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ISTE Washington Notes
News of U.S. educational technology policy and legislation, posted
as a service of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education.
Copyright © 2006 ISTE
Guide to acronyms
used in Washington Notes
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November 2006 Contents
Democrats Capture House and Senate
In what can only be characterized as a major political shift, the Democratic
Party captured both the House of Representatives and the Senate in national
elections on November 7th. Many observers expected the Democrats would reclaim
a majority in the House of Representatives after twelve years of Republican
rule, but very few expected Democrats to capture the Senate with a 51 to 49
majority.
Democrats achieved their narrow Senate majority by fending off a Republican
challenge to one sitting Democratic Senator — Robert Menendez of New Jersey
— capturing open Democratic seats in Maryland and Minnesota, and knocking-off
six Republican incumbent Senators: Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Conrad Burns
of Montana, Jim Talent of Missouri, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike DeWine
of Ohio, and George Allen of Virginia.
Independents Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, both
of whom caucus with the Democrats, also won their races. The only Republican
victory to yield a new Republican Senator came in Tennessee, where Bob Corker
defeated Harold Ford, Jr. The line-up of new Senators is as follows:
Maryland - Ben Cardin (D)
Minnesota - Amy Klobuchar (D)
Missouri - Claire McCaskill (D)
Montana - Jon Tester (D)
Ohio - Sherrod Brown (D)
Pennsylvania - Bob Casey (D)
Rhode Island - Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
Tennessee - Bob Corker (R)
Vermont - Bernie Sanders (I)
House races trended similarly in favor of the Democrats. As of this writing,
with seven races still undecided, Democrats will have at least a 27 seat majority
when the 110th Congress convenes in January. On Election Day, Democrats won
at least 30 House seats held previously by Republicans, giving them a current
total of 231 Democratic House members.
Of particular note for education technology supporters is the fact that Rep.
Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the lead sponsor of unpassed legislation that would
have required all E-Rate recipients to block access to social networking and
chat rooms, lost his race and will not be returning next year.
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New Congressional Leadership Elected
As the ruling party in both houses of Congress, the Democrats now take charge
of the House and Senate floors as well as all committees.
Perhaps the biggest news of the election was the ascendance of Rep. Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) to House Speaker, marking the first time a woman has ever served in that
post. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who has been a strong supporter of education technology
from his position on the House Appropriations Committee, will serve as the new
House Majority Leader.
House Republicans selected Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), current House Majority
Leader, to continue in their top spot as House Minority Leader when the new
Congress convenes in January. The current House Speaker, Dennis Hastert (R-IL),
has decided not to serve in House leadership in the next Congress.
In the Senate, the current Minority Leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and
the current Minority Whip, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), will serve as the
Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Leader, respectively, in the 110th Congress.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will occupy the Minority Leader slot. In a major
political comeback, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), who was ousted two years ago by
his colleagues from the Majority Leader position because of what were viewed
as racially insensitive remarks, captured the Minority Whip position, defeating
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for that position by one vote.
While Committee chairmanships have not been firmly decided, here is a list
of likely key Committee and Subcommittee chairs:
Senate
Appropriations - Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Subcommittee - Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) - Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Commerce - Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
House
Appropriations - David Obey (D-WI)
Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Subcommittee - either Nita Lowey (D-NY),
or Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Education and Workforce - George Miller (D-CA)
Commerce - John Dingell (D-MI)
Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee - either Ed Markey (D-MA) or Rick
Boucher (D-VA)
Even without finalizing chairs for all Committees, Senate Democrats have already
moved ahead with filling positions on key committees. Owing to the very close
51-49 split in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans, all Senate Committees
will only have a one-vote majority for Democrats. On the very prestigious and
powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Democrats awarded the only available
Democratic seat to Senator Jack Reed (RI), who also serves on the Senate Heath,
Labor, Education, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Reed replaces Senate
Majority Reid (NV), who decided to step down from the committee to devote his
attention to his leadership duties. It has not yet been decided which Subcommittee
Senator Reed will join.
On the Senate Commerce Committee, which controls telecommunications and any
E-Rate related legislation, freshmen Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Claire
McCaskill (MO) will join current Senator Tom Carper (DE) as new committee members.
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) decided to leave his seat on the Committee. On the
HELP Committee, which will work to reauthorize No Child Left Behind and the
Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program in the next two years,
newly minted Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) join current
Senator Barak Obama (IL) as new members of the panel. Republican Committee assignments
in the Senate have not yet been made.
top
EETT Funding May Survive at Last Year's Levels
The post-election session of this Congress started November 13th but, given
the little time available and the overwhelming number of appropriations bills
remaining to be completed, it appears increasingly likely that the leaders of
this Congress may defer many uncompleted items onto the next Congress.
Current House and Senate leadership have indicated that December 15th is the
outside date for concluding this session. With fewer than 20 actual legislative
days available during this session, it seems unlikely that Congress will be
able to complete work on all ten of the FY07 appropriations bills that it has
thus far failed to pass. Indeed, in its first week of the lame duck session,
Congress completed no appropriations bills and extended until December 8th the
current Continuing Resolution (CR), which continues FY07 funding for programs
in the ten remaining spending bills at last year's levels.
Thus, the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program will continue
to be funded at $272 million until December 8. After that, the fate of EETT
in FY07 appropriations is uncertain.
Even in a Republican-majority 109th Congress, the appropriations bill faced
great obstacles to passage, including a controversial House rider to raise the
federal minimum wage and continued concern by many Senators over low funding
levels for social programs. The most likely scenario for the FY07 Labor, HHS
and Education spending bill, and all programs within it, is that Congress will
extend the current CR into January, leaving it up to the 110th Congress to complete.
top
E-Rate Language and DOPA in Doubt During Lame
Duck
Telecommunications reform legislation that has not been mentioned for action
during the lame duck session. The full House has passed one version and the
Senate Commerce Committee passed a very different version, which contains positive
E-Rate language and a permanent exemption for E-Rate from the Anti-Deficiency
Act (ADA). Current Senate Commerce Committee Chairman, Ted Stevens (R-AK), has
been unable to secure a filibuster-proof majority to take his bill to the Senate
floor. Most expect that telecommunications reform legislation for this year
is improbable given the complexity and controversy of these bills and the little
time available for debate.
Education technology supporters remain especially concerned about the fate
of the E-Rate's current temporary exemption from the Anti Deficiency Act (ADA),
which expires at the end of this year. In 2004, the Federal Communications Commission
ordered that the ADA, which focuses on accounting issues, be applied to the
E-Rate, causing the program's administrator to shut-down the program for three
months. The shut-down caused great uncertainty in the E-Rate community and forced
some schools to pull the plug on their E-Rate supported Internet connections.
This situation was only resolved temporarily through the passage of legislation
that temporarily exempts the E-Rate and all of universal service from the ADA.
However, with time running out on the most recent exemption, E-Rate supporters
fear that the E-Rate's administrator may have to shut down the program next
year if ADA is reapplied to E-Rate.
The best case scenario for protecting the E-Rate is passage of a permanent
exemption from the ADA for E-Rate and all of universal service, which is included
in the Senate Commerce Committee's approved telecommunications reform bill.
Interim measures could also help protect the E-Rate. These include:
* the Science, State, Commerce and Justice Appropriations bill, which could
pass during this lame duck, contains another one year exemption from the ADA
for E-Rate and all of universal service;
* FCC Chairman Martin indicated last month that he was working with the Office
of Management and Budget to reinterpret the ADA in a way that exempts E-Rate
and universal service from its provisions; and
a few Senators have been assured by the FCC that even if the ADA once again
takes effect next year, there will not be a program shut down because enough
funds have been accumulated in E-Rate coffers to cover funding commitments through
2007.
Another related issue, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), appears unlikely
to move during this lame duck. DOPA, sponsored by Rep. Fitzpatrick (R-PA), would
require all schools and libraries receiving E-Rate block access to social networking
sites and chat rooms. It passed the House by a large vote in the summer but
was blocked by Senator Leahy (D-VT), who prevented it from moving. With Sen.
Leahy apparently prepared to maintain his hold on DOPA, this legislation will
not pass in the lame duck session. Additionally, since Rep. Fitzpatrick lost
in his reelection, he will not be back in Washington next year to renew his
push for this bill.
top
Legislative Priorities for the 110th Congress
Begin to Take Shape
The House and Senate Education Committees are also likely to begin working
early in 2007 on reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. While it is not
yet certain whether the Senate will try to tackle legislating on NCLB reauthorization
next year or complete work on other critical bills (Higher Education reauthorization,
e.g.), NCLB efforts in the House will start quickly, with field and regular
Washington hearings expected.
While E-Rate and ADA legislation appear dead for this year, incoming House
Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-MI) has already indicated that he would
like to move telecommunications reform legislation, including universal service,
next year. His incoming Senate counterpart, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, has not
yet announced his priorities. If bills emerge, they will likely address E-Rate
priorities and may contain much stronger Net Neutrality language.
Join the Ed Tech Action Network!
If educational technology issues are important to you, then please join the
Ed Tech Action Network at http://www.EdTechActionNetwork.org.
This online advocacy tool will allow you to easily send important messages to
your Representative and Senators, learn more about timely education technology
issues, and receive tips for communicating with elected officials. Your voice
is critical for impacting the decisions of policy-makers.
From the Washington, D.C.
Office of Bernstein Strategy Group
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The following message is posted as a service of ISTE,
the International Society for Technology in Education.
This message may not be reposted without this header.
Copyright © 2006 ISTE
| Washington Notes, November, 2006 |
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