Legislative Affairs

This week, the House is returning early from recess to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that Senate Democrats adopted earlier this month. If the House also adopts the resolution, this will unlock an opportunity to move forward with a process known as budget reconciliation, which could allow Democrats to pass a fast-tracked, partisan spending package without Republican support.

Note that the budget resolution is a blueprint (not final law) that only provides top-level spending numbers and general instructions for House and Senate committees to draft their own spending bill proposals (to be later combined into a reconciliation package). The resolution text instructs committees to submit their funding proposals by September 15, and the relevant committees for education funding are the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee.

Read the budget resolution text, a detailed summary, and a quick one-pager for more information on what's included and additional context about what this all means below.

The resolution text instructs the Senate HELP Committee to draft legislation that would spend up to $726 billion over 10 years (FYs 2022-2031) on the following areas:

• Universal Pre-K for 3 and 4-year old children
• Childcare for working families
• Tuition-free community college
• Investments in HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs
• Increase the maximum Pell grant award
• School infrastructure, student success grants, and educator investments
• Investments in primary care, including Community Health Centers, the National Health
• Service Corps, the Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical
• Education
• Health equity (maternal, behavioral, and racial equity health investments)
• Pandemic preparedness
• Workforce development and job training
• Labor enforcement and penalties
• Civilian Climate Corps funding
• Research infrastructure, including for HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs

The House Education and Labor Committee has also been instructed to draft legislation to spend up to $779.5 billion for the same 10-year period. Ultimately, it is up to the committees to decide how much funding to propose for which programs, so we will not have any more details on education funding priorities until the House and Senate education committees release their legislative text next month.

In the meantime, the House is considering a voting rights bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was also passed by the Senate earlier this month. It is unclear how smoothly all three bills will proceed due to ongoing intraparty disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats, which could derail their passage. Much will depend on how well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can negotiate and balance competing policy priorities and agendas, but the aim is to pass both of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills by October 1. Please stay tuned to this thread for additional updates. 

This week, the House is returning early from recess to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that Senate Democrats adopted earlier this month. If the House also adopts the resolution, this will unlock an opportunity to move forward with a process known as budget reconciliation, which could allow Democrats to pass a fast-tracked, partisan spending package without Republican support.

Note that the budget resolution is a blueprint (not final law) that only provides top-level spending numbers and general instructions for House and Senate committees to draft their own spending bill proposals (to be later combined into a reconciliation package). The resolution text instructs committees to submit their funding proposals by September 15, and the relevant committees for education funding are the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee.

Read the budget resolution text, a detailed summary, and a quick one-pager for more information on what's included and additional context about what this all means below.

The resolution text instructs the Senate HELP Committee to draft legislation that would spend up to $726 billion over 10 years (FYs 2022-2031) on the following areas:

• Universal Pre-K for 3 and 4-year old children
• Childcare for working families
• Tuition-free community college
• Investments in HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs
• Increase the maximum Pell grant award
• School infrastructure, student success grants, and educator investments
• Investments in primary care, including Community Health Centers, the National Health
• Service Corps, the Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical
• Education
• Health equity (maternal, behavioral, and racial equity health investments)
• Pandemic preparedness
• Workforce development and job training
• Labor enforcement and penalties
• Civilian Climate Corps funding
• Research infrastructure, including for HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs

The House Education and Labor Committee has also been instructed to draft legislation to spend up to $779.5 billion for the same 10-year period. Ultimately, it is up to the committees to decide how much funding to propose for which programs, so we will not have any more details on education funding priorities until the House and Senate education committees release their legislative text next month.

In the meantime, the House is considering a voting rights bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was also passed by the Senate earlier this month. It is unclear how smoothly all three bills will proceed due to ongoing intraparty disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats, which could derail their passage. Much will depend on how well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can negotiate and balance competing policy priorities and agendas, but the aim is to pass both of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills by October 1. Please stay tuned to this thread for additional updates. 

• $82 billion for infrastructure, including $80.6 billion for K-12 school construction over fiscal years (FYs) 2022-2024 for a new Rebuild America's Schools grant program. (ASBO International and our coalition partners have been advocating for $100 billion under the RASA program, so we are pleased to see this provision in the bill text.)
  • The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) reports that most of this money would be available through FY 2026. States would receive funding based on the Title I formula. Funds can be used for major repairs, safety and facility upgrades, and constructing new facilities. States must provide a 10% match from non-federal funds, with some exceptions. The maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement can be waived for states with financial constraints. There is an additional $411 million each for outlying areas, for Impact Aid construction, and for Bureau of Indian Education construction and digital infrastructure (see pp. 1-20 of the legislative text)
• $197 million for "Grow Your Own" Programs for FY 2022 to address teacher shortages in high-need subjects and locations and to increase the diversity of those entering the education field (see pp. 20-23)
• $198 million for teacher residencies for FY 2022 (see pp. 23-24);
• $198 million for the development of school leadership programs for FY 2022 (see pp. 24);
• $297 million for IDEA Part D personnel development for FY 2022 (see pp. 25).

• Tuition-Free Community College
  • For five years starting in award year 2023-24, provide two years of tuition-free community college for eligible students. States receive grants that decline to 80% of total student costs in award year 2027-28, with states contributing the difference. CBO needs to estimate the cost of this provision, cost information is not yet available, however note that President Biden's American Families Plan included $109 billion over ten years for a free community college program (see pp. 25-63).

• $16 billion for dislocated worker employment and training,
• $15 billion for adult employment and training,
• $9.1 billion for youth workforce investment activities,
• $5 billion for apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs,
• $2 billion for community college and industry partnership grants,
• $10 billion for industry or sector partnership grants,
• $1.5 billion for Job Corps, among other workforce investments (see pp.126-149).

• $3.6 billion for adult education for FY2022, to remain available until 2028 (p. 148)
• $3 billion for CTE programs through FY2022 and $1 billion for innovation and modernization under Carl D. Perkins CTE Act, to remain available until 2028 (pp. 150-151)

• $90 billion over FYs 2022-2024 and "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) for FYs 2025-2027 to provide child care for specified low-income and other eligible families through a new "birth through five child care and early learning entitlement program." (pp. 188-234)
• Provide "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) to provide universal preschool through local educational agencies, Head Start, or licensed child care providers or consortia. The federal share of the cost for this program declines each year, starting at 100% of states' costs in FY2022 and declining to 60% in FY 2028. The total includes $2.5 billion each year from FY 2022 through 2027 to improve pay to Head Start staff (pp. 234-260).
  
  
• Note: A different committee, the House Ways & Means Committee is also marking up its legislative text which touches on child care provisions too. It proposes investments in child care facilities, raising pay for child care workers, and providing updated information on child care availability:
  • $200 million for each of FY 2022 and FY 2023 for matching grants to states for creating child care information networks (pp. 1-18);
  • $15 billion for FY 2022 (funds are available through FY 2026) for infrastructure grants of up to $250 million to states to improve child care safety by acquiring, constructing, expanding, or renovating child care facilities. The state must provide a 10% match to the federal funds (pp. 18-30); 
  • One-year child care provider wage grants to states, territories, and tribes to supplement wages for qualified child care providers up to an applicable minimum rate (CEF says there is a technical definition of that rate on pg. 44 tied to the GS pay level as adjusted by locality differences) (pp. 37-48).

As the legislative text proceeds through markup and the rest of the budget reconciliation process, we will continue sharing updates to help school business professionals keep informed of any federal funding that may be coming states' and districts' way.

This week, the House is returning early from recess to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that Senate Democrats adopted earlier this month. If the House also adopts the resolution, this will unlock an opportunity to move forward with a process known as budget reconciliation, which could allow Democrats to pass a fast-tracked, partisan spending package without Republican support.

Note that the budget resolution is a blueprint (not final law) that only provides top-level spending numbers and general instructions for House and Senate committees to draft their own spending bill proposals (to be later combined into a reconciliation package). The resolution text instructs committees to submit their funding proposals by September 15, and the relevant committees for education funding are the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee.

Read the budget resolution text, a detailed summary, and a quick one-pager for more information on what's included and additional context about what this all means below.

The resolution text instructs the Senate HELP Committee to draft legislation that would spend up to $726 billion over 10 years (FYs 2022-2031) on the following areas:

• Universal Pre-K for 3 and 4-year old children
• Childcare for working families
• Tuition-free community college
• Investments in HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs
• Increase the maximum Pell grant award
• School infrastructure, student success grants, and educator investments
• Investments in primary care, including Community Health Centers, the National Health
• Service Corps, the Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical
• Education
• Health equity (maternal, behavioral, and racial equity health investments)
• Pandemic preparedness
• Workforce development and job training
• Labor enforcement and penalties
• Civilian Climate Corps funding
• Research infrastructure, including for HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs

The House Education and Labor Committee has also been instructed to draft legislation to spend up to $779.5 billion for the same 10-year period. Ultimately, it is up to the committees to decide how much funding to propose for which programs, so we will not have any more details on education funding priorities until the House and Senate education committees release their legislative text next month.

In the meantime, the House is considering a voting rights bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was also passed by the Senate earlier this month. It is unclear how smoothly all three bills will proceed due to ongoing intraparty disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats, which could derail their passage. Much will depend on how well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can negotiate and balance competing policy priorities and agendas, but the aim is to pass both of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills by October 1. Please stay tuned to this thread for additional updates. 

Last week, House committees finished marking up their portions of the budget reconciliation bill, the "Build Back Better Act," which will go to the House Budget Committee to be compiled into a cohesive legislative package.

House Education & Labor Committee Provisions:
In a prior alert, we shared highlights from the House Education & Labor Committee's proposals in their section of the bill, including over $80 billion for school infrastructure, investments in a universal PreK program, $35 billion for school nutrition programs, and more.

More on Universal PreK: Please note this program is not mandatory but available for states, school districts, and other eligible preschool service providers to participate in should they choose to do so. (PreK provisions can be found in pp. 234–261 of the committee text and a summary of key provisions is available here and highlights are below.)

• For FY2022-2028, the federal government will provide "such sums as may be necessary" to provide the federal share of the cost of universal, high-quality, free, inclusive, and mixed delivery preschool services on a voluntary basis.
• The federal government will pay 100% of the state's expenses for PreK services for FYs 2022, 2023, and 2024. This amount decreases to 90% of a state's expenses (so the state share would be 10%) for FY2025, 80% of costs (20% state share) for FY2026, 70% of costs (30% state share) for FY2027, and 60% of costs (40% state share) for FY2028.
• "Eligible providers" are defined as LEAs/districts that are licensed by the State or meet comparable health and safety standards; Head Start agencies; a licensed center-based provider, family child care provider, or community- or neighborhood-based network of licensed family child care providers; or a consortium of such entities.
• Subgrants or contracts with PreK providers must be for at least 3 years; amounts granted must be sufficient to enable providers to meet requirements and reflect variations in the cost of services by geographic area, type of provider, and age of child, and the additional costs associated with providing inclusive child care services; and requires enhanced payments to providers offering comprehensive services, health and development screenings, and service referrals for children and families they serve.
• Subgrants or contracts shall prioritize establishing and expanding universal preschool programs in high-need communities and shall be used to enroll and serve children in the preschool program including:
  • Personnel (Admin and classroom, including compensation and benefits); costs to implement state preK standards; providing curriculum sports; meeting early learning/development standards; professional development; teacher supports and training; implementing developmentally appropriate health/safety standards and teacher to child ratios; materials, equipment, and supplies; meeting health/safety standards including licensure; rent or mortgage, utilities, building security, indoor and outdoor maintenance, and insurance.

House Ways & Means Committee Provisions:
In our prior alert, we noted that the House Ways & Means Committee proposed several investments for constructing and renovating child care facilities, raising pay for child care workers, and making child care information more readily available to families. In addition, this committee's text included several other education-adjacent proposals that may be of interest to school business professionals:

• Universal paid family and medical leave:
  • Creates a new federal paid family and medical leave program under the Social Security Act. (Read a summary here and register for ASBO International's September 30 webinar to learn what your district should prepare for if this becomes law.)
    • Any person who: (1) files an application with the Secretary of the Treasury; (2) has or anticipates having four hours per week of "caregiving hours;" and (3) has wages or self-employment income during the four months before the individual's benefit period-is entitled to a period of 12 weeks of paid leave. "Qualified caregiving" means any activity engaged in by the individual for any reason described in the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").
    • Expands the definition of a qualified family member for qualified caregiving purposes, including: spouse/domestic partner, spouse's parent, child and a child's spouse, parent and a parent's spouse, sibling and a sibling's spouse, grandparent or grandchild and their spouses, or any other individual related by blood or affinity and whose relationship with the employee is equivalent of a family relationship (as determined by regulations provided by the Treasury).
      • FMLA's original definition only applies to an employee's children, spouse, or parents.
        
        

• Bond and tax provisions for infrastructure financing:
  • 135101: Credit to issuer for certain infrastructure bonds. Similar to Build America Bonds under the 2009 ARRA law, issuers of qualified infrastructure bonds would receive a tax credit equal to an applicable percentage of the interest, providing direct financing support for infrastructure (FYs 2022-2024 = 35%; FY2025 = 32%; FY2026 = 30%; FY2027 and after = 28%). State/local governments may claim this credit for bonds whose interest would otherwise be eligible for tax-exempt status in the IRC, and the entirety of whose net proceeds are used for capital expenditures or the operation and maintenance of capital expenditures. 100% of the proceeds of these bonds must meet Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Applies to qualified infrastructure bonds issued after December 31, 2021.
  • 135102: Advance refunding bonds. Advance refunding refers to a state or local government holding the proceeds of a refunding issue for longer than 90 days before using such proceeds to pay off a refunded issue, allowing State/municipal governments to take advantage of lower interest rates to refinance long-term debt obligations. This provision applies to advance refunding bonds issued more than 30 days after date of enactment of this Act.
  • Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) - Sec. 135306. This provision would allow public school buildings to better use the HTC by excepting public school buildings that have been used as public schools within the past five years from certain tax-exempt use rules. In particular, the "prior use" limitations related to leases by tax-exempt entities currently prevent public school beings from being rehabilitated using the HTC program. This provision is effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2021.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Provisions:

• Funding for homework gap/distance learning-Proposes an additional $4 billion to assist with distance learning through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program to provide connectivity support regardless of whether costs are incurred during the COVID-19 emergency period.
• Medicaid & Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)-Proposes permanently extending the CHIP program.
  • Also requires 12 months of continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and CHIP. (Currently, children on Medicaid/CHIP are covered for 10 months, however, states may opt to provide 12-month continuous eligibility for children but only about half of U.S. states do this. Continuous eligibility would provide more stability in Medicaid and CHIP coverage, cut bureaucracy for states conducting screening and eligibility determinations, and relieve excess burden on providers ensuring children retain coverage and access to care.)

Next Steps for Reconciliation?
The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) reports that once the House Budget Committee compiles the full budget reconciliation bill, it will send the package to the Rules Committee. After then, public progress on the package will likely halt for a while. House and Senate leadership, in consultation with the committees that received reconciliation instructions, will negotiate behind the scenes to pull together a reconciliation bill that is not as expensive or expansive and can garner the support of all 50 Senate Democrats and (virtually all) House Democrats. No Republicans are expected to vote for the reconciliation package. Progressive and moderate Democrats need to come to an agreement on what should remain in the final bill and its total cost, so this negotiation process can take weeks, if not months before we see a new version of the bill. That bill would then need to go to the Senate floor first before coming to the House for a vote. While progress is being made, many provisions proposed in the current package could be stripped out, so now is the time to contact your officials and communicate which provisions you want to see remain in the final bill.

In the meantime, Congress is working on other priorities, including a stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a national default, and passing a separate bipartisan infrastructure package.

• $82 billion for infrastructure, including $80.6 billion for K-12 school construction over fiscal years (FYs) 2022-2024 for a new Rebuild America's Schools grant program. (ASBO International and our coalition partners have been advocating for $100 billion under the RASA program, so we are pleased to see this provision in the bill text.)
  • The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) reports that most of this money would be available through FY 2026. States would receive funding based on the Title I formula. Funds can be used for major repairs, safety and facility upgrades, and constructing new facilities. States must provide a 10% match from non-federal funds, with some exceptions. The maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement can be waived for states with financial constraints. There is an additional $411 million each for outlying areas, for Impact Aid construction, and for Bureau of Indian Education construction and digital infrastructure (see pp. 1-20 of the legislative text)
• $197 million for "Grow Your Own" Programs for FY 2022 to address teacher shortages in high-need subjects and locations and to increase the diversity of those entering the education field (see pp. 20-23)
• $198 million for teacher residencies for FY 2022 (see pp. 23-24);
• $198 million for the development of school leadership programs for FY 2022 (see pp. 24);
• $297 million for IDEA Part D personnel development for FY 2022 (see pp. 25).

• Tuition-Free Community College
  • For five years starting in award year 2023-24, provide two years of tuition-free community college for eligible students. States receive grants that decline to 80% of total student costs in award year 2027-28, with states contributing the difference. CBO needs to estimate the cost of this provision, cost information is not yet available, however note that President Biden's American Families Plan included $109 billion over ten years for a free community college program (see pp. 25-63).

• $16 billion for dislocated worker employment and training,
• $15 billion for adult employment and training,
• $9.1 billion for youth workforce investment activities,
• $5 billion for apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs,
• $2 billion for community college and industry partnership grants,
• $10 billion for industry or sector partnership grants,
• $1.5 billion for Job Corps, among other workforce investments (see pp.126-149).

• $3.6 billion for adult education for FY2022, to remain available until 2028 (p. 148)
• $3 billion for CTE programs through FY2022 and $1 billion for innovation and modernization under Carl D. Perkins CTE Act, to remain available until 2028 (pp. 150-151)

• $90 billion over FYs 2022-2024 and "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) for FYs 2025-2027 to provide child care for specified low-income and other eligible families through a new "birth through five child care and early learning entitlement program." (pp. 188-234)
• Provide "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) to provide universal preschool through local educational agencies, Head Start, or licensed child care providers or consortia. The federal share of the cost for this program declines each year, starting at 100% of states' costs in FY2022 and declining to 60% in FY 2028. The total includes $2.5 billion each year from FY 2022 through 2027 to improve pay to Head Start staff (pp. 234-260).
  
  
• Note: A different committee, the House Ways & Means Committee is also marking up its legislative text which touches on child care provisions too. It proposes investments in child care facilities, raising pay for child care workers, and providing updated information on child care availability:
  • $200 million for each of FY 2022 and FY 2023 for matching grants to states for creating child care information networks (pp. 1-18);
  • $15 billion for FY 2022 (funds are available through FY 2026) for infrastructure grants of up to $250 million to states to improve child care safety by acquiring, constructing, expanding, or renovating child care facilities. The state must provide a 10% match to the federal funds (pp. 18-30); 
  • One-year child care provider wage grants to states, territories, and tribes to supplement wages for qualified child care providers up to an applicable minimum rate (CEF says there is a technical definition of that rate on pg. 44 tied to the GS pay level as adjusted by locality differences) (pp. 37-48).

As the legislative text proceeds through markup and the rest of the budget reconciliation process, we will continue sharing updates to help school business professionals keep informed of any federal funding that may be coming states' and districts' way.

This week, the House is returning early from recess to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that Senate Democrats adopted earlier this month. If the House also adopts the resolution, this will unlock an opportunity to move forward with a process known as budget reconciliation, which could allow Democrats to pass a fast-tracked, partisan spending package without Republican support.

Note that the budget resolution is a blueprint (not final law) that only provides top-level spending numbers and general instructions for House and Senate committees to draft their own spending bill proposals (to be later combined into a reconciliation package). The resolution text instructs committees to submit their funding proposals by September 15, and the relevant committees for education funding are the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee.

Read the budget resolution text, a detailed summary, and a quick one-pager for more information on what's included and additional context about what this all means below.

The resolution text instructs the Senate HELP Committee to draft legislation that would spend up to $726 billion over 10 years (FYs 2022-2031) on the following areas:

• Universal Pre-K for 3 and 4-year old children
• Childcare for working families
• Tuition-free community college
• Investments in HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs
• Increase the maximum Pell grant award
• School infrastructure, student success grants, and educator investments
• Investments in primary care, including Community Health Centers, the National Health
• Service Corps, the Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical
• Education
• Health equity (maternal, behavioral, and racial equity health investments)
• Pandemic preparedness
• Workforce development and job training
• Labor enforcement and penalties
• Civilian Climate Corps funding
• Research infrastructure, including for HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs

The House Education and Labor Committee has also been instructed to draft legislation to spend up to $779.5 billion for the same 10-year period. Ultimately, it is up to the committees to decide how much funding to propose for which programs, so we will not have any more details on education funding priorities until the House and Senate education committees release their legislative text next month.

In the meantime, the House is considering a voting rights bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was also passed by the Senate earlier this month. It is unclear how smoothly all three bills will proceed due to ongoing intraparty disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats, which could derail their passage. Much will depend on how well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can negotiate and balance competing policy priorities and agendas, but the aim is to pass both of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills by October 1. Please stay tuned to this thread for additional updates. 

Congress continues to negotiate and pare down provisions included in the Build Back Better (BBB) Act budget reconciliation bill, having released a revised version of the spending package on October 28 and another revision on November 3. (Read a comparison of the two versions here.)

A section-by-section summary of the latest version (11/3) can be found here. However, please note last-minute negotiations are still happening behind the scenes, so there may still be other changes between this version and a final bill. The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) notes that the latest version of the BBB Act reduces proposed Department of Education funding from $194 billion in the original bill (September) draft to just $21 billion.

The biggest drops in education funding proposals between the original and the most recent BBB Act include:

• School construction funding: The $82 billion originally proposed is no longer in the bill.
• Free community college: No funding for a free community college program is in the latest bill.
• Career and technical education: The original bill proposed $4 billion, now it is proposing only $700 million over six years.
• Adult education and literacy: The original proposed $3.6 billion, now it proposes $700 million over six years.
• College retention and completion grants: The original provided $9 billion, now it proposes $500 million.
• Head Start & Universal PreK: There is slightly less funding for some set-asides for Head Start and localities within the universal pre-k program. The latest version provides $2.85 billion/year for Head Start for FYs 2023-2027 ($14.25 billion total), and $950 million/year for localities for FYs 2023-2027 ($4.75 billion total).
  • For more information, see the Child Care/Universal PreK section of this alert.

Several programs got funding increases in the newer bill compared to the original:

• Higher education funding for HBUs, TCUs, and MSIs: Funding for institutional aid and for an R&D infrastructure grant increased from $3.4 billion to $9.0 billion.
• Maximum Pell Grant increases: Increases it by $550 instead of $500 in the original bill.
• Corporation for National and Community Service and apprenticeship programs under the Department of Labor.

 For more information on education funding in the BBB Act, download CEF's table to see funding by each program.

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AASA's blog and the House section-by-section summary also notes funding for several other education/and education-adjacent programs that may be of interest to district leaders.

• Investments in the Educator Workforce
  • $112.68 million for "Grow Your Own" Programs
  • $112.27 million for teacher residencies programs
  • $112.27 million for Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program
  • $112.27 million for school leadership programs
  • $160.78 million for IDEA, Part D personnel development
    
    
• Expanded Access to Nutrition Programs:
  • $10 billion to make 8.7 million more children eligible to receive free school meals by expanding the Community Eligibility Program during the years 2022-2026:
    • Lowers the threshold from 40% to 25%
    • Increases the ISP multiplier from 1.6 to 2.5
    • Allows states to opt-in to a statewide CEP, providing free meals to all students in their state
  • Creates a national Summer EBT program for two years to provide a $65 per child per month benefit to the families of 29 million children in need to purchase food during the summer
  • Provides $30 million for school kitchen equipment grants
  • Provides $250 million via a demonstration grant to improve the nutritional quality of programs

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More Information on Child Care & Universal PreK programs (Starts on page 23):

Child Care Entitlement Program: Invests $100 billion over 3 years and "such sums as needed" over the next 3 years (6 total) to support a new childcare and early learning entitlement program to provide high-quality and affordable child care for children ages birth to 5 years old, increase wages for the early childhood workforce, and invest in child care quality, supply, and facilities.

• Caps families' childcare copayments so that no eligible family (families making up to 250% of a state's median income) pays more than 7% of income on childcare by creating a sliding scale fee system. Families earning under 75% of state median income would pay nothing. After 3 years into the program families earning no more than 250% of state median income and with a parent engaging in an "eligible activity" would be eligible for childcare assistance through a subsidy or grant-funded childcare slot. This program lasts for 6 years.
• During the first 3 years, participating states receive an allotment based on the Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDGB) formula. States would be required to use 50% of allotted funds on expanding access to childcare subsidies; 25% on child care and supply and quality building activities; and 25% on either subsidy or grant expansion or supply and quality building; and 7% on program administration. To ensure equity, childcare assistance is phased in by income eligibility: families earning up to 100% of state median income are eligible on day one of the program; up to 125% in the second year; up to 150% in the third year; and up to250% in the fourth year.
• Beginning in FY25 such sums as needed would be provided to carry out the program. States would receive federal reimbursement for expenses needed to operate a childcare entitlement program and would be required to serve all eligible children within the state who desire assistance. The federal-state cost-sharing structure is 90% to 10% for direct childcare services for children. It reimburses states at the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate for childcare quality and supply activities, and reimburses 50% of administrative expenses. States must base childcare payment rates on reliable cost estimates and ensure the rates cover the cost of providing high-quality care and living wages for early childhood staff and pay parity with similarly credentialed elementary school teachers. States must implement a tiered quality rating system and support continuous quality improvement for providers within the state.
  • For districts in states that don't want to participate in the child care entitlement program, there is additional funding for expanding Head Start and Local Birth-to-Five Early Learning Grants so city, county, or other local government providers can provide childcare services.

Universal PreK Details: Provides $18 billion for the first 3 years and such sums as needed in the following three years (6 total) for HHS and ED to carry out a universal, high-quality, free, inclusive, and mixed delivery preschool program for 3- and 4-year old children. Licensed childcare programs, Head Start grantees, districts/LEAs, or a consortium of these are eligible.

• Requires states to develop/implement state PreK standards and ensure providers meet those standards. Must identify high-need communities within the state and roll out universal PreK programs in those areas first before expanding elsewhere.
• Federal/state cost-share is 100% federal and 0% from the state for the first three years. For the fourth year, it is 90%/10%; the fifth year is 75%/25%; and the sixth year is 60%/40%. Program lasts for six years.
  • For districts in states that don't want to participate in the universal PreK program, there is additional funding for expanding Head Start and Universal PreK Grants so that a Head Start agency, LEA/district, or city, county, or other unit of local government can provide universal PreK services.

Note: There is no mandate that LEAs provide childcare or universal pre-K options although they can compete with other home-based and private providers if they want to try and expand their program offerings.

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Other Provisions:

Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave (Starts on page 95):

• $200 billion for four weeks of paid family and medical leave. (Unclear whether this program will stay in the final bill due to moderate Democrat opposition and whether it will pass the Byrd rule by the Senate parliamentarian.)
• All types of workers are covered for benefits (full/part time, gig and self employed workers, private and public sector employees) and without regard to employer size.
• Workers are covered either through a federal benefit, or through a qualifying "legacy state" or comprehensive employer-sponsored plan for which the state or employer is reimbursed by the federal government. Individuals whose employment is covered by such a state or employer-sponsored benefit are not eligible for federal benefits for leave from that job.
• Expands the types of family relationships which allow individuals to seek caregiving leave from FMLA, to include the following: a spouse (or domestic partner as recognized by a state) and a spouse's parent; a child and a child's spouse; a parent and a parent's spouse; a sibling and a sibling's spouse; a grandparent, grandchild, or spouse of a grandparent or grandchild; and any other association by blood or affinity that is equivalent to a family relationship.

Bond & Tax Provisions:

Provisions in the original bill regarding tax-exempt advanced refunding bonds, flexibilities for small issuers, restoring/expanding the use of direct pay bonds, and reforms to the Historic Building Tax Credit for infrastructure financing have been removed from the latest version.

The BBB Act includes language to increase the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $72,500 for ten years. (Unclear whether the SALT deduction will be in the final bill due to progressive Democrat opposition.)

It also includes a 1-year extension of the Child Tax Credit (up to $3,600/child) and the enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit for low-wage workers who don't have children. 

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Next Steps?

There is still a ways to go before the BBB Act can become law. POLITICO notes that several lawmakers are still holding out on giving their support due to specific sections of the text, and the Senate parliamentarian still needs to comb through the bill and remove any provisions deemed as irrelevant/ineligible to be in a budget reconciliation bill. (Paid leave and immigration policies may be removed, depending.) Then, before the Senate can pass the bill, they must undergo a "vote-a-rama" all-night amendment voting marathon which could change the bill even more. Stay tuned to this thread for more updates as negotiations progress to stay informed of what's in the final bill.

Last week, House committees finished marking up their portions of the budget reconciliation bill, the "Build Back Better Act," which will go to the House Budget Committee to be compiled into a cohesive legislative package.

House Education & Labor Committee Provisions:
In a prior alert, we shared highlights from the House Education & Labor Committee's proposals in their section of the bill, including over $80 billion for school infrastructure, investments in a universal PreK program, $35 billion for school nutrition programs, and more.

More on Universal PreK: Please note this program is not mandatory but available for states, school districts, and other eligible preschool service providers to participate in should they choose to do so. (PreK provisions can be found in pp. 234–261 of the committee text and a summary of key provisions is available here and highlights are below.)

• For FY2022-2028, the federal government will provide "such sums as may be necessary" to provide the federal share of the cost of universal, high-quality, free, inclusive, and mixed delivery preschool services on a voluntary basis.
• The federal government will pay 100% of the state's expenses for PreK services for FYs 2022, 2023, and 2024. This amount decreases to 90% of a state's expenses (so the state share would be 10%) for FY2025, 80% of costs (20% state share) for FY2026, 70% of costs (30% state share) for FY2027, and 60% of costs (40% state share) for FY2028.
• "Eligible providers" are defined as LEAs/districts that are licensed by the State or meet comparable health and safety standards; Head Start agencies; a licensed center-based provider, family child care provider, or community- or neighborhood-based network of licensed family child care providers; or a consortium of such entities.
• Subgrants or contracts with PreK providers must be for at least 3 years; amounts granted must be sufficient to enable providers to meet requirements and reflect variations in the cost of services by geographic area, type of provider, and age of child, and the additional costs associated with providing inclusive child care services; and requires enhanced payments to providers offering comprehensive services, health and development screenings, and service referrals for children and families they serve.
• Subgrants or contracts shall prioritize establishing and expanding universal preschool programs in high-need communities and shall be used to enroll and serve children in the preschool program including:
  • Personnel (Admin and classroom, including compensation and benefits); costs to implement state preK standards; providing curriculum sports; meeting early learning/development standards; professional development; teacher supports and training; implementing developmentally appropriate health/safety standards and teacher to child ratios; materials, equipment, and supplies; meeting health/safety standards including licensure; rent or mortgage, utilities, building security, indoor and outdoor maintenance, and insurance.

House Ways & Means Committee Provisions:
In our prior alert, we noted that the House Ways & Means Committee proposed several investments for constructing and renovating child care facilities, raising pay for child care workers, and making child care information more readily available to families. In addition, this committee's text included several other education-adjacent proposals that may be of interest to school business professionals:

• Universal paid family and medical leave:
  • Creates a new federal paid family and medical leave program under the Social Security Act. (Read a summary here and register for ASBO International's September 30 webinar to learn what your district should prepare for if this becomes law.)
    • Any person who: (1) files an application with the Secretary of the Treasury; (2) has or anticipates having four hours per week of "caregiving hours;" and (3) has wages or self-employment income during the four months before the individual's benefit period-is entitled to a period of 12 weeks of paid leave. "Qualified caregiving" means any activity engaged in by the individual for any reason described in the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").
    • Expands the definition of a qualified family member for qualified caregiving purposes, including: spouse/domestic partner, spouse's parent, child and a child's spouse, parent and a parent's spouse, sibling and a sibling's spouse, grandparent or grandchild and their spouses, or any other individual related by blood or affinity and whose relationship with the employee is equivalent of a family relationship (as determined by regulations provided by the Treasury).
      • FMLA's original definition only applies to an employee's children, spouse, or parents.
        
        

• Bond and tax provisions for infrastructure financing:
  • 135101: Credit to issuer for certain infrastructure bonds. Similar to Build America Bonds under the 2009 ARRA law, issuers of qualified infrastructure bonds would receive a tax credit equal to an applicable percentage of the interest, providing direct financing support for infrastructure (FYs 2022-2024 = 35%; FY2025 = 32%; FY2026 = 30%; FY2027 and after = 28%). State/local governments may claim this credit for bonds whose interest would otherwise be eligible for tax-exempt status in the IRC, and the entirety of whose net proceeds are used for capital expenditures or the operation and maintenance of capital expenditures. 100% of the proceeds of these bonds must meet Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Applies to qualified infrastructure bonds issued after December 31, 2021.
  • 135102: Advance refunding bonds. Advance refunding refers to a state or local government holding the proceeds of a refunding issue for longer than 90 days before using such proceeds to pay off a refunded issue, allowing State/municipal governments to take advantage of lower interest rates to refinance long-term debt obligations. This provision applies to advance refunding bonds issued more than 30 days after date of enactment of this Act.
  • Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) - Sec. 135306. This provision would allow public school buildings to better use the HTC by excepting public school buildings that have been used as public schools within the past five years from certain tax-exempt use rules. In particular, the "prior use" limitations related to leases by tax-exempt entities currently prevent public school beings from being rehabilitated using the HTC program. This provision is effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2021.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Provisions:

• Funding for homework gap/distance learning-Proposes an additional $4 billion to assist with distance learning through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program to provide connectivity support regardless of whether costs are incurred during the COVID-19 emergency period.
• Medicaid & Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)-Proposes permanently extending the CHIP program.
  • Also requires 12 months of continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and CHIP. (Currently, children on Medicaid/CHIP are covered for 10 months, however, states may opt to provide 12-month continuous eligibility for children but only about half of U.S. states do this. Continuous eligibility would provide more stability in Medicaid and CHIP coverage, cut bureaucracy for states conducting screening and eligibility determinations, and relieve excess burden on providers ensuring children retain coverage and access to care.)

Next Steps for Reconciliation?
The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) reports that once the House Budget Committee compiles the full budget reconciliation bill, it will send the package to the Rules Committee. After then, public progress on the package will likely halt for a while. House and Senate leadership, in consultation with the committees that received reconciliation instructions, will negotiate behind the scenes to pull together a reconciliation bill that is not as expensive or expansive and can garner the support of all 50 Senate Democrats and (virtually all) House Democrats. No Republicans are expected to vote for the reconciliation package. Progressive and moderate Democrats need to come to an agreement on what should remain in the final bill and its total cost, so this negotiation process can take weeks, if not months before we see a new version of the bill. That bill would then need to go to the Senate floor first before coming to the House for a vote. While progress is being made, many provisions proposed in the current package could be stripped out, so now is the time to contact your officials and communicate which provisions you want to see remain in the final bill.

In the meantime, Congress is working on other priorities, including a stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a national default, and passing a separate bipartisan infrastructure package.

• $82 billion for infrastructure, including $80.6 billion for K-12 school construction over fiscal years (FYs) 2022-2024 for a new Rebuild America's Schools grant program. (ASBO International and our coalition partners have been advocating for $100 billion under the RASA program, so we are pleased to see this provision in the bill text.)
  • The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) reports that most of this money would be available through FY 2026. States would receive funding based on the Title I formula. Funds can be used for major repairs, safety and facility upgrades, and constructing new facilities. States must provide a 10% match from non-federal funds, with some exceptions. The maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement can be waived for states with financial constraints. There is an additional $411 million each for outlying areas, for Impact Aid construction, and for Bureau of Indian Education construction and digital infrastructure (see pp. 1-20 of the legislative text)
• $197 million for "Grow Your Own" Programs for FY 2022 to address teacher shortages in high-need subjects and locations and to increase the diversity of those entering the education field (see pp. 20-23)
• $198 million for teacher residencies for FY 2022 (see pp. 23-24);
• $198 million for the development of school leadership programs for FY 2022 (see pp. 24);
• $297 million for IDEA Part D personnel development for FY 2022 (see pp. 25).

• Tuition-Free Community College
  • For five years starting in award year 2023-24, provide two years of tuition-free community college for eligible students. States receive grants that decline to 80% of total student costs in award year 2027-28, with states contributing the difference. CBO needs to estimate the cost of this provision, cost information is not yet available, however note that President Biden's American Families Plan included $109 billion over ten years for a free community college program (see pp. 25-63).

• $16 billion for dislocated worker employment and training,
• $15 billion for adult employment and training,
• $9.1 billion for youth workforce investment activities,
• $5 billion for apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs,
• $2 billion for community college and industry partnership grants,
• $10 billion for industry or sector partnership grants,
• $1.5 billion for Job Corps, among other workforce investments (see pp.126-149).

• $3.6 billion for adult education for FY2022, to remain available until 2028 (p. 148)
• $3 billion for CTE programs through FY2022 and $1 billion for innovation and modernization under Carl D. Perkins CTE Act, to remain available until 2028 (pp. 150-151)

• $90 billion over FYs 2022-2024 and "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) for FYs 2025-2027 to provide child care for specified low-income and other eligible families through a new "birth through five child care and early learning entitlement program." (pp. 188-234)
• Provide "such sums as may be necessary" (CBO needs to estimate this) to provide universal preschool through local educational agencies, Head Start, or licensed child care providers or consortia. The federal share of the cost for this program declines each year, starting at 100% of states' costs in FY2022 and declining to 60% in FY 2028. The total includes $2.5 billion each year from FY 2022 through 2027 to improve pay to Head Start staff (pp. 234-260).
  
  
• Note: A different committee, the House Ways & Means Committee is also marking up its legislative text which touches on child care provisions too. It proposes investments in child care facilities, raising pay for child care workers, and providing updated information on child care availability:
  • $200 million for each of FY 2022 and FY 2023 for matching grants to states for creating child care information networks (pp. 1-18);
  • $15 billion for FY 2022 (funds are available through FY 2026) for infrastructure grants of up to $250 million to states to improve child care safety by acquiring, constructing, expanding, or renovating child care facilities. The state must provide a 10% match to the federal funds (pp. 18-30); 
  • One-year child care provider wage grants to states, territories, and tribes to supplement wages for qualified child care providers up to an applicable minimum rate (CEF says there is a technical definition of that rate on pg. 44 tied to the GS pay level as adjusted by locality differences) (pp. 37-48).

As the legislative text proceeds through markup and the rest of the budget reconciliation process, we will continue sharing updates to help school business professionals keep informed of any federal funding that may be coming states' and districts' way.

This week, the House is returning early from recess to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that Senate Democrats adopted earlier this month. If the House also adopts the resolution, this will unlock an opportunity to move forward with a process known as budget reconciliation, which could allow Democrats to pass a fast-tracked, partisan spending package without Republican support.

Note that the budget resolution is a blueprint (not final law) that only provides top-level spending numbers and general instructions for House and Senate committees to draft their own spending bill proposals (to be later combined into a reconciliation package). The resolution text instructs committees to submit their funding proposals by September 15, and the relevant committees for education funding are the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee.

Read the budget resolution text, a detailed summary, and a quick one-pager for more information on what's included and additional context about what this all means below.

The resolution text instructs the Senate HELP Committee to draft legislation that would spend up to $726 billion over 10 years (FYs 2022-2031) on the following areas:

• Universal Pre-K for 3 and 4-year old children
• Childcare for working families
• Tuition-free community college
• Investments in HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs
• Increase the maximum Pell grant award
• School infrastructure, student success grants, and educator investments
• Investments in primary care, including Community Health Centers, the National Health
• Service Corps, the Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical
• Education
• Health equity (maternal, behavioral, and racial equity health investments)
• Pandemic preparedness
• Workforce development and job training
• Labor enforcement and penalties
• Civilian Climate Corps funding
• Research infrastructure, including for HBCUs, MSIs, HSIs, TCUs, and ANNHIs

The House Education and Labor Committee has also been instructed to draft legislation to spend up to $779.5 billion for the same 10-year period. Ultimately, it is up to the committees to decide how much funding to propose for which programs, so we will not have any more details on education funding priorities until the House and Senate education committees release their legislative text next month.

In the meantime, the House is considering a voting rights bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was also passed by the Senate earlier this month. It is unclear how smoothly all three bills will proceed due to ongoing intraparty disagreements between moderate and progressive Democrats, which could derail their passage. Much will depend on how well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can negotiate and balance competing policy priorities and agendas, but the aim is to pass both of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills by October 1. Please stay tuned to this thread for additional updates.