2011 year-end legislative update
DESCRIPTION
The AACC government relations team provided an overview of the year-end action in Congress and a peek into the year ahead. Topics included up-to-the-moment information on FY 2012 funding for Pell Grants and other key programs and the impact of the Budget Control Act now that the Supercommittee has failed to propose a deficit reduction plan. The webinar also covered the latest developments on the American Jobs Act, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Program, Department of Education regulations, and more.TRANSCRIPT
AACC Year-End Legislative Update
December 14, 2011
AACC Office of Government Relations and ResearchDavid Baime, Senior Vice President
Jim Hermes, Director
Laurie Quarles, Legislative Associate
AACC Legislative Update
• FY 2012 Funding• Budget Control Act/Deficit “ Super Committee”• Amer ican Jobs Act/Veterans Legislation• Workforce Legislation• TAA CCCT Grant Program• Committee on Measures of Student Success• The Year Ahead
FY 2012 Labor-HHS-Education Appropr iations
• 3 of 12 Appropr iations Bills Enacted• 9 Bills to be Passed in Large Package• Continuing Resolution Expires 12/16• Senate Committee Approved LHHS Bill • House Posted Bill – No Formal Action
Taken• Level Funding for Many Programs
– Perkins CTE programs
Pell Grants
• $10 billion Provided by Budget Control Act for FY 2012– Left $1.3 billion shor tfall to be filled by
appropr iators• House Draft Cuts Total $3.6 billion
– Eliminates eligibility for less-than-halftime and ability-to-benefit students
– Lowers income protection allowances, reducing eligibility
Pell Grants
• House Cuts, cont’d– Cuts eligibility from 18 to 12 full-time semesters– Changes auto-zero EFC from $30 K to $15 K– Counts EITC and other funds as income
Pell Grants
• Senate LHHS Bill Took Much Different Approach– Savings by eliminating student loan interest
subsidy dur ing grace per iod– House Budget Committee ruling later reduced
these savings to $400 million, leaving $900 million to be saved by other means
Workforce Training Funds
• House Bill Slashes WIA Programs by $2.2 Billion, or 75%– Advance funding, which is bulk of WIA
program funding, eliminated– Shift from program year to fiscal year given as
reason– Cuts would be extremely difficult to restore next
year , likely permanent• Senate: Level Funding
Minority Serving Institutions
HEA Title
Type of Minority-Serving Institution
Funded
Funding (in $ millions)
Current Proposed Change
V Hispanic 104.4 17.4 -87.0
III Historically Black 237.0 152.0 -85.0
III Tribal 26.8 0 -26.8
III Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian
13.4 0 -13.4
III Predominantly Black 9.6 0 -9.6
III Asian American/Pacific Islander
3.2 0 -3.2
III Native American, nontribal
3.2 0 -3.2
Totals $397.6 $169.4 -$228.2
Final FY 2012 LHHS Bill
• Deal on Bill Repor tedly Reached, But Not Yet Filed– Dispute over payroll tax holding up spending
bill– One-week CR likely needed
• Pell Grants – Repor ted Cuts– Cuts eligibility from 18 to 12 full-time semesters– Changes auto-zero EFC from $30 K to $20 K– Eliminates eligibility for ATB students
Budget Control Act
• Major Provisions– Federal debt limit raised in stages by $2.1 T– Created 10-year discretionary caps– Provided $17 B for Pell over next two FYs by
eliminating in-school interest subsidies on graduate student loans
– Requires vote on Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment by 12/31/11
– Established Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction— “ Super Committee”
Budget Control Act
• Major Provisions, cont’d– Discretionary caps in FYs 12-21 reduce
spending by $890 billion over 10 years– For FY 2012 and FY 2013, separate spending
caps for secur ity and non-secur ity spending– FY 2012 cap = $1.043 T ($7B below FY 2011 but
$24 B higher than House FY 2012 budget)
BCA Sequestration
• Requires Cuts of $984 billion for Fiscal Years 2013 – 2021– $1.2 tr illion minus $216 in interest savings– $109 billion per year – split evenly between
defense and non-defense– Discretionary funding will exper ience an across
the board cut for FY 2013 – For FYs 2014 – 2021, caps will be lowered and
appropr iators have discretion where to cut
BCA Sequestration
– Mandatory funding subject to across-the-board cuts through 2021
• Complex formula to determine exact amounts, dependent on previous year ’s outlays
– Many programs exempt from sequestration, including Pell Grants (discretionary por tion 2013 only)
– Because of exemptions, roughly 75% of cuts would come from discretionary programs
– Cuts of approximately 15% to discretionary spending from the current baseline
BCA Sequestration
• Sequestration Not Until January 2013, Leaving Congress One Year to “ Fix” Things– Obama vow to veto legislation reducing cuts– Attempts to avoid defense cuts– Fur ther attempts at “ Grand Bargain” ?
Amer ican Jobs Act
• $447 Billion Overall– $253 billion tax credits and cuts– $196 billion spending
• Four Main Sections– Tax cuts for small businesses– Tax cuts and spending to encourage hir ing– Unemployment insurance reform and Pathways
Back to Work fund– Middle class tax relief
Amer ican Jobs Act—CC Facilities
• $5 Billion Proposed in FY 2012 for Community College Modernization and Heavy Equipment
– More Than ½ of AGI Funding
• Funding Awarded to States on Basis of Relative Community College Enrollment
• States Largely Free to Allocate Funds as They See Fit
Amer ican Jobs Act
• Senate Voting on Individual Pieces of Package– Tax credits for hir ing veterans only par t of
package to pass to date• Par t of larger bill that also granted an extra year of
Montgomery GI Bill benefits to older veterans
– All other bills failed to clear filibuster– Vote on school and community college
modernization funds – FAST Act – hoped for next year
WIA Reauthor ization
• House Republican Reauthor ization Bills– H.R. 3610: Consolidates up to 33 job training
programs• Response to GAO repor t
– H.R. 3611: Focus on business engagement• Would extend business major ity on workforce
investment boards
• Collins-McCaskill Payroll Tax Cut Bill– Would require OMB to recommend program
consolidation; half of savings dedicated to deficit reduction.
TAACCCT Grant Program
• First Round Grants– Ranged from $2.5 million to near ly $25 million– DOL still working with some states to finalize
$2.7 million grants– First round heavily favored consor tia grants,
reflecting applicant pool• Second Round Announcement Expected
Next Month• No Imminent Threats to Funding – But Stay
Vigilant!
Committee on Measures of Student Success
• Created by Congress in 2008 HEA Amendments to Review and Suggest Changes to Two-Year Graduation Rate Calculation
• Repor t Submitted to ED Secretary
• Substantial Modifications to Current Calculation Recommended
• ED Will Next Decide How to Implement; IPEDS Route Likeliest
Committee on Measures of Student Success
• Recommendations Include:– Including transfers in completion rate– Adding par t-time students to repor ting in
separate cohor t for par t-time students– Separate cohor t for remedial students– Longer time-frame for tracking
• AACC Has Submitted Comments and Will Work to Influence Implementation
The Year Ahead
• Budget Issues Will Dominate 2012 Congressional Agenda
• Looming Sequestration• Obama Budget• Presidential Election Politics• Bush Tax Cuts Due to Expire in 2012• Broader Economic Developments—Likely to
Rock US• Prone to Br inksmanship
Contact Information
• David Baime– 202-728-0200 x224, [email protected]
• Jim Hermes– 202-728-0200 x216, [email protected]
• Laur ie Quar les– 202-728-0200 x249, lquar [email protected]