Washington Update

U.S. Department of Education Releases Title IX Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
On the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, the U.S. Department of Education last week released a notice of proposed rulemaking outlining the administration’s proposed changes to Title IX. There will be a 60-day comment period once posted in the federal register, which is expected the week of July 7.

APLU met with the Department of Education and White House to share and underscore our principles for a new rule. The association will now begin the extensive process in collaboration with our member institutions and partner organizations to review the proposed regulations and provide comments.

USICA-COMPETES Negotiations Update
Punchbowl News reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met last week in an attempt to reach agreement on the innovation bill so it could be passed before the August recess. The report indicated that House and Senate leadership have agreed to remove several provisions including the SAFE Banking Act and House climate provisions. While the immigration provisions have not officially been removed from the bill, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said they will not be included in a final package, but “Democrats haven’t admitted that to themselves yet.” Additionally, a consensus was formed on including some parameters on funding to companies doing business with or in China. However, no agreement has yet been reached.

FY23 Appropriations Update
House and Senate Appropriations leaders have met several times in recent weeks, unsuccessfully seeking to reach an agreement on an FY23 budget framework, including overall defense and nondefense spending. The Senate plans to begin subcommittee markups following the July 4 recess without a budget framework. The House passed a resolution to set a topline spending number on its own and initiated markups. Without a bipartisan budget agreement, any House-passed spending bills will not pass the 50-50 Senate.

The House has completed FY23 subcommittee markups and will conclude full committee markups on Thursday. House appropriators marked up the Commerce-Justice-Science and Energy-Water funding bills on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Appropriations will mark up the Interior-Environment and State-Foreign Operations discretionary funding bills, and the Labor-HHS-Education bill on Thursday. Additionally, the Agriculture and Defense bills have both passed out of the House Committee on Appropriations to the full House, where a vote is expected before the August recess.

APLU is continuously updating its Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations priorities chart as House funding levels are released and will continue to do so as Senate levels are released.

House and Senate Resolutions for National Pell Grant Day
Last week, the Senate passed by voice vote the bipartisan resolution expressing support for the designation of June 23 as “National Pell Grant Day.” Prior to its passage, the Senate Resolution garnered 38 cosponsors – 29 Democrats, 8 Republicans, and 1 Independent. APLU and partner organizations helped initiate the resolution.

A House resolution was also introduced with 130 cosponsors, 113 Democrats and 17 Republicans. Due to existing rules, the House can introduce but cannot vote to pass commemorative legislation. Chairwoman DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Cole (R-OK) will continue adding cosponsors to demonstrate widespread support for the program. APLU President Peter McPherson wrote an op-ed in Forbes celebrating the anniversary and the life-changing impact Pell Grants have had on millions of students.

Dr. Arati Prabhakar to be Nominated for OSTP Director
President Biden announced his intent to nominate Dr. Arati Prabhakar as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and, once confirmed to this position, as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. Dr. Prabhakar previously served as the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Prabhakar is the first woman, immigrant, or person of color nominated to serve as Senate-confirmed director of OSTP. APLU President McPherson released a statement praising Dr. Prabhakar’s expected nomination.