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State Legislative Updates

Federal Legislative Update

January 25, 2016

CLEMSON ON CAPITOL HILL

Winter Storm Jonas Impacts Capitol Hill
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that all federal government offices in Washington will remain closed on Monday. The House of Representatives have cancelled votes this week and the Senate has postponed votes until Wednesday evening.

President’s Administration Proposes Pell Expansions
The Obama administration is proposing two expansions of Pell Grants at a total cost of $2 billion, which will be included in the President’s FY 2017 budget proposal to be released next month.

The first, Pell for Accelerated Completion, would allow students to receive up to three grant awards in an academic year. The program would provide qualifying full-time students with Pell funds year round, including an additional $1,915, on average. The second proposal, On-Track Pell Bonus, would provide an additional $300 to students who take at least 15 credits per semester.

The two proposals are intended to help students graduate on time.

Click here to view the STATE UPDATE for January 25, 2016.

Federal Legislative Update

January 15, 2016

CLEMSON ON CAPITOL HILL

President’s Budget to be released on February 9, Start of FY 2017 Appropriations Process
The White House announced that it will release the President’s budget request for FY 2017 on February 9. Although the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released no details about the FY 17 budget, the package is expected to stick to the caps on defense and nondefense discretionary spending agreed to last year, which would largely freeze FY17 funding at the FY16 level.

The release of the President’s budget will also kick off the FY 2017 appropriations process, which is expected to begin soon in the House. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) intends to mark up a budget resolution this spring, as Republicans look to get the appropriations process back on track. House and Senate Republicans passed a concurrent budget resolution last year, but the appropriations process stalled as Senate Democrats blocked any individual appropriations bills from coming to the floor. Despite already having top-line discretionary spending numbers for FY 2017, how that spending is allocated among the appropriations bills will be debated.

Click here to view the STATE UPDATE for January 15, 2016.