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

CONGRESS

On a 218-203 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res 45 – “Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to “Waivers and Modifications of Federal Student Loans.” This is the House Congressional Review Act resolution pertaining to the Administration’s loan forgiveness and payment pause initiatives.

Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) announced that he will not seek reelection at the end of his current term.

Chairwoman of the House Committee on Appropriations Kay Granger (R-TX) announced that fiscal year 2024 appropriations markups have been postponed due to ongoing conversations between President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy regarding the debt limit.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) sent its proposed regulatory changes to the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program for final review to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

ED released a report titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning.”

The Biden Administration announced new actions to “Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy Online.”

ED’s National Center for Education Sciences at the Institute of Education Sciences released the “Report on the Condition of Education 2023.”

This week ED announced the “Antisemitism Awareness Campaign.” As part of that campaign, ED’s Office for Civil Rights released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) regarding schools’ legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide students with a school environment free from discrimination and harassment. The DCL addressed antisemitic discrimination and harassment directed towards Jewish students.

ED and the U.S. Department of Justice released a “Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline.” ED also published fact sheets on “Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Academic Well-Being and Success” and announced webinars between August-October to discuss these fact sheets.

EVENTS

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

May 31: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Full Committee Hearing on “Solving the Child Care Crisis: Meeting the Needs of Working Families and Child Care Workers.”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Program Grant Summary
Application Deadline: July 7, 2023

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