Legislative Affairs

  • 1.  Federal Tax, Budget & Other K–12 Alerts

    Posted 12-08-2017 12:33

    The House and Senate passed their versions of H.R. 1, the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," which means the bills will now go through a conference process to reconcile their differences. Learn about the bills and how tax reform will affect K–12 education in our latest blog.

    In case you missed it, read ASBO International Executive Director John Musso's op-ed on how tax reform will affect schools. The op-ed was referenced in several national and local media outlets, including Education Week and The Washington Post.

    Today,Congress passed a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. The bill extends federal funding through December 22, giving officials more time to negotiate a final long-term funding agreement, or else face a shutdown before Christmas.

    Finally, please fill out our ESSA Title IV-A survey if you haven't yet. ASBO International and the Title IV-A coalition are collecting information about how districts plan to spend their ESSA IV-A funds to better inform public policy and advocate for more program funding. ESSA IV-A dollars may be used to invest in student curricula, improving school climate, and implementing education technology in schools.



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    ASBO USA
    asbousa@asbointl.org
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  • 2.  RE: Federal Tax, Budget & Other K–12 Alerts

    Posted 12-21-2017 15:21
    Edited by ASBO USA 12-21-2017 15:21
    As Congress tries to avoid a government shutdown before funding expires tomorrow, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) informed us of the latest information regarding a funding agreement and chances of it passing below:

    • Government funding expires on Friday night. House Republicans have coalesced around a plan to extend all funding at current levels (with a few exceptions) until January 19. Congress will vote on this and on a separate disaster relief bill to provide emergency funding to U.S. states and territories affected by recent natural disasters.
      • The House plan to extend funding through 1/19 would be a continuing resolution (CR) to fund programs on auto pilot, except for defense funding which would receive a $5 billion boost. Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding would also be temporarily extended to buy Congress more time to agree on a longer-term solution. The bill would also include a waiver for automatic sequestration cuts that would be triggered because of the recently-passed tax bill, H.R. 1 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
      • The emergency aid package bill would provide $81 billion supplemental funding bill for disaster relief (see a summary here).


    • Democrats have vowed not to support either bill because they argue the funding bill doesn't raise spending caps for discretionary programs (education, health, housing, and other domestic programs). They also want a long-term funding solution for CHIP and a solution to help DREAMers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Democrats oppose the disaster relief bill because they believe it doesn't adequately support Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as well as the package would help impacted states.
       
    • As a result, Republicans expect to only rely on their party's votes to pass the bills on their own, requiring the support of many coalitions with competing priorities. Moreover, if the two bills pass the House, Senate passage is not guaranteed. CEF believes the government will pass a funding agreement through January 19, but all other issues mentioned will likely still need to be hashed out in 2018.


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    ASBO USA
    asbousa@asbointl.org
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  • 3.  RE: Federal Tax, Budget & Other K–12 Alerts

    Posted 01-19-2018 11:15

    Government funding expires at midnight unless Congress can pass a stopgap funding bill (a fourth continuing resolution, or CR) to prevent a shutdown.

    Earlier this week the House proposed a CR that would fund agencies on autopilot through February 16, trying to buy more time to agree on a longer-term spending package. The House CR bill passed on Thursday, 230-197, but includes two provisions of interest to school business officials:

    • A six-year extension of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through FY 2023.
    • A delay of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) excise "Cadillac tax" for two years, until December 31, 2021.


    It's unclear if the House CR will pass the Senate as is, since it requires bipartisan support and officials are in gridlock over budget caps, immigration, and other issues. Some senators prefer to pass a shorter CR for a few days until Congress can finalize negotiations on these areas of disagreement while others don't. However, POLITICO reports a shutdown is likely "unless some last-minute deal is struck."

    In the event of a shutdown, please read the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) contingency plan to learn what to expect regarding delays in federal funding and technical support for grant programs. POLITICO notes that a short-term shutdown would not significantly affect schools, unless it continues into February. Then, districts that rely on Impact Aid and Head Start funding may start feeling its effects on federal cash flows. Learn more here and please stay tuned for further updates.



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    ASBO USA
    asbousa@asbointl.org
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  • 4.  RE: Federal Tax, Budget & Other K–12 Alerts

    Posted 02-05-2018 09:01

    Government funding expires this week, raising fears of another shutdown since Congress has made little progress with negotiating a final agreement on top-line budget numbers for the 2018 fiscal year (FY18) and resolving DACA-related immigration issues. Without these budget caps for defense and non-defense spending, Congress can't allocate FY18 funding for federal departments and agencies, including Education Department (ED) programs. The House is working on a fifth stopgap funding bill to keep the government running through March 22, but there is no guarantee it will pass.

    While a short-term shutdown would not significantly affect school districts, a protracted delay in ED's and USDA's ability to fulfill obligations, payments, and provide technical assistance to states and districts would be more problematic. Head Start grants, ESSA technical support/guidance, and federal meal reimbursements potentially could be affected if a shutdown lasted longer than a month.

    And as Congress tries to figure out funding for FY18, POLITICO reports the White House "is obligated to put out a budget this month for fiscal 2019. Planning to release that blueprint by Feb. 12, the Trump administration has had to blindly write that wish list without a deal on the budget caps that dictate spending limits for the next two years…" Between stopping a shutdown, funding the government for the next two fiscal years, raising the debt ceiling to avoid a default, directing the IRS to implement the new tax law, and rolling out a new infrastructure plan, lawmakers will have a loaded agenda this month. 



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    ASBO USA
    asbousa@asbointl.org
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  • 5.  RE: Federal Tax, Budget & Other K–12 Alerts

    Posted 02-09-2018 07:57

    After a brief federal shutdown this morning, Congress has voted to re-open the government and pass a funding bill to keep agencies open until March 22, which is on its way to the president for signature. This fifth stopgap funding measure is intended to buy time for officials to draft a spending package (a $1.3 trillion omnibus bill) to fund agencies through the remainder of FY18, until Sept. 30. (FY18 funding affects school district dollars for the 2018-2019 school year, while FY19 funding affects dollars for the 2019-2020 year.)

    The Hill reports that the measure includes a two-year budget agreement for FY18 and FY19 about top-line spending caps for defense and non-defense programs.

    • It raises the budget cap on defense discretionary spending by $80 billion in FY18 and $85 billion in FY19.
      • It provides $71 billion in emergency funding for FY18 and $69 billion for FY19. Total total defense spending for FY18 and FY19 are $700 billion and $716 billion, respectively.
    • It raises the budget cap on non-defense domestic discretionary spending by $63 billion in FY18 and $68 billion in FY19.
      • It fully repeals the automatic spending caps, or "sequestration," for non-defense programs. Counting the repeal of the sequester cut and $57 billion in new spending, it represents a $131 billion increase for non-defense programs.

    By raising federal spending caps for domestic programs, there is now a higher chance for federal investment in education programs for this and the next fiscal year. Please stay tuned for more analysis in terms of how the budget agreement and final spending package will affect education.



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    ASBO USA
    asbousa@asbointl.org
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