Federal and state policy and legislative updates

NIRSA’s Government Affairs Committee stays up-to-date on the latest federal and state policy and legislative news through a variety of scanning tools. One particular resource they use is the bi-weekly Policy Pages provided by Active Policy Solutions. (For more on partnership, along with other SAHEC associations, have with Active Policy Solutions, see below.)

The policy issues included in the Policy Pages document are highlights of a point in time. They are by no means exhaustive and change continually – so matters discussed in the last issue normally will not carry over to the next unless there is some updated action to be discussed.

The Committee encourages NIRSA members to keep themselves informed on federal and state policy issues affecting their work as professionals on campuses. These issues could be specific to higher education, physical activity, or NIRSA’s strategic value areas. If you have an issue that is of concern to your campus, reach out the Government Affairs Committee.

Policy Page documents will be stored, as a resource for NIRSA members, in the NIRSA Connect Community library. You can find them within the “Member Benefits” folder in a subfolder titled “Federal and State Policy Pages.”

In this issue:

Government Updates

Federal Legislation

• College youth voting accessibility expansion bills, “Youth Voting Rights Act” (HR 5293/S 2985), reintroduced
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities funding bill, “IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act” (HR 5895), reintroduced
• College, faculty, and staff foreign gift disclosure requirement bill, “Disclose GIFTs (Getting Investments in Foreign Transactions) Act” (HR 5902), introduced
• College pregnancy student information and resource provision bill, “Pregnant Students’ Rights Act” (S 2974), text becomes available

State and Local Government

Michigan

• Michigan telehealth service Medicaid covering requiring bill introduced
• Michigan community colleges consider college student voter registration and voting for local student status determinations bill introduced

Wisconsin

• Wisconsin telehealth provision from out-of-state providers under Medicaid codification bill introduced

Other

• College mental health telehealth funded by federal Pandemic funding by Connecticut community colleges reported on by The Washington Post

About NIRSA’s partnership with Active Policy Solutions

As an association, NIRSA strives to monitor and track policy and legislative issues with the potential to impact our members or the campus communities they serve. These issues are wide ranging and may pertain to higher education, employment law, physical fitness, or our strategic values areas.

NIRSA has joined with a subset of SAHEC members (ACUHO-I, ACPA, ASCA, NASPA, and NIRSA) in hiring Active Policy Solutions to assist with monitoring, tracking, analyzing, and determining appropriate action on issues relevant to our associations. Through our partnership with SAHEC, NIRSA continues to monitor policy, legislation, and advocacy work that affects both the higher education and physical activity space. Active Policy Solutions provides government relations and advocacy support to NIRSA and the Association’s SAHEC partners.