Good morning MACRAO-

The MACRAO Governmental Relations Committee wanted to check in with you as we approach the upcoming Missouri 103rd General Assembly session beginning in January 2024. First, we would like to introduce the MACRAO Governmental Relations team for the upcoming year. This group will track the bills and issues that may be of interest to the MACRAO membership. We will send out emails periodically throughout the legislative session to keep you informed about what is being discussed. If you see additional articles or information that you think would be of interest to MACRAO, we welcome you to share them with a member of this group.

On Tuesday, October 24, the US Education Department released a fact sheet titled Protecting Students Through Final Regulations That Strengthen Department of Education Oversight and Monitoring of Colleges and Universities. Several rules are included, but of particular interest to MACRAO membership is that colleges and universities will be restricted from withholding course credits paid for with Federal money from students' transcripts.

This Inside Higher Ed article talks about some of the interpretation challenges that colleges and universities will need to navigate, particularly as it relates to the concept of institutions figuring out whether to and how to attempt to withhold "parts of a transcript" when other parts are restricted from being withheld, or to eliminate withholding transcripts completely.

In our earlier legislative updates this academic year, we mentioned that the Supreme Court would be hearing two cases (Harvard, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) related to affirmative action and admissions. The decisions in these cases were released yesterday morning, so the MACRAO Governmental Relations Committee wanted to provide you an update. The admissions systems used by these two institutions were determined to be unconstitutional. We have included links to Inside Higher Ed and AACRAO articles related to the decision as well as a link to the Supreme Court decision below.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/2023/06/29/supreme-court-rules-against-affirmative-action

The Missouri 2023 Legislative Session came to a conclusion on Friday, May 12. Below is a summary of the legislation that would most likely be of MACRAO interest that did (or did not) pass. The majority of the bills highlighted in our updates throughout the last few months ultimately did not pass. Of course, all passed legislation must still be signed or could be potentially vetoed by the Governor’s office, requiring further legislative consideration in a future veto session scheduled for this fall.

Budget Highlights

Good morning MACRAO membership-

The MACRAO Governmental Relations Committee wanted to provide the membership an update on where House and Senate bills currently stand as well as some AACRAO-related updates.

The two topics to bring to your are attention this week are:

HB 2387 was discussed this week. It would establish the 21st Century Missouri Education Task Force. The task force would include members of the general assembly, other stakeholders including members of the business community, the Commissioner of Education, and the Commissioner of Higher Education.  The task force’s mission would include evaluating current educational processes and funding. It would make recommendations for legislation and submit a report summarizing its activities to the General Assembly before Aug. 28, 2021. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry spoke in favor of the legislation.

Just a couple quick updates for you.

 Last week SB 642 had a hearing.  The legislation seeks to codify into statute budgetary instructions included in HB 3 since 2015 that prevent public institutions from offering in-state tuition to students with unlawful immigration status.  Proponents testified that the legislation would reinforce current federal law and end subsidized tuition during a time of scarce resources. Opponents testified that the bill would encourage affected students to seek postsecondary and future workforce opportunities outside the state.

FYI the Governor signed SB304, last week, the bill that clarifies combat veteran definition and limits graduate tuition to 30% of cost of tuition and fees. This bill also gives us the ability to tell the veteran that they could waive the tuition reduction if they have federal aid that would cover the cost so it is not a financial burden to the institution. We will have to see how the Department of Higher Education decides to write rules on this portion of the law.

Here is a link: https://www.senate.mo.gov/19info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=2339132