HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate were in recess this week and will return next week.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced that she will retire at the end of her current term in 2020. Rep. Lowey currently serves as the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

ADMINISTRATION

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sent a letter to leaders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) providing an explanation of what mandatory funds HBCUs and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) will receive under Title III of the Higher Education Act (HEA), given that the statutory authority for these funds expired on September 30, 2019, the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

The President signed an Executive Order requiring Federal agencies to publicly post all of their guidance in a single, searchable database and provide for public notice and comment on “significant” guidance.

A Federal judge is considering sanctions against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and Secretary DeVos for violating a court order to cease collecting on loan payments from former Corinthian Colleges students.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an amicus brief arguing that a Maine law excluding religious schools from the State’s school voucher program violates the First Amendment.

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans to provide clients with a summary of the following event next week:

• October 16: House Education and Labor Subcommittee hearing on “Examining the USDA’s Proposed Cuts to Free School Meals” at 2:00pm

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

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