Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Talk to you all later this week…. Jeff Tax Reform I’m sure everyone is aware by now that the Senate passed their tax reform bill late Friday. Today the House and Senate are expected to appoint members to a conference committee to work out differences between the two bills. Republicans really want to get this done, and get it done quickly. I’ll copy a message from CEF below that summarizes the education implications in the two bills just so you’ll have them, but none of them I think have direct relevance for adult education. I think the biggest worry for adult education is the elimination of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which is in both bills. If this goes through, education groups are fearful that states, counties, and cities will have a tougher time raising money for schools — which get nearly all of of their money from state and local tax revenues — because those taxes will no longer be fully deductible. How this will play out remains to be seen, and it will be vary from state to state depending on how heavily they rely on state and local taxes to fund things, but we know from past experience that when there is pressure in states to cut taxes/curtail spending, adult education is more vulnerable to cuts than other areas of the budget. Here are the other major education-related provisions, provided by CEF, in case you are interested: > · 529 education savings plans – both bills allow individuals to use tax-free 529 college savings plans for elementary and secondary education costs, including for private schools. Vice President Pence cast the tie-breaking vote on an amendment offered by Senator Cruz (R-TX) to allow 529 funds to be used for private K-12 education. > > · Teacher deduction for classroom expenses – The Senate bill doubles the existing $250 deduction for teachers and educators who spend that much on classroom supplies, but the House bill eliminates it. > > · Student loan interest deduction – The Senate bill does not change current law, but the House bill eliminates the deduction. > > · Graduate student tuition tax – The Senate bill does not change current law, but the House bill taxes tuition waivers, meaning that graduate students would have to pay taxes on the waiver of tuition that many rely on to attend their programs. > > · Higher education tax credits – The Senate bill does not change current law, but the House bill combines the existing higher education tax credits into one slightly expanded American Opportunity Tax Credit. Overall, the change dramatically reduces the college tax credits available. > > · College endowment tax – The Senate bill imposes an excise tax of 1.4% on investment income at private colleges with endowments of at least $500,000 per student (estimated to hit 25 to 30 colleges). The House bill imposes that same tax on more colleges – private colleges with income of $250,000 per student (estimated to hit 65 to 70 colleges). CEF also sent out links this morning to to two articles over the weekend that highlighted education-related provisions in the bill: > · Washington Post, “ After a high-drama vote, here’s what the Senate tax bill means for schools, parents and students <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/12/02/after-a-high-drama-vote-heres-what-the-senate-tax-bill-means-for-schools-parents-and-students/?utm_term=.ce7655375e4c>” > > · Education Week, “Senate Oks Tax Bill Changing Teacher Deduction, Expanding School Choice <http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/12/senate_tax_bill_passes_teacher_deduction_school_choice.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-rm&M=58297773&U=2070844>” > FY 2018 Appropriations House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) has introduced a two-week extension of the current CR which keeps everything at current funding levels. However, two weeks is not enough time to work out a budget deal and enact an full-year spending bill, so we’re likely looking at a third CR before December 22 that pushes final appropriations for FY 2018 into January or February. From Sarah Abernathy of CEF: > Government funding expires at midnight this Friday, December 8, under the terms of the “continuing resolution” (CR) Congress enacted in September, when it became clear that Congress couldn’t pass all fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Congress gave itself those extra 10 weeks to agree to a budget deal that raised spending caps on defense and non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding enough to appease a majority of Congress and allow passage of all 12 bills. That hasn’t happened. Therefore, on Saturday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) introduced a two-week extension of current funding levels that also extends authorization for the expired Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) until the end of the year. > > Assuming Congress passes this two-week CR, it’s still likely that it will need more time to work out a budget deal and enact an omnibus appropriations bill funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year. That means we’re likely looking at a third CR by December 22 that could include raising the caps and possibly disaster relief. That pushes final appropriations action into January or February – more than ¼ of the way through the fiscal year. Reminder: Twitterstorm! Again, from CEF: > Tomorrow! - Twitterstorm to #RaiseTheCaps to increase #edfunding – Please join CEF’s Twitterstorm on Tuesday, Dec. 5, from 10:30-11:30am ET to encourage Congress to raise the non-defense discretionary cap and then allocate more funding for education investments in the final fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill. See the attached Advocacy Toolkit for sample tweets, links to chats and fact sheets, and a sample letter to Congress. Higher Education Act I think I mentioned Friday that the House draft bill was out. Here are some links from the Committee on Education and the Workforce that may be useful. Lots of statements about workforce... Press Release <https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402157> Fact Sheet <https://edworkforce.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Fact_Sheet.pdf> Bill Summary <https://edworkforce.house.gov/UploadedFiles/The_PROSPER_Act_Summary_PDF.pdf> Bill Text <https://edworkforce.house.gov/UploadedFiles/PROSPER_Act_Bill_Text.pdf> Committee Member Statements Chairwoman Foxx: "Lyndon B. Johnson's Vision for Higher Education No Longer Serves Students” <https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402121> Chairwoman Foxx and Secretary Acosta: “College Isn’t Always the Best Path for Teens” <https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402130> Rep. Roe: “We Cannot Stifle Our Freedom of Speech” <https://roe.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398169> Rep. Stefanik: “Making Higher Education More Affordable for North Country Students”  <http://www.suncommunitynews.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/making-higher-education-more-affordable-for-north-country-st/> Rep. Guthrie: "Guthrie Highlights Workforce Development Priorities as Subcommittee Chairman" <https://guthrie.house.gov/latest-news/guthrie-highlights-workforce-development-priorities-as-subcommittee-chairman/> Rep. Ferguson: "We Are Preparing Students for a Modern Workforce" <https://ferguson.house.gov/media/press-releases/ferguson-we-are-preparing-students-modern-workforce> Rep. Rooney: "The Department of Education Must Die - or Evolve" <https://francisrooney.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=127> Rep. Ferguson: "We Must Give Our Students the Opportunity to Prosper" <https://ferguson.house.gov/media/press-releases/ferguson-we-must-give-our-students-opportunity-prosper> Rep. Rokita: "The PROSPER Act: Making Sure Our Workforce Is Ready and Able" <https://rokita.house.gov/press-release/prosper-act-making-sure-our-workforce-ready-and-able> Rep. Lewis: "Lewis' College Completion Bill Included in Historic Higher Education Reform" <https://jasonlewis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=124> Rep. Allen: "Allen Praises Introduction of the PROSPER Act" <https://allen.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=977> Rep. Guthrie: "Guthrie Introduces Higher Education Reform Legislation" <https://guthrie.house.gov/latest-news/guthrie-introduces-higher-education-reform-legislation/> The Senate won’t start on it’s version until next year. It’s expected to be a bipartisan bill.