Federal Updates

FY 21 Appropriations

The FY 21 Appropriations process, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has started to move forward again, at least in the House. Recently, the various House Appropriations Subcommittees marked up all 12 of their spending bills, with the full Appropriations Committee also beginning markups. They are expected to finish with the full House passing a bill later in the month.

4th COVID Relief Package

Early discussions indicate that a Senate relief bill is emerging that could include additional state/municipality relief, additional money for COVID-19 testing, extensions to unemployment benefits, and liability protection against businesses and universities.

Relief Package Details

RISE Act

Last month, a bi-partisan group of House members introduced the RISE Act (Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act), a bill that that authorizes $26 billion in supplemental funding for federal research agencies to ameliorate the disruption to federally-funded research.

New ICE Rule

The Office of Government Relations is working closely with departments throughout the University to determine exactly what newly proposed federal guidance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement means for our international students. Texas A&M recently joined other institutions in the ACE, AAU and APLU, in signing onto a higher education community institutional letter to Congress expressing concern for this proposed rule.

DACA

Last month, in a 5-4 Ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration’s attempt at rescinding the Obama-Era Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was unconstitutional, citing that the Administration failed to give adequate justification for terminating the program as required by federal law, thus keeping the program intact for now.

State Updates

87th Legislative Session

We're less than 200 days from the start of the 87th Legislative Session, which begins on January 12, 2021.

Here are some quick highlights as we draw closer to the start of the session.

Pre-filing of bills begins Nov. 9, 2020.
Texas A&M's budget for FY 22-23 is due to the state in August. However, several divisions across campus have been working together since early spring to coordinate budget planning activities for the campus.
Some of the budget challenges facing the state are familiar (low oil prices = low tax revenue) and new (COVID-19 and the increasing costs to respond).

As we make the case for the State's continued investment in Texas A&M and support of higher education, we won't really know where we are on appropriations until well into the session (which ends May 31, 2021). We'll monitor closely and report out as needed.

Contact Us

As always, if you have any questions or would like to discuss state or federal higher education matters in greater detail, please let us know. Stay safe and we wish you all the best of health!

*Content for updates may include content from: The Texas A&M University System Office of Federal Relations, Association of American Universities (aau.edu), Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (aplu.org), Politico (politico.com), or Van Scoyoc Associates (vsadc.com).