The House Rules Committee is expected on Friday to approve the American Rescue Act, and it’s likely the full House will pass it later the same day.
The higher education provisions in the bill brought before the Rules Committee are substantially modified in form, if not effect, compared to legislation passed by the House Education and Labor Committee. The changes are to enhance compliance with Senate legislative budget “reconciliation” procedures. The Senate reconciliation rules strictly limit provisions to only those directly affecting spending, and some of the House bill’s language was deemed to run afoul of the so-called “Byrd Rule.”
But the bottom line for community colleges is the same as that in the measure the education committee approved on February 11. Using largely the same basic program structure and allocation formulas as the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), the bill would:
- Provide $39.6 billion in higher education spending. This translates into formula grant allocations for colleges that will yield approximately 70% more than the amounts colleges received under CRRSAA.