Congress Ends 2005 With Flurry of Activity on Student-Aid Issues

Members of Congress and their staffs put in long hours before the holiday break in an attempt to complete work on several key pieces of legislation, including measures affecting federal student aid. Here is the status of key student-aid-legislative issues as of the end of 2005.

• Budget Reconciliation and Reauthorization. When the U.S. House reconvenes later this month, lawmakers will face another vote on a bill designed to reduce the federal deficit and reauthorize portions of the Higher Education Act. When the Senate approved the measure Dec. 21, senators made minor modifications from the version approved by the House, necessitating an additional House vote. For details of the bill, read a previous USA Funds^® Education Access Report article.
• Fiscal-2006 Student-Aid Appropriations. The U.S. Senate approved by unanimous consent, and President Bush signed into law, an appropriations bill that includes fiscal-2006 funding for major federal student-aid programs. The measure generally continues the same level of funding that most of the programs received during fiscal 2005 and maintains the maximum Pell-Grant award at $4,050. For additional details, read a previous USA Funds Education Access Report article.
• Extension of Higher Education Act. President Bush on Dec. 30 signed into law a third extension of the Higher Education Act to give Congress time to complete its work to reauthorize the measure. The previous extension was to have expired Dec. 31. The new law extends the authority for most provisions of the Higher Education Act through March 31.
• Hurricane Relief for Schools and Students. Two bills signed into law by President Bush before the close of the year offer additional assistance to higher-education institutions and college students affected by the 2005 hurricanes. The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 includes provisions to double the maximum amount of Hope and Lifetime Learning federal-income-tax credits — to $3,000 and $4,000, respectively — to taxpayers who paid qualified educational expenses to attend postsecondary institutions in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area. The increased tax credits would apply for the 2005 and 2006 tax years.
  
  A section of the fiscal-2006 Department of Defense appropriations bill provides $200 million in emergency assistance to postsecondary institutions and students affected by the 2005 hurricanes. A total of $95 million each is targeted to assist schools and students in Louisiana and Mississippi, while the remaining $10 million would help postsecondary institutions that are serving displaced students. The measure also grants the U.S. secretary of education the authority to waive or modify federal student-financial-aid requirements to minimize administrative burdens on students, postsecondary institutions, lenders, guarantors and other entities in connection with the hurricane disasters. The waiver authority extends through the end of the current academic year.