The House and Senate voted this week to go to conference on the budget and has already struck a tentative deal on major elements of the budget resolution to include the fast-track procedure of reconciliation for health care reform and student loan initiatives, specifically, eliminating wasteful subsidies to private lenders and using that money for need-based grants. The reconciliation procedure would make these initiatives immune to filibuster, or obstruction, in the Senate, and is especially key to pass programs like health care reform. Unfortunately, the Senate voted Thursday to prohibit use of reconciliation to pass a cap and trade program that will combat global warming. The Senate has been against reconciliation for the budget thus far – especially over cap and trade – but the possibility of its use for health care and education is great news!
Both chambers of Congress plan to hold a formal conference committee meeting on April 27 and Democrats hope to have a final budget resolution by the time Obama has marked his 100 days in office next week.
The House and Senate have appointed their conferees – those that will represent each chamber of Congress in the debate over the final budget outcome – and the conferees are……(drum roll)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Rep. Ryan is a ranking member of the House Budget Committee and has been very vocal over the spending in the budget. One of his main messages is “Cut Spending” and he supported the Republican Budget Alternative, which favored spending on national defense and veteran’s health care, as well as permanently extending the 2001/2003 tax relief provisions – which gives huge tax breaks to the top income bracket. (This alternative budget was defeated).
Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-CT) Rep. DeLauro voted to pass the House Budget Resolution and supports energy reform and affordable higher education. She has spoken out against the defeated Republican Budget Alternative and is against budget cuts that will harm vital programs like health care and nutrition programs.
As the debate over student loan reform continues, it is important for policy makers to make sure that there will be vigorous oversight of the firms that service student loans. Student loan borrowers should be protected from overzealous and irresponsible lenders and loan servicers—for both federal and private loans—that engage in abusive practices.
A representative of the Direct Loan Coalition sent around a heartbreaking story today from the Consumer Warning Network about a family that was berated by Sallie Mae while trying to clear up their son’s (presumably private) student loan after his death.
Here is the first half of the interview:
This is not acceptable behavior. It is stories like this (not to mention the many that Higher Ed Watch has collected) that call into question claims by lenders that the quality of services provided to students is always better in a more competitive environment.
Wow…as Think Progress reports, yesterday during a hearing Rep. Shimkus, an outspoken opponent of the President’s green energy plan, said that proposed climate legislation in the budget represents “…the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I’ve ever experienced.”
Check out the video below:
You can also read more about the GOP and climate skepticism here.
This blog post from Grist gives a good overview of how hearings went yesterday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and mentions specifically moves on the part of conservatives in an attempt to counteract progressive voices:
“There were four separate panels on the climate bill on Wednesday, involving 21 witnesses. The fourth was added at the last minute to accommodate witnesses whom the minority members of the panel had requested, including representatives from conservative outposts like the Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. The hearings stretched on for more than 10 hours, and by the end, as few as four members of the committee were actually present to hear testimony.”
We need to keep applying pressure to our representatives to make clear to them why we need a clean energy economy now. Take action and make your voice heard!
They saw green hard hats in the halls of congress on March 2nd during PowerShift and we warned them they would see us again. They saw green hard hats in their own districts during the congressional recess and started to realize how serious we are. Now they are back in D.C. and we are still there, wearing our green hard hats, continuing to demand a just and bold climate bill.
Congressional hearings for the Waxman-Markey bill started yesterday at 3:00 PM and won’t end till Friday, with 9 panels and over 60 witnesses from corporate America to Big Green. Even though the youth climate movement isn’t being represented on the witness stand, it has been extremely visible, so much so that many representatives called out to us during their opening statements ( “There are young people here wearing PowerShift 09 t-shirts and hardhats. This hearing is about you!” Rep Harman CA-36). Follow the hearings live on ItsGettingHotinHere.org where our people are liveblogging through twitter and text messages (we are so hip!) and learn what you can do to help us get a progressive climate bill passed through congress below the fold.
Health Care for America NOW, a national grassroots campaign of over 850 organizations dedicated to winning quality, affordable health care coverage for all, hosted events with thousands of citizens across the country during the recent Congressional recess period. More than 7,000 people participated in these events that gave Americans the opportunity to express to Congress their concerns with the current health care system and the fact that health care can’t wait. Check out this article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, reporting on a town hall event in Ohio:
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown stumped for national health care reform at a Cleveland Heights church Friday morning. . . .
“We together are going to see this Congress pass national health care reform by the end of the year,” the Ohio Democrat told the crowd of about 500 community organizers and activists that packed the sanctuary of Forest Hills Presbyterian Church. Read the article.
Before leaving for the April recess, both houses of Congress passed a budget that provides funding for the health care reform that we need. However, we need to make sure that when they return, Congress passes the budget through the conference committee and does not allow a few Senators to block the majority. This process is called reconciliation and it seems the Senate may be considering the use of reconciliation, as the House recommended, to pass health care reform in the budget process. Check out this article from The Hill for the latest news on health care reform debate in the Senate:
Democrats appear to have the votes for a budget measure that would allow reform of the nation’s health care system with just 51 Senate votes….Read the article.
The good news is that a long list of higher education associations wrote a letter to Congress endorsing the President’s plan to reform the federal student loan system by phasing out the Federal Family Education Loan program, and use the savings created by eliminating wasteful subsidies to banks to expand the Pell Grant, make it a mandatory program, and peg the maximum award level to inflation plus 1%.
This is great news, since higher education associations tend to carry quite a bit of weight around the Capitol. Surprisingly, the list included the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), who have often been closely aligned (politically and otherwise) with the student loan industry. We are very happy that NASFAA and other associations representing colleges and the higher education professions are making their voice heard about these important policies.
The bad news is that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) appears wary of the plan. In a recent Congressional Quarterly article (no link available) he said, “in my state we have a state-owned bank. They make 60 percent of the student loans. Eighty percent of those are FFEL [Federal Family Education Loan] loans [sic].”
Sen. Conrad is in a powerful position, and seemed to say that he is taking the side of student loan companies (for-profit or otherwise) over the interests of students. I wonder whether it is political issues like home-state special interests, rather than procedural or philosophical problems with the budget reconciliation process, that is driving his reluctance to allow for real reform.
A story today in USA Today talks about what many college students and their parents already know: tuition is creeping higher and higher:
“Though 2009-2010 tuition rates have not been set for most public universities, increases of at least 5% to 6% — and in many cases higher — are expected as university administrators struggle to maintain quality education amid state budget cuts.”
And, the money quote:
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stresses the importance of affordability amid the budget and fundraising crises. ‘Colleges that go the wrong way on this — I think they’re going to see students walk away.’ “
Now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we are giving money to students, not banks, and that the grants students are receiving are as generous as possible. Obama’s budget plan would do that. Take action today and tell your elected officials why we need to back Obama’s budget proposals for higher education!
The Wall Street Journal has a piece today about the first round of arguments in the climate change debate taking place in Congress. Most notably, the EPA presented new analysis of the bill put forward by Reps. Waxman and Markey on the House Energy Committee, stating that the plan would cost consumers far less than the nearly $3,000 a year per household that many opponents have referenced.
The Project on Student Debt issued a press release yesterday pointing to new federal data showing a large increase in private student loan borrowing. Private student loans, unlike federal loans like Stafford, PLUS, and Perkins, often have high and/or variable interest rates, and fewer protections for borrowers.
The new data shows that the portion of all undergraduates who are taking out these loans increased rapidly from 5% in 2003-04 to 14% in 2007-08. The numbers for students at for-profit colleges is especially concerning. 13% of these students took out private loans in 2003-04, but last year that number was a shocking 42%.
Students at some kinds of institutions were forced to turn to private student loan debt more than those at other kinds of institutions. (more…)
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
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for April, 2009.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Rep. Ryan is a ranking member of the House Budget Committee and has been very vocal over the spending in the budget. One of his main messages is “Cut Spending” and he supported the Republican Budget Alternative, which favored spending on national defense and veteran’s health care, as well as permanently extending the 2001/2003 tax relief provisions – which gives huge tax breaks to the top income bracket. (This alternative budget was defeated).
Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL) Rep. Boyd is a Blue Dog Democrat, which is a coalition of fiscally moderate and conservative Democrats in the House. Boyd supports an honest, responsible budget.
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) Rep. Spratt is Chairman of the House Budget Committee and he helped urge Gov. Sanford of South Carolina, who has been known for his anti-stimulus position, to accept the stimulus money for the state. Spratt also supports college affordability and health care for children.
Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-CT) Rep. DeLauro voted to pass the House Budget Resolution and supports energy reform and affordable higher education. She has spoken out against the defeated Republican Budget Alternative and is against budget cuts that will harm vital programs like health care and nutrition programs.
Before leaving for the April recess, both houses of Congress passed a budget that provides funding for the health care reform that we need. However, we need to make sure that when they return, Congress passes the budget through the 
