A little late with this one - sorry! Some good Dept. of Education staffing intelligence in item #2 Did anyone attend or watch the job training hearing yesterday? (See item III) Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sheryl Cohen <cohen@acg-consultants.com> > Subject: CEF Update: 04.03.17 - new chart, Hill visits, ED appointees > Date: April 3, 2017 at 4:52:15 PM EDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@americancontinentalgroup.onmicrosoft.com> > > <> > > > > Monday, April 3, 2017 > > Follow us on Twitter and Instagram (both “@edfunding”) to spread our advocacy to a broader social media audience! > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. Advocacy > > · New education funding chart – We’ve updated the chart showing appropriations for the Department of Education – excluding Pell Grant funding – to include the Administration’s proposed cuts for fiscal year 2017 (described in an Update last week). As a reminder, some of those cuts were also proposed in the President’s 2018 budget, so one couldn’t count the same savings in both years if the cuts were implemented. All of our charts are on CEF’s website <https://cef.org/charts-and-resources/charts/>, and we’re also sharing them via Twitter and Instagram. We’ll continue to update this chart as necessary. > > · Hill Teams activities – Last week CEF Hill teams met with three offices: Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who is on the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee; Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who chairs the Senate HELP Committee and is on the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee; and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who is on the HELP Committee and is up for reelection in 2018 in a “red state.” We continue to fairly consistently hear the same thoughts: that 2017 is likely to be funded through a continuing resolution and not an omnibus bill comprising separate program by program funding bills; that President Trump’s proposed non-defense discretionary cuts for fiscal year 2017 are non-starters; and that there is a lot of uncertainty about how the appropriations process will unfold. The word “chaotic” was used. Jared Solomon in Sen. Casey’s office urged advocates to also focus on proposals to cut Medicaid, because a large cut to Medicaid would likely require states to transfer funding from education to health care. > > II. Policy Intelligence and Education News > > · New appointees at the Department of Education – The President has announced that he will nominate Carlos Muñiz to serve as the Department of Education’s (ED’s) general counsel. Muñiz has prior state experience in Florida, where he worked for Marco Rubio in the Florida House of Representatives, and as deputy general counsel for Governor Jeb Bush. He ran an ethics investigation at the University of Florida and also represented the University in a Title IX suit – the University settled the suit but ED’s investigation is still open. He unsuccessfully argued on behalf of Florida’s voucher program that directly funded private and religious schools, which was found to violate the state constitution. > > The Washington Post reports <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/04/02/lawyer-who-highlighted-hillary-clintons-role-in-defending-rape-suspect-tapped-for-civil-rights-post-at-education-department/?utm_term=.03d604414acd> that Candice E. Jackson is now the acting assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights and will ultimately serve as the deputy assistant secretary for the office. Jackson wrote a book in 2005 called “Their Lives: Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine” and was involved in the Trump campaign’s anti-Clinton efforts. > > While other offices remain officially vacant, and the transition team and landing team staff at ED still do not have titles, we have heard that Robert Goad has moved from the White House to ED. > > III. Events > > · House Labor-HHS-Ed hearing on job training tomorrow – On April 4 at 10am, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is holding a hearing <http://appropriations.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=394820> on “Examining Federal Support for Job Training Programs.” The hearing, which will be webcast, is in 2358-C Rayburn House Office Building. > > · CEF schedule for April – There are no Friday morning meetings during Congress’s two-week recess this month. > o Friday, April 7, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AFSCME, 1625 L St NW, 1st Floor Board Room). Guest speaker: Robin Juliano, Democratic education staffer for the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee. > o Friday, April 28, 9-11 am: CEF meeting (AASCU, 1307 NY Ave, NW). Guest speaker: TBD. > > > My best, > > Sheryl > > > Sheryl V. Cohen, Executive Director > > > 1800 M Street, NW > Suite 500 South > Washington, DC 20036 > T: 202-327-8125 > cohen@cef.org <mailto:cohen@cef.org> > www.cef.org <http://www.cef.org/> >