News
NLRB Member Is Under Investigation for a Conflict of Interest
by Ian MacDougall
02.01.18 The inspector general for the National Labor Relations Board is investigating whether a Trump appointee to the board breached government ethics rules, according to two congressional officials with knowledge of the investigation. The probe centers on whether the NLRB member, William Emanuel, took part in a case in December that had involved his former law firm and if so, whether his participation was improper because he had a conflict of interest. David Berry, the NLRB's inspector general, opene… Continue Reading
Dem Lawmakers Call on Labor Department to Rescind Tip-Pooling Rule
by Lydia Wheeler
02.01.18 House Democrats are calling on the Department of Labor to withdraw it's proposed tip-pooling rule following a report that agency officials hid an unfavorable economic analysis. Bobby Scott (Va.), the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, said the public cannot fully comment on the rule without access to all the information. Bloomberg Law reported Thursday that senior depart… Continue Reading
Scott Slams 'Partisan' House Higher Education Bill But Sees Compromise Possible
by Michael Stratford
01.31.18 Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House education committee, today slammed House Republicans for advancing a "partisan" overhaul of the Higher Education Act but said he still thought a bipartisan rewrite is possible. "The Republican bill spends lots of money by expanding eligibility for federal dollars to low-quality and unregulated programs," he said at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's annual conference. "And it pays for that spending by slashing investments in students… Continue Reading
Will Schools Be Included in Trump's Infrastructure Plan?
by Moriah Balingit
01.30.18 As expected, President Trump talked about shoring up America's infrastructure: "We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land." But what about schools? It is still unclear whether schools will be a part of Trump's broader infrastructure plans, but public-school advocates and Democratic members of Congress say investment in the nation's public schoolhouses is direly needed. When the temperatures plunged in Baltimore earlier this year, students unwi… Continue Reading
Foxx Defends House GOP's Higher Education Rewrite
by Kimberly Hefling
01.30.18 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. … Continue Reading
Foxx Begins a Free-Swinging Debate on Student Loans
by Emily Wilkins
01.26.18 Think of a hammock. A luxurious hammock. A luxurious, $1.4 trillion dollar student debt hammock. Rep. Virginia Foxx, (R-N.C.) chairwoman of the House's education committee, compared the current higher education law to a "luxurious hammock in which students can repose, accessing subsidized student loans with few if any credit checks or examination of their ability to repay." The statement was immediately criticized after it appeared in an op-ed this week in the Washington Times that was co-auth… Continue Reading
Congress Plans to Bolster Technical Training. But First: Safeguards
by Michelle Hackman
01.26.18 A bipartisan push to bolster short-term training and certificate programs has prompted a debate in Congress over how to ensure it doesn't spawn a proliferation of shoddy programs or steer minorities into lower-paying fields. A Republican rewrite of the Higher Education Act, passed by a House committee last month, would provide more loans and grants for students entering these programs. The training costs less than traditional degrees and equips students with technical skills that translate dire… Continue Reading
Democrats Call For Tougher Labor Standards in NAFTA Renegotiation
by Ian Kullgren
01.24.18 House Democrats today asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate tougher labor standards for Mexico in NAFTA. "Mexico's policy of suppressed low wages, combined with increased protection investment, became a magnet for its industrial growth," Democrats wrote in a letter. "A key factor has been the maintenance of very low labor costs, ingrained in a structure that eliminates any voices for workers in the workplace. The current objectives in the NAFTA renegotiation, and recent… Continue Reading
House Democrats Want Investigation Into Fake Public Comments on Rules
by Andrew Hanna
01.24.18 Four ranking House Democrats urged the DOJ and FBI to investigate fake public comments on proposed federal regulations, including DOL's fiduciary rule. In a letter sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Democrats warned "at least five agencies have been the target of falsely generated rulemaking comments," with DOL the latest to be affected. The signatories - Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Bobby Scott (D-… Continue Reading
House Dems Ask DOJ, FBI to Include All Agencies in Fake Comments Investigation
by Lydia Wheeler
01.24.18 House Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to expand any planned investigation into the hundreds of fake comments that appeared on the FCC's net neutrality rule to rulemakings from all agencies. In a letter Wednesday, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to expand the previous request it received to investigate the potentially illegal submission o… Continue Reading
Democrats Ask Trump to Invest in Fixing Crumbling School Infrastructure
by Joy Resmovits
01.17.18 Many of the nation's schools are crumbling, according to 150 Democratic members of Congress. They want President Trump to help change that. On Wednesday, the lawmakers, including Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, sent a letter to Trump, asking him to support legislation Scott wrote last year to invest $100 billion in school upgrades. "In addition to upgrading our bridges and roads, we must also invest in the critical infrastructure that affects every city and town in the nation - our public school… Continue Reading
Ranking House Education Democrat Meets For The First Time With DeVos
by Caitlin Emma
01.11.18 The ranking Democrat on the House education committee says he met with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos today to discuss education issues and feels "reaffirmed ... that we share a common goal." "Secretary DeVos and I will not always agree on the best ways to achieve that goal," Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia said in a statement. "But I am confident there are areas, like expanding access to quality career and technical education including apprenticeships, where we can work together." Scott's offic… Continue Reading
Rep. Scott Urges DeVos to Keep Obama-Era School Discipline Guidance
by Evie Blad
01.11.18 Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the House education committee, urged U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Thursay not to scrap a directive issued by the Obama administration with the aim of driving down disproportionately high discipline rates for students of color. That 2014 civil rights guidance, which has been criticized as too heavy-handed by some conservative organizations, is key to "dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline," Scott said in a statement after hi… Continue Reading
Jeff Bezos Deemed Richest Man in World While Amazon Warehouse Workers Suffer Grueling Conditions
by Nicole Karlis
01.09.18 Amazon's soaring stock this year has granted Jeff Bezos a title of a lifetime: the richest man in the world. Some claim that he's the richest man in history. While that's debatable, Bezos is a very wealthy man and is likely to only going to get wealthier. According to Bloomberg's billionaire tracker, Bezos' total net worth is $105 billion. This week alone, CNN reports he's added $1.4 billion to his fortune; Amazon stock increased 1.4 percent on Monday and Bezos reportedly own 78.9 mill… Continue Reading
We Can Draw School Zones To Make Classrooms Less Segregated. This Is How Well Your District Does.
by Alvin Chang
01.08.18 Think about your elementary school. If you attended an American public school, chances are you went to that school because your family lived in that school's attendance zone. You probably didn't think twice about it. We tend to assume these are neutrally drawn, immutable borders. But if you take a step back and look at the demographics of who lives in each attendance zone, you're faced with maps like this: Once you look at the school attendance zones this way, it becomes clearer why these lin… Continue Reading
The Trump Administration’s Hidden Attacks on the Affordable Care Act
by Larry Levitt
01.05.18 Most observers of health policy news would be excused for being more than a bit confused about the current state of the Affordable Care Act. The Republican effort to repeal and replace the ACA last year stalled, suggesting that the law was here to stay. Then, seemingly out of the blue, the ACA's individual mandate penalty was repealed as part of the tax bill, prompting President Trump to declare that "we have essentially repealed Obamacare, and we'll come up with something that will be much bet… Continue Reading
Concerns Mount Over K-12 Education Plans
by Lauren Camera
01.03.18 As states cement education plans for their schools under the federal K-12 law, the Department of Education is working furiously to assess them amid mounting concerns about states' commitment to following the law, their proposals to ensure historically disadvantaged students have access to quality education, and the department's capacity - and in some cases, lack of desire - to police it all. The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, gives states new flexibility to create accountability syste… Continue Reading
Fitch Ratings: Tax Bill Could Squeeze School Districts, Colleges and Universities
by Caitlin Emma
12.20.17 The GOP tax overhaul will squeeze school districts and pressure colleges and universities, Fitch Ratings said in a statement released today. The credit reporting agency said the cap on state and local tax deductions will hit residents in high-taxed states harder, and as a result, they "may have less tolerance for higher state and local taxes in the future." "Less revenue-raising flexibility could limit growth in state and local spending and have negative implications for entities that rely on … Continue Reading
College That Charges No Tuition Loses Out In Tax Bill
by Michael Stratford
12.19.17 A provision meant to protect a Christian college in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state was scratched Tuesday when Republicans made last-minute tweaks to their tax bill after a procedural glitch. The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday evening on a revised bill that removes a provision that had excluded Berea College in Berea, Ky. from a new 1.4 percent tax on private university endowments. Berea does not charge tuition and enrolls low-income students. The endowment tax, under t… Continue Reading
The GOP Tax Bill Guts Obamacare and Will Leave More People Uninsured
by Alex Lubben
12.19.17 The House of Representatives passed the Republican tax plan Tuesday, a $1.5 trillion package of permanent tax cuts for corporations and temporary ones for some individuals. The Senate is expected to follow suit this afternoon, and send the bill to President Trump's desk. But aside from lowering corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, and the rate on America's wealthiest individuals to 37 percent from 39.6 percent, the bill is a sweeping re-write of the Obama-era health law Obamacare, … Continue Reading