Congress finally close to vote on new education law

A conference committee of Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the House and Senate worked out their differences Thursday and overwhelmingly endorsed legislation to replace No Child Behind, the main federal education law.

The House of Representatives passed a bill suspending the refugee program and requiring an intense vetting process on Thursday, November 19, 2015 with a vote of 289 to 137.

If it passes, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure, which would mark a major transfer of power and authority over public schools from the federal government to states and local school districts.

The bill pauses the refugee program for those coming from ISIS hot spots Syria and Iraq and requires “the Obama administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security” and the Director of National Intelligence to screen, undergo extensive background checks, and then certify that those admitted do not pose a threat to the country.

The measure now goes to the House. “I am particularly pleased that most of my priorities made it into the bill”.

Meanwhile White House officials are scrambling to revamp its message that the current system in place doesn’t pose a risk of bringing in terrorists posing as refugees – the fear raised in the wake of last week’s Islamic State attacks in Paris. “We know that Title I money is captured in communities that no longer have the population and the Senate came up with a bipartisan approach …”

“It’s not the best possible bill, but it’s the best bill possible”, said Sen. Rep. Peter V. Kocot, D-Northampton, the bill’s chief sponsor, said he has spoken with several entities, including the MA Newspaper Publisher Association, the MA Municipal Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, as legislators seek to update the law.

Meanwhile, people who leave pets unattended inside vehicles could be charged with endangering the health or well-being of the animals under a separate bill that cleared its first House panel.

Included in the new bill was an amendment from Sen. “We want to see a permanent solution to the Highway Trust Fund shortfall”.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Senate Democrats would try to block such a measure.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) echoed Shuster’s sentiments and said Washington lawmakers are finally going to do the right thing when it comes to highway funding. A federal incentive for solar production expires at the end of 2016, and caps have been hit in National Grid territory and are close to being reached in other utility territories, including Eversource’s, stalling solar projects that proponents say carry jobs as well as clean energy. The Senate came up with 13 different sources, including selling 101 million barrels of oil from the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve, reducing the amount of interest that the Federal Reserve pays to banks, and redirecting fees paid by airline passengers into the Highway Trust Fund.