This month kicks off the start of the new school year and the waning days of the 116^th Congress.  Congress returns after Labor Day to a full agenda and the twin pressures of the looming deadlines of October 1 for the start of the fiscal year and the November elections that will determine control of Congress and the White House.   The challenges of the pandemic and the implications for universities reopening and resuming full activity are very much on the minds of our policymakers.   The Office of Federal Relations is working closely with our Florida delegation and the federal agencies as they begin the sprint to the end of the year.      

 

COVID-19 Supplemental Spending

 

Phase IV Negotiations Continue – House and Senate leaders continue to negotiate with the White House on a fourth supplemental spending measure.   Major differences in the overall size and composition of the package stalled negotiations over the summer.  In response, President Trump announced a series of executive actions to reimpose an eviction moratorium, defer federal payroll tax payments, reinstitute federal unemployment payments, and continue the suspension of student loan payments. Of particular interest, the executive order on student loan payments would expand the CARES Act provision and pause monthly payments and interest for many student loan borrowers until December 31, 2020.  

 

To date, two major proposals have been introduced in the House and Senate. These bills— The Senate's Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act and the House H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES) Act.  In May, the House passed the HEROES Act, which would provide $26.7 billion for public higher education institutions and students. The Senate HEALS bill proposes $29 billion with more flexibility for institutions, extends temporary liability protections to colleges and universities, and $10 billion in research relief funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Based on estimates, UF would receive an additional $70.4 million in HEERF funding under the HEALS Act and $61 million under the HEROES Act.   

For a more detailed analysis see APLU analysis of the HEALS Act and APLU analysis of the HEROES Act 

UF continues to advocate on the importance of Phase IV supplemental funding for student assistance, added institutional costs of PPE and safety measures, and funding to offset added research costs and extension of grants.   

LINK to UF priorities letter to Florida delegation.

 

BUDGET/APPROPRIATIONS

 

Current reports indicate Congress and the White House are nearing agreement on a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on September 30.  The duration of the CR is not yet known, but it is expected to be a “clean” CR that is free of policy or other measures.  Congress began appropriations work for FY 2021 in March and started marking up individual appropriations bills in July. To date, the House has adopted ten out of the twelve appropriations bills but the Senate has postponed action on their bills due to disagreements over expected amendments and policy riders to address additional COVID-19 aid and racial injustice and policing.

 

Overall the House appropriations bills provide a $150 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $6,495 and a 2.5 percent increase to the Federal Work-Study program and relatively flat funding for other student aid programs.  For research, the House bills provide NIH with the largest increase of 12.7 percent increase to $47 billion, which includes $5 billion in emergency appropriations for pandemic relief.  The remaining research agencies receive at or below inflationary level funding with a 3.3 percent increase to the National Science Foundation to $8.55 billion; a 2.4 percent increase to Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to $435 million; and a 0.7 percent increase of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to $7.05 billion.

The APLU FY2021 appropriations priorities chart has been updated to reflect House action. As a reminder, APLU has developed detailed analyses of bills of interest.

 

 

EDUCATION

Department of Education Title IX Regulations effective August 14, 2020- The Department of Education (ED) released its final Title IX campus sexual assault regulation​ on May 6, 2020.  

The higher ed associations submitted a brief to the District Court for the District of Columbia on June 24 in support of the motion to delay the Aug. 14 effective date filed by 18 state attorneys general. The District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion that asked the courts to delay the August 14 effective date for the Education Department’s new Title IX regulations.  In addition, a federal judge in New York denied a motion seeking a stay and preliminary injunction in a similar suit filed by the New York state attorney general and the New York City Board of Education.

Previously, the higher ed associations wrote in comments​ to the Department expressing concerns that the rule imposes a legalistic, prescriptive ’one-size-fits-all’ judicial-like process.  ACE has prepared a summary of the final regulations here.

 

RESEARCH

 

FY 2022 Trump Administration R&D Budget Priorities- On Aug. 14, the White House released its annual R&D priorities memorandum, which will shape federal agencies’ budget submissions for fiscal year 2022. The priorities are similar to last year’s memo, though they include a new focus on public health R&D due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The memo states that areas connected to “Industries of the Future,” such as artificial intelligence and quantum information science, “remain the administration’s top R&D priority.” In addition, the administration also released a summary of its proposals to increase federal spending on QIS and non-defense AI R&D. Other items again highlighted in the priorities memo are earth system predictability, disaster resilience, microelectronics, advanced military capabilities, ocean mapping, early-stage energy R&D, and space exploration.

 

HEALTH

 

HHS Provider Relief Fund- The $175 billion HHS Provider Relief Fund was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The fund is intended to support providers incurring healthcare-related expenses and lost revenue related to COVID-19 response efforts. To date, HHS has allocated more than $122 billion.

UF Health has received $106.7 million in HHS Relief Funding, which covers approximately 57% of COVID-19 related business loss & operating expenses.  Unfortunately, UF Health Shands did not receive its expected share of the Safety-Net HHS Provider Relief Funding because the calculation of profitability does not capture the full cost of teaching hospital operations.  UF continues to advocate more funding is needed to fill in the gaps created by the prior safety-net allocations, by ensuring ALL safety-net hospitals are eligible to receive relief dollars.

 

Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR)- In November 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released MFAR, a proposed rule that would significantly change state Medicaid program financing and dramatically reduce supplemental payments for providers.  The Administration has indicated it could finalize MFAR by September.  UF continues to urge CMS to refrain from finalizing the rule. UF Health is the safety net provider of specialty care and services to our Medicaid and uninsured populations and if MFAR is finalized, we could see a potential loss of $192 million. MFAR proposes a number of new policies that would significantly alter the ways that Florida has funded their Medicaid programs, including limiting the use of intergovernmental transfers and provider taxes to finance the state share of Medicaid costs, and severely reducing physician supplemental payments.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

The Administration has issued several COVID-19-related proclamations affecting our international students and scholars.  

ICE Fall Guidance and Visa Processing- Following the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind its planned rule restricting international students for the fall semester, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) posted a revised set of FAQs and later issued answers to clarify further questions. While this new ICE guidance allows returning students to maintain their visa records regardless of where (in the U.S. or in their home country) and how (in-person, online, hybrid) they take courses in the fall, new and initial students taking a fully online course load will likely not be able to obtain a visa to study in the U.S.

 

On August 12, in response to the ICE guidance, the higher ed associations sent a letter to the State Department and CBP urging them to ensure international student visas are processed in a timely, safe manner that allows them to return to their studies in the fall.

 

The State Department announced it has temporarily expanded the ability of consular officers to waive in-person interviews for individuals applying for a nonimmigrant visa in the same classification. The expansion is temporarily expanded from 12 months to a period of 24 months.

 

June 22 Proclamation on Nonimmigrant Visas- The White House released a “Proclamation - Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak” that extended the April 22 Proclamation blocking green card applicants outside the U.S. from entering and suspended the issuance of certain nonimmigrant visas, including the H-1B visa for high-skilled workers and J-1 intern visas, through the end of 2020.   This proclamation is set to expire on December 31 but is subject to extensions and modifications by the White House.

 

As referenced in Sec. 5(c)(iii) of the proclamation, DHS, as soon as practicable, is to consider promulgating regulations regarding the efficient allocation of H-1B visas and that those visas do not disadvantage U.S. workers.  Rulemaking with additional changes to H-1B visas is expected in mid-September.

 

The Department of State issued a clarification on how it will determine "national interest" in considering exemptions under the June 22 presidential proclamation. Under this new guidance, State will provide exemptions for H-1Bs for the following: travel as a public health or healthcare professional to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or conduct ongoing medical research in an area with a substantial public health benefit; travel by applicants seeking to resume ongoing employment in the United States in the same position with the same employer and visa classification; and travel by technical specialists, senior-level managers, and other workers whose travel is necessary to facilitate the economic recovery.

 

To date, three lawsuits have been filed against the White House proclamation; the latest was filed by the Chamber of Commerce. Additional lawsuits can be expected as DHS and the Departments of State and Labor work to issue new rules to change and restrict the H-1B visa program.

 

DACA Update- The Supreme Court’s decision in June to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has left the door open for lower courts and DHS to rule on the future of the program. USCIS announced a memo setting forth additional guidance on the implementation of the July 28 memo. 

The agency has now resumed the processing of DACA renewals after a month-long pause although new applications will continue to be rejected. USCIS says they will only grant advance parole for travel outside the U.S. to DACA recipients if travel is urgent for humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. The administration is still considering whether to shut down the program altogether following the June SCOTUS decision.

 

USCIS Fee Rule Update- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a final rule that adjusts fees for certain immigration and naturalization benefit requests. Of note to the higher education community, the H-1B application fee would increase from $460 to $555, the work authorization application for students on optional practical training (OPT) would rise from $410 to $550, and premium processing times would slow from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. These new fees are scheduled to take effect on October 2, 2020.  AILA and eight other organizations have filed a lawsuit against USCIS arguing the dramatic fee increases will immediately devastate vulnerable populations.

 

OTHER

FY 2021 Defense Authorization Bill – The House and Senate have each passed their versions of the National Defense Authorization Bill (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021.  Both the Senate bill S. 4049, and the House bill H.R. 6395, include authorization of Defense programs as well as other science and research policy provisions.  Several UF priorities passed as part of the measure, including: an amendment on international students and online learning; an amendment to help retain top talent working to promote and protect our national security; and an amendment to establish a Defense Department traineeship program to grow domestic science and technology talent in the interest of national security. Congress has not yet released a schedule detailing when the bills will go to conference.  Given the Trump Administration has issued a veto threat against the bill, negotiations are likely to drag well into the fall.  

 

UF Washington Update is a newsletter from the UF Office of Federal Relations. Please contact us if you have any questions or need additional information at 202-220-1381 or UF-FederalRelations@ufl.edu