Weekly Update 6/15/2026

Weekly Update 6/15/2026

Appropriations:

House appropriations bill would cut Education Department budget by 10%: A House Appropriations Committee bill advanced June 9 would cut the Education Department's fiscal year 2027 budget to $71 billion, a 10% reduction from the current year and below the administration's own $76.5 billion request. For K-12, the bill proposes $40.2 billion, a $4.6 billion cut compared to fiscal year 2026, including a nearly $2 billion reduction to Title I funding for low-income schools that Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the committee's top Democrat, said would result in 30,000 fewer teachers. The bill eliminates subsidized student loans and redirects roughly $16 billion in projected savings toward shoring up the Pell Grant program, which faces a projected $15 billion shortfall and serves more than six million students. It also eliminates funding for the Office of English Language Acquisition, increases charter school….

House defense appropriations bill advances over Democratic resistance: House Republicans advanced a $1.1 trillion Pentagon funding bill out of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on June 11, setting the stage for a full committee markup scheduled for June 24. The legislation cleared the panel in a closed-door session over Democratic objections, with Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the subcommittee's ranking member, saying her colleagues want to see improvements before….

President and Administration:

President signs $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill: President Donald Trump signed the Secure America Act, a $79 billion package,  into law on June 10, allocating $38 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26 billion to Customs and Border Protection, and $5 billion more to the Department of Homeland Security through September 2029. The House voted along party lines 214-212 using the budget reconciliation process, which bypasses….

Federal court orders Trump's name removed from Kennedy Center facade:  The Kennedy Center’s board has voted to appeal a federal court ruling requiring the removal of the President’s last name from the building’s facade, with DOJ lawyers filing a notice of appeal after both the district court and a federal appeals court denied emergency stays on June 12.  Workers nonetheless began removing President Trump's name from the facade in the early hours of June 13, following a ruling last….

The President demands $350B Pentagon infusion and election overhaul in third reconciliation push: The president called on congressional Republicans to immediately pass a third party-line reconciliation bill that would deliver $350 billion in new Pentagon funding and advance the stalled SAVE America Act, an elections overhaul package. The President issued the demand in a Truth Social post, calling for action with "no games, no delays, and no weak compromises," just days after….

Administration appeals ruling striking down $100,000 H-1B visa fee: The administration last week appealed a federal judge's ruling that struck down a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, a program that allows employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers temporarily. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin vacated the fee on June 8, finding it amounted to an…

Congress:

Republicans break with leadership to pass pro-union bill: Twenty House Republicans crossed party lines last week to help pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a Democratic-led bill that would shorten the time between a union election and a first collectively bargained contract. Democrats used a discharge petition to force the bill to the floor over…

California: 

Republican Steve Hilton to face Democrat Xavier Becerra in California governor's race: Former Fox News host and Republican Steve Hilton will face former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in California's November gubernatorial general election, after both advanced from a crowded all-party primary field. With 88% of votes counted, Becerra led with about 28% support to Hilton's 25%, with billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer, who has already endorsed Becerra, received 23%…

California legislature reaches budget deal, breaks with Newsom on Medi-Cal cuts: California's Assembly and Senate announced a joint budget deal on Thursday, 6/11, that broadly aligns with Newsom's call for fiscal restraint but rejects his proposed cuts to Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, setting up a high-stakes negotiation with the governor this summer. The nearly $356 billion spending plan sets aside $29 billion in reserves and calls for a constitutional amendment to allow the state to save even more, while relying on three revenue measures Newsom proposed: a new tax on digital software, a renewed tax…

U.S. DOJ opens investigation into Newsom, wife, governor says: Gov. Newsom said today, 6/15, that he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under federal investigation by the DOJ and accused the president of weaponizing against him because of his potential 2028 presidential run. In a video message, Newsom said federal agents have been demanding records and reviewing years of documents. The investigation, Newsom said, is not based on evidence…

Silicon Valley revolts against Newsom software tax plan: Fifty major technology companies including Apple and Alphabet sent a letter to California legislative leaders on Thursday, 6/11 urging them to reject Newsom's proposal to extend the state's sales tax to digital software services. The letter, addressed to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, argues the tax would raise costs for widely used business tools like Microsoft Outlook and Slack, and that a parallel proposal…

HUD suspends funding for Los Angeles homelessness agency over fraud allegations: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended federal funding for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) on Thursday, 6/11 following the opening of an inspector general investigation into allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement at the agency. HUD Secretary Scott Turner accused LAHSA of providing false statements, lacking adequate internal controls and failing to safeguard against conflicts of interest, including an incident in which the agency's former chief executive allegedly directed more than $2 million…

Education: 

Treasury previews rules for federal scholarship tax credit program as states weigh participation: The Treasury Department confirmed and previewed rules this week for public school student eligibility for a new federal scholarship tax credit program launching January 1, noting that formal regulations will be released before October. The program, created by last year's "One Big, Beautiful Bill," offers dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting…

House Education Committee grills superintendents on LGBTQ+ student policies: The House Education and Workforce Committee held a contentious hearing on June 10 in which Republican members pressed superintendents from Chicago, San Francisco and Virginia's Loudoun County on their districts' transgender student, parental notification and curriculum content policies. Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) organized the hearing around what he called "attacks…

DOJ opens compliance reviews of four California school districts over LGBTQ+ policies: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched compliance reviews on June 8 into four California public school districts, including San Francisco Unified School District, over their policies on parental notification and transgender student access to facilities…

Supreme Court declines to take up school gender transition notification case: The U.S. Supreme Court declined on June 2 to hear a case filed by California's Rocklin Unified School District over its policy requiring teachers to notify parents within three days of a student's gender transition or nonconforming status. The rejection is the latest…

Lawsuit challenges Education Department's cancellation of English learner teacher grants: The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Education Association (NEA) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over its abrupt cancellation of 28 national professional development grants for teachers of English learners. The grants were rescinded in September using keyword searches for terms like "equity" and "diversity," the suit alleges, rather than substantive…

New National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores show gains for lowest-performing 9-year-olds: The latest results from the NAEP Long-Term Trend showed reading and math gains for 9-year-olds in the 2024-25 school year, with the largest improvements among the lowest-performing students. Students at the 10th percentile in math gained 7.5 points, compared to 0.7 points for top performers; the lowest readers gained 9.3 points. Researchers from Dartmouth, Harvard and Stanford also documented 2025 gains in a separate Education Scorecard released last month. Gains did not extend to 13-year-olds, where math scores continued to decline, and analysts caution the increases may partly reflect a post-pandemic rebound rather than…

Weekly Update 6/08/2026

Weekly Update 6/08/2026

Solano: OVW Fiscal Year 2026 Grants to Support Families in the Justice System (Justice for Families) Program (Office on Violence

Appropriations:

House education funding bill advances out of subcommittee: An $8 billion cut to the Education Department's fiscal year 2027 budget cleared a House Appropriations subcommittee last week on an 11-7 party-line vote, advancing to the full committee for a markup scheduled for tomorrow, June 9. The legislation would fund the department at $70.7 billion, a 10% reduction from current levels. Among the most significant K-12 provisions is a $1.9 billion cut to Title I grants, which support schools serving low-income students, as well as elimination of funding for English language learners and Title II-A teacher training programs. The bill does include a modest boost to the maximum Pell Grant award, raising it to $7,445, and rejects the administration's proposal…

President and Administration:

President expected to nominate Todd Blanche as attorney general: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to receive a formal nomination to permanently lead the Justice Department (DOJ), according to administration officials, a move that sets up a potentially difficult Senate confirmation fight. Blanche has served in an acting capacity since April, when former Attorney General Pam Bondi was forced out following her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files. Blanche's relationship with the…

President, san evidence, alleges fraud in California primary: President Trump made a series of posts on Truth Social last week, alleging widespread fraud in California's June 2 primary elections, offering no evidence to support the claims. He suggested Democrats were "stealing" the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral races as later-counted mail ballots shifted results in a more Democratic direction. California election officials pushed back, noting that later ballots have historically skewed Democratic because Republicans tend to vote earlier and in person. Under California law, mailed ballots postmarked by…

Kennedy Center ordered to remove Trump's name after court ruling: A federal judge's order last week forced the Kennedy Center to begin erasing President Trump's name from its official materials, reversing a December board vote that critics argued violated federal law. In a three-page memo obtained by the Washington Post, the center's general counsel directed staff to restore all references to "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" and gave employees until June 12 to update signs, brochures, ID cards and the website. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the center's board had exceeded…

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant delays leave addiction and mental health providers in limbo: Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants for addiction treatment, mental health services and overdose prevention have stalled at the SAMHSA, leaving providers uncertain about funding with the Sept. 30 fiscal year-end deadline approaching. About a dozen grants valued at nearly $600 million have been delayed for months, including the Services Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women and the Treatment, Recovery, and Workforce Support Grant. Other affected funding includes grants for adult suicide prevention, certified community behavioral health clinics, medication-assisted treatment…

World Cup opens amid immigration enforcement tensions in host cities: The FIFA World Cup kicks off this week in the United States for the first time in 32 years, but immigration concerns are casting a shadow over the tournament across all 11 host cities. More than 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles voted last week to authorize a potential labor stoppage unless they receive assurances that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not conduct deportation operations at the venue. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not ruled out enforcement actions, leaving host cities uncertain about how…

Congress:

Senate passes immigration enforcement bill after 18-hour Reconciliation vote-a-rama: The Senate passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill along party lines last week, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) the sole Republican to join all Democrats in opposition in a final 52-47 vote. The bill funds ICE and Customs and Border Protection through the remainder of the President's term. The most contested amendment, offered by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would have restricted payouts from the administration's proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to law enforcement officers killed or injured during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The amendment received 52 votes in favor but required 60 to pass. The immigration bill now moves to the House, where the margins for passage…

House passes war powers resolution directing the administration to end Iran conflict: In a bipartisan rebuke of the administration's handling of a military conflict now in its fourth month, the House voted 215-208 last week to direct the President to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or seek congressional authorization to continue. Four Republicans crossed party lines to support the measure: Reps. Tom Barrett (R-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Thomas Massie (R-KY). Democrats invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which requires Congress to consider such measures within a set timeframe, after Republican leaders…

Senate college sports bill gains White House backing: The President showed his public support behind the Protect College Sports Act last week, urging Congress to send him a bipartisan bill before the end of summer. The legislation, authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and ranking member Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would establish a federal framework for collegiate athletics, setting limits on player transfers, banning coaches from switching schools mid-season and codifying certain names, image and likeness protections for student-athletes. The effort comes after the House's SCORE Act collapsed…

FISA Section 702 deadline: Congress has until June 12 to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes collection of digital communications from foreigners abroad but can also capture Americans' data in the process. The Senate last week rejected a motion to proceed to the extension bill 47-52, with….

California: 

Becerra advances to November runoff in governor's race: Former California Attorney General and Biden Cabinet Secretary Xavier Becerra secured a spot in the November general election last week following the state's June 2 top-two primary, though the identity of his opponent remained unresolved as ballot counting continued. Becerra rose rapidly this spring from the back of a crowded Democratic field to become the frontrunner. He will face either Republican commentator Steve Hilton or billionaire…

$200 million in school air quality funds could expire without budget deal: Nearly $200 million set aside to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in aging California public schools may be returned to utility ratepayers by year's end unless state lawmakers reach a deal to extend the program before the budget deadline. The California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing, and Efficiency Program, known as CalSHAPE, has been frozen since 2024 due to budget constraints, leaving $194 million unspent. The program was created in 2020 in response to wildfire smoke and COVID-19 air quality concerns and has previously awarded…

Monterey Park votes to ban data centers, first in state to do so: Voters in Monterey Park, a city of 60,000 people near Los Angeles, approved a ballot measure last week permanently banning data centers, making it the first California city to pass such a referendum and only the second in the nation after a small Milwaukee suburb did so in April. The measure passed with 86%…

Education: 

Harvard seeks to block admissions records lawsuit: Harvard University asked a federal judge last week to dismiss or pause the administration's lawsuit seeking the school's admissions records, arguing it substantially overlaps with a separate case a court has already temporarily blocked. In that related case, Massachusetts v. Department of Education, a judge halted the administration's attempt to require dozens of universities to submit six years of detailed admissions data. Harvard contends the DOJ…

Lawsuits challenged tech companies' use of student data: A growing wave of litigation is testing whether schools have legal authority to consent to student data collection on behalf of parents, a question that could reshape how education technology companies operate in classrooms. Lawsuits filed by the EdTech Law Center target companies including…

Treasury rescinds student debt collection contracts, citing procurement error: The Treasury Department reversed course last week on contracts worth an estimated $40 million assigned to five private debt collection firms to handle federal student loans in default, saying the orders were issued in error. The move came as the administration works to transfer the $1.7 trillion…

DOJ opens investigation into Arizona State University over diversity practices: Federal civil rights investigators launched a probe into Arizona State University (ASU) last week, alleging the school may have denied students equal access to admissions, scholarships, tutoring and educational support on the basis of race, color or national origin. The DOJ…

Weekly Update 6/01/2026

Weekly Update 6/01/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners

OMB Grant Administration Update

The 3 goals of OMB’s rewrite of grants regulations: OMB released a proposed update to 2 CFR 200, the federal government's Uniform Guidance for grant administration, marking the second major revision in two years. The proposal is intended to (1) strengthen transparency and accountability in federal grantmaking, (2) align grant administration with current federal policy priorities, and (3) streamline and standardize grant regulations across agencies to reduce administrative burden on recipients and federal grantmakers. Key changes include requiring senior political appointees to review discretionary grant awards…

President and Administration:

Judge temporarily blocks administration's anti-weaponization fund: Senate Republican leaders delayed a vote on a package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until June, in part because of concerns with the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which a federal Judge in Virginia temporarily blocked on May 29. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from transferring, claiming, or disbursing any funds until at least June 12. The judge acted before the administration had formally established the fund, citing concern that disbursements could become irreversible before the court could weigh a legal challenge filed by the group Democracy Forward. As of June 1, the President is retreating from the fund after the fierce backlash, with White House…

The President pushes a record defense budget split between appropriations and reconciliation: A proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027 is testing congressional appetite for a second round of partisan reconciliation spending, with the President seeking $1.1 trillion through the regular appropriations process and an additional $350 billion through reconciliation. The request for reconciliation would fund priorities including $18 billion for the Golden Dome missile…

Appropriations: 

Senate panel begins fiscal year 2027 markup process: Three fiscal year (FY) 2027 spending bills are (running from October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2027) headed to the Senate floor for debate, with the Appropriations Committee announcing markups on the Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch, and Commerce-Justice-Science measures on Thursday June 4th. The Commerce-Justice-Science bill is particularly relevant to CAP clients, as it funds public safety, scientific research…

Congress:

Senate closes in on FISA renewal ahead of June 12 deadline: Months of failed attempts to reauthorize a key government surveillance authority may be nearing resolution, with Senate negotiators hoping to finalize bill text as soon as June 2. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) renews the government's authority to surveil foreign targets abroad for three years, without requiring a warrant to search Americans' data that gets swept up in the process. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) are leading talks on extending Section 702 of the FISA, set to expire June 12. The forthcoming legislation…

JCT releases technical report on Republicans' 2025 tax law: Roughly a dozen technical errors in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which extended and expanded 2027 tax cuts, are flagged in a new report from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation JCT). Problem areas include a new deduction for seniors aged 65 and older designed to reduce taxable income for retirees on fixed incomes; the President’s Accounts; revised state and local tax (SALT) deduction rules…

Bipartisan Senate deal takes shape on college sports: Various conflicting state laws governing college sport compensation and transfer have produced what lawmakers describe as an unregulated semi-professional market, prompting Senate negotiators to advance federal legislation after the House pulled a similar bill from the floor following bipartisan revolt. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced…

Hearings:

• On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security is expected to hold a hearing examining proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the Department of Homeland Security.

  • Note: A portion of the funding for FY26 for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) is still pending. 

• On Wednesday, 6/3, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is expected to hold a hearing examining the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the Federal Highway Administration.

• On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is expected to hold a hearing examining gender transition procedures on minors.

• On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution is expected to hold a hearing examining protecting American citizenship, focusing on denaturalization and its constitutional limits.

California: 

Medi-Cal enrollment freeze for undocumented adults survives legislative challenge: Efforts to reopen Medi-Cal to new undocumented adult enrollees stalled last week after amendments gutted the core of a bill aimed at reversing Gov. Gavin Newsom's enrollment freeze. State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) declined to bring Senate Bill 1422 to a vote after the Appropriations Committee replaced immediate enrollment restoration with a study requirement and a phase-in by age starting at 49. Durazo's…

California cap-and-invest program extended with industry concessions: Affordability concerns reshaped California's signature climate policy last week when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted 10 to three to extend the state's cap-and-invest program through 2045 with significant concessions to oil refineries and other industries. The centerpiece of the overhaul is a new incentive program allowing companies to offset permit obligations by investing in lower-emission technologies…

State Senate panel rejects Newsom's climate spending plan: In a rebuke of pending California Air Resources Board changes, state senators voted last week to block Gov. Newsom's proposed spending plan for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which receives roughly $3 billion to $4 billion annually from carbon permit auctions. The Senate Budget Subcommittee…

Bill to expand California Air Resources Board's CARB regulatory authority dies in Assembly: For the second time, Assemblymember Robert Garcia's effort to give state air regulators authority over emissions from warehouses, ports, trucks, and trains fell short last week when Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas declined to bring AB 1777 to a floor vote. The bill would have extended the CARB’s indirect source rule authority statewide, a concept that gained traction after the…

Newsom's final budget navigates surplus and structural deficit: Despite a $16.5 billion revenue windfall driven by tech sector growth, California faces an anticipated $22 billion deficit in 2027-28, complicating the governor's final budget proposal. The $350 billion May revision introduces roughly $2 billion in new cuts while preserving major health and education funding, relying on reserves, borrowing, and earmarked surplus funds to cover the gap. Newsom has staked out a no-new-taxes position consistent…

Newsom signs election protection measure ahead of June primary: Uniformed law enforcement cannot disrupt election proceedings or seize voter rolls and ballots without a court order under legislation signed May 27 by Newsom. The bill was fast-tracked after Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco moved to seize ballots during a special election last year, and in…

Teen social media ban clears California Assembly: A bipartisan majority in the California Assembly voted last week to prohibit children under 16 from holding accounts on social media platforms state regulators deem "addictive," advancing a measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. AB 1709, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D)…

Education: 

U.S. Department of Education finalizes "Promoting Patriotic Education" priority: The Department of Education finalized a new grant priority focused on civics, founding documents, and primary-source-based instruction, effective June 22. The priority may be used in discretionary grant competitions across the Department. The final rule reflects revisions…

College oversight revamp could increase costs for accreditors and schools: A new Education Department rule set to take effect July 1, 2027, would significantly expand what accreditors are required to oversee, adding responsibilities around civil rights compliance, First Amendment standards, academic freedom, and mandatory cost-benefit analyses of school…

Administration again proposes elimination of rural education fund, a move Congress rejected last year: Small districts across the country may lose a direct federal funding lifeline if the administration succeeds in folding the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) into a $2 billion block grant alongside 16 other funding streams. Congress approved $220 million for REAP this year. Rural superintendents say the program does not require competitive grant applications…

Weekly Update 5/26/2026

Weekly Update 5/26/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners

Appropriations: 

Legislative Branch funding bill clears House Appropriations Committee: The House Appropriations Committee voted 34-28 last week to advance a $7.3 billion fiscal year 2027 bill funding Congress and its support agencies. The debate focused heavily on sexual misconduct accountability measures following allegations against several current and former…

President and Administration:

Suspect killed after firing shots near White House security checkpoint: A man who opened fire near a White House security checkpoint on Saturday (5/23) is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the U.S. Secret Service said. It was the third time shots were fired in the vicinity of President Trump in the past month…

Congress:

Budget chair wants House to advance a budget blueprint in June: House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington said he wants the House to pass a budget resolution in June to launch a third budget reconciliation package, informally called Reconciliation 3.0. The bill would be narrower than last year's "big, beautiful bill" but broader than the current immigration enforcement…

Republicans, Democrats are in legislative dealmaking mode: With midterm campaigns approaching, lawmakers from both parties are pushing to pass stalled bipartisan housing affordability, college athletics reform, energy…

Senate panel backs party-line ICE, Border Patrol bill for floor action: The Senate Budget Committee voted 11-10 last week to advance a $72 billion immigration enforcement bill, teeing it up for floor debate…

House GOP leaders plan housing bill vote despite Trump ultimatum: House Republican leaders moved forward last week on a bipartisan housing affordability bill without adding the SAVE America Act aimed at restricting voting and requiring government issued photo identification, which the President demanded be attached via Truth Social. GOP aides…

Pope Leo XIV calls for robust regulation of AI: In his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," Pope Leo XIV called last week for robust legal frameworks and independent oversight of artificial intelligence, arguing that voluntary ethics commitments from developers are insufficient. The pope denounced the concentration of AI power and data in the hands of…

California: 

California moves to address AI in the workplace: The California Assembly voted 41-14 last week to pass AB 1979, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), which would bar hospitals and clinics from using AI to replace medical decisions made by licensed providers and require health chatbots to comply with existing medical privacy laws. The measure passed the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom released an executive order addressing AI-driven job displacement, outlining new task forces, updates to the state's WARN Act strategies, and pilots to scale unemployment insurance through the Employment…

Assembly passes ballot measure to reshape California Public Utilities Commission: The California Assembly passed ACA 9 last week, a constitutional amendment that would significantly restructure the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The measure would expand the commission's membership from five to nine and give the Senate Rules Committee and the Assembly speaker authority to appoint two commissioners each, shifting power away from exclusive gubernatorial…

Bay Area braces for Trump's tougher CalFresh rules: More than 665,000 Californians are expected to lose CalFresh food assistance starting June 1 under new work requirements in H.R. 1, President Donald Trump's domestic policy law. The law expands existing requirements to cover veterans, homeless people, adults between 55 and 64, and parents…

Education: 

White House blocks $2 billion for education: The administration is withholding more than $2 billion in congressionally approved Education Department funds by not releasing routine budget apportionments through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of May 21, OMB has apportioned little or no fiscal year 2026 funding for 33…

House passes bill mandating parental consent on student pronoun use: The House passed the PROTECT Kids Act last week on a 217-198 vote, a measure that would strip federal funding from public elementary and middle schools that change a student's name, gender, or pronouns in school records without parental consent. Eight Democrats…

Current admin OKs another state's ask for school funding leeway: The Education Department approved Louisiana's request to merge state-level portions of four federal K-12 grant programs into a single flexible fund for statewide school improvement, the second such Every Student Succeeds Act waiver granted under the current…

Pressure mounts for ED to release research funds: A bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators and a coalition of 97 education organizations sent separate letters to Education Secretary Linda McMahon this month urging the release of nearly $300 million in unspent Institute of Education Sciences funds from fiscal years 2025 and 2026. The fiscal year 2025 funds will expire…

Surgeon General advisory urges caution on youth screen use: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a surgeon general's advisory last week, calling harmful screen use among children and teens a public health concern, citing negative effects on cognitive development, mental health, and academic performance. The advisory was accompanied by a toolkit urging…

12.6M kids lack access to summer programming: A report released last week by the Afterschool Alliance found that about 12.6 million children lack access to structured summer programming, with cost cited as the top barrier by 38% of surveyed families. Children from high-income households are three times more likely to be enrolled in summer programs than those from low-income…

National Assessment Governing Board to restore previously cut NAEP exams: The National Assessment Governing Board voted last week to restore state-level 12th-grade reading and math assessments in 2032, which had been cut last year due to staffing reductions and shifting resource allocations at the Education Department. The board also announced that beginning…

Title IX rescissions throw resolution agreements into uncertainty: The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights last month rescinded parts of Title IX resolution agreements, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding, with five school districts and one college entered under the Biden and Obama administrations, saying those agreements distorted the law by extending sex-based protections to gender…

20-plus states sue Education Department over graduate loan caps: More than 20 states, including California, New York, and Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland last week challenging the Education Department's rule defining which graduate students qualify for higher federal loan limits. Congress capped graduate loans at $20,500 per year in last year's reconciliation bill, with a higher $50,000 cap for students in professional programs. The department designated …

Rural apprenticeship programs offer a model for workforce development: A growing number of rural communities are using registered apprenticeship programs to address critical labor shortages in fields like special education and manufacturing, allowing workers to earn wages while completing degrees close to home. Missouri State University's Pathways for Paraprofessionals…

Weekly Update 5/18/2026

Weekly Update 5/18/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners

Appropriations: 

House Committee advances Commerce-Justice-Science bill: The House Appropriations Committee approved a $77.3 billion fiscal year 2027 funding bill for the departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, federal science programs, and several trade agencies on May 13 by a 32-28 vote. The measure represents roughly a 1% cut from current funding, with the Commerce Department facing a nearly 9% reduction to $10.2 billion and the Justice Department receiving a roughly 4% increase to $38.6 billion. The committee adopted an amendment barring federal law enforcement agencies from purchasing personal data from third-party brokers, and rejected several…

Senate votes to withhold member pay during government shutdowns: The Senate voted last week by voice vote to withhold senators' paychecks during future government shutdowns, with back pay to be restored once funding lapses end. The rule change takes effect after the November midterm elections. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), the measure's sponsor, framed it as a shared sacrifice after a period of repeated funding lapses, including a record 43-day shutdown last fall, a brief partial shutdown in late January, and a 76-day lapse in Department…

President and Administration:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) imposes moratorium on new home health and hospice Medicare enrollments: CMS announced May 13 a six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for home health and hospice providers, the latest in a series of fraud enforcement actions under CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz. The agency cited systemic exploitation of vulnerable Medicare patients in both sectors and said it will use the moratorium period to investigate suspected fraudulent providers and prevent bad…

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to enforce housing assistance income adjustments in 2027: HUD notified public housing authorities last week that it will begin enforcing congressionally mandated changes to how tenant income and assets are calculated for federal housing assistance starting January 1. The changes, passed by Congress in 2016, raise the threshold for tenants to qualify for a medical expense deduction from 3% to 10% of household income, and bar households that own another home or hold more than $100,000 in net family assets from receiving public housing or housing choice voucher…

White House seeks to reduce cost of living: The administration is reportedly looking for ways to reduce the cost of living. It is reportedly considering a gas tax holiday and increasing affordable housing. Concurrently, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL 13) plan to introduce legislation to suspend federal gas taxes for three months, with a provision to allow the president to extend the tax…

Congress:

Legislation would require Surgeon General to issue screentime guidelines for children: House lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation last week that would require the U.S. Surgeon General to develop age-based screentime recommendations for children, with input from an independent entity free of conflicts of interest. The SMART Kids Act, or Screentime Management and Recommendations for Teens and Kids Act, is cosponsored…

House Republicans eye third reconciliation bill before summer recess: A group of House Republicans discussed pursuing a third party-line reconciliation bill before the summer recess begins July 23, according to reporting from last week. Speaker Mike Johnson expressed optimism that the chamber could act on the measure, which would be separate from the immigration enforcement bill currently moving through the…

Senate parliamentarian strikes key provisions from GOP immigration enforcement bill: The Senate parliamentarian ruled May 14 that four major provisions in the Republican immigration enforcement package do not comply with budget reconciliation rules, dealing a setback to GOP leaders racing to meet a June 1 deadline set by the president. The rulings affect $19.1 billion in Customs and Border…

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) loses Louisiana primary, advances runoff to June 27: The senator failed to advance to a June 27 runoff after Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming claimed the top two spots. Cassidy, who is completing his second term, has faced significant political headwinds since…

Hearings:

• On Tuesday, 5/19, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies is expected to hold a hearing examining proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the Department of Labor.

• On Tuesday, 5/19, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies is expected to hold a hearing examining proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the Department of Transportation.

• On Wednesday, 5/20, the Senate Committee on Budget is expected to hold a business meeting to consider S.Con.Res.33, setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2026 and budgetary levels for fiscal years 2027 through 2035.

• On Wednesday, 5/20, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is expected to hold a hearing examining meeting the individual needs of all students, focusing on the role of charter schools. 

• On Thursday, 5/21, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is expected to hold a hearing examining gender transition procedures on minors.

California: 

Newsom proposes $350 billion budget with school funding deferral: Gov. Gavin Newsom released his $349.9 billion final budget proposal May 14, projecting $16.5 billion in revenues above expectations while pursuing structural balance through austerity rather than new programs. Despite the surplus, Newsom maintained a plan to defer $3.9 billion in constitutionally guaranteed school funding under Proposition 98, a reduction from the $5.6 billion deferral he proposed in January, framing it as a hedge against future revenue…

Education: 

(NACSA, CLE, BGCPR, Vimenti, PSI) Influential choice advocate argues blue states should opt into federal education tax credit: Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Michael Petrilli argued last week that blue-state governors should opt into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit despite its design flaws, pointing to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement of intent to participate, as did Colorado Gov. Jared…

McMahon testifies before House committee on ED priorities: Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on May 14, defending the department’s interagency agreements to transfer program oversight to other federal agencies. Republican members praised the moves as creative cost-cutting, while Democrats called the arrangements illegal and…

ED shuts Office of English Language Acquisition: The U.S. Department of Education (U.S. ED) formally shuttered the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) on May 14, completing a closure it notified Congress of in February. The office oversaw $890 million in Title III funding, the federal program that supports English learners and immigrant children and youth, serving more than five million students nationwide…

ED releases $144 million in additional IDEA funding: U.S. ED announced May 13 it will release $144 million in additional special education funding drawn from non-expiring returned funds. Roughly $123.6 million will go toward Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B grants for students ages…

DOJ finds Yale medical school discriminated against white, Asian applicants: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced May 14 that a yearlong investigation found Yale School of Medicine intentionally selected applicants based on race, violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court's 2023…

Clients that have workforce training programs and education (BGCPR) McMahon unveils final Workforce Pell Grant rule: U.S. ED released its final regulation expanding Pell Grants to workforce training programs as short as eight weeks, down from the previous 15-week minimum. New programs require approval from the state’s governor and the education secretary and must meet annual outcome…