Written by Tara Thomas, AESA Policy Analyst
On September 25, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded until December 20 and adjourned for recess until after the election. When members return on November 12, the House and Senate will have a long to-do list, including some bills that they must pass, and some bills that AESA would like for them to pass. Here’s what we will be watching:
Must Pass Legislation
FY25 Appropriations
With the new deadline as December 20, Congress will have very little time to negotiate FY25 funding after their return. Will they pass full FY25 appropriations or kick the can to the 119th Congress with another CR? The answer here relies on a few factors, most notably the outcome of the election. Who will be in power in the 119th? Does it help to wait or let the next Congress start in normal order with FY26 appropriations? Will House Speaker Johnson be preparing for another Speaker run – aware that most of his caucus is frustrated by the previous spending deals?
Additionally, Johnson has stated that he will not take up an omnibus funding measure — when all 12 spending bills are rolled into one giant package — and that House Republicans want to pass each bill separately. There are significant differences between the House and Senate FY25 proposals and it is impossible to see how they could find middle ground on each bill separately without prolonged negotiations. Given that Congress will only have 24 legislative days in Lame Duck to come to an agreement, the option of negotiating smaller packages makes the likelihood of finalizing the FY25 numbers extremely low.
Whatever happens, AESA will continue to advocate for robust federal investments in education.
NDAA
A less well-known annual bill that must pass is the National Defense Authorization Act. When Congress returns to town in a month and a half, there will be negotiations for the release of a final, compromise version of legislation, which given it’s must-pass nature can also get loaded with other non-defense policy priorities. AESA was hopeful that the CARE for Student Mental Health Act would be one of those to pieces to be added to the bill, but it was stripped at the last minute. We are monitoring language in both the House and Senate bill that would require high schools to offer more opportunities for military recruiting events as this could be a sticking point for us in the final negotiations.
Could Pass Legislation
In addition to tracking FY25 appropriations and NDAA, there are a few bills in Congress that AESA has been monitoring in the hopes that they will pass by year-end.
Secure Rural Schools
The Secure Rural Schools Act provides critical funding to schools and communities in forest counties. Due to their proximity to national forest lands, forest counties have much lower tax revenue and must rely instead on the SRS program to fund essential education, transportation and public safety programs. School districts in these counties rely on SRS funding for educator compensation, academic programming and learning opportunities for students, operation costs, and infrastructure projects. SRS was last reauthorized in 2021 and expired in FY23. If Congress fails to reauthorize the program, impacted districts will lose this essential funding.
Student Privacy and Online Safety
The other two student bills that stand a chance of getting signed into law by year’s end both relate to privacy and online safety proposals. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0, amends COPPA to strengthen protections related to the online collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of children and minors up to age 16. AESA has long been supportive of COPPA 2.0. The second, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), is a bit more complicated. While overall the bill is quite positive and meant to protect students online (particularly social media), as currently written, it could significantly burden schools’ ability to provide technology-enhanced education. There is a small technical fix that we are working on securing in the House version that would maintain the bill’s purpose of protecting students online while ensuring it does not unintentionally disrupt education technology in classrooms. With this fix, AESA will proudly endorse KOSA and encourage its passage.
Whether Congress has the time or can reach consensus to pass these additional bills is unclear at this time. If they are unable to accomplish these goals in the 118th Congress, the AESA is excited to continue this work with the 119th Congress.
