DC Shuttle …
Student Tax Fix Passes House. The U.S. House passed a measure by a 417 to 3 vote that would fix a provision in the 2017 GOP tax law that taxes low-income college students like high-income individuals. Senate leaders are checking if a retirement security bill that passed the House on Thursday could pass the chamber by unanimous consent and Senate leaders are looking to fast-track the bill. The bill would fix a provision in the GOP’s 2017 tax law that targets middle- and low-income college students with sizable financial aid packages. Under the provision, they’ve been hit with taxes first created decades ago to keep wealthy parents from funneling money to their children to lower their tax burdens. Read more in the New York Times.
Disaster Aid for Schools Passes Senate. The Senate passed a bill, by a vote of 85 to 8, which would give the U.S. Education Department $165 million for disaster-hit schools and colleges. The agreement is headed to the House. Under the bipartisan disaster aid deal reached Thursday, the Education Department would receive $165 million to help colleges and schools that were hit by a range of recent natural disasters. The bill would also include an additional $55 million for Head Start, which could be used to repair damaged facilities.
Title IX Rule to Be Finalized in September. The Trump administration appears to be eyeing September for rolling out the final regulation on federal financial assistance in readdressing sex discrimination and the procedures by which they must do so, according to an updated timeline in the spring regulatory agenda. The department is still wading through 123,000 comments submitted by the public from a feedback period that ended earlier this year.
Oversight Committee Holds Hearing on Education Department. Diane Auer Jones, a top higher education official, testified at a hearing before a House Oversight subcommittee. The hearing was held to focus on Examining For-Profit College Oversight and Student Debt. Jones was questioned about the department’s restoration of a large accreditor of for-profit colleges that was terminated by the Obama administration.
We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council’s Weekly Washington Report of May 28, 2019. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.
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