COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND WASHINGTON, DC COMBASE, SEPT 23, 2017

1. COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND WASHINGTON, DCCOMBASE, SEPT 23, 2017 David Baime Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Policy Analysis

2. Topics • General Environment for CCs and Higher Education/Campus Climate • Trump Administration Personnel • Congress • DACA • FY 2018 Funding • Higher Education Act Reauthorization • Perkins Act Reauthorization/Workforce • Negotiated Rulemaking/Regulatory Relief • Tax Reform

3. General Environment For CCs and Higher education/Campus Climate • Complicated environment with mixed messages • Support for Role and Value of CCs (Public Agenda, AP Survey Results) • Broad Loss of Support for Higher Education, Especially Among Republicans (especially more affluent and educated) • Debt Issues Highly Salient and Greatly Misunderstood • Community Colleges Not Associated with Much of Campus Climate Debate • CCs are Losing Students to 4 Year Colleges

4. Trump Administration Personnel • Key Posts Remain Unfilled at ED and DOL • No ED Under Secretary (Kanter/Mitchell post); ED Asst. Secretary for OCTE or Postsecondary Education; DOL ETA Assistant Secretary • New Administrative Position in Student Aid Office • AACC Has Made Significant Outreach to New and Familiar Faces

5. CONGRESS • Lack of Productivity Continues • Trump Dynamics All New • Fiscal/Mandatory Programs Policy is Fundamentally in Chaos, One Result is Squeezing of Domestic Investment • Senate HELP Committee Chair Alexander & Ranking Member Murray Relationship Has Frayed but Both are Pragmatists • Rep. Foxx Retains Huge Power • CCs Have Lots of Allies in Both Chambers & Both Parties

6. DACA • Six Month Phase Out Announced September 5, Triggered by State AGs Lawsuit; Broad Public Shock • Renewals Processed Through October 5 • Congress Under the Gun to Act • Quick and Fervent Community College Response; AACC Has Mobilized Members • Optimism Remains About Potential Solution Despite Charged Nature of Immigration Debates – DREAMERS/DACA are Perceived Differently from Other Undocumented Residents • Trump/Democrat/Republican Deal?

7. FY 2018 Funding • Less Crazed Than Usual Because of Trump CR Deal with Democrats on Disaster Relief, FY 18 Funding, and Debt Limit • For FY 2018, Domestic Discretionary Caps Broadly Perceived as Inadequate, Need to be Raised; AACC Urging Their Expansion • Full House Has Passed Labor-HHS-ED Legislation • Senate Appropriations Committee Has Approved Bill • Final Enactment Won’t Occur Until Late 2017 at Earliest

8. FY 2018 Funding Highlights • Pell Grant Program: House Freezes Maximum Grant and Cuts Surplus by $3.3 billion; Senate Boosts Maximum by $100 and Cuts Surplus by $2.6 billion • WIOA: House Cuts Programs, Some Deeply; Senate Level-Funds • Most Other Programs of Interest Level-Funded • Apprenticeships Cut by House, Restored by Senate • Deal on Overall Spending Could Help, Especially With Surplus (Note House Floor Amdt Shifting TRIO $ to Perkins)

9. Higher Education Act (HEA) Reauthorization • Committees, Especially House, State Intent to Act in 2017, But Will They? • Administration Deferring to Hill by Default • Role, Value, and Effectiveness of High Ed are Major Themes • No New Money and “Simplification” Prominent Concepts • Accreditation, Risk-Sharing Remain/Accountability CC Worries • Dems Staking Out Own Agenda • Loan Programs, Subsides, etc. Will Be One Key Focus

10. HEA Reauthorization Positions • Preserve and Enhance the Pell Grant Program • Index Annual Maximum Grant to CPI • Provide $ for Short-Term Training • “Pay Fors” an Issue • Transparency and Measurements • Add 300% of “normal time” graduation rate for community colleges – legislation has been introduced (S. 351). • Create a national student unit-record data system to effectively track student enrollment, completion, and earnings. (S. 1121, H.R. 2434) • Risk Sharing • Oppose new financial penalties or sanctions tied to loan repayment rates or defaults

11. HEA Reauthorization Positions • Accreditation – AACC Largely in Defensive Crouch • Loans • Give colleges the ability to lower loan maximums in defined circumstances • Prorate borrowing limits with enrollment intensity a la Pell Grants • Eliminate link between default rates and Pell eligibility • Simplify and consolidate Direct Loan repayment options with low-debt borrowers in mind

12. Perkins Act Reauthorization • Reauthorization Passed House Overwhelmingly in Summer • AACC Supported Legislation • Better alignment with WIOA • Career pathways enhancement • Improved integration with business • Maintained basic funding structure • Senate Stand-Off Over State Role • AACC priorities: emphasizing connections between Perkins recipients and businesses and industries; streamlining and aligning CTE performance indicators with WIOA.

13. Negotiated Rulemaking/Regulatory Relief • General Trump Administration Review of Regulations • ED Accepting Comments – AACC Has Submitted and Will Testify • Much of GE Has Been Rolled Back • Gainful Employment and Borrower Defense to Repayment NegReg Coming Up • Overall Punitive Posture of ED Towards Colleges is More Problematic Than Any Single Regulation

14. Tax Reform • Tax Reform Top Congressional and Trump Priority But May Morph Into More Traditional Tax Cut Bill • Apprenticeships Possibly on Table – But What Gets Employers to Play? • Likely Use of Reconciliation to Expedite • AACC Seeking “Fix” to AOTC to Benefit Neediest Students and Improvement of Lifetime Learning Credit • CC Concerns Include: • Modification of Charitable Deduction • State and Local Tax Deduction • Tax Exempt Bonds Financing • Section 127

15. Thank you! David Baime dbaime@aacc.nche.edu www.aacc.nche.edu/Advocacy/Pages/default.aspx