CONGRESS

By a vote of 67-27, the U.S. Senate agreed to go to conference on the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act/United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). The motion agreed to by the Senate also made in order 28 motions to instruct conferees, including a motion related to the College Transparency Act from Senator Cassidy (R-LA).

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the expansion of its Second Chance Pell Experimental Site initiative, bringing the total number of institutions of higher education that are eligible to participate to 200.

ED sent its Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) regulatory proposal to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review.

The U.S. Department of Treasury released a guidance document indicating that Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds can be used for childcare, early-learning services and to address the teacher shortage by “funding positions at competitive wages and improving job quality.”

President Biden referenced the possibility of Administration action on Federal student loan debt forgiveness.

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans on providing clients a summary of the following events next week:

May 3: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Hearing on, “Connecting Workers and Communities: Preparing and Supporting the Broadband Workforce.”

May 5: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Full Committee Hearing on, “Examining Student Loan Servicers and Their Impact on Workers.”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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