Legislation and Education Committee

January 18-19, 2008
Republic of Palau

Committee Chair: Stephen Domingues

Committee Members: Sam Cortez, Rita Escher, Bertha Felix-Mata, Heinrich Palik, and Ken Songco

Brief Committee Description: The Legislation and Education Committee provides critical support to the Board's efforts to meet strategic goals 1 and 4.  The Committee is responsible for coordinating WESTOP's participation in the annual COE Policy Seminar.

Committee Charges: To specifically address itself to the concerns mentioned in Sections 2.2 (d-g) of the WESTOP Bylaws and to educate the membership on pertinent legislative issues and the legislative process.

Committee Updates:

1. Reauthorization (Strategic Goal 1: Develop and manage effective responses to re-authorization of the Higher Education Act and other legislative priorities).   The President signed the budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 2669, “The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007,” on September 27, 2007.  This bill, in its final form, passed 79-12 in the Senate, and 292-97 in the House of Representatives, a veto-proof majority which forestalled a threatened Presidential veto.  Significant features: 1) the bill raised the maximum Pell Grant from $4310 to $5400 over five years; 2) it cut interest rates on need-based student loans in half (6.8% to 3.4%) over the five years; and 3) the bill added $57 million to fund an additional 187 Upward Bound programs, serving about 12,000 students.  The House version of Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (1998), H.R. 4137, has cleared the Education and Labor Committee, and it may be taken up by the full House in Spring 2008; this bill includes several provisions that benefit TRIO programs, including the elimination of the Absolute Priority and the establishment of a formal appeals process for TRIO applicants.  The Senate version, S.1642, passed the Senate unanimously on July 24, 2007. 

1. FY 2008 Federal TRIO Appropriations (Strategic Goal 1: Develop and manage effective responses to re-authorization of the Higher Education Act and other legislative priorities, and Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen WESTOP's communications and advocacy capacity among its members, other educational equity organizations, and governmental entities).  H.R. 2764, the omnibus appropriations bill, was signed by the President on December 26, 2007.  The bill, which consolidated 11 appropriations bills, level-funded TRIO at $828.2 million and GEAR-UP at $303.4 million.  The signed appropriations bill included the Moore-Scott-Cole-Shea-Porter amendment prohibiting the use of appropriated funds for the Upward Bound evaluation.

Action Items:

1. Continue to work with Chapter Presidents and Chapter Legislation and Education Chairs to offer a workshop at selected Professional Development Seminars focusing on national, regional, and state-specific issues.
2. Disseminate relevant information to the Association concerning pending legislative issues via the WESTOP web site and other appropriate communication vehicles.
3. Coordinate WESTOP participation in the COE Policy Seminar in March 2008

Respectfully submitted by: Stephen Domingues, Chair, on January 1, 2008

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