The Senate voted Wednesday to unanimously approve another short-term extension of the Higher Education Act (HEA), just days after the previous one expired. The House adopted the extension the day before.

 

The Act -- which sets policy for federal aid to postsecondary schools and low-income postsecondary students -- has been up for renewal for several years now.  Both the House and Senate passed legislation to rewrite the law earlier this Congress, but progress bogged down at the conference committee level, where representatives from each chamber are charged with reconciling differences between the two versions of the bill. 

 

Several provisions at issue would impact low-wage working women's access to college educations.  The House version of the bill, for example, would allow students to receive Pell Grants year-round, attach a Student Success Grant for supportive services to every Pell Grant, and help colleges implement bridge programs and other innovations in remedial education.

 

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA), who are leading the negotiations for the Senate and House respectively, hope to make this latest extension of the bill (the fifth this year alone) its last.

 

Women Work! has also extended a deadline: organizational members now have until Thursday May 15th to sign on to Women Work!'s letter urging the Congressional Appropriations Committees to adequately fund education, training, and support services that help unemployed and underemployed women succeed in the workforce.

 

If you represent a program or organization, send your organization's name, city, and State to Helen Luryi at hluryi@womenwork.org.

 

Click here to read the letter.

 

It is critical that Congress hear from women's advocates about funding priorities.  In February, President Bush proposed an FY09 budget that would severely underfund programs that help women to enter, re-enter, and advance in high-paying work. The President's budget would:

Congress has the capacity to reject the President's cuts to Perkins, WIA, and other important programs. And Congress has the opportunity --  if they choose -- to provide modest increases in funding to programs that help women and their families. But they need to hear that these programs are important!

Advocacy Day 2008 at the Women Work! and NAPE National Conference was a great success.  Thank you to everyone who visited their Members of Congress; you did a great job educating the Hill about women's economic equity issues and urging support for the PACT Act and federal appropriations.

 

But your work isn't over yet! Building and sustaining a relationship with your legislator over the long term is one of the most important things you can do to further  the Women Work! policy agenda, as well as the specific advocacy goals of your organization.  This month's Advocacy Tool will help you to keep your relationships with elected officials going --  after that initial meeting.

 

Advocacy Toolkit Section 9: Building Relationships with Your Legislator 
 
Updated Table of Contents 
 
The Women Work! Advocacy Toolkit is designed to give Women Work! members all the skills they need to be successful advocates for women's economic justice and equality.
 
Women Work! will release a new installment of the Advocacy Toolkit in the first Economic Equity Insider of every month until July 2008. Each month, download and print the latest tool -- including templates and sample documents you can customize for your own advocacy projects -- to produce a complete toolkit. We have also provided a cover and a table of contents that will be updated each month as we add new tools to the toolkit.
 
Visit www.womenwork.org to download earlier installments of the Women Work! Advocacy Toolkit.