Legislation and Guidance
- House and Senate Pass Budget Resolutions
- House Passes HEA Extension
- Dingell Introduces Medicaid Moratorium
- Congress Passes Farm Bill Extension
News
Reports
Legislation and Guidance
House and Senate Pass Budget Resolutions
Both the House and Senate passed their respective budget resolutions (BRs) this week. The House narrowly passed the Democrats' $3.04 trillion fiscal year 2009 (FY09) budget plan last night, 212-207, while the Senate passed its $3.08 trillion BR early this morning by a vote of 51-44. Despite a severe lack of minority support, the two bills will now head to conference to be reconciled into a joint BR that will set the spending caps for appropriators to follow for the rest of this legislative session.
Despite the Senate's slightly higher overall spending cap, which includes both mandatory and discretionary spending, the House's BR allows for greater discretionary spending. The House's discretionary level is at $1.014 trillion while the Senate proposal seeks $1.010 trillion. That puts the House about $22 billion and the Senate $18 billion above the President's discretionary request of $992 billion. This difference needs to be reconciled before appropriators can begin their work.
Current law states that if there is no conference agreement on a budget resolution by April 15th, the appropriations process can begin and each chamber can deem its preferred spending levels. The most likely scenario is that each chamber will work with the levels outlined in its own BR. However, when Congress returns from its spring recess in April, it will have ample time to try to pass a joint BR, giving most appropriators a common blueprint for FY09 spending.
The Senate held a series of votes yesterday on a number of amendments. One noteworthy, successful amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), adds a deficit-neutral reserve fund to improve student achievement during secondary education, including middle school completion, high school graduation and preparing students for higher education and the workforce.
Another successful amendment expressed the sense of the Senate that Medicaid administrative regulations should not undermine Medicaid's role in our Nation's health care system, cap Federal Medicaid spending, or otherwise shift Medicaid cost burdens to State or local governments and their taxpayers and health providers, or undermine the Federal guarantee of health insurance coverage Medicaid provides.
Two key amendments that failed would have placed a one-year moratorium on earmarks and exempted a one-year fix to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) from the pay-as-you-go rules. The House BR plans for offsets for the AMT patch while the Senate assumes no offsets.
Resources
Vicki Needham, "House Narrowly Approves Democratic Budget Plan," Congress Now, March 13, 2008.
Jennifer Bendery, "In Wee Hours, Senate Passes $3 Trillion-Plus Budget Blueprint, 51-44," Congress Now, March 14, 2008.
House Passes HEA Extension
Wednesday, the House approved a one-month extension of the Higher Education Act (HEA), giving lawmakers more time to continue working out differences between the House and Senate bills updating post-secondary education and student financial aid programs. The current extension expires March 31st, but this new bill extends the HEA through April 30th. The Senate approved the extension late week. The bill now heads to the President, who is expected to sign the bill, despite disappointment over the failure to send him a final long term HEA reauthorization.
A key sticking point between the House bill (H.R. 4137) and the Senate bill (S. 1642) is House language that would penalize states for lowering their commitment to higher education. In light of the current fiscal crisis that many states are experiencing, many Senators are afraid that the language could be interpreted as penalizing states for having to make budget cuts in light of growing shortfalls and deficits. Until the two sides can come to terms, the HEA is stuck in pre-conference negotiations.
Resource
"House Joins Senate in Backing One-Month Extension of Higher Education Act," Congress Now, March 12, 2008.
Dingell Introduces Medicaid Moratorium
On Friday, Representatives John D. Dingell (D-MI ), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Tim Murphy (R-PA), introduced H.R. 5613, the "Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008." This legislation would place a temporary one-year moratorium on seven Medicaid regulations issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). According to the a report issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the regulations would shift nearly $20 billion in funding to states during this five-year period.
During the past year, the CMS, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has issued a number of regulations that would reverse long-standing Medicaid policies and eliminate federal payments for a variety of critical Medicaid functions. The rules in question would affect federal financial participation for, among other things, coverage of rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, outreach and enrollment in schools, specialized medical transportation to school for children covered by Medicaid, and case management services.
The bill amplifies the Senate's Budget Resolution amendment (discussed above) that states that CMS's regulations should not "undermine Medicaid's role in our Nation's health care system . or otherwise shift Medicaid cost burdens to State or local governments and their taxpayers. "
Resource
"The Administration's Medicaid Regulations: State-by-State Impacts (Outside Source)," Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, March 3, 2008
Congress Passes Farm Bill Extension
Still unable to come to terms, Congress passed a short Farm Bill extension to last through April 18th. The current Farm Bill runs out tomorrow, but Congress was unable to finalize its reauthorization before this deadline. The new extension gives lawmakers another month to attempt a compromise with each other and the White House, finally passing the largest piece of agricultural legislation. This may be Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) last chance to pass his Farm Bill, since both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Bush said they will not accept another extension after this one.
The main sticking point remains how far above baseline spending the White House is willing to support. House and Senate leaders reached an agreement earlier this month for $10 billion above the $280 billion baseline spending plan over the next five years. President Bush had earlier agreed to support a $6 billion expansion, as long as all offsets came from spending cuts, and not raising taxes. The President released a list of possible offsets, most of which were accepted on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, lawmakers are having trouble coming up with the remaining $4 billion in offsets. Since the President has threatened to veto any bill that includes a tax increase, House Republicans are working on a new proposal that remains within the $280 billion baseline bill.
While school districts across the country await the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) expansion under the proposed Farm Bill, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture grilled United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials regarding the budget crisis many schools now face in light of the national beef recall last month. Noting that many schools do not have the necessary funds to replace the lost commodity beef, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) also noted that current funding for schools to supply their students with fresh fruits and vegetables is grossly inadequate. If schools do not have the money to replace cafeteria foods, they have little hope of being able to provide a proper amount of fruits and vegetables outside of the normal lunch options. So while lawmakers in Washington debate spending, administrators are patiently waiting for Congress to finish the Farm Bill and provide more funding for national expansion of the FFVP.
Resources
Michael Lepage, "House Joins Senate in Passing Month-Long Extension of Farm Bill," Congress Now, March 12, 2008.
Jessica DaSilva, "Appropriators Warn USDA Over Beef Recall's Effect on School Lunches," Congress Now, March 13, 2008.
News
Bill Gates Tells Congress How to Stay Competitive
On Wednesday, Microsoft Chief Bill Gates testified before the House Science and Technology Committee about ways to help ensure that American businesses remain competitive in the global economy. In his testimony, Gates, who is retiring from Microsoft in July, presented his four-part plan for helping the U.S. to maintain its position as the global leader in innovation:
- Strengthening educational opportunities, so that America's students and workers have the skills they need to succeed in the technology- and information-driven economy of today and tomorrow;
- Revamping immigration rules for highly-skilled workers, so that U.S. companies can attract and retain the world's best scientific talent;
- Increasing federal funding for basic scientific research to train the next generation of innovators and provide the raw material for further innovation and development by industry; and
- Providing incentives for private-sector R&D, so that American businesses remain at the forefront in developing new technologies and turning them into new products and services.
In addition to adopting high school standards that better reflect what is takes to be successful in college and work, Gates noted that the U.S. needs to develop better methods for measuring whether students are meeting these standards; a better understanding of the systemic changes that are required to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills that are essential for success; and better methods to assess how those standards compare to those of educational systems elsewhere in the world. Gates also said that the U.S. needs to find better ways to reward and retain the most effective teachers and assign more of them to classes where they are needed the most. Gates also called on Congress to fully fund the America COMPETES Act, which he considers to be the single most important step towards keeping the country competitive.
In addition to his education recommendations, Gates made national headlines when he said that the U.S. needs to find more ways to attract, allow, and retain highly-skilled workers from other countries. Immigration, which has fallen from its place of prominence in the 109th Congress, is still a controversial subject on Capitol Hill. Meeting with some defiance, Gates suggested raising the caps on visas, and other methods of immigration reform. Some pundits wonder if this might have been Gates' last time testifying before Congress, since he plans to devote his time after retirement to running the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which donates millions to education programs every year.
Resource
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, "Bill Gates Says Immigration, Education Reform Needed For U.S. To Compete," Information Week, March 12, 2008.
A Tough Nut: School Turnaround
On Wednesday, the American Enterprise Institute held a conference on school restructuring, "Turning Around the Nation's Worst School. " The conference brought together academics, practitioners and policy makers who have spent considerable time trying to unpack the lessons and the challenges of school turnaround. There are many and the topic is difficult.
The urgency of school turnaround is evident and, depending on one's perspective on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the law either exposes an existing problem, misrepresents the scale of the matter or both. Under NCLB, the schools that do not make "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) for five consecutive years enter school restructuring and that cohort is growing quickly. In the 2005-2006 school year, 600 schools across the nation were in restructuring. The number jumps to 1,100 for 06-07, 1,900 for 07-08, 3,300 for 08-09 and the projection for 2009-2010 is, conservatively, 4,900 schools. While the urgency is clear, the solution is muddled.
Panelists spent the day sharing their knowledge and wrestling with the topic. The final policy of the day addressed the federal role in school turnaround. The panel included Lindsay Hunsicker (Senator Enzi's Senior Education Policy Advisor on the Senate HELP Committee), Carmel Martin (General Counsel for the Senate HELP Committee) and Doug Mesecar (Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the US Department of Education). Their discussion turned around restructuring under NCLB and the pending reauthorization. Carmel Martin stated that Senator Kennedy is very concerned about the matter now as he was eight years ago, which is why the current law allows for the 5 percent set aside for such work. (The 5 percent comes from the 4 percent reservation under Section 1003 School Improvement and the 1 percent for Section 1004 state administration). But the problem, according to Martin, is insufficient overall funding that has triggered the hold harmless provision of Section 1003(e) in many states. The provision reduces the money available for states to fulfill their duty if the reservation would decrease the amount of funds allocated to the local education agencies. Martine also observed that there is also not enough federal investment in the best practice research and the delivery of solutions at scale. Those in states and districts who are trying to implement and account for NCLB's simply do not have the capacity for such intense work.
Speaking on behalf of ED, Doug Mesecar first presented the data he was familiar with (orally and without citation), emphasized the moral urgency to act quickly, the difficulty of the task and the need for more investment about school turnaround. Mesecar stated that there are 2,300 schools now in restructuring (which is about 2 percent of all schools) and over the last year, about 20 percent of schools in restructuring have managed to make AYP for two consecutive years and exit the status. That leaves, said Mesecar, 80 percent room for improvement. Across the nation, there are 10,500 schools in some form of improvement and 8,000 are in some form of corrective action. Thirty percent of all schools, Title I and non-Title I, are in some level of improvement and about 20 percent of all Title I schools are in some form of improvement. That, according to Mesecar, has held steady for last 3 years, but it will likely change in the coming years as state proficiency expectations increase toward 100 percent in the 2013-2014 school year.
Given this information, Mesecar made three points. His first point was that action is a moral imperative. Second, he stated that ED would like to move quickly, but recognizes that the matter is very technical. ED is interested in the differentiation of consequences, but the meaning of differentiation is muddy. Where are the cut off points for action? Should there be differentiation within differentiation? Third, ED agrees with Senator Kennedy that there needs to be more federal investment in research and delivery of solutions at the federal level. This is a difficult matter and one that the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) should closely examine.
As the panelists wrestled with the topic, it became evident that Congress and ED are a long way off from arriving at a legislative solution. Senator Kennedy has backed off his initial March 2008 target and is now setting an April goal. Yet, judging from Martin's and Mesecar's conversation, the legislative solution still remains many months away, if not more.
Resource
"Turning Around the Nation's Worst Schools (Outside Source)," American Enterprise Institute conference, March 11, 2008
Reports
The Ugly Politics of Reading First
The Reading First proponents may have an ally in the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. On Monday, the Institute released a new report: Too Good to Last: The True Story of Reading First (Outside Source). The report, written by Sol Stern, reports on the background of the Reading First scandal and explains that the otherwise highly successful program was a victim of Washington politics. While the report is a mix of bias and truth, it does make a fair argument for the restoration of funding. Last year, Congressional appropriators chose to cut Reading First by over 61 percent from $1.029 billion to $393 million. The President is requesting to restore funding to $1 billion for fiscal year 2009, but the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee Dave Obey (D-WI) has not made any public statements on the matter this year. Last year, he was very clear that he would reduce the funding because of the Department of Education's mismanagement of the program.
Reading First advocates only may have an ally in the Institute because the Institute is also attacking Obey personally. After the report's release, Fordham sent letters to Obey and other Members of Congress accusing the Chairman of a potential conflict of interest:
Chairman Obey is known to be a longtime supporter of Robert Slavin, developer of the Success for All reading program, who has publicly stated that he was angry Success for All was not receiving more federal funds under Reading First. He urged the OIG to investigate Doherty. Following the OIG report, Slavin demanded that Reading First's budget be substantially cut--which Obey did.
Chairman Obey has not, as of press time, provided a formal reply. Advocates of the Reading First Program can only hope that the accusation has not tarnished the otherwise well-supported request to restore funding for the program in FY09.
Resource
"Fordham Demands Investigation into Real Reading First Scandals (Outside Source)," The Thomas B Fordham Institute, March 10, 2008
