The Obama administration is proposing that Congress approve a $2 billion-a-year expansion of Pell Grants to finance year-round awards and a bonus for students who stay on track to graduation. The two new Pell proposals are intended to help students to accelerate progress towards their degrees, increasing their likelihood of on-time completion. The first program, “Pell for Accelerated Completion,” would let full-time students earn a third grant award in an academic year (rather than the current limit of two awards). The President and Congress eliminated year-round grants in a 2011 budget bill. The administration’s other proposal, an “On-Track Pell Bonus,” would add $300 to the maximum award for students who take at least 15 credits per semester in an academic year. The administration estimates the bonus would benefit 2.3 million individuals and help them graduate on time. The $2 billion cost for the Pell expansions in fiscal year 2017 will be included in Obama’s budget proposal to be released on February 9, 2016.
News and updates
GAO Calls for Better Health Care Workforce Plan
The Secretary of Health and Human Services should develop a comprehensive and coordinated planning approach to guide the department’s health care workforce development programs, according to a report released this week by the Government Accountability Office. “Without a comprehensive and coordinated approach to program planning, HHS cannot fully identify the gaps between existing programs and national needs, identify actions needed to address these gaps, or determine whether additional legislative proposals are needed to ensure that its programs fully meet workforce needs,” GAO said. In the report, HHS said it plans to convene an interagency group to assess existing workforce programs and the potential need for changes or expanded legislative authority. Leaders of the Senate Committees on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Homeland Security, and Governmental Affairs asked GAO to study HHS’s activities to ensure that federal funding is aligned with the nation’s health care needs. The Affordable Care Act created the National Health Care Workforce Commission to annually recommend to Congress and the administration national health care workforce priorities, goals, and policies, but Congress has not allocated funding to the commission.
What We’re Reading This Week, January 11-15
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.
Anti Trump – As the campaign trail gets evermore hostile in rhetoric, House Speaker Paul Ryan is trying to convey a different type of Republican party during the election season. Read more in The Washington Post.
Blame Canada – Presidential candidate and Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX), was thrown for a loop as leading presidential candidate Donald Trump asserted that Cruz can not be eligible for the presidency because he is not a natural citizen (he was born in Canada to an American mom and Cuban dad). It has derailed the Cruz campaign this week, which was neck and neck with Trump. What’s more it’s possibly true — he can’t be president because what “natural born citizen” means is murky. Read more in The Hill.
Ch-ch-changes – From Obama’s first State of the Union to his last, Congress has drastically changed and here are the five biggest differences. Read more in The Washington Post.
Last Lift – A different take on the last State of the Union address from an Obama alumnus. Read it at The New Yorker.
No Relief – The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by an unemployed Wisconsin man who owes more than $260,000 in student-loan debt from business and law school. The appeal would have opened up a decades-old law that prohibits Americans with taxpayer-backed student loans from canceling that debt in bankruptcy unless they can prove they face an “undue hardship,” a vague phrase that has led to uneven interpretations in the courts. A 2005 law extended the prohibition to nonfederal student loans. Read more in The Wall Street Journal.
Point, Counter Point – In an increasing politically fractioned world, you should take time to understand those who have differing opinions. Read about it at Medium.
Bowie Bonds – David Bowie, the legendary musician and performer, died this week. While his legacy is hugely impacting, what’s little known is his impact on the market. In 1997, he became the first artist to package and securitize the rights to his future royalties dubbed as Bowie Bonds. Read more in Forbes.
Ultimate Gentrification – As Sesame Street moves from PBS to HBO, the series will have some changes. Big Bird will live in a tree. Oscar the Grouch now has a recycling and compost bins. The series will focus more clearly on Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster, Rosita with fewer appearances by the rest of the cast and celebrities as well as fewer parodies. Read more in The New York Times.
Final Obama State of the Union
In his final State of the Union address, President Obama hit a range of topics, from climate change, curing cancer, reforming criminal sentencing, campaign finance reform, and Cuba. The President made a pointed appeal for congressional cooperation this year on only a handful of legislative matters. None were the sort of bold new proposals that would have been destined for “dead on arrival” pronouncements from Congressional Republicans even if he were not a Democrat in the final year of his run.
On the education front, the Administration will continue to push for two of his major unfinished education priorities, giving every college student two years of free community college and providing the nation’s youngsters with universal pre-K. The President promoted hands-on computer science classes and noted that plans for the year ahead include “helping students learn to write computer code.”
One new policy push the President announced was an ambitious national effort to cure cancer, a moon shot-like goal, to be led by Vice President Joe Biden, which could rely heavily on new research. The White House is already developing a detailed road map for accelerating research, compressing 10 years’ worth of work into five, using the National Institutes of Health and private partnerships. One goal is not just to accelerate research, but get treatments to patients. The move comes after the House has passed HR 6, the 21st Century Cures Act last year as well as Vice President Biden’s own recent loss of his from cancer.
The full text of the address is here.
State of the Union, Tonight
President Obama will address a joint session of Congress this evening in the annual State of the Union Address. It will be Obama’s seventh and final State of the Union address. Typically, the final address is used as a roadmap for the party and the presidential election to come (or already in full swing), and only 4 President’s have been able to take advantage of this opportunity.
The address is rooted in the Constitution, but has taken a decidedly partisan approach in modern politics. Recently, Members of Congress have booed or called out at the President during the address and Supreme Court Justices have refused to attend the address.
While the speech is not yet final, the White House is expected to discuss STEM and the success underrepresented students have had in the STEM fields. And a college student and STEM advocate will be a guest of first lady Michelle Obama, in addition to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. While the State of the Union is designed to set the tone for the legislative and political session while laying out sweeping initiatives, not all of these ideas have enjoyed political success.
Federal Relations will have an update on the initiatives outlined and the Administration’s subsequent efforts following the address.