Legislation and Education Committee

Legislation and Education Committee
WESTOP Board of Directors/Service Council Meeting

Committee Chair: Stephen Domingues

Committee Members: Sam Cortez, Rita Escher, Bertha Felix-Mata, Jake Lindsay, 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).   Two significant pieces of legislation are making headway in Congress: 1) H.R. 2669, the “College Cost Reduction Act of 2007,” was passed in the House of Representatives on July 11, 2007, by an overwhelming vote of 273-149 (regrettably, short of a veto-proof majority); and 2) S. 1642, the “Higher Education Amendments of 2007,” was passed in the Senate unanimously (95-0) on July 24, 2007.  These bills directly address certain concerns of the TRIO community related to the Education Department’s decision to impose an “absolute priority” and to conduct an arguably unethical evaluation methodology with respect to the Upward Bound program.  Note: Margaret Spellings, the Secretary of Education, sent a four page letter to House-Senate Conferees on August 3, 2007, which, in part, threatened a Presidential veto of the final bill and defended specifically the “absolute priority” and the Department’s evaluation strategy.

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. 3034, the 2008 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations bill, was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 276-140 on July 19, 2007.  The bill includes a $40 million increase in the annual TRIO appropriation, or 4.8% increase, for a total of $868.2 million for FY 2008 (the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2007, and will fund TRIO during the 2008-2009 program year).  The related Senate bill, S. 1710, has not yet been acted upon by the full Senate, but the bill at present contains a $30 million increase, or 3.6%, for TRIO.  This has been the most promising start for annual TRIO appropriations in recent years.

Action Items:

1. 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. Continue to provide strategic guidance to the WESTOP Board in its “blueprint” to advocate for TRIO

Respectfully submitted by: Stephen Domingues, Chair, on August 14, 2007

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