NCSL Updates
NCSL Makes Its Voice Heard on Surface Transportation Priorities
As Congress gears up to write the next multiyear surface transportation bill, NCSL submitted five key priorities to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure aimed at helping states secure greater control over federal funds disbursed through the bill, preserving successful Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act programs, keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent and more. Read NCSL’s submission.
How Proposed Changes to Federal Safety Net Programs Could Affect the States
Congress is debating changes to Medicaid, SNAP, TANF and child welfare programs that could result in states having to fill gaps, limit eligibility or reduce benefits. NCSL breaks it down for you. Read more
Congressional Updates
Key House Committees Advance Reconciliation Plans
Committees began work last week on their pieces of the reconciliation package. This week NCSL shares a summary of the education provisions and highlights from the Judiciary Committee. NCSL will report more on this next week. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is likely to consider changes to Medicaid, has delayed its markup to the week of May 12.
You can follow all committee action as they consider reconciliation measures with CRFB’s 2025 Reconciliation Tracker. Plans will then be rolled into an Omnibus measure for House floor consideration, then consideration by Senate committees with the goal of passage in both House and Senate prior to the July 4th recess.
Education
The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced a measure, known as the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan, that would reduce the federal deficit by $351 billion over 10 years as part of the broader budget reconciliation package. The package largely addresses federal financial aid programs in higher education, including the Pell Grant and the student loan program.
Pell Grant eligibility:
- Expands Pell access to short-term programs and authorizes new funding to address the pending $2.7 billion Pell funding shortfall.
- Full-time eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant would increase from 12 hours per semester to 30 semester hours per academic year.
- Students would be considered ineligible for the grant if they attend school less than half time, while making short-term workforce training programs eligible for the grant.
Student loan limits:
- Implements annual borrowing limits based on the median program costs across institutions minus federal grant aid, instead of the current uniform annual borrowing limits.
- Allows institutions to implement their own borrowing limits.
- Establishes new lifetime caps on student borrowing, including $50,000 for undergraduate education or parent borrowing, $100,000 for graduate programs and $150,000 for professional programs.
- Eliminates need-based subsidized student loans, Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS programs.
Student loan repayment and accountability:
- Phases out nearly all existing repayment programs and offers two new plans.
- Allows borrowers to choose a new standard repayment plan that would offer fixed monthly payments, with repayment timelines increasing within a range of 10 to 25 years as borrowing amounts increase.
- Allows borrowers to choose a new Repayment Assistance Plan that would base repayment amount on a borrower’s income and would include subsidies that cover any unpaid interest and ensure at least $50 of the loan principal is paid down every month.
- Requires higher education institutions to make payments to the federal government based on a share of their former students’ unrepaid student loans.
Read more
Judiciary Committee
Immigration fees: The bill, which is the committee’s proposal to comply with the reconciliation instructions, would impose a bevy of immigration-related fees to help cover the costs of increasing immigration enforcement across the country. These fees would be imposed on migrants for interactions with the immigration system, with fees collected when applying for work authorization, sponsoring an unaccompanied minor, being apprehended by Customs and Border Protection and applying for asylum, among other services. Most of the immigration fees would be ineligible for waiver or adjustment for any reason.
Review of agency rulemaking: The bill contains a version of the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which establishes a congressional review process for major rules. In particular, the measure would require federal agencies to report to Congress prior to rulemaking on the estimated costs of the proposed rule and its impact on inflation; an analysis of jobs gained or lost; whether the proposed rule is “major” or “not major,” according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; any research supporting the proposed rule; and the constitutional basis for the proposed rule. Congress would then have to approve any proposed major rule by joint resolution within 60 legislative days. If a federal agency submits a report for congressional review during the final year of a president’s term, the succeeding session of Congress shall approve or disapprove the issuance of the rule by joint resolution. Every federal agency must also file a report containing no less than 20% of its existing rules for congressional review. Rules that Congress does not approve must sunset. Read more
First Bill to Address AI Harm and Deepfake Abuses Heads to the President
The bipartisan, NCSL-supported Take It Down Act, sponsored by Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.), Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), would ban and criminalize the publication of non-consensual, sexually exploitative images—including AI-generated deepfakes—and require platforms to remove images within 48 hours of notice. The Senate already approved the proposal, which has been sent to the president, who has committed to signing the bill into law.
Administration Updates
Trump Proposes Major Spending Realignments in FY 2026 Budget Blueprint
President Trump unveiled his initial fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations—commonly referred to as the “skinny budget”—in a letter from the Office of Management and Budget to Capitol Hill on Friday. The proposal outlines a $163 billion cut to nondefense discretionary spending compared with FY 2025 levels, while increasing defense spending by 13% and boosting funds for homeland security and veterans’ affairs. These changes result in a net reduction of $139.9 billion in discretionary funding. A full version of the president’s budget request is expected in the coming weeks.
The proposal introduces several new initiatives, including funding for “Make America Healthy Again,” the creation of a state-based rental assistance system, the launch of a program to encourage rural investment and increased funding for fair trade enforcement.
At the same time, the proposal recommends significant cuts to existing programs, including over $17 billion from the National Institutes of Health, $15 billion from Green New Deal-related programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $3.3 billion from Community Development Block Grants, and more than $3.5 billion from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs. The proposal also seeks to end federal support for several smaller agencies, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The president’s budget enters an already crowded fiscal debate, as Congress continues to consider a sweeping reconciliation package and prepares to finalize fiscal year 2026 appropriations before the current funding expires on Sept. 30.
The President’s FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request – OMB – The White House
States Receive an Extra 90 Days to Submit Final BEAD Proposals
The Department of Commerce has granted states an additional 90 days to submit their final BEAD proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration while DOC undertakes “a detailed review of the BEAD program to remove unnecessary rules and mandates, to improve efficiency, take a more technology-neutral approach, cut unnecessary red tape, and streamline deployment,” according to a recent notice. The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program provides $42.45 billion to states and their subgrantees to help realize high-speed internet coverage throughout the United States.
Education Department Cancels $1B in School Mental Health Grants
The Department of Education canceled two grant programs, created by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, that helped to recruit and retain school-based mental health providers and funded 260 educational institutions in 49 states. The department claims that funds were used to “implement race-based actions … that have nothing to do with mental health” and said it will “re-envision and re-compete” the grants. Read more
Education Department Drops Title VI Civil Rights Certification Requirement for States
After a court ruling, the department withdrew its requirement that states certify that their state and schools comply with the department’s assertion that race-based decision-making violates civil rights laws. The court order does not prevent the department from enforcing Title VI statute or regulations. Prior to the ruling, states had until April 24 to submit certifications or risk losing Title I-A funding. Read more
Education Department to Review New Accreditors, Streamline Process to Switch Accreditors
The Department of Education has lifted a moratorium set in October on reviewing new accreditors. The department also issued a “Dear Colleague” letter detailing how the department will streamline the process when institutions ask for federal approval to switch accreditors. The letter stated that the department has no authority to “intervene with a state to direct its public institutions to seek a new accrediting agency,” provided the institution has otherwise met its federally required obligations. Read more
New Efforts to Address PFAS Contamination
In a continuing effort to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced the creation of an agency lead for PFAS, the development of effluent limitation guidelines and an initiative to develop a PFAS liability framework with Congress. Read more
E15 Fuel Waiver Authorized
The EPA has authorized the sale of E15 fuel from May 1-20, via a nationwide temporary waiver under the Clean Air Act, to help meet the rising domestic demand for fuel during the summer. E15 fuel is gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend. Read more
FBI Releases Annual Internet Crime Report
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that internet crime caused $16 billion in losses in 2024, a 33% increase from 2023, based on over 850,000 complaints. The bureau’s annual report aggregates and highlights data provided by the public on cyber-enabled crime. Read more