This week Congress’ collective attention has been centered on the need to raise the nation’s statutory borrowing authority. House Republicans have successfully passed legislation that would achieve this in exchange for dramatic reductions in investments for domestic programs, including Career Technical Education (CTE). Elsewhere, President Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor has continued to progress while new guidance for youth workforce development efforts has been released. 

House Republicans Advance Dramatic Spending Cut Proposal

For the last several months, Congress has intensely debated the need to raise the nation’s borrowing authority. Known informally as the debt ceiling or debt limit, this is the total amount of money the federal government is legally permitted to borrow to pay for expenses already incurred. Failure to increase this limit would result in a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt obligations which nearly happened in 2011 when the nation’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time in its history. The U.S. Treasury Department currently projects the debt limit will be reached by early summer. 

Lawmakers have continued to disagree on how and, in some cases, whether to raise the debt limit to avert this impending crisis. This has resulted in a lengthy stalemate that has been ongoing since the start of the 118th Congress. Recently, House Republicans released a new legislative proposal that would dramatically cut federal investments in all discretionary domestic programs, including those overseen by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by nearly 22 percent. If enacted, this would dramatically reduce the federal investment in CTE, made by the Carl D. Perkins Act as amended by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), by over $300 million. ED currently estimates that this would impact roughly 26 million students among many other programmatic cuts, related disruptions and negative consequences for learners.

In addition to this significant proposed funding reduction, the bill also includes a cap on discretionary spending for domestic programs, including programs like Perkins V, to one percent over the next decade. The proposal also includes a slew of other Republican priorities House leaders hope to enact in exchange for raising the national borrowing authority through March 21, 2024 or by $1.5 trillion (whichever occurs first). 

On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee met to procedurally advance this proposal. The measure was approved along party lines by a vote of 9-4. Due to the tight margins of control in the House, Speaker McCarthy made several modifications to the legislation, including increasing proposed work requirements for social safety net programs and removing provisions that would eliminate tax credits for ethanol fuel, as he and his leadership team continued to firm up support for the bill. Late yesterday evening, the House voted to approve the measure along party lines by a thin margin of 217-215. The proposal is not likely to be taken up by the Senate and it remains unclear whether this recent development will overcome the current political impasse on this issue.

DOL Nominee Advanced by Senate HELP Committee

With the recent departure of U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, President Biden has nominated current U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor and former California Labor Secretary, Julie Su, to fill this important position overseeing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). This week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to advance Su’s nomination along party lines by a margin of 11-10. Su’s nomination now heads to the full Senate for further consideration. However, all Republicans are expected to vote against her nomination due to concerns regarding Su’s tenure as California Labor Secretary and several moderate Democrats have also shared these same perspectives. Given the narrow margin of control in the Senate, the fate of Su’s nomination, therefore, remains unclear as more Senators share whether they will ultimately approve her nomination.

 DOL Releases New Youth Workforce Guidance 

Recently, the DOL released a training and employment guidance letter (TEGL 09-22) which clarifies DOL’s Employment and Training Adminstration’s (ETA) priorities regarding youth workforce development and updates non regulatory guidance regarding the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth formula program. The TEGL highlights new strategies for determining youth funding eligibility and provides suggestions for how stakeholders can better provide workforce development services for youth populations served by WIOA. A webinar hosted by ETA to provide an overview of this guidance is scheduled for next month. Registration information can be found here. 

ED Publishes National CTE Research Study Notice

Earlier this week the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) published an updated version of two survey instruments that will be used to gather data and information from state and local CTE stakeholders. This effort is mandated by Perkins V which requires a national evaluation of policies and programs being implemented as part of the law. The notice is soliciting feedback and input from the public regarding the survey instruments prior to being used later this year as part of this wider national evaluation. The notice, including instructions to provide comment, can be found here. 

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor