National Coalition for Literacy

—Weekly Recap on Education Policy and Advocacy

State of the Union Address, Presidential Elections, Budget and Appropriations, House Adult Literacy Caucus Briefing, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Extension, ESEA Reauthorization, and Raising the Debt Ceiling

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

State of the Union Address

Both chambers of the Congress were in Washington this week following an extended recess. President Obama greeted them with a lengthy State of the Union (SOTU) address that was—not surprisingly—praised by Democrats and panned by Republicans. Now…

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

In this month’s update, learn more about the status of the budget and appropriations process for FY2012 and what this means for adult education; find updates and breaking news on extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) employment benefits and how it may impact undereducated workers, new jobs legislation that includes adult education, and see more progress made on WIA reauthorization in the House.

• Budget and Appropriations
• UI Alert
• WIA Reauthorization
• Pathways Back to Work Act
• Adult Literacy Advocacy – What this means for you

[ Read More → ]

By Washington Partners

With the clock ticking toward December 16^th, which is when the current continuing resolution that is keeping government funds flowing is set to expire, little progress was made last week on a FY 2012 budget plan.  Appropriations Committee conferees met on Thursday, just long enough to make opening statements and make public a widely known secret, that of the nine unfinished spending bills, the troublemakers were Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) and Interior.

For LHHS, the issues are both funding and so-called policy riders.  The key funding issue…

By Washington Partners

Rumor has it we are going to hear a word spoken on Capitol Hill in the next few weeks that we haven’t heard in a while.  That word is yes.  It appears the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, after months of saying no to any kind of compromise with Democrats, and Democrats similarly recalcitrant about working across the aisle, may come together to finish the pressing legislative business before the Congress in time for the holidays.  There are of course many opportunities for yes to turn into no in the world…

By Washington Partners

Budget and Appropriations

Though the House was in recess this week, Members of the Super Committee were meeting around the clock to try to reach agreement on a debt reduction proposal before the approaching November 23^rd deadline.  From outside, it appears that discussions have reached a stalemate, despite assertions that “progress is being made” from the Committee leadership.  Pressure is mounting, however, and lobbying from all sides to protect interests that, rumor has it, are on the chopping block is in full swing.

Another fast-approaching deadline is the November…

By Washington Partners, Public Policy Consultants of the National Coalition for Literacy

The separate work schedules for the House and Senate make a week when everyone is in town a rarity.  It happened last week, and finally there was progress on the FY 2012 appropriations front.  The budget is by no means decided, but the Senate did succeed in passing a so-called “minibus”—a bill that would fund several government agencies.  The bill passed on a vote of 69-30, vindicating Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) strategy to move forward.  House Republicans had questioned the minibus strategy, but…

—October 2011

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

Action items are listed first in this month’s update:

• American Jobs Act (Action)
• WIA Reauthorization (Action)
• Budget and Appropriations (Update)
• Joint Deficit Reduction Committee (Update)
• ESEA Reauthorization (Update)
• Advocacy Workshops & Tools
• 2012 House Calendar and Congressional Visits

American Jobs Act

A few weeks ago, the American Jobs Act was brought to the Senate floor where it died quickly. The only way both Democrats and Republicans…

By Washington Partners

Reauthorizing ESEA

What a week.  The scheduled October 18^th markup of a proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is still on.  When asked whether the markup might really happen, one Senate staffer replied, “This is not a drill.”  As a result, many education groups and interests spent this week making the rounds with Senate HELP Committee members trying to discern the content of Chairman Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) proposal.

While a draft of the bill…

The National Coalition for Literacy will be presenting several interactive public policy advocacy sessions at the US Conference on Adult Literacy (USCAL) in Houston, Texas, November 2-5, 2011. We hope you will join us! Come share your experiences and recommendations in advocating for adult and family literacy and have a voice in strengthening NCL’s advocacy nationwide. Leave armed with resources for strategically developing your advocacy campaigns.

Add a preconference to your schedule: Register today for our day long preconference on Effective Advocacy Strategies. Early registration has been extended until October 21. Register here.

[ Read More → ]

By Ellen Fern, Washington Partners LLC

On Thursday, September 29, the House Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee released their FY2012 appropriations bill.  The legislation includes funding for programs within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and other related agencies.  In total, the draft bill includes $153.4 billion in discretionary funding, which is $4 billion (-2.5%) below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level and $27.5 billion (-15.2%) below the President’s budget request.  The bill also contains several provisions intended to stop…

By Washington Partners

It felt like Groundhog Day all over again on Capitol Hill this week.  The House of Representatives took up a continuing resolution (CR) on Wednesday that was necessary to keep the government functioning beyond September 30th, the last day in the current fiscal year.  The bill failed when 42 Tea Party Republicans turned their backs on Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) in protest for what they considered too generous spending levels contained in the bill.  In an unusual show of unity, all but six Democrats also opposed the legislation because of…

By Washington Partners

Budget and Appropriations

The best 4th of July fireworks in Washington this year might just be under the dome of the U.S. Capitol versus on the National Mall. The inability of the Congress to come to consensus on a plan to raise the federal debt ceiling has led to fiery remarks and partisan sparks all week.

In his first news conference in months, President Obama compared the slow progress on negotiations to kids unable to finish their homework. He soundly criticized Republicans for drawing a line in the sand…

By Jackie Taylor with Ellen Fern and Heidi Silver-Pacuilla

Advocacy Groups Meet Deadline to Comment on the Senate’s Discussion Draft of the Workforce Investment Act of 2011

Last week, the National Coalition for Literacy met the Senate’s June 17 deadline to submit feedback on the Senate Discussion Draft of the Workforce Investment Act of 2011. The Coalition’s feedback, as well as feedback submitted by several Coalition Member organizations, is available here on the NCL Advocacy Blog. …

By Washington Partners and Jackie Taylor

Advocacy Updates

WIA Reauthorization

On Thursday, June 9, the Senate released a discussion draft of Title I of the proposed Workforce Investment Act reauthorization for stakeholder comment. Titles II – VI are being released separately over the next several days. The National Coalition for Literacy is analyzing the draft and preparing recommendations to submit to the HELP Committee staff by this Friday, June 17. To ensure you receive a copy of NCL’s recommendations, subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed or follow us on…

Adult Education’s Latest on the Hill

By Washington Partners and Jackie Taylor

FY2012 Appropriations

On May 20, the House reached its deadline to submit its programmatic funding priorities to Chairman Rehberg (R-MT), as reported in NCL’s May 22 Update. This was a quick turnaround for signatures, and advocates did well in calling attention to this opportunity to their House Members. Final Copy of Roe-Hinojosa Letter

Several of you received commitments from your House Member to sign on, but given the time constraints…

—Education Advocates Stay Vigilant, Engaged

By Washington Partners and Jackie Taylor

ESEA Reauthorization

With the House of Representatives in recess, Capitol Hill was relatively quiet last week. Before leaving town for a district work period, House Education and the Workforce Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chair Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced the first installment for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which would make good on one of the first Republican promises regarding reform of this law—making it smaller and less costly. The bill repeals the authorizations…

—Budget and Appropriations Update and Action Alert

By Ellin Nolan and Jackie Taylor

Friday the 13th. It always has an ominous ring and, for education advocates, given last week’s events, this day was no exception. On Wednesday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) announced…

—A Budget, Appropriations, and Advocacy Update

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

FY2011 Appropriations

Congressional leaders agreed late Friday to a compromise that will keep the federal government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year—averting a government shutdown less than an hour before it was set to start. They also passed a short-term resolution that would fund the federal government through Friday, April 15.

By passing  a new, one-week extension, both chambers were given the time to work out the legislative language for a final agreement to cut an…

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

FY2011 Appropriations Update—Is it Over Yet?

The 6th short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) will expire on April 8th.  Early reports indicated that talks between the House and Senate were not going well and that a government shutdown was more likely. However, today’s new development reveals a tentative agreement on a package that cuts an additional $23 billion compared to current funding, $33 billion compared to FY2010, or a total of $73 billion compared to President Obama’s FY2011 budget proposal.

Speaker Boehner had directed the Appropriations staff to…

—Week in Review on Budget and Appropriations

By Washington Partners

Events in Japan and Libya, a presidential trip to Latin America and a congressional recess period took the Fiscal Year 2011 budget debate out of the headlines this week. Regardless, it was not far from the minds of nervous education advocates who fear deep cuts in spending for the Department of Education in a final FY 2011 budget agreement. The 6th continuing resolution (CR) is now in effect and will expire on April 8th. Finding common ground between the Republican-led House of Representatives, the…

Even Start’s funding was eliminated as part of the CR that ended last Friday, March 18, 2011. Even Start has often been widely misunderstood and inaccurately reported as ineffective. Below is a letter from Barbara Van Horn, Reading Co-Director of the  Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and Board Member with the National Coalition for Literacy, who sets the facts straight about Even Start Family Literacy.

Action Request: To add Even Start back to the full year FY2011 Continuing Resolution, a congressional champion must advocate and negotiate for it as part of the FY2011 long-term CR negotiations. [ Read More → ]

By Washington Partners

It was Groundhog Day once again in the Nation’s capital this week. First the House of Representatives and then the Senate passed a 6th Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep funds flowing to all government agencies. This CR will expire on April 8th. On the one hand, it prevents a government shutdown while negotiations continue. On the other hand, running the richest country in the world on a budget that changes every week seems a bit reckless. CR number six cuts another $2 billion per week from the total that the government would…

By Washington Partners

A headline in Friday’s POLITICO was enough to give even the wonkiest of education advocates a headache: “Tired of Budget Debate? It Has Only Just Begun.” Say it isn’t so! After 6 months of non-stop wrangling, this week the Senate finally took two budget votes that leadership had hoped would help “reset” the FY 2011 budget debate.

First, the Senate rejected the House-passed HR 1, a bill that would slash education spending by 15% and come in at $61 billion less than the spending plan submitted by the President a year ago February.…

By Washington Partners

Bad budget news for education funding just kept on coming this week on Capitol Hill. Unable to agree on a budget for the remaining months of FY 2011 and in order to avert a government shutdown, the Congress opted for a two week extension—with a catch. The House-drafted bill cut $4 billion in spending—the prorated share of the $60 billion cut that they had approved the week before—and insisted the Senate take their medicine. With no debate and only a handful of Democratic objections, the continuing resolution (CR)…

By Jackie Taylor and Washington Partners

Advocacy

The following alerts are live; act now on them:

• Save Even Start
• Congressional Visit Campaign

If the 2-week stop-gap continuing resolution (CR) is passed without changes to Even Start, then Even Start will be eliminated. In addition to calling your legislators to save Even Start, it is critical that we get all Members of Congress to visit adult education and family literacy programs while they are back home. Congress has scheduled Constituent Work Weeks each month for legislators to travel back…

By Jackie Taylor

President’s Budget Proposal

On Monday, February 14, the President released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. “Within a constrained fiscal environment and a five-year freeze on discretionary spending, the budget proposes a $7.5 billion, 10.7% increase in overall discretionary spending for programs in the Department of Education ($2 billion (+4.3 percent) excluding Pell grants),” according to the Committee on Education Funding. While there are also many program reductions and eliminations in the budget, the Adult Education State Grants are funded at…

By Della Cronin, Washington Partners

As the March 4th expiration date for the continuing resolution (CR) approaches, Members of Congress are finally getting down to the business of writing a budget for FY 2011. Though the Senate remains in a “wait and see” mode, Republican leaders in the House announced that overall spending for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2010 will be reduced by $43 billion– 9.3% below the previous year. The new allocation for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education budget is slightly better—a cut of 7.3% below the amount…

By Heidi Silver-Pacuilla

Dear All,

I want to start by saying how disheartened I am about the tragedy in Tucson, my former home base. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Congresswoman Giffords, her family and staff, and all those touched by the tragedy. Congresswoman Giffords is a dedicated supporter of adult and family literacy, visiting southern Arizona programs often and speaking out about the power of literacy for informed citizenship.

I had the honor of participating in the digital stories project at Pima College Adult Ed to which Giffords contributed, ( [ Read More → ]

By Jackie Taylor with Washington Partners Ellen Fern and Ellin Nolan

I am pleased to welcome Washington Partners Ellen Fern and Ellin Nolan as public policy consultants with the National Coalition for Literacy. Not only will they bring much needed information and strategic recommendations to the Coalition for advancing adult education, they are also well-known and respected in education circles on the Hill.

Washington Partners has provided the budget and appropriations update below. Read it carefully. Several key factors are coalescing in Congress that will critically…

By Jackie Taylor

Friends and colleagues,

We are up against a tough Congress that has strong momentum for cutting spending. Additionally, NCL heard that WIA reauthorization is likely to be one of the first items to be considered in the new Congress. Does your Member of Congress have the most recent information on adult education in your community? It’s time to update the 112^th Congress about the importance of adult education before they are faced with difficult decisions that will impact it.

Action Request:

Who: Program

…