House education committee to vote on school infrastructure plan Presented by Comcast

With help from Rebecca Rainey

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— It’s a busy day on the Hill, beginning this morning with House Democrats’ first big move on education. The House Education and Labor Committee plans to vote on a $100 billion school infrastructure plan. It would create a $70 billion grant program and $30 billion tax credit bond program targeted at improving the physical and digital infrastructure at high-poverty schools.

— Then, this afternoon, the House Administration Committee considers a bill aimed at expanding access to the ballot box that includes language meant to make it easier for college students to register and vote on campus.

— Education Secretary Betsy DeVos heads to Virginia today to tour a STEM-focused alternative high school. She’s slated to participate in a roundtable discussion with students, teachers and administrators there as well. It’s part of CTE Month, which runs through February.

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HOUSE ED COMMITTEE TO VOTE ON MASSIVE SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN: House Democrats will make their first major education move today as the education committee marks up a $100 billion school infrastructure plan.

— The Rebuild America’s Schools Act, H.R. 865 (116), is sponsored by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the committee's chairman. It would create a $70 billion grant program and $30 billion tax credit bond program targeted at improving the physical and digital infrastructure at high-poverty schools.

— Infrastructure is one area where House Democrats and President Donald Trump could reach some agreement. But whether schools could be part of that remains to be seen. Trump’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan released last year did not include any money for rebuilding schools. Democrats, however, want them included.

— The bill is likely to clear the committee, and it stands a good chance at passing the Democrat-controlled House. But the infrastructure plan’s prospects in the Republican-controlled Senate are another story. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a sponsor of the companion bill, S. 266, has said he’s looking for Republican co-sponsors, but so far, none have signed on.

— The markup begins at 10:15 a.m. in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building. Watch a livestream.

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DEMOCRATS’ BALLOT BOX BILL COULD EXPAND CAMPUS VOTING: House Democrats’ big election, lobbying and ethics package, which the House Administration Committee is marking up this afternoon, includes measures meant to make it easier for college students to register and vote.

— The bill would require colleges to appoint “campus vote coordinators” responsible for helping students register. The coordinators would send voter registration information and forms to all students at least twice a year and at least 30 days before any federal or state election.

— It would also create competitive grants for colleges that sponsor large on-campus voter mobilization efforts and invite candidates to speak on campus, among other things.

— The provisions are from the Help Students Vote Act, H.R. 5564 (115), which was introduced by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) last Congress.

— The markup begins at 1 p.m. in 1310 Longworth House Office Building. Watch a livestream.

DEMS PUSH CHILD CARE PLAN: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee, and two other Democrats are rolling out a child care plan today that would create a federal-state partnership aimed at ensuring families making less than 150 percent of their state’s median income do not pay more than 7 percent of their income on child care. It would also seek to boost wages and training for early childhood workers and improve access to preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families.

— Scott plans to introduce a companion bill in the House today as well. The legislation was first introduced in 2017 as an attempt by Democrats to outflank Ivanka Trump’s effort to expand the child tax credit, which was ultimately included in the GOP tax reform bill, H.R. 1 (115). Ian Kullgren and Kimberly Hefling have more.

— Last week, presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a child care proposal that calls for taxing ultra-millionaires to pay for free child care for low-income families and expanding access for others.

— Murray, along with Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), are planning to detail the plan at a press conference this morning featuring parents and child care educators sharing their stories. That’s at 11:15 in SVC-203 in the U.S. Capitol.

DEVOS IN VIRGINIA FOR CTE EVENT: The Education secretary is headed to Leesburg this morning to tour a part-time, STEM-focused alternative school for high schoolers. The Academies of Loudoun trip is part of the Association for Career and Technical Education’s annual CTE Month site visit. DeVos is slated to participate in a roundtable with teachers, administrators and students there as well. The tour starts at 10:30.

GROUPS MOBILIZE TO PUSH FOR ACOSTA RESIGNATION: Unions and advocacy groups are raising calls for Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to resign over his involvement as a U.S. attorney in a notably lenient plea deal he struck in 2008 with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, POLITICO’s Rebecca Rainey reports.

— American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten circulated a petition over the weekend calling on Acosta to resign after a district court judge ruled last week that Acosta violated the law by failing to keep Epstein's underage victims informed adequately. Progressive advocacy groups including CREDO Action and UltraViolet plan to work with the teachers union to further fuel a push for Acosta to step down.

— “We need to make this a bright line,” Weingarten said in an interview with Morning Shift. “I find it quite ironic that this administration will use the issue of trafficking in justifying a border wall ... but when it comes to people who Trump knows, they are stunningly silent when it comes to the issue of sex trafficking.” More here.

EDU-PINION: Mary Sue Coleman, president of the elite Association of American Universities, takes university boards to task, focusing on recent turmoil at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: “As a proud alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I have watched with dismay as the UNC Board of Governors has plunged one of the world’s most respected institutions of higher learning into a crisis.

— “UNC is hardly an outlier but rather is the latest in a troubling trend of poor board governance,” Coleman writes. “In the past decade AAU member institutions in Virginia, Texas, Oregon, and beyond have struggled to maintain their identity and mission, provide the highest quality education, manage internal conflict, and combat challenges to their institutional autonomy.” More.

— A new GAO report highlights the limited school options Native American students have, noting that most school districts with at least 25 percent Native American students offered only traditional public schools and no charters, magnets or CTE-focused schools.

— New polling from the Pew Research Center finds nearly three-quarters of Americans believe colleges shouldn't consider race in admissions.

— Trump wants a 5 percent cut to non-defense spending: POLITICO.

— A bill banning corporal punishment in Kentucky schools, where students are still paddled regularly, got a legislative hearing — but it may not get a vote: Lexington Herald-Leader.

— West Point suspended classes on Monday to focus on sexual assault and harassment at the academy: Stars and Stripes.

— House Democrats press the Justice Department on how it’s addressing so-called stealthing, the nonconsensual removal or deliberate damaging of a condom during sex: Bustle.

— Texas Senate committee unanimously approves bill to give teachers $5,000 raise: The Dallas Morning News.

— Prairie View A&M, a historically black university in Texas, is struggling to find enough housing to accommodate its growing student body: The Houston Chronicle.

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