This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate are adjourned until the week of November 14.
Education Awards Over $427 Million in School Improvement Grants to States and Territories
On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced more than $427 million in School Improvement Grants (SIG), aimed at helping turn around the country’s persistently lowest-achieving schools. Grants were awarded to 48 states, the District of Columbia, the territories and the Bureau of Indian Education. According to the release, the department awards grants to states, which then award competitive sub grants to school districts that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to substantially raising student achievement in the lowest-performing schools. In schools that have received funds under this program, up to 80 percent of students are from low-income families, which is 28 percentage points higher than the average school. Since it was established in 2009, the SIG program has invested $7 billion. This is the last year that funds will be awarded through SIG, which was consolidated into Title I by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA requires that states identify and support the lowest-performing schools and to implement evidence-based interventions to turn around these schools, and also requires that states set aside funds under Title I specifically for these schools.
CMS Announces Disproportionate Share Hospital Allotments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the final fiscal 2014 and preliminary fiscal 2016 Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) allotments (preliminary fiscal year 2015 allotments were released in February). The notice also includes background information describing the methodology used to determine states’ DSH allotments. Generally, a state’s fiscal year DSH allotment is calculated by increasing the amount of its DSH allotment for the preceding fiscal year by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the previous fiscal year, subject to certain limitations. The final fiscal year 2016 DSH allotments will be published in future notices based on the states’ four quarterly Medicaid expenditure reports for the fiscal year available following the end of the year and the actual change in the CPI-U for fiscal year 2015.
EPA Releases White Paper on Updating the Lead and Copper Rule
Last week the Environmental Protection Agency released a white paper outlining future potential revisions to the federal Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) in order to prevent contamination in drinking water systems. According to the paper, the “EPA’s goal for the LCR revisions is to improve public health protection while ensuring effective implementation by the 68,000 drinking water systems that are covered by the rule.” In developing the revisions, EPA will be guided by several principles including a focus on minimizing exposure to lead in drinking water, clear and enforceable requirements, transparency, environmental justice and children’s health, and integrating drinking water with cross-media lead reductions efforts. EPA welcomes input and feedback on the ideas presented in the white paper to support development of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking of LCR Revisions for 2017. The EPA also released its Environmental Justice 2020 Action Agenda (EJ 2020), which is the agency’s strategic plan for advancing environmental justice for the years 2016-2020. The plan consists of eight priority areas and four significant national environmental justice challenges.
Final Rule Requires State Evaluation of Highways Repeatedly Damaged by Disasters
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a final rule to implement asset management requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Under the asset management provisions in MAP-21, state departments of transportation (DOTs) must develop and implement an asset management plan; this rule establishes the processes the state DOTs must use to develop their plans through a phased approach. The rule also sets the minimum standards states must use in developing and operating bridge and pavement management systems and the requirements for the periodic evaluations to determine if reasonable alternatives exist to roads, highways, or bridges that repeatedly require repair and reconstruction activities. Finally, the rule reflects the FAST Act provisions that added critical infrastructure to the asset management portion of the National Highway Performance Program statute. The final rule is generally effective October 2, 2017.
Administration Announces Call to Action for States on Non-Compete Agreements
On Tuesday the White House announced a call to action and set of best practices for state policymakers to enact reforms to reduce the prevalence of non-compete agreements. As context for the best practices, the White House also released a state-by-state report on key dimensions of current state non-compete policies.
The report defines non-compete clauses as requirements that have traditionally been used to protect trade secrets by maintaining a buffer time period before a departing employee may take a job with a competitor. Best practices outlined in the call to action include banning non-compete clauses for categories of workers, improving transparency of agreements, and incentivizing employers to write enforceable contracts while eliminating unenforceable provisions. According to the report, three states generally prohibit non-compete agreements, while 26 have statutes that govern such agreements in whole or in part. These actions are part of a response to the President’s April Executive Order which directed agencies to increase competition for consumers and workers.
HHS Announces Release of $3 Billion in Initial LIHEAP Funds
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Community Services recently announced the initial release of approximately $3.09 billion of federal fiscal year 2017 regular block grant funding to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grantees. This funding was provided under the fiscal year 2017 continuing resolution (P.L. 114-223), signed into law by the President on September 29 and effective through December 9. According to the office, each grantee that submitted a complete LIHEAP plan for fiscal year 2017 received the funding available under the continuing resolution, after accounting for updates to the allocation formula data used to calculate the block grant allocation award amounts. A list of allocations for state and territory grantees can be found here and allocations for tribal grantees can be found here.
DOT Releases Guidance on Cybersecurity Standards for Autonomous Vehicles
Last week the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a proposed cybersecurity guidance to protect vehicles from malicious cyber-attacks and unauthorized access. The guidance is intended to cover cybersecurity issues for all motor vehicles and is applicable to all individuals and organizations manufacturing and designing vehicle systems and software. The guidance recommends a layered approach to vehicle cybersecurity to reduce the probability of an attack’s success and mitigate the ramifications of unauthorized access. Best practices in the guidance include a development process with explicit cybersecurity considerations, a management commitment to prioritize vehicle cybersecurity, promoting an educated workforce, and assessing risks of aftermarket devices and serviceability of vehicle components and systems.
Energy Awards $21.4 Million to Promote Solar Energy Adoption
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced the release of $21.4 million in funding for 17 new projects to help reduce certain costs related to solar energy, including installation, permitting and connecting to the grid. The projects included in the announcement are funded by the department’s SunShot Initiative, which funds projects to enable the widespread deployment through reduced costs and barriers. The new funding will support projects under two programs: 9 projects are under the Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies (SEEDS) program; and 8 projects are under the State Energy Strategies (SES) program. A list of awardees can be found here.
Recently Released Reports
Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2013; National Center for Education Statistics
Water Infrastructure: Information on Selected Midsize and Large Cities with Declining Populations, U.S. Government Accountability Office
The College Board
Trends in College Pricing
Trends in Student Aid
Tax Policy Center
State Tax Commissions: 2000-2016
How State Tax Commissions Approach Economic Development
Blueprint for a Healthier America 2016: Policy Priorities for the Next Administration and Congress, Trust for America’s Health
Infographic: Succession Planning in State and Local Governments, Center for State and Local Government Excellence
Economic News
GDP Increased 2.9 Percent in the Third Quarter of 2016
Last week the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis released data on the gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2016 (advance estimate), showing an increase at an annual rate of 2.9 percent. Many economists had expected growth of 2.5 percent; in the second quarter, real GDP increased 1.4 percent. Real gross domestic product is the value of goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes. The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (up 2.1 percent), exports (up 10.0), federal government spending (up 2.5 percent), and nonresidential fixed investment (up 1.2 percent). Negative contributions were due to residential fixed investment (down 6.2 percent) and state and local government spending (down 0.7). The “second” estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on November 29.