Biden to Unveil $2 Trillion, 8-year Infrastructure Plan
President Joe Biden's $2 trillion, eight-year " American Jobs Plan," to be unveiled Wednesday, contains money for a smorgasbord of interests from roads to the power grid and will also include money for cleaning up abandoned mines—an obvious nod to coal state senators who could be the key to its passage. According to several sources who were on a call where White House officials briefed lawmakers Tuesday afternoon, the plan would encompass not just highways and transit but water systems, broadband, supply chain issues and more. It would address electrification and has a major plank on innovation, which involves research funding targeted at areas where the United States is falling behind China and other competitors, such as on semi-conductors and batteries. In addition, it would seek to upgrade the power grid and make it more resilient; build and maintain VA hospitals and housing; and boost job training and apprenticeships. ( Politico - Mar. 30, 2021)
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Biden to Let Trump’s H1-B Visa Ban Expire in Win for Tech
President Joe Biden plans to allow a pandemic-related ban on visas for certain temporary workers, enacted by former President Donald Trump, to expire Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The moratorium, which affected H-1B visas used by technology companies to hire foreign coders and engineers, was imposed last June. Biden is opting not to renew it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced. The White House declined to comment. It remains unclear whether Biden will ease visa restrictions in general, reversing curbs imposed by the former Trump administration. ( Bloomberg - Mar. 30, 2021)
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Space Industry Relieved to See National Space Council Retained
The Biden administration’s decision to continue the National Space Council has won approval, and relief, from the space industry, who see it as the latest sign that the White House is not contemplating major changes to space policy. A National Security Council spokesman said March 29 that the council would continue in the new administration. The details of how the council will operate have yet to be worked out, but the spokesman said it will focus on space-related priorities of the administration, from addressing climate change to developing norms of responsible behavior in space. Asked about the council at a March 30 briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Biden believed the council “provides an opportunity to generate national space policy strategies, synchronize on America’s space activities, at a time of unprecedented activity.” ( SpaceNews - Mar. 31, 2021)
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Flexibility for Borrowers in Default
While many people with federal student loans have been granted more flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, borrowers with private student loans have so far been left out. Now, borrowers with privately held Federal Family Education Loans in default can take advantage of that same flexibility, the Education Department says. Those FFEL borrowers in default will be granted the same 0 percent interest and paused collections that borrowers with federal student loans received in March 2020. The change is retroactive back to the start of the pandemic. That means that FFEL borrowers in default who have had their wages or tax refunds seized during the pandemic will have those funds returned. Borrowers who made voluntary payments on those defaulted loans will have the option of a refund. The move will affect 1.14 million borrowers, the department estimates —800,000 of whom were at risk of having their federal tax refunds seized to pay their defaulted loans. ( Inside Higher Ed - Mar. 31, 2021)
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