01.30.18

By: Kimberly Hefling
Source: Politico

Foxx Defends House GOP's Higher Education Rewrite

The top Republican on the House education committee said Tuesday that the GOP advanced a partisan bill to update the Higher Education Act because the panel’s ranking Democrat wanted additional funding included.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said during remarks at the annual conference for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation that she and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) spoke about the legislation but differed on how to write it.

“We talked about it early on and he made it clear to me that it was primarily more money that we needed. Well, there isn’t any more money out there to spend,” Foxx said. “There just isn’t. So we have to look for ways, just like you do in your family, to find a way to do better with what you have.”

Scott said in a statement: “Committee Democrats asked for a bipartisan process, but our bottom line is that any HEA reauthorization must adhere to the law’s intent — ensuring that no child will be denied access to higher education because the family is poor. That requires investments in students.”

An aide to Scott said that Scott had made “repeated requests” to Foxx to work together on the higher education rewrite, but was told there was no interest in doing so.

Foxx said every Republican member of the committee was interviewed on what to include in the bill, H.R. 4508 (115), which she said will create a "sea change."

“You may not like every page of the bill, and to be honest, I don’t. I didn’t get every single thing I want and that’s the way the process works,” Foxx said. “As I tell people, this is a true committee work.”

The bill was approved in committee last month on a party-line vote, but a floor vote has not been scheduled. Foxx previously has said she expects the bill to be close to revenue neutral.

It aims to simplify an intricate web of programs — streamlining applications and easing requirements for higher education institutions. But Democrats have slammed it for eliminating funds from some student aid programs and have said it doesn’t do enough to help students struggling for college.

Meanwhile, leaders from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions have been working to craft a bipartisan bill to update the law and were set to hold a hearing Tuesday on what should be included in their measure.