HOUSE and SENATE

The House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee marked up and passed its fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations bill by a voice vote (a summary of the bill can be found here).

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with the President to begin negotiations on a potential $2 trillion infrastructure bill.

The deadline to submit written testimony to the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee on the FY2020 budget is June 3.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has hired consultants to review the costs of ED’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio and is reportedly considering selling some of the Federal student loan debt to private investors.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reached a settlement with student loan servicer Conduent Education Services (previously ACS Education Services) that requires the company to pay a $3.9 million fine after the company failed to properly adjust the balances of Federal student loan borrowers after borrowers had applied for deferment, forbearance or income-based repayment.

EVENTS

Penn Hill plans to provide clients with summaries of the following events next week:

• May 9: House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on “Achieving the Promise of a Diverse STEM Workforce” at 10:00am
• May 9: House Education and Labor Committee hearing on “The Cost of Non-Completion: Improving Student Outcomes in Higher Education” at 10:15am

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants. Please visit our website for more information.