- Congress and COVID-19
- AAU, Associations Send Letter to House Leaders Supporting the HEROES Act
- AAU, Associations Create Website for DACA Resources
- Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Reopening the Economy
- Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Liability During COVID-19
- Bipartisan Letter to House Leadership Seeks Increases for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
- Upcoming Events
CONGRESS AND COVID-19
Today, the House debated H.R. 6800, the “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act,” a $3 trillion package of COVID-19 relief. The measure now moves Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pledged to oppose the measure, calling it a “totally unserious effort” according to Politico. The administration also opposes the bill.
The bill provides nearly $1 trillion for state and local governments and expands and extends some CARES Act provisions. The measure also provides: $4.75 billion to the NIH to expand COVID-19-related research and defray shutdown and startup costs at labs nationwide; $10 million for NEH grants to respond to the virus’s impacts; $125 million for NSF for COVID-19-related research; and $3.5 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority to support next-generation manufacturing facilities and promote innovation in antibacterial research and development.
The legislation includes $100 billion for education, including: $90 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund governors can apply for and distribute to K-12 schools (65 percent), public colleges and universities (30 percent, approximately $27 billion), and at their discretion (5 percent); $7 billion for private nonprofit colleges and universities with 75 percent based on relative share of enrollment of Pell Grant recipients, and 25 percent based on relative share of total enrollment of non-Pell recipients (excluding exclusively online students); and $1.4 billion for schools with “unmet needs.” DACA and international students would be eligible for education funds included in the bill, and the legislation would retroactively make these students eligible for the CARES Act relief funds. The bill also includes up to $10,000 of loan forgiveness per student loan borrower and extends this relief to all types of student loans; provides $1 billion to close the “digital homework gap” to fund Wi-Fi hotspots, devices for students and library patrons, and emergency home connectivity needs; makes nonprofits eligible for the Main Street Lending Program; and repeals the public employer exclusion from paid sick leave and FMLA tax credit.
AAU, ASSOCIATIONS SEND LETTER TO HOUSE LEADERS SUPPORTING THE HEROES ACT
Yesterday, AAU joined ACE and 29 other higher education organizations on a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in support of H.R. 6800, the HEROES Act. In the letter, the organizations thank the representatives for their efforts to “mitigate the damage to students and postsecondary institutions the pandemic has caused.” The letter notes that the HEROES Act includes support for institutions that will help stabilize colleges and universities, their students, and their communities. It also includes funding for vital research to combat the virus, the organizations say. The letter says that “while significant needs remain, we are committed to working with [lawmakers] on them as the bill advances.”
AAU, ASSOCIATIONS CREATE WEBSITE FOR DACA RESOURCES
AAU recently joined ACE, APLU, and 12 other higher education organizations to create “RemembertheDreamers.org,” part of the organization’s ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of Dreamers and DACA recipients. The website is focused on advocating for Congress to find a legislative solution for these young people, who are living in legal limbo while they wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling about the DACA program. The website includes resources to help support Dreamers and DACA recipients, their families, and colleges and universities.
SENATE HELP COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON REOPENING THE ECONOMY
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing Tuesday titled “COVID-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School.” The committee heard from NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, CDC Director Robert Redfield, HHS Admiral Brett Giroir, and U.S. FDA Commissioner of Food and Drugs Stephen Hahn. According to The New York Times, the officials warned that the nation faced “dire consequences” if the economy is reopened too soon, and noted that “the United States still lacked critical testing capacity and the ability to trace the contacts of those infected.”
Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) opened the hearing with a question about how a university president or chancellor could persuade parents and students to return to campus. Admiral Giroir projected that the United States will be able to conduct 40 to 50 million tests per month by the fall and that this should be adequate for schools to develop a testing strategy to screen students. The senators asked for assurance about the adequate distribution of testing supplies to states and public health labs and updates on the approval of faster diagnostic tests. Director Redfield outlined CDC efforts to train contact tracing personnel for states and localities and the need to revamp its data collection infrastructure to better predict outbreaks.
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON LIABILITY DURING COVID-19
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Examining Liability During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The committee heard from industry experts about what Congress can do to give businesses some confidence that re-opening will not leave them vulnerable to lawsuits while also ensuring that workers and customers have appropriate recourse for any COVID-19-related injuries. Texas Christian University General Counsel Leroy Tyner, Jr. testified about the concerns of colleges and universities as they seek to reopen campuses. Although there was disagreement about whether or not a safe harbor from tort liability is the right approach for Congress to take, the committee and witnesses largely agreed that a key problem to address is federal agencies’ lack of clear, strong, and uniformly enforceable science-based regulatory standards for each sector.
BIPARTISAN LETTER TO HOUSE LEADERSHIP SEEKS INCREASES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND
Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) Tuesday sent a bipartisan letter to House leaders urging them to provide relief for students and colleges and universities in upcoming COVID-19 response legislation. More than 100 representatives signed on to the AAU-endorsed letter. The representatives say this legislation is critical to “ensure that students are not priced out of higher education that will be essential for workforce development, and to ensure that colleges and universities remain stable engines of economic growth.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
MAY 22 DEADLINE FOR GOLDEN GOOSE COVID-19 RECOGNITION NOMINATIONS; Eligibility requirements and nomination submission form available here.