Policy by the People Agenda 

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

I. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: On June 25th President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first piece of legislation in 26 years making meaningful progress toward gun reform and making schools safer for students, teachers, and families. Read IEL’s statement here. The full text of the law can be found here. 

II. Last month President Biden signed into law the Keep Kids Fed Act. The bill will increase reimbursements to schools and childcare facilities to offset increasing food costs, extend summer nutrition waivers through the summer, and increase access to healthy meals for children in family childcare. As our friends from the Children’s Budget Coalition state, “the bill will keep millions of children from going hungry this summer and during the upcoming school year. However, advocates have urged Congress to go even further, as the provisions in this bill are largely temporary and will not provide increased access to free school meals for millions of children.” 

III. Executive Order: President Biden has signed an executive order to protect the LGBTQI+ community. The executive order requires federal agencies to address discriminatory legislative attacks on LGBTQI+ children and families, prevent conversion therapy, and protect health care and programs that help prevent youth suicide. The EO also urges a new initiative to support foster youth, prevent homelessness, and improve LQBTQI+ childrens’ access to federal programs. 

IV. House Appropriations Committee Approves FY23 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHSED) Budget: On June 30^th the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill for FY 2023 that provides $242.1 billion, an increase of $28.5 billion – 13 percent – above 2022. The Senate is still considering its FY 2023 spending levels in advance of action that needs to be taken by September 30 for a new fiscal year starting October 1. 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. 

a. Education: The Committee approved $86.7 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Education, including $468 million for Full-Service Community Schools, plus an additional line-item budget of $10 million for Integrated Support Services. The Coalition for Community Schools organized a letter to the Hill signed by almost 150 organizations and engaged Hill staff to advocate for this funding-thank you to everyone that advocated! In addition to this historic funding for Full-Service Community Schools, the Committee approved $50.9 billion for IDEA, a $8.3 billion increase above the FY22 enacted level; $20.5 billion for Title I, an increase of $3 billion from FY22; $1.4 billion for 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, an increase of $120 million from the previous year; and $1.4 billion for Student Support and Academic Enrichment State Grants, a $75 million increase above the FY22 enacted level. The appropriations bill also provides $1 billion for School Safety National Activities, including Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration Grants and School-Based Mental Health Services Grants. 

b. Labor:  The bill provides a total of $15 billion in discretionary appropriations for DOL, an increase of $1.9 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:  

• • $11.8 billion for the Employment and Training Administration, an increase of $1.3 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level and $193.7 million above the President’s budget request. Within this amount, the bill includes: 

• • • $3.1 billion for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants, an increase of $256 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $116 million above the President’s budget request. 
    • $303 million for Registered Apprenticeships, an increase of $68 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and the same as the President’s budget request. 
    • $145 million for YouthBuild, an increase of $46 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and the same as the President’s budget request. 
    • $100 million, an increase of $50 million over the FY 2022 enacted level and the same as the President’s budget request, 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. 
    • $75 million for National Youth Employment Program to support summer and year- round employment for youth. 

• $2.2 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, an increase of $347 million above the FY 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
  • $313 million for the Wage and Hour Division, an increase of $62 million above the FY 2022 enacted level and $5 million above the President’s budget request. 

IV. ED Announces Proposed Changes to Title IX Regulations: On June 23^rd, the Biden Administration announced it is proposing new changes to Title IX, essentially reversing Trump-era Title IX regulations. The proposed changes include clarifying protections extended to students and employees who are pregnant, identify as LGBTQIA, and for parents who have elementary and secondary school-aged children. Public comments are now open for these proposed changes and can be submitted here.  

VI. Labor Issues Guidance on Laws Limiting Subminimum Wages for Workers with Disabilities: On June 16th, the Department of Labor announced new guidance by the Wage and Labor Division on limitations on the payment of subminimum wages under Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act, which applies to certified employers otherwise authorized to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities under specific requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The new guidance was initiated after an investigation of a Montana ranch paying employees as little as $1.17/hour. 

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

Events 

• ICYMI: July is Disability Pride Month! Learn more about this celebration here. 
• Upcoming Event: Webinar: Demystifying Systemic Social and Emotional Learning: CASEL 10-part series, More information and registration can be found here. 
• Upcoming Event: The Hunt Institute will host the webinar: Addressing the Compensation Crisis: Innovative Ideas to Sustainability Support Providers on July 13 at 2:00pm ET. More information and registration found here. 

• Upcoming Event: The Hunt Institute will host the webinar special series The Hunt Institute & The U.S. Department of Education: Tapping ARP Funding to Support Innovative Approaches in Education on August 4^th at 2:00pm ET. More information and registration found here. 
• Past Event: New America hosted the webinar Reimagining Pre-K Assessments for Dual Language Learners. More information here. 
• Past Event: Learning Policy Institute and the U.S. Department of Education hosted the webinar Professional Learning Series on Community Schools. Watch this webinar and other sessions in the series here. 

Resources 

• Resource: Future-Ed: Financial Trends in Local School’s Covid-Aid Spending 

• Resource: ESR: ESSER Half-Time Roadmap for strategic planning and scaling investment  
• Resource: Aspen Institute: We Are What We Teach: Re-envisioning Public Education for a Just, Free, and Prosperous America 
• Resource: Results for America: Tier I Instructional Strategies to Improve K-4 Reading Comprehension 
• Resource: Bureau of Labor and Statistics: BLS released a report on school staffing by the numbers. 

Funding Opportunities 

• Federal Register: Education Department  
• Federal Funding: Federal Grant Opportunities: 

• Promise Neighborhoods (Department of Education, ED-GRANTS-062922-002) 
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES): National Center for Education Research: Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking (Department of Education, ED-GRANTS-052622-003), Due 9/8 
• Full-Service Community Schools: coming any day now-stay tuned! 

IEL Policy Highlights 

• IEL and the Coalition for Community Schools successfully advocated for the House Appropriations Committee to fully fund the Biden Administration’s FY 23 request of $468 million for Full-Service Community Schools and helped to grow the Committee’s investment in children and families by $10 million through our advocacy of the first-ever separate line-item funding for Integrated Student Supports! 
• This month, 6 members of the IEL team will travel to Florida to facilitate breakout sessions at the Florida Advocacy Summit. Over 100 self-advocates will convene to discussing housing and transportation challenges specific to people with disabilities in their regions, and our IEL facilitators will help them identify the changes they want to make and create group and individual action plans for advocacy.