August Policy Update

August 2022 IEL Federal Policy Update

/ Connecting Families, Schools, & Communities, Federal Government, Leading Across Boundaries, Local/State Government, Policy/Legislation, Preparing Leaders, Resources / By

Policy by the People Agenda

Summary of federal policy action this past month and a look-ahead to the next few weeks/month

  1. Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act (H.R.8450): On July 20th, the House Committee on Education and Labor released the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill, to address the issue of child hunger. The bill extends eligibility for Women, Infant, Children (WIC), expands access to school meals by ensuring students on Medicaid are automatically certified for free school meals, increases reimbursements for school meals by 10 cents per meal, lowers eligibility requirements for families to participate in the Summer EBT Program, and provides additional resources to schools and 2.7 million families to ensure children have access to nutritional meals.
  2. Inflation Reduction Act: On July 28th, Senators Schumer and Manchin released a bill aimed at fighting inflation, allow for Medicare to negotiate for prescription drug prices, cap out-of-pocket Medicare expenses at $2,000/year, reduce the deficit by $300 billion, and invest in clean energy production to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. If passed, a 15% corporate minimum tax will be imposed to cover the cost of the bill. The Senate passed the bill on August 7th.
  3. Actions to Address Youth Mental Health: On July 29th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced two new measures, as part of a comprehensive national strategy, to address mental health. The first action awards $300 million to expand access to mental health services in school. The Administration also sent a letter to governors to invest more in school-based mental health services by issuing guidance on leveraging Medicare funding to provide these services, as well as providing technical assistance on spending the $1.7 billion from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
  4. Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY23 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHSED) Budget: On July 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill for FY 2023 that provides $653 billion in non-defense discretionary spending, an increase of 10.1 percent above FY2022. The new fiscal year starts on October 1st, and if Congress cannot pass a spending deal by then, they must pass a Continuing Resolution (“CR”) which funds the government at its current level until they can reach an agreement.
    • Education: The Committee approved $86.7 billion, a $10.3 billion increase from FY22, in discretionary spending for the Department of Education, including $150 million for Full-Service Community Schools/ The Coalition for Community Schools organized a letter to the Hill signed by almost 200 organizations and individuals, and engaged Hill staff to advocate for this funding-thank you to everyone that advocated! The Committee approved $15.3 billion for IDEA Part B, a $1.975 billion increase above the FY22 enacted level; $20.1 billion for Title I, an increase of $2.6 billion from FY22; $20.1 billion for Title I, an increase of $2.6 billion from FY22; $954 million for the English Language Acquisition program, an increase of $123 million from the previous year; and $45 million for Parent Information Centers, a $15 million increase above the FY22 enacted level. The appropriations bill also provides $222 million, an increase of $102 million, for Project Aware a program supporting school-based mental health and trauma services to students.
    • Labor:  The bill provides a total of $16.1 billion in discretionary appropriations for DOL, an increase of $1.7 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level. Some particular programs of interest that we advocate for in IEL’s Policy by the People agenda include the following:
  5. $4 billion for the Employment and Training Administration, including
    • $2.96 billion for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants, an increase of $80 million above the FY 2022 enacted level.
    • $300 million for Registered Apprenticeships, an increase of $65 million above the FY 2022 enacted level.
    • $113 million for YouthBuild, an increase of $14 million above the FY 2022 enacted level.
    • $50 million, the same amount as the FY 2022 enacted level to continue and expand Strengthening Community College Training Grants to help meet local and regional labor market demand for a skilled workforce by providing training to workers in in-demand industries at community colleges and four-year partners.
  6. $2 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, an increase of $217 million above the FY 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes: $298 million for the Wage and Hour Division, an increase of $37 million above the FY 2022 enacted level.

Policy-related events and resources of interest, including federal funding opportunities

Events

  • Upcoming Event: WorkforceGPS willhost RESEA Peer Learning on August 10th form 1:00-2:30pm. More information and registration can be found here.
  • Upcoming Event: The Hunt Institute will host Homeroom with Education Leaders: Changing the Narrative for Effective Parent and Family Engagement on August 9th at 2:00pm EST. More information and registration can be found here.
  • Upcoming Event: EducationWeek will host When SEL Curriculum is not Enough: Integrating Social-Emotional Behavior Supports in MTSS on August 9th at 2:00pm EST. More information and registration can be found here.
  • Upcoming Event: New America will host the Learning Sciences Exchanged 2022 Summit on August 10th from 12:00pm-1:30pm. More information and registration can be found here.
  • Upcoming Event: Education Commission of the States will host a webinar Addressing Shortages Across the Teacher Pipeline on August 10th from 1:00-2:00pm EST. More information and registration can be found here.
  • Past Event: The Hunt Institute hosted the webinar special series The Hunt Institute & The U.S. Department of Education: Tapping ARP Funding to Support Innovative Approaches in Education. More information can be found here.
  • Past Event: EducationWeek hosted the webinar Modernizing Principal Support: The Road to More Connected and Effective Leaders. More information can be found here.

Funding Opportunities

  • Federal Register: Education Department              
  • Federal Funding: Federal Grant Opportunities:
    • Department of Education: Full-Service Community Schools (ED-GRANTS-071322-001), Due September 12, 2022
    • AmeriCorps: FY 23 Volunteer Generation Fund ARP (AC-07-12-22), Due September 13, 2022
    • Department of Education: Promise Neighborhoods (ED-GRANTS-062922-002), Due October 7, 2022

IEL Policy Highlights

  • Six IEL staff members participated in the Florida Advocacy Summit hosted by The Family Café, a Florida based advocacy group supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and The Florida DD Council. At the Summit, IEL staff members facilitated regional groups of self and family advocates to determine actionable policy solutions and advocacy plans to issues related to housing and transportation in their geographic region.
  • IEL joined the National Partnership for Student Success in July. The NPSS coalition comprises non-profits, philanthropies, corporations and governmental agencies and works to advocate for holistic student needs by promoting evidence-based best practices, local decision making, and community engagement.
  • In July, IEL joined the Digital Divide Coalition, a cross-disciplinary group of 27 member organizations advocating to state and federal policymakers to make internet accessible and affordable to all American households using BEAD and DEA Program funds.

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