Hi everyone, Hope you are not as stressed during these opening days of2020 as we've been... Here are few items I collected for you this week. Jeff --- 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards Applications are being accepted for the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards from January 13 to March 6. Several NCL members have been recognized with this award in past years. Here’s how to apply: https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDAsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMDAxMTUuMTU1ODkyNDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5sb2MuZ292L2l0ZW0vcHJuLTIwLTAw FY 2021 Budget & Appropriations Process I believe I already mentioned that the White House has announced that it will release its fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget proposal on February 10. Reports are that this will be a full budget proposal instead of one of those somewhat useless"skinny" versions that has been issued in years past.  House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) (also still co-chair fo the House Adult Literacy Caucus, correct?) says it is "more unlikely than likely" that the House will draft a budget resolution this year. the thing is, a budget resolution is not necessary for the House to move forward with the appropriations process because last year’s spending deal (the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019) was a two-year deal — meaning that the total discretionary spending limits for defense discretionary and non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs for FY 2021 are already set. Importantly, NDD programs will only be increased by $2.5 billion from FY 2020 levels. That means there is very little likelihood you are going to be able to achieve substantial increases to the adult education Title II line item as compared to last year. My advice is to design your appropriations advocacy strategy this cycle with a post-FY 2021 long game in mind as well — that is, make the pitch for more funding for FY 2021 but also be thinking about how to develop the champions needed to advocate over time for a more substantial investment in adult ed next year and into the future. The Budget Control Act will have expired, and by this time next year we could be looking at a change in administration, and will certainly see some changes in the makeup of Congress. (This year would also, IMO, be a good time to build back up a robust NDD coalition to develop a strategy for post-FY 2021, but that’s a discussion for another day…) House & Senate Committee Updates Reminder that Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) has been appointed to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to fill the vacancy left by former Senator Johnny Isakson, who retired at the end of last year. On the House side, I believe I may have already sent a note to thislist that Representative Phil Roe (R-TN), a member of the House Education and Labor Committee has announced his retirement from Congress at the conclusion of this session. Rep. Roe, as most of you know, was the Republican co-chair of the House Adult Literacy Caucus. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) End o’ the Year Message Just stumbled across this recently. Some of you may find it of interest: https://ies.ed.gov/director/remarks/1-8-2020.asp Jeff Carter Cell: (202) 374-4387 | @jeffcrtr Senior Policy Advisor National Coalition for Literacy http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/ mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org Former President, Committee for Education Funding Executive Director Physicians for Social Responsibility 1111 14th St, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20005 http://www.psr.org/ | mailto:jcarter@psr.org