By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Staff Reporter

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday night formally unveiled an update to House Democrats’ coronavirus stimulus plan, which scales down their Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act in an effort to bring Republicans to the negotiating table for another aid package.

Similar to the structure of the original HEROES Act, the bill sets aside $208 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, 13% of which (or $27 billion) must go to public institutions of higher education and will be distributed by governors. Another $11.9 billion will go directly to institutions, including $3.5 billion for Minority-Serving Institutions, $7 billion for private nonprofit institutions, and $1.4 billion for public and nonprofit institutions with unmet need, including those that operate entirely online. The bill also contains a significant amount of additional higher education provisions. Stay tuned to Today's News for a more detailed analysis.

Negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats remain ongoing with Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin slated to speak this morning, signifying that another bout of pandemic-related aid could potentially make its way through Congress before the chambers adjourn for the presidential election. 

“Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing America's working families right now,” Pelosi said. “We have been able to make critical additions and reduce the cost of the bill by shortening the time covered for now.”

NASFAA on Friday joined a coalition of higher education associations, led by the American Council on Education, in asking for $120 billion in additional funds for education in order to "partially mitigate the challenges that students and institutions are facing" as a result of the pandemic.

Publication Date: 9/29/2020