05.14.19

By: Benjamin Wermund
Source: Politico Pro

Shalala: Alexander taking 'more limited' approach to HEA

A Democrat on the House Education and Labor Committee said today she believes the top Republican on the Senate panel rewriting the federal higher education law wants to take a "more limited" approach on the law than House Democrats are eyeing.

Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) said during an event on student debt hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center that she recently had lunch with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and "I think he wants to do a more limited bill."

Alexander has said he wants the Senate HELP Committee to mark up a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act this month. A committee aide told POLITICO last week that Alexander still plans to release a draft by the end of the month.

"In the House, I think we’d like to do something very comprehensive," Shalala said.

House Democrats have consistently said they want to take a broad approach to updating the Higher Education Act, including in February, when Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the House education chairman, said he’s not interested in striking a “narrow compromise."

Still, Shalala said today, "I think we’re going to be able to work something out."

"This is another area that clearly can be bipartisan," she said. "I think we have a shot at working something out, and particularly in the student debt area. There are some other issues in higher education — sexual harassment, those issues, where we’re having some struggle with the secretary — but on student debt, in particular, I think there’s consensus we have to do something."

A spokesperson for Alexander said the senator “is continuing to work with Senator Murray with the goal of enacting a bipartisan comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act this year to help make a college education more worth it for students.” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is the top Democrat on HELP.