Federal Legislative Update
July 2005
July 29, 2005
July 25, 2005
07/29/05
News from Capitol Hill...
Senate Bill Could Lead to Weaker Public Pension Plans
The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation this week to overhaul federal pension laws. The bill, National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Guarantee Act of 2005 (JCX-57-05), could destabilize private defined benefit pension plans and ultimately cause state legislatures to weaken public pensions that cover teachers and education support professionals.
The next steps are uncertain, including when the bill will go to the floor and whether it will be combined with the work of other committees. In the meantime, NEA, along with its cyberlobbyists, will continue to press for legislation that does not penalize employees or responsible employers. Of particular concern to teachers, education support professionals and other public sector employees is a growing trend to erode the foundation of public pensions by making it more difficult for employers to provide such plans. Among those specifically impacted by the Senate legislation are NEA's and its state affiliates' employees, who participate in private defined benefit plans.
Higher Ed Act Rewrite Shortchanges Teachers, Students
NEA and other higher ed advocates were able to scale back efforts to provide unlimited access to federal funding by for-profit institutions in a bill (H.R. 609) passed July 22 by the House Education Committee to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The bill, however, includes an NEA-opposed program that provides school districts $100 million to link teacher pay to student performance. It also puts students at risk of incurring thousands of dollars more in debt for college loans.
Approved 27-20, the bill includes a token increase for the maximum Pell Grant, and it raises the interest rate cap on student loans from 6.8 percent to 8.25 percent, ensuring the average middle class student would pay thousands of dollars more for a college education.
NEA helped to limit the federal funding made available to for-profits. As a result, they will have access only to funding through the Higher Ed Act. Funding for higher education institutions that serve Blacks and Hispanics is protected in the bill. As originally drafted, the bill would have given for-profits access to all federal funding.
The original bill also sought to repeal the requirement that for-profit schools get at least 10 percent of their revenue from sources other than federal funding; while modified, the "90/10 rule" was retained. In a significant setback, the "50 percent rule," which excludes institutions that provide more than 50 percent of their coursework by distance education from receiving federal funding, was repealed.
The "NEA Federal Legislative Update" will not publish during the month-long
Congressional summer recess. The next issue will be September 9.
07/25/05
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News from Capitol Hill...
Higher Education Act Reauthorization Offers Mixed Bag
As the "Legislative Update" went to press, the House Education Committee was continuing its markup of legislation, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005 (H.R. 609), that would reauthorize the law that provides more than $70 billion in higher education aid to students and colleges and universities. NEA has played a significant role in several amendments and saw important victories in scaling back attempts to make federal funding available to for-profit colleges and universities.
Among the improvements made:
- An amendment by Michael Castle (R-DE) that limits the scope of federal funding made available to for-profit colleges and universities. As introduced, the bill would have expanded the definition of higher education institutions to include for-profits.
- An amendment by Luis Fortuño (R-Puerto Rico) that protects funding for higher education institutions that serve Blacks and Hispanics.
Setbacks include:
- A lack of focus on student aid by defeating an amendment to double the maximum Pell Grant award to $11,600 over the next five years. A token increase passed.
- A provision to include a merit pay proposal. The Teacher Incentive Fund provides $500 million for grants to design performance-based pay systems.
- An amendment was defeated that would have prohibited the Education Department from enforcing its new policy that threatens to reverse progress women and girls have made under Title IX in sports and academics. Under the new policy, all a school has to do to show it is providing its female students with equal opportunities to play sports is to send each of its female students an E-mail survey asking whether they have the interest and ability to play additional sports.
Issues pending include:
- An amendment by Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) to ensure safeguards in expanding distance education to prevent rapid expansion to "fly by night" Web programs. The current rule excludes institutions that provide more than 50 percent of their coursework by distance education from receiving federal funding.
- An amendment by Michael Castle (R-DE) to maintain the requirement that for-profit schools cannot rely on federal student aid for more than 90 percent of revenues.
Action Needed
NEA Helps Stop Expansion of D.C. Vouchers to MD, VA
Private school vouchers won't spread from Washington, D.C., to the adjoining states of Virginia and Maryland, thanks to the efforts of a coalition that includes NEA, other education and parent groups, and D.C. elected and civic leaders.
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) withdrew his proposal last week to allow D.C. voucher students to attend private high schools in Maryland and Virginia, saying there was not enough time to pass legislation in time for the fall semester. Brownback, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on the District, sought to expand the nation's only federally funded private school voucher program.
The year-old taxpayer funded program provides up to $7,500 for D.C. students to attend private or religious schools in the city.
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