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As part of its legislative monitoring and advocacy program, the Office of Government and Community Relations tracks legislation, regulations and federal initiatives that affect the University. Our staff maintains a close relationship with local congressional offices, executive offices, agencies and national associations. If there is an issue that you believe affects the University, please contact our office at 315-443-3919.

Table of Contents

The 110th Congress
Important Dates
Budget and Appropriations Bills
Higher Education Authorization Act
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Veterans Education Tuition Support Bill
Student Loan Bill
Federal Resources and Links

The 110th Congress

The 110th Congress was sworn in on January 4, 2007. After the 2006 elections, the control of both houses tipped to the Democrats for the first time since the 103rd Congress of 1993-1995. Democrat Nancy Pelosi is the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House and pledged to accomplish a specific platform in the first 100 hours of the new session.

Important Dates

Budget and Appropriations Bills

The final weeks of September have been quite busy, with Congress considering the Wall Street bailout and also funding to keep federal agencies and programs running beyond September 30, into the new fiscal year (FY09).

With time growing short, it appears that congressional leaders will combine two packages into one: a "minibus" of the three national security appropriations bills (Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs) and a continuing resolution (CR) to fund agencies and programs covered by the remaining nine appropriations bills.

The combined measure would also fund a number of other priorities, such as disaster relief, loans for the automobile industry, and such economic stimulus provisions as an extension of unemployment insurance and low-income energy assistance.

The minibus of three appropriations bills is expected to run for the entire fiscal year and increase funding for national security agencies and programs above their FY08 levels. The CR, as currently drafted, would run through March 6-and the start of a new Administration and Congress-and freeze funding for most of its agencies and programs at their FY08 levels.

For detail on appropriations per agency, look at the Association of American Universities' excellent charts.

President signs Higher Education Act Reauthorization

After working on the long-overdue reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) for the past seven years, Congress finally reauthorized the Act for the first time since 1998. Although the higher education community did not support the bill, Congress was eager to complete it. Both houses passed the HEA and President Bush signed it on August 14, 2008, although he criticized it for being "duplicative."

--HEA Goals

One goal of the HEA was to keep college costs down through greater transparency without imposing price controls. However, because of its 100 new reporting requirements, the HEA will likely drive costs up for students. Lamar Alexander, former Secretary of Education and now a Republican senator from Tennessee, is an eloquent critic of the HEA. He illustrated the amount of new regulations imposed on higher education by showing a stack of five cartons almost five feet high on the Senate floor. He said the new legislation would double the pile. (Read his comments in the Congressional Record).

--HEA Provisions

Here are some provisions of interest:

  • Tuition and fee reporting: colleges and universities must report to the Education Department what their tuition is, why their tuition has gone up, and measures to control increases. The Department would then release to the public college "watch lists", in order to shame schools into not raising tuition and fees.
  • Year-round Pell grants are now available: this will allow low-income students to complete their degrees more quickly.
  • Simplified federal aid form (a two-page "FAFSA-EZ" form.)
  • Loan transparency: colleges must disclose all relationships with student lenders. The Act bans all gifts and revenue-sharing agreements between institutions and lenders offering federal and private loans.
  • Textbooks: publishers would be required to sell textbooks "unbundled" from workbooks and DVDs.
  • State maintenance of effort: states would be penalized for failing to increase funding for their state university systems, regardless of economic conditions.
  • Peer-to-peer illegal file sharing: schools would have to take significant steps to keep students from illegally sharing copyrighted files.
  • Universities must immediately notify students of emergency situations. (Many schools already had an emergency notification system in place, even before the Virginia Tech shootings.)

Source: Association of American Universities

ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Signed Into Law

The House passed S.3406 which reverses several Supreme Court decisions that have narrowed the definition of disability under the original Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The President signed the bill, although he had expressed concerns that it could increase litigation.

Veteran Affairs Committees Approve Veterans' Education Tuition Support Bill

The House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees considered the Veterans Education Tuition Support Act (H.R.2910, S.1718), a bill that is aimed at helping members of the Armed Services complete and pay for their college educations despite military deployments. The measure was marked up in the House Veterans' Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee; the Senate bill was incorporated into a larger package of veterans' benefits. The bill is expected to be attached to the FY09 Defense Authorization bill.

The VETS Act of 2007 would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide members of the Armed Services with tuition reimbursement for programs of education delayed by military service, deferment of student loans and reduced interest rates during periods of military service, and reenrollment with the same educational and academic status. During markup, the Senate bill was incorporated into the Veterans' Benefit Improvement Act of 2008 (S. 3023), which was then approved.

A group of higher education associations, including AAU, submitted comments to the committees on June 25 expressing support for the legislation's goal of enabling service men and women to further their education. Their letter also pointed out that the new legislation needs to be reconciled with the Higher Education Act and existing regulations, and it stated that association staff would like to help committee staff do so.

Source: Association of American Universities

Orphan Works Legislation Appears Stalled in House and Senate Committees

Orphan works legislation, which aims to balance the ability to make use of copyrighted works whose owners cannot be found against the interests of copyright owners, appears stalled in both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

The House Judiciary Committee postponed markup of its bill (H.R. 5889) because the user groups the bill is intended to assist oppose two key provisions. Specifically, the libraries, museums, universities, and other user groups cannot support proposed language regarding the "best practices" for undertaking a qualifying search for the copyright owner, nor proposals offered by some copyright owner groups to allow injunctions in certain cases, which would undermine the basic structure of the bill.

In the absence of support by the user groups, the Committee seems disinclined to move the bill. The user groups have indicated a willingness to continue to work with committee staff and other interested parties to address the outstanding concerns, but it is not clear if work will continue.

The Senate bill (S. 2913), which was reported from the Judiciary Committee on May 15, reportedly has not gone to the Senate floor because several Senators have placed holds on it.

Source: Association of American Universities

House Judiciary Committee Approves False Claims Act Bill

The House Judiciary Committee has marked up and approved the False Claims Correction Act of 2007 (H.R. 4854). The higher education community has been especially concerned about provisions that would significantly increase institutional liability in the event of overpayments and make institutions significantly more vulnerable to lawsuits.

During the markup, committee members discussed university concerns about the "unintended consequences" of the legislation. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), offered a manager's amendment that partially addresses the overpayment and statute of limitations issues but leaves unchanged provisions on the public disclosure bar and pleading rules for relators. Regarding overpayment, the manager's amendment would require that intent to defraud be proved but does not acknowledge existing reconciliation processes followed by universities, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health. The statute of limitations provision in the manager's amendment essentially would split the difference between current law and the original draft, setting it at eight years.

Committee staff members indicate that they intend to work with the higher education community as the legislative process advances. Source: Association of American Universities

Student Loan Bill Signed by President

On May 7, 2008, the President signed into law legislation that addresses the problems in the student loan market (H.R. 5715).

The amended bill expands eligibility for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and SMART Grant programs and includes added regulatory requirements for the new lending authorities authorized by the bill. It also requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the impact of raising student loan limits on tuition, fees, and living costs at colleges and universities and on private student loan borrowing. A comprehensive summary of the amended bill is available from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Source: Association of American Universities

Federal Resources and Links