Hello everyone. Nice seeing some of you today at the adult charter school event here in DC. I’ve pasted below the latest from CEF (this one penned by CEF Deputy Director Sarah Abernathy). A couple of additional notes: FY 2017 funding timeline — Just to be clear, the CR is going to run probably through April 28 and I think some Senators are not necessarily letting go of the idea of extending it to the end of May. The CR will freeze Title II adult ed spending (and almost everything else) at FY 2016 levels, but only through the end of the CR period. No idea what happens after that. So, as I’ve said before, since adult education is forward funded (meaning the funds don’t go out until July), all we really get out of this CR is uncertainty as to what our final FY 2017 number will be. Clean CR — This is important. I was at a meeting organized by the White House Office of Public Engagement on Tuesday and they made it clear that the President will sign the CR *unless* it has what they deemed to be a “poison pill” policy rider. (In the past, banning funds for Planned Parenthood has been an example.) In other words, even though the CR is frustrating to the administration and Congressional Democrats, who wanted to negotiate an omnibus during the lame duck, that is not enough for the President to refuse to sign the CR and shut down the government. Sarah notes that the administration has released a new request for “anomalies.” The problem with a CR is that some things you actually can’t just freeze at last year’s levels, so Congress has to write those “anomalies” into the CR. Sarah mentions that it includes several education-related items, including higher spending for student aid administration and authorization… I am attaching the lists (the newest one and one from earlier this fall), in case you want to check for yourself. There are some things in there related to TANF and possibly some other programs that some of you follow. 2017 Congressional Calendars — As Sarah notes, Republicans in the House plan to move two reconciliation bills in the next Congress. The first is for Fiscal Year 2017, which was never passed. This will allow them to repeal all or parts of the Affordable Care Act Then a second reconciliation bill, for Fiscal Year 2018, is supposedly going to address tax reform. Remember that reconciliation allows legislation to be passed with a simple majority and eliminates the potential for a Senate filibuster. It was announced yesterday that Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) is Trump’s pick for HHS Secretary. But I don’t think this will have any impact on the House rolling out the plan outlined above. Note finally that our friend John Yarmuth (D-KY) was chosen to be the ranking member of the House Budget Committee next year. Not mentioned here, but relevant to the big picture: Congress also finalized yesterday the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes $523.7 billion for the base defense budget plus $67.8 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, a fund account that is not subjected to sequester level spending caps. OCO has become notorious as a way for defense to get around the caps — in fact, DOD admitted last summer that half of its OCO spending every year — about $30 billion — actually ends up going to fund base budget items. There is no equivalent trick on the non-defense discretionary side, unfortunately. Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sarah Abernathy <abernathy@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update 12.1.16 > Date: December 1, 2016 at 12:07:01 PM EST > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@cef.org> > > > Thursday, December 1, 2016 > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. Policy Intelligence and Education News > > · FY 2017 funding timeline – Congress reconvened this week with plans to finish up work by December 9, when the current short-term funding bill (continuing resolution) expires. House Republicans want a second CR that lasts through March, while Senate Republicans want a bill to extend through May. Rep. Tom Cole stated that the Republicans haven’t made a final decision yet, but that the “implication was it’s probably going to be April.” CQ reports that Senators are pushing for a CR that would run through April 28th. After the weekly GOP conference meeting, some Republicans also expressed concern that passing a CR to April will result in passing yet another CR to the end of the fiscal year, due to the increasingly packed 2017 legislative schedule. > > · Clean CR is likely - We’re told that the bill is likely to be a relatively clean CR, although the Secretary of Defense objects to a lengthy CR since that will prohibit starting new projects. CQ published a new Administration request for “anomalies <http://www.cq.com/pdf/4994368.pdf>” – necessary changes to last year’s funding levels in the CR. It includes several education-related items, including higher spending for student aid administration and authorization for fees, but they do not appear to have bipartisan support. The list also requests additional funding for Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art operational funds, and for the Department of Agriculture to operate the demonstration projects that provide electronic benefit transfers during the summer for children who get meals at school during the academic year. > > · 2017 Congressional calendars – The House has now set its calendar for next year, and like the Senate, the House will stay in session for most of January and the first half of February. Republican leadership has stated its intention to turn immediately to doing a budget resolution (presumably the long-delayed fiscal year 2017 resolution) that would include reconciliation instructions that provide fast-track procedures for considering a repeal of parts of the Affordable Care Act. Attached is a handy calendar that shows when each chamber is in session. > > · Changes among Democrats at House committees and leadership –House Democrats held a number of elections on Wednesday, including retaining Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Minority Leader. > > o Budget Committee – Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) was chosen to be the ranking member of the House Budget Committee next year, succeeding Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) who is moving across the Capitol to replace the retiring Senator Mikulski. > o Ways and Means Committee – Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) announced this week that he will not seek to remain as the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) is seeking the post. > o Democratic Caucus Vice Chair – Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) narrowly defeated Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) to become Caucus vice chair. Sanchez currently heads the Hispanic Caucus, and is the first woman of color to hold a House leadership position. In a game of musical chairs, she replaces Rep. Joe Crowley (D-CT), who moves up to replace Rep. Xavier Becerra as Caucus Chair (he was term-limited in the position and was vying for the position of Ways and Means ranking member, but news just broke that he is leaving Congress to be California’s next Attorney General). > > II. Events > > · Friday morning meeting tomorrow at NEA – agenda attached – Thanks to NEA for hosting tomorrow’s meeting: > 9-11am in the News Conference Room, 1201 16th Street, NW. > Our speaker is Erica Navarro, the Department of Education’s new director of the Budget Service (the new Tom Skelly). With the transition still to come, she won’t know about the Administration’s 2018 education priorities but can talk about how ED is preparing for the funding uncertainty under a CR, and what the budget preparation process is likely to look like for the 2018 budget. > > · Upcoming Friday meetings: > o December 9, 9-11am, at University of California (1608 Rhode Island Ave, NW, 1st Floor Auditorium). > Our speaker is George Everly, Chief Counsel to the Senate Budget Committee, who can talk about how the reconciliation process works and Republican plans to use reconciliation next year to provide fast-track consideration for various pieces of legislation. > o December 16, 9-noon, at University of California (1608 Rhode Island Ave, NW, 1st Floor Auditorium). This is CEF’s annual meeting with the elections for next year’s board, so participation is important! Speakers to be determined. > > · Post-election briefing at 3pm on Wednesday, Dec. 7, with Chris Cillizza – CEF will hold an election debriefing featuring Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post’s “The Fix <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/>” blog on Wednesday, December 7, at 3pm at AASCU (1307 NY Ave, NW). Save up your questions on everything you ever wanted to know about the election. > > · ACG-hosted Member Lunches– There are two more chances for CEF members to join us for lunch at our ACG offices. These are a great way for the ACG team to get to know each member more personally and hear about your specific issues. You can sign up for the lunch on December 7 or December 14 here: Member Lunches Sign Up <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cef-member-lunches-tickets-27180617960> > > I hope to see you tomorrow! > > - Sarah > > Sarah Abernathy, Deputy Executive Director > 1800 M Street, NW > Suite 500 South > Washington, DC 20036 > T: 202-327-8125 > abernathy@cef.org <mailto:abernathy@cef.org> > www.cef.org <http://www.cef.org/> > >