Monthly Public Policy Report, Feb 2018

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March 20th, 2018
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AWFS is a client of LobbyIt. Each month, LobbyIt prepares the following report on public policy updates and activity for AWFS and its member companies.

AWFS Monthly Report

Greetings! During the month of February, Lobbyit’s focus was the planning for and execution of a successful Hill Day for AWFS.

Stakeholder Activity
In the month of February, Congress finally secured a deal to set the spending levels for FY18 and push the cliff of the “debt ceiling” to 2019. Unfortunately, there were additional crisis that arose and distracted Congress so that now we are facing another crunch to authorize spending and keep the government open after the middle of March. In February, the President released his budget and announced additional details about his infrastructure plan. Now, Congress will need to determine how much of the budget they will agree with, all indications are that there is plenty they will disregard as they negotiate among themselves to set the spending levels for FY19. Based on February developments, we anticipate that the big issues which will dominate the legislative calendar in the coming months will be the passage of a spending deal, figuring out what to do about DACA recipients, appropriation negotiations, cutting deals to address mistakes and oversights in the tax package that passed last year, and a determination if some deal can be struck over infrastructure. On February 28th, AWFS was in DC for its annual Hill Day. When it was all said and done, we had three groups meet with 25 congressional offices and a successful high-level meeting at the Department of Labor. The groups met with multiple Members and spoke with the lead staffers on workforce development issues in the Senate HELP Committee (that has jurisdiction in the Senate over the bulk of this issue). In addition to advocating on behalf of passing Perkins and increasing available funding, AWFS attendees also sought to establish long-term connections with offices by inviting Members and staff to visit AWFS facilities. As part of our follow-up, we will be working with individual AWFS attendees to assist them in securing a site visit from their Congressmember or Senator. A key meeting on the 28th was with the Department of Labor. We meet with the Administrator and Deputy Chief of the Employment & Training Administration (ETA) – the office that oversees apprenticeships within the Department. Also in the meeting was the Special Advisor to the Secretary, Laurie Rowe, who was brought in specifically to oversee the Department’s apprenticeship efforts and who reports directly to the Secretary. We gained a lot of important information from this meeting and are continuing our conversation with the ETA as AWFS explores the role it wants to take in the new apprenticeship space being created by this Administration. After such a successful Hill Day, we have our hands full with follow-ups and are working with the AWFS team to determine the best path forward to build on our contacts and get the best results from our meetings.

Legislative Tracking
S. 206 – JOBS Act of 2017 Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the JOBS Act of 2017 on January 24th, 2017. On the day it was introduced, the bill was referred to the Committee on Health, education, Labor, and Pensions. The bill currently has 6 cosponsors. This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Job Training Federal Pell Grant Program. The Department of Education must award job training Federal Pell Grants to eligible students. An eligible student is one who does not have a degree, attends an institution of higher education (IHE), is enrolled in a job training program at such IHE, and meets all other eligibility requirements for a Federal Pell Grant. The maximum job training Federal Pell Grant award is 50% of the discretionary base maximum award specified in annual appropriations law. Related bills: H.R.2451 – Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act

H.R. 1485 – Flexible Pell Grant for 21st Century Students Act Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced the bill on March 9th, 2017. On the day it was introduced, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The bill currently has 36 cosponsors. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide students with increased flexibility in the use of Federal Pell Grants. A student who has received a Federal Pell Grant during an award year and is enrolled in an eligible program for one or more additional payment periods during the same award year, may receive an additional Federal Pell Grant for such additional period or periods.

S. 790 – Innovation for Tomorrow’s Workforce Act Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced this bill on March 30th, 2017. On the day it was introduced, the bill was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The bill has 1 cosponsor. Amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to encourage innovation. Creates a grant program to identify and support innovative strategies to improve career and technical education.

H.R.4078 – Expanding America’s Workforce Act of 2017 On October 19, 2017, H.R.4078 was introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) and referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Currently the bill has 2 cosponsors. The purpose of this bill Is to establish various programs to ease the burden on undereducated and financially deficient workers seeking to further their education.

H.R.4162 – Pell Grant Modernization Act On October 27, 2017, H.R.4162 was introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Currently the bill has one cosponsor. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to adjust the period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants, and for other purposes.

H.R.4115 – PARTNERS Act On October 25, 2017, H.R.4115 was introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. Currently the bill has one sponsor. The purpose of this bill is to promote registered apprenticeships and other work-based learning programs for small and medium-sized businesses within in-demand industry sectors, through the establishment and support of industry or sector partnerships.

Until next month,

Lobbyit.com