.

ADMINISTRATION

The Administration announced two Pell Grant proposals: Pell for Accelerated Completion, which would allow full-time students to earn an additional Pell award for a third semester of Pell Grants in an academic year; and On-Track Pell Bonus, which would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $300 for students who take at least 15 credits per semester in an academic year.

The Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Research and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the launch of the Early Learning Network, a new research network focused on early childhood education.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and HHS released a letter discussing the link between health and education and a toolkit to help districts integrate health services into schools.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon sent a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) stating that in the coming months ED will publish a list of religious colleges that have received exemptions from certain provisions of Title IX, a gender-equity law.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics released its “Campus Climate Survey Validation Study Final Technical Report,” which indicated that about 1 in 10 female undergraduate students were sexually assaulted last academic year.