Hello, Below are a few quick updates on recent news: Education Secretary Reports are that President-elect Biden will soon announce the nomination for Secretary of Education. Miguel Cardona, Connecticut Education Commissioner, fulfills Biden's promise to name an educator with public school experience AND adds another Latino to Biden's diverse cabinet. More information<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/biden-connecticut-schools-chief-education-secretary-449808> about Cardon's background and the nomination. FY2021 Funding/COVID-19 Relief As reported, Congress has passed a $1.4 trillion FY2021 funding package<https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR133SA-RCP-116-68.pdf>, including the $908 billion in COVID-19 relief, which President Donald Trump will sign. On Monday, President Trump signed a 7-day spending bill to keep the government open while the spending bill is delivered to the WH, reviewed by lawyers, and signed. Other * The final legislative business for the 116th Congress is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Trump has threatened to veto the legislation. If he does, the House plans to come back to D.C. on Dec. 28th to vote to override his veto. The authorization passed both chambers by a veto-proof majority, but it is unclear how many members would change their votes in an override vote. * The Senate has released a tentative 2021 calendar<https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aff9bbf52-87bc-40f1-bbf1-0dd33e37aecc#pageNum=1>. The House's 2021 calendar is available here<https://www.majorityleader.gov/sites/democraticwhip.house.gov/files/2021CALENDAR.pdf>. Best, Michele MICHELE DIECUCH | Senior Director of Programs Pronouns: She, Her, Hers ________________________________ ProLiteracy<http://www.proliteracy.org/> | 101 Wyoming St. | Syracuse, NY 13204 p 315.214.2576 | f 315.422.6369 | mdiecuch@proliteracy.org<mailto:mdiecuch@proliteracy.org> Find us and follow us on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/ProLiteracy/59618669707> and Twitter<http://twitter.com/#!/ProLitWorld>. Help ProLiteracy advance the cause of adult literacy.<http://www.proliteracy.org/give> [2020-11-PL-EmailSignatures-Advocacy-1042 (003)]<https://www.proliteracy.org/What-We-Do/Advocacy>

There as been a snag. Just a little while after you sent this email, Michele, in a video posted on his Twitter feed, the President suggested he might not actually sign the package, objecting to the small size of the direct payments (Trump wants those payments to be increased from $600 to $2,000), and also over what he characterized as unnecessary spending (peppered with the usual mix of unfounded and bizarre claims, like an assertion that the bill provided more stimulus funds for non-citizens than citizens). Trump doesn’t explicitly use the word “veto” in the video, but he sure doesn’t sound like he intends to sign the bill. This is like the end of a football game when you are down to the last minute and running out of time-outs. As of last night the package hadn’t been officially enrolled yet (“enrollment” is the process by which a bill that has been approved by both House and Senate is finalized for delivery to the president). So I don’t even know if it’s been delivered to the President as of this morning. It’s an absurdly huge bill, (5,593-pages — you probably didn’t even know, for example, that there is HUGE energy bill attached to this thing), so it’s probably taking some time. There are several risks here: There is the risk of a "pocket veto.” If Congress is in session, a bill becomes law without the president’s signature if he does not act upon it within 10 days from the time he receives it. But if Congress adjourns within that 10-day period, the bill, if unsigned, will die even if the president does not formally veto it. So, it seems to me that if they don’t deliver the bill to Trump very soon, he can kill it by doing nothing, because this Congress must adjourn by noon, January 3rd so they next the next congressional session can begin. If the President gets the bill and vetoes it, there is a similar timing problem. This congress would have until noon that Sunday to override the veto. There is also the risk of a government shutdown. The current continuing resolution that is keeping the government open expires Monday. If Trump vetoes or opts not to sign the bill by Monday at midnight, the government will shut down. I think I’ve got all this right, but for those following this closely, feel free to correct me. It’s a bizarre situation. Congress has already left town for the holiday so that further complicates things. Right now the Senate is due to return on the 29th in order to override a possible Trump veto of the NDAA. Things are moving quickly and in bizarre ways, so by the time you read this, who knows where we’ll be. Jeff > On Dec 22, 2020, at 8:56 PM, Michele Diecuch <MDiecuch@proliteracy.org> wrote: > > Hello, > Below are a few quick updates on recent news: > > Education Secretary > Reports are that President-elect Biden will soon announce the nomination for Secretary of Education. Miguel Cardona, Connecticut Education Commissioner, fulfills Biden’s promise to name an educator with public school experience AND adds another Latino to Biden’s diverse cabinet. > More information <https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/biden-connecticut-schools-chief-education-secretary-449808> about Cardon’s background and the nomination. > > FY2021 Funding/COVID-19 Relief > As reported, Congress has passed a $1.4 trillion FY2021 funding package <https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR133SA-RCP-116-68.pdf>, including the $908 billion in COVID-19 relief, which President Donald Trump will sign. On Monday, President Trump signed a 7-day spending bill to keep the government open while the spending bill is delivered to the WH, reviewed by lawyers, and signed. > > Other > · The final legislative business for the 116th Congress is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Trump has threatened to veto the legislation. If he does, the House plans to come back to D.C. on Dec. 28th to vote to override his veto. The authorization passed both chambers by a veto-proof majority, but it is unclear how many members would change their votes in an override vote. > > · The Senate has released a tentative 2021 calendar <https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aff9bbf52-87bc-40f1-bbf1-0dd33e37aecc#pageNum=1>. The House’s 2021 calendar is available here <https://www.majorityleader.gov/sites/democraticwhip.house.gov/files/2021CALENDAR.pdf>. > > > Best, > Michele > > > MICHELE DIECUCH | Senior Director of Programs > Pronouns: She, Her, Hers > ProLiteracy <http://www.proliteracy.org/> | 101 Wyoming St. | Syracuse, NY 13204 > p 315.214.2576 | f 315.422.6369 | mdiecuch@proliteracy.org <mailto:mdiecuch@proliteracy.org> > > Find us and follow us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/ProLiteracy/59618669707> and Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/ProLitWorld>. > Help ProLiteracy advance the cause of adult literacy. <http://www.proliteracy.org/give> > <image001.png> <https://www.proliteracy.org/What-We-Do/Advocacy> > > _______________________________________________ > National Coalition for Literacy Members mailing list > Members@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <mailto:Members@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org> > To unsubscribe: http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/members_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org <http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/members_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org>