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NCSL Updates
Letters to the Hill
NCSL encourages Congress to retain the current eligibility threshold for the Community Eligibility Program, which provides no-cost meals in high-poverty schools and districts. NCSL also expresses concerns over changes to social safety net programs and strongly supports the TAKE IT DOWN Act, legislation critical to curtailing harm caused by online posting of nonconsensual intimate images.
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Congressional Updates
House Passes Budget Plan, Setting Up Senate Negotiations
House Republicans passed, 217-215, a budget resolution. The resolution unlocks the reconciliation process, allowing Republicans to avoid a Senate filibuster and pursue policies on defense, energy, immigration and taxes. It includes $4.5 trillion in tax reductions, extends the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and raises the debt limit by $4 trillion while increasing spending on the military and border security. To garner enough support, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) agreed to $2 trillion in overall spending reductions, which raised concerns about cuts to Medicaid spending. Johnson said Medicaid reductions would come from eliminating fraud and waste rather than cutting funding. However, the budget does not specify where the reductions will come from, leaving House committees to decide, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee responsible for finding $880 billion in savings. The Senate has already passed its own reconciliation bill, so the chambers must now agree on a final version. Read more
Administration Updates
Department of Education Cancels Additional $1.2B in Grants
The department canceled $350 billion in grants, largely made to Regional Educational Laboratories, which support research, development and technical assistance activities. The department also canceled $226 million in grants to Comprehensive Centers, which support capacity-building services to states and education systems, and $600 million in grants that it characterized as supporting teacher training, although it did not provide details on which programs and grants were terminated. All the programs were canceled for promoting “divisive ideologies.”
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Education Department Issues ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter on Race-Based Decision-Making
The letter interprets federal civil rights law in a manner that would require educational institutions to cease using race as factor or consideration in all educational activities and decision-making, including for “admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic and campus life.” The letter cites the Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned the use of racial preferences in college admissions, as the basis for its broader interpretation of federal civil rights law. The letter further explains that using nonracial information as a proxy for race also violates federal civil rights law. The letter sets a March 1 deadline for educational institutions to comply. Read more
Presidential Memo Targets Fines and Penalties on US Businesses
The president issued a memo instructing heads of executive departments and agencies to identify and counteract foreign policies that unfairly target U.S. businesses, particularly in the technology sector. It emphasizes the administration’s commitment to imposing tariffs and other responsive measures against foreign governments that levy discriminatory taxes, fines, or regulations designed to appropriate funds or intellectual property from American companies. The administration’s goal is to protect U.S. economic and national security interests from one-sided, anticompetitive practices of foreign entities. Read more