Posts Tagged: The New England Council (NEC)

Welcoming Relief, a New Ed Secretary and Reopened Schools

DC Shuttle ... Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion Relief Measure. The U.S. Senate passed coronavirus relief legislation with $1.9 trillion in funding by a vote of 50 to 49, The Hill reports. The bill provides $128.6 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and $39.6 billion to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. It also includes $39 billion for childcare and $1 bil...

$1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Clears House, with Senate Likely to Nix Minimum Wage Increase

DC Shuttle ... House Passes Coronavirus Relief Bill. The U.S. House passed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief legislation, the American Rescue Plan Act (HR 1319), by a vote of 219 to 212. The bill would authorize direct payments to households, extend unemployment insurance benefits and provide funding to states and localities, schools, transit systems, restaurants, vaccine distribution and virus tes...

House Passes Pandemic Recovery Bill; CDC Issues New Guidance for Higher Ed

DC Shuttle ... House Passes $2.2 Trillion Recovery Legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives passed pandemic recovery support legislation (H.R. 8406). Though it is unlikely to become law in its current form, this legislation serves as a benchmark for Democrats in negotiations with the Trump administration and Senate Republicans. Democratic leaders said they wanted to outline their negotiat...

House Committee Reports Out Apprenticeships Bill

DC Shuttle ... House Marks Up Apprenticeship Legislation. The House Education and Labor Committee held a markup of the National Apprenticeship Act (H.R. 8294), reporting the legislation out of committee by a vote of 26 to 16. The bill would reauthorize and make changes to the National Apprenticeship Act, which was originally passed in 1937. The bill would invest nearly $3.5 billion ...

Fixing FAFSA

DC Shuttle ... Senate Holds FAFSA Hearing.  The Senate Health, Education Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing entitled "Time to Finish Fixing the FAFSA." The hearing could be the last education hearing under the chairmanship of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who plans to retire following this congressional session. He held the hearing to push for changes to the FAFSA, an issue he has lo...

Trump Admin Continues its War on Dreamers

DC Shuttle ... Trump Administration Announces DACA Changes. The Trump administration announced it will no longer process new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and that it will limit the renewal term for current DACA recipients to one year instead of the usual two. Last month, the Supreme Court blocked the administration's effort to end the program and tw...

Who’s Liable in the Age of COVID-19?

DC Shuttle ... Republican Guvs Call for Liability Protection. Republican governors from across the U.S. sent congressional leaders a letter asking that civil liability protections for healthcare workers, businesses and schools be included in the phase four relief package being considered in Congress. Senate Republicans recently drafted a proposal that would offer a five-year shield from coronav...

Govt Rescinds Controversial Directive to Strip Visas from International Students Who Go Online Only

DC Shuttle ... Upcoming Hearings & Markups. The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on How to Overcome Obstacles to Safely Reopen Public Schools on Wednesday, July 23 at 10:15 a.m. Administration Changes Plan for International Students and Online Classes. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security rescinded its July 6 policy directive that would have denied U.S. visas t...

AGs from 18 States Sue Ed Dept, DeVos over Title IX Rules

DC Shuttle ... Attorneys General Sue Education Department Over New Title IX Rules. Eighteen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to block the department's new rules under Title IX of the Higher Education Act from going into effect in August. In the suit, the attorneys general argue that the proposed changes would un...

Supreme Court Maintains DACA

DC Shuttle ... Supreme Court Maintains DACA Protections for Immigrants, Students. The U.S. Supreme Court decided, 5 to 4, that the Trump administration cannot end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The decision will enable the more than 450,000 undocumented higher education students, as well as undocumented students and instructors at other levels, to remain in the U.S.,...