Latest news with #AppropriationsSubcommittee
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands of undocumented students in Louisiana could lose student aid under Trump rollback
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies at a hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on May 21, 2025. (Screenshot from committee livestream) Nearly 6,000 noncitizen students in Louisiana could lose access to federal financial aid for workforce education programs, creating funding gaps for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. An estimated 5,700 students enrolled at Louisiana's community and technical colleges could lose their support after President Donald Trump's administration announced students without legal status to be in the United States would no longer qualify for student aid, LCTCS spokesman Chandler LeBoeuf said in a statement to the Illuminator. This policy change will largely impact LCTCS adult education programs. 'Such support includes the loss of access to federally funded programs that help gain literacy, job skills and credentials,' LeBoeuf said. 'We may face administrative burdens and funding gaps as we adjust enrollment policies.' The policy that allowed the immigrants to take advantage of student aid programs such as the Pell Grant and workforce training financial aid programs had been in place since 1997, when former President Bill Clinton's administration exempted career, technical and adult education programs from provisions in law that limited federal benefits to just U.S. citizens, permanent residents and certain categories of 'qualified aliens.' 'The Department will ensure that taxpayer funds are reserved for citizens and individuals who have entered our country through legal means who meet federal eligibility criteria,' U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a media release announcing the new policy. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Dems release school aid budget plans as GOP tees up surprise appropriations meeting
State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) leads a press conference with fellow House Democrats on June 10, 2025 to discuss their education budget plan. | Screenshot Michigan House appropriators responsible for the state's school aid fund will meet early Wednesday morning for a meeting announced late Tuesday afternoon – which could signal some progress on the Republican-controlled chamber's side of the budget. Meanwhile, House Democrats on Tuesday afternoon held a news conference unveiling their plans for the school aid budget to fund Michigan's public schools. The move was billed as action in light of inaction from their Republican counterparts. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Department of Education, chaired by Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Township), released a committee notice for its Wednesday morning meeting at around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, which one Michigan Capitol news reporter noted landed about 30 minutes before House Democrats introduced their plan. The notice has no agenda items listed for the meeting scheduled at 8:40 a.m. Although Democrats do not control the appropriations process in the House, that didn't stop the caucus from unveiling its plans for the school aid fund on Tuesday. The plan would continue to fund ongoing investment priorities, like universal school meals, special education, funding for at-risk students, mental health and school safety and school district transportation costs. The Great Start Readiness program would be a priority, as well as funding for isolated or rural school districts, bilingual education, career and technical education and Early On programming. A per-pupil funding increase would also be a part of any Democratic school funding plan advanced to their Republican colleagues. State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) said reports of Michigan's struggling students and schools means that the state, now more than ever, needs a clear and sustained plan for public education. 'Not only are we proposing a $24 billion top-line proposal funding school aid, but we are also increasing the per-pupil allotment to $11,500,' Farhat said Tuesday. 'We're calling on our Republican colleagues to also join us in codifying the categoricals that mean most to our districts. That means at-risk funding, that means school lunch, and that means the hard-fought wins we delivered for parents and teachers over the last two years.' Aside from the per-pupil funding, Farhat said Democrats are proposing $500 million in classroom size reduction efforts, $300 million for literacy interventions, another $300 million for mental health and over $1 billion in school infrastructure grants. Farhat said Democrats' plan would prioritize those items all without raiding school lunches or at risk funding. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
E&E News
04-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Lawmakers aim to slash climate funds in two spending bills
House Republican appropriators Wednesday proposed deep cuts in many agriculture programs, eliminating the long-standing 'climate hubs' at the Agriculture Department and targeting resilience for natural disasters in military and veterans funding. Annual spending legislation for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would set discretionary spending at USDA and related agencies at $25.5 billion, which Republican appropriators said would reflect a 4.4 percent decline from this year's level. While the proposal would hit certain areas especially hard — such as the climate hubs, conservation and urban agriculture — it would increase spending at the Agricultural Research Service and maintain funding to fight animal and plant pests and diseases at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Advertisement The Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture is scheduled to mark up the bill Thursday. Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said in a news release that the measure 'reflects a clear, conservative commitment to fiscal responsibility while ensuring that America's farmers, ranchers, and rural communities remain a top priority.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Duffy clashes with Democrats over DEI funding cuts, denies air traffic controllers let go
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Democrats at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, slamming Biden-era climate and social justice projects while also pushing back against claims 400 air traffic controllers have been let go. Duffy said such initiatives sucked money from other projects, and he pointed to the 2023 Harvard Supreme Court decision that effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions as justification for scrapping them. He said such Biden-era policies inflated project costs without contributing to safety or infrastructure quality. "Our department, over the course of the last hundred days, has saved taxpayers roughly $9.5 billion," Duffy said in his opening statement. "Those savings include monies pulled from projects tied to social justice to climate requirements, also boondoggle projects, as well as bringing efficiencies to the department." Transportation Secretary Says Air Traffic Control System Updates Will Take Time, But Not 'Jeopardize Safety' Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., took issue with the move and drew on personal experience to justify it. "My late wife... had to walk two and a half miles to school every morning right past the White school, where the White kids had buses. That was social injustice," Clyburn said. "Now all of a sudden we see this as wasteful government spending? I don't think so. I think this is a wise investment in a country that has challenges that we need all people involved in." Read On The Fox News App Duffy, while praising Clyburn's history and work as an elected official, clarified that he wasn't attacking the broader concept of social justice, but rather specific policy conditions under the Biden administration. "What I see with the climate and the social justice requirements in the projects that you so dearly want built, that it's adding costs on," Duffy said. "It's costing more money. If we take out 5 to 10% climate or social justice, that's money we don't have for additional projects. And that's my concern." Congress Moves To Address Air Traffic Controller Crisis As Newark Meltdown Sparks Alarm Duffy also clashed with Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., who claimed that 400 air traffic controllers have been let go, accusing the Trump administration of eroding national air travel safety and delaying infrastructure projects. "The administration undermined [safety efforts] by offering deferred resignation to controllers, and at least 400 of them… were fired, resulting in delays to much-needed upgrades," Torres said. Duffy sharply pushed back, calling her statement a "falsehood" and flatly denying the claim. "We have not fired – haven't let go – anyone," Duffy said. "Air traffic controllers? You said we let 400 go. No one in air traffic control has been allowed to take a deferred resignation offer. Not one. Not 400. Zero." The hearing focused on reviewing the Transportation Department's FY 2026 discretionary budget request of $26.7 billion, a 5.8% increase from FY 2025. He promised to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate inefficiencies and reallocate savings to infrastructure. "Our budget carefully focuses taxpayer resources on items critical to our most fundamental mission of safety and investing in transportation infrastructure," Duffy said. In terms of the recent outages at Newark Airport, he blamed them on missteps by the previous administration, citing an ill-planned transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia. "They didn't test and make sure the lines were hardened… and they didn't move the STARS system, which helps interpret radar," Duffy said. "We're working at lightning speed and pace to get this resolved," he said. To ease pressure on the system, the FAA is also working with airlines to reduce flight volumes, he article source: Duffy clashes with Democrats over DEI funding cuts, denies air traffic controllers let go
Fox News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Duffy clashes with Democrats over DEI funding cuts, denies air traffic controllers let go
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Democrats at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, slamming Biden-era climate and social justice projects while also pushing back against claims 400 air traffic controllers have been let go. Duffy said such initiatives sucked money from other projects, and he pointed to the 2023 Harvard Supreme Court decision that effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions as justification for scrapping them. He said such Biden-era policies inflated project costs without contributing to safety or infrastructure quality. "Our department, over the course of the last hundred days, has saved taxpayers roughly $9.5 billion," Duffy said in his opening statement. "Those savings include monies pulled from projects tied to social justice to climate requirements, also boondoggle projects, as well as bringing efficiencies to the department." Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., took issue with the move and drew on personal experience to justify it. "My late wife... had to walk two and a half miles to school every morning right past the White school, where the White kids had buses. That was social injustice," Clyburn said. "Now all of a sudden we see this as wasteful government spending? I don't think so. I think this is a wise investment in a country that has challenges that we need all people involved in." Duffy, while praising Clyburn's history and work as an elected official, clarified that he wasn't attacking the broader concept of social justice, but rather specific policy conditions under the Biden administration. "What I see with the climate and the social justice requirements in the projects that you so dearly want built, that it's adding costs on," Duffy said. "It's costing more money. If we take out 5 to 10% climate or social justice, that's money we don't have for additional projects. And that's my concern." Duffy also clashed with Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., who claimed that 400 air traffic controllers have been let go, accusing the Trump administration of eroding national air travel safety and delaying infrastructure projects. "The administration undermined [safety efforts] by offering deferred resignation to controllers, and at least 400 of them… were fired, resulting in delays to much-needed upgrades," Torres said. Duffy sharply pushed back, calling her statement a "falsehood" and flatly denying the claim. "We have not fired – haven't let go – anyone," Duffy said. "Air traffic controllers? You said we let 400 go. No one in air traffic control has been allowed to take a deferred resignation offer. Not one. Not 400. Zero." The hearing focused on reviewing the Transportation Department's FY 2026 discretionary budget request of $26.7 billion, a 5.8% increase from FY 2025. He promised to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate inefficiencies and reallocate savings to infrastructure. "Our budget carefully focuses taxpayer resources on items critical to our most fundamental mission of safety and investing in transportation infrastructure," Duffy said. In terms of the recent outages at Newark Airport, he blamed them on missteps by the previous administration, citing an ill-planned transfer of airspace control from New York to Philadelphia. "They didn't test and make sure the lines were hardened… and they didn't move the STARS system, which helps interpret radar," Duffy said. "We're working at lightning speed and pace to get this resolved," he said. To ease pressure on the system, the FAA is also working with airlines to reduce flight volumes, he said.
