A quick look back at the news from last week. Compiled by Penn Hill Group.

HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate passed a measure to extend the current Continuing Resolution to next Friday, December 18.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on “The 2020 Census: The Bureau Concluded Field Work but Uncertainty about Data Quality, Accuracy, and Protection Remains.”

ADMINISTRATION

The Trump Administration issued a press release regarding Americans’ access to COVID-19 vaccines.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) would extend the current moratorium on payments, interest and collections on student loans through the end of January 2021.

ED announced it entered a settlement with Temple University over alleged falsification by the University of its Fox School of Business’ ranking.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that in compliance with a District Court order it will be accepting first-time requests for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and taking other actions to fully reinstate the program. In this same announcement, DHS announced they may seek relief from this order.

The U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule regarding religious protection in employment practices for religious organizations acting as Federal contractors.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an interim final rule regarding flexibility for Head Start designation renewals in certain emergencies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on successful COVID-19 mitigation strategies in Head Start programs.

The CDC released a report on estimated resource costs for implementation of CDC-recommended COVID-19 mitigation strategies in PK-12 schools.

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) released a report on “The Transition to ESSA: State and District Approaches to Implementing Title I and Title II-A in 2017-2018.”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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