AACS' Efforts to Delay Implementation of GE Not Included in Government Spending Bill
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Government Relations Committee Chair Message: A year-end spending bill that would fund the government for the next year was released early this morning (December 16). Despite all of our best efforts and those of our champions on Capitol Hill, I am very disappointed to report that a rider blocking the Obama administration’s Gainful Employment (GE) proposal was not included in the omnibus filed today. While the omnibus does include a limited number of higher education riders – which we will be providing in a summary to follow very soon, GE was not among them.
While I can certainly share with you my perspective, I believe that it is important first to share with you a note sent out from Senator Mitch McConnell's staff to one of his constituents in Kentucky.
"I wanted to give you an update regarding the omnibus spending bill and your support for inclusion of a rider to delay the gainful employment regulation. Although this rider was a priority for Senator McConnell, the President made it very clear early on in the negotiations that this provision was a non-starter for him and that his opposition could amount to a veto of an omnibus package that included it. As you may know, this is also an issue that other Democrats, such as Senator Durbin have been very vocal about. Given the divisiveness of the issue and the fact that the rider was a non-negotiable for the President, we were unfortunately unable to get the gainful employment rider included in the deal.
We are disappointed with this outcome, as I know you are as well. Please know that we will continue to look for ways to address this issue."
While this is most certainly not the outcome that we had hoped for and it is a setback, it is not the final act of this play. In fact, this battle is far from over and we still have a strategy and the support that I believe will ultimately help us to prevail. As I noted throughout these updates, the facts remain that GE was elevated to the highest levels of our government's negotiations, was ultimately determined by the leaders of our government not to be appropriate for inclusion in a bill where such riders are not a common occurrence, and yet was so important and yes so contentious and "divisive" that individuals on both sides of this debate were so entrenched in their beliefs that the decision was in question all the way to the bitter end.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a testament to your efforts to fight against this ill-conceived and inappropriate regulation that we were in this battle till the bitter end.
The good news, on a day when it is hard to search for good news, is that Congress is slated to begin deliberations on the next reauthorization of HEA immediately upon their return next year and that still provides us with the time and the vehicle – the most appropriate vehicle of all – to address the issue once and for all. Your GRC is not through yet, neither are our champions as indicated by Senator McConnell's staff and others who we have already spoken with this morning. We have had peaks and valleys with GE throughout the entire process, we now turn our focus on the next phase and opportunity for success – reauthorization of HEA – and continue to hone our arguments in pursuit of an end to GE.
On to HEA.....
Truly yours,
Greg Jones
Government Relations Committee Chair
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