- Congress Continues COVID-19 Relief Efforts, FY21 Appropriations Process
- Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Safe Return to Campus Amid COVID-19
- AAU, Associations Urge Expansion of Paycheck Protection Program for Nonprofit and Public Colleges and Universities
- AAU Joins Letter Requesting Expansion of Main Street Lending Program to Nonprofit and Public Colleges and Universities
- AAU, Associations Call for Unemployment Insurance Relief for Colleges and Universities in “Phase Four” COVID-19 Relief
- AAU Joins Associations to Urge Senate to Make Public and Private Colleges and Universities Eligible for Refundable Tax Credit for Paid Sick and FMLA Leave Mandates
- President Trump Issues Executive Order Suspending Entry of “Certain” Chinese Students and Researchers
CONGRESS CONTINUES COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORTS, FY21 APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the chamber will not consider H.R. 6800, the “HEROES Act,” but will craft its own “phase four” COVID-19 relief legislation to negotiate with the House later this month. AAU has created a list of “phase four” COVID-19 relief and stimulus legislative recommendations that highlights the need for relief alleviate wide-spread research disruptions, COVID-19 liability safe harbors, or adequate amounts and types of relief for students and institutions above what is provided in the HEROES Act.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) yesterday told members that the committee will complete markup of all FY21 appropriations measure the weeks of June 6 and 13. The House is expected to vote on the measures the weeks of July 20 and 27. Lowey promised that more information, including the order in which the bills will be considered, will be released later this month. The House Armed Services Committee today announced it will mark up the FY21 NDAA on Wednesday, July 1.
The Senate has not released its markup schedule for the 12 FY21 spending measures, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) has stated he aims to begin marking up bills as soon as the third week of June.
SENATE HELP COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON SAFE RETURN TO CAMPUS AMID COVID-19
Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing titled “COVID-19: Going Back to College Safely,” which focused on whether and how universities will reopen in the fall, their testing, tracing, distancing, and athletics plans, and the financial impact of these plans. The hearing featured Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, Brown University President Christina Paxson, Lane College President Logan Hampton, and American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges Benjamin. The presidents discussed their strategies for the fall, ways to support students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, interruptions to research, and the financial impact on universities.
AAU JOINS ASSOCIATIONS URGING SENATE TO ADDRESS HIGHER EDUCATION BROADBAND ACCESS ISSUES
AAU, EDUCAUSE, and 27 other associations today sent letters to House and Senate leaders urging them to address the needs of college and university students as they work to address issues with student broadband access and improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure. The letter asks Congress to take immediate action by passing H.R. 6814/S. 3701, the “Supporting Connectivity for Higher Education Students in Need Act,” providing additional cost-matching support to help cover technology costs, and strengthening existing research and education networks.
AAU, ASSOCIATIONS URGE EXPANSION OF PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM FOR NONPROFIT AND PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
AAU recently joined ACE and 61 other higher education organizations on a letter to Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee leaders urging them to expand the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program to explicitly include all nonprofit and public colleges and universities. Colleges and universities are often among the largest employers in their communities, the letter says, and are facing reduced revenue and increased costs associated with COVID-19 far above those other employers are facing. Expanding the Paycheck Protection Program “would help institutions of higher education of all sizes address the financial issues caused by COVID-19, especially given the forgiveness options for this important program,” the organizations say.
AAU JOINS LETTER REQUESTING EXPANSION OF MAIN STREET LENDING PROGRAM TO NONPROFIT AND PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Last week, AAU joined ACE and 62 other higher education organizations on a letter to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee leaders to request the expansion of the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program to nonprofit organizations, including nonprofit public and private colleges and universities. The organizations say that many colleges and universities are “seeking low-cost loans to help address the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis and are interested in accessing the loans created under the CARES Act,” but the Federal Reserve’s recent guidance made nonprofits ineligible for loans through the Main Street Lending Program. The organizations also request that student workers be exempted from calculations of eligibility for any COVID-19-related relief loan program to “accurately reflect the size of institutions in their roles as employers and … allow more colleges and universities to access these important loan programs.”
AAU, ASSOCIATIONS CALL FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE RELIEF FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN “PHASE FOUR” COVID-19 RELIEF
AAU, together with ACE and 48 other higher education organizations, on Monday sent a letter to Senate leaders requesting them to address issues related to the Labor Department’s recent guidance on implementing emergency unemployment relief provisions in the CARES Act. The organizations say that the guidance “undermines the provision’s intent to provide relief to employers facing difficult financial situations and may cause further harm to self-insured public and private nonprofit colleges and universities.” The Labor Department’s guidance requires states to bill self-insured nonprofit entities for the full amount of COVID-19-relaed unemployment insurance claims, treating them differently than other self-insured entities and creating unnecessary confusion, the letter says. The organizations urge the senators to treat self-insured nonprofits fairly in the coming COVID-19 relief proposal.
AAU JOINS ASSOCIATIONS TO URGE SENATE TO MAKE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ELIGIBLE FOR REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR PAID SICK AND FMLA LEAVE MANDATES
On Monday, AAU joined ACE and 42 other higher education organizations on a letter to Senate leaders to urge they “make public and private nonprofit colleges and universities eligible for the paid sick and family leave refundable tax credit created in the ‘Families First Coronavirus Response Act’ (FFCRA).” According to the letter, the HEROES Act included a provision that would make public institutions eligible for these credits, but excluded larger private nonprofit colleges and universities from the tax credit. The organizations say that the tax credit would “help public and the covered private nonprofit institutions recoup the costs of the unfunded paid sick and FMLA leave mandate.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER SUSPENDING ENTRY OF “CERTAIN” CHINESE STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS
Late last week, the president issued an executive order titled “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic of China,” which went into effect June 1. According to the order, “the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is engaged in a wide ranging and heavily resourced campaign to acquire sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property, in part to bolster the modernization and capability of its military.”
The order exempts undergraduates from China and focuses on those F and J visa holders who are connected by funding, employment, or research to any entity in the PRC which supports the PRC’s “military-civil fusion strategy.” The order implicates several entities in China which are pursuing that strategy.
AAU is working with State Department and the FBI to obtain details about the executive order, including how its implementation may impact students and researchers at our member institutions.