HOUSE and SENATE

The House passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Defense-Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations package by a vote of 361 to 61, and the President subsequently signed the bill into law today.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held an additional hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court in light of recent sexual assault allegations. The Committee advanced his confirmation to the full Senate by a vote of 11 to 10. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had previously announced that an early procedural vote on the nomination could take place as early as Saturday with a final vote taking place sometime next week. However, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) put that timeline into doubt by saying he would not support final confirmation until the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducts an investigation, lasting no more than one week, of said sexual assault allegations.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) approved Florida’s consolidated State plan under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Jason Botel, who serves as the principal deputy Assistant Secretary at ED’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, has announced that he is leaving ED in mid-October.

ED announced that the FY2015 national Federal Student Loan Cohort Default Rate was 10.8 percent, a decrease from the FY2014 rate of 11.5 percent.

Federal Student Aid (FSA) released its solicitation for the next phase of its Next Generation Financial Services Environment (Next Gen), FSA’s plan to modernize the technology and operational components that support Federal student aid programs. The solicitation notice names more than a dozen companies selected as finalists to build and operate several components of the Next Gen platform.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) delayed portions of an Obama-era rule that would require Head Start centers to complete background checks with fingerprints for their employees until September 2019.

ED and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have begun investigating allegations that Yale University’s admission policies discriminate against Asian American applicants.

Last week, ED released non-regulatory guidance which discusses waivers and other relief that schools impacted by natural disasters can seek from ED.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

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