State and Legislative Updates from SEF’s Government Affairs Team

The weeks of 5/11 – 5/22

Greetings all,

At this point in the year, most southern states have adjourned their legislative sessions, with a few still in progress. Still, it’s been an eventful couple of weeks across the region regarding budgets, voting rights, and redistricting. In particular, there has been an unusual amount of higher education actions at both the state and federal levels. See below for a quick snapshot of the major higher education news.

State Higher Education News

  • Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that establishes the state’s first need-based financial aid program that includes $325 million for the DREAMS Scholarship.
  • Louisiana state colleges and public schools will miss out on hundreds of millions in projected savings after voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have used education trust fund money to pay down retirement debt.
  • Miscalculations have left South Carolina’s higher education agency $25 million short of what it needs to pay colleges for state-sponsored scholarships awarded this school year.

Federal Higher Education News

  • FAFSA Simplification Yields Greater Pell Eligibility – The National College Attainment Network highlighted the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recent comprehensive report assessing how the FAFSA Simplification Act changed students’ Pell Grant eligibility in 2024-25. GAO’s report found that more than half a million more students became eligible for Pell, and almost two million more became eligible for the maximum award, despite fewer students completing the FAFSA overall that year.
  • U.S. Department of Education Reallocating Federal Funds for MSIs – The U.S. Department of Education announced that it is reallocating funds for Minority-Serving Institutions to the Strengthening Institutions Program to support colleges’ efforts related to “workforce readiness,” “responsible use of artificial intelligence,” and the development of short-term programs.

The Latest from SEF

  • SEF Publishes 2026 Policy Priorities – SEF’s 2026 policy agenda calls for bold legislative action to dismantle systemic injustices and ensure every child — regardless of race, income, or geography — has access to a world-class education. They reflect SEF’s commitment to high-quality, affordable early learning; strong K-12 public schools; civil rights protections; community partnerships; accessible higher education; and education innovation. Read our full set of priorities here.

As always, we hope you find the resources below helpful and meaningful to your work. Please have a great three-day weekend!

State Updates

Delaware

  • New bill would give state schools the right to small annual tax hikes without referendum – Last year, the state conducted its first property reassessment in decades. As a result, school districts were able to implement an up to 10% school tax increase without voter approval, sparking outrage throughout the state. (Spotlight Delaware) Read More

Florida

  • State lawmakers are still divided over education spending – Budget negotiations over education funding kicked off, but the House and Senate remain at odds over major issues, including funding for universities and K-12 schools. The House presented an $8.9 billion plan for the state’s 14 public universities, about $106 million short of the Senate’s preferred budget. (WFSU News) Read More

Georgia

  • State moves beyond HOPE, with need-based aid for college students – Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that establishes a need-based financial aid program. The amended budget for fiscal year 2026 already included $325 million for the DREAMS Scholarship. Senate Bill 556 establishes the rules for spending it, placing the program under the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which oversees the HOPE scholarship. (Capitol Beat) Read More

Kentucky

  • Governor Andy Beshear expands pre-K access through executive order – Almost a year after announcing his pre-K-for-all initiative, Gov. Beshear is taking matters into his own hands, pushing his agenda with a major move. Gov. Beshear said the move creates a path for 700 children to access pre-K for the 2026-27 school year. (Spectrum News 1) Read More
  • Report shows students graduating on time, borrowing less – The state’s students are more likely to graduate on time and pursue upper-level credentials. Fewer are borrowing to pay for college, according to a new report and data dashboard from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. (Kentucky Today) Read More
  • State college enrollment, graduation rates increase – The Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education’s latest report shows that undergraduate enrollment has increased by more than 4% across campuses. (Spectrum News 1) Read More
  • “Hopefully This Thing Is Legit:” Student Experiences of Administrative Burden with a Promise Program – While research has focused on how Promise programs affect student outcomes, little attention has been given to how students experience these programs. Understanding how students interact with Promise programs, including how they learn about them and navigate their requirements, can provide critical insights into the mechanisms that either support or impede postsecondary success. (Journal of Student Financial Aid) Read More

Louisiana

  • State senators cut new funds for school vouchers and education operating costs from budget – Raises for judges and members of Gov. Jeff Landry’s cabinet next year appear to be off the table after a Senate panel cut them from the state budget, along with funding to expand the state’s school voucher program that would have increased the per-student rate schools are paid for operating costs. (KATC News) Read More
  • House panel battles over auditing university spending on minority enrollment – A House resolution directing auditors to determine how much state and federal money has been spent on programs requiring Louisiana universities to increase the number of minority students enrolled, after a tense debate in the House Appropriations Committee. (4WWL News) Read More
  • Amendment 3 rejection leaves state universities without $70M in savings – State colleges and public school systems will miss out on hundreds of millions in projected savings after voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have used education trust fund money to pay down retirement debt. (The Center Square) Read More

Maryland

  • Advocates press governor to sign remaining immigrant-protection bills – Two dozen immigrant advocacy and civil rights groups wrote to Gov. Wes Moore, urging him to sign two major immigrant protection bills that passed on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. (Maryland Matters) Read More
  • Child care scholarship program set to reopen, aiding thousands – Maryland’s Child Care Scholarship program is set to reopen this summer after the State Department of Education froze the program last year. Thousands of families have been on a waitlist, and others are waiting to get on it. (WUSA 9) Read More

Mississippi

  • Dozens of school districts are missing financial audits. Some are years late – Almost half of the state’s school districts have not submitted at least one year of financial audits, leaving their finances murky. (Mississippi Today) Read More
  • ‘I had a head start in life. Every child in Mississippi should too,’ advocate says – Some of my youngest memories are from the playground at Head Start. I remember the routine, the feeling of safety, and the sense of belonging that came with having a place to go each day where adults provided me with quality care. (Mississippi Today) Read More

North Carolina

  • House overrides Governor Josh Stein’s veto to opt the state into federal school choice tax credit – The state House overrode the governor’s veto of a bill to opt the state into a federal tax credit designed to support private school vouchers. The Senate still needs to vote to complete the veto override. (WUNC News) Read More
  • Bipartisan child care bill targets workforce pipeline, insurance costs – State lawmakers are advancing a bipartisan child care bill aimed at expanding the early childhood workforce and strengthening provider support to address the root causes of the current child care shortage. (Carolina Journal) Read More
  • Republican lawmakers revive effort to elect State Board of Education members – Republican lawmakers will once again attempt to change how the state governs public schools, reviving a yearslong debate over who should control education policy in the state. (NC Newsline) Read More

Oklahoma

  • The state’s education spending gap explained – State lawmakers are touting historic education spending levels, but the state’s per-pupil spending rate is still dead last among surrounding states. (KGOU News) Read More
  • Governor Kevin Stitt signs bill expanding alternative pathways to teacher certification – The state has enacted a new law aimed at expanding the ways people can become certified teachers, as state leaders look to strengthen the educator pipeline and address ongoing staffing needs in schools. (KOKH News) Read More

South Carolina

  • State higher ed agency needs $25M more to pay for scholarships already awarded – Miscalculations have left South Carolina’s higher education agency $25 million short of what it needs to pay colleges for state-sponsored scholarships awarded this school year. (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Read More
  • State charter schools to face more scrutiny under finalized accountability bill – Charter schools, their authorizers, and the management companies they hire will face more oversight after legislators sent a bill meant to increase accountability to the governor’s desk. (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Read More

Tennessee

  • Majority of new school vouchers awarded to higher-income families – The majority of the state’s new vouchers for the upcoming school year were awarded to higher-income families, despite new income rankings meant to prioritize lower-income families. (Chalkbeat Tennessee) Read More
  • State Higher Education Commission approves new academic programs and tuition range for 2026-27 – The state Higher Education Commission held its quarterly Commission meeting, during which commissioners approved six new academic programs across the state’s public institutions and established the tuition and fee range for the 2026-27 academic year. (Tennessee Higher Education Commission) Read More
  • Governor Bill Lee signs Memphis schools takeover into law – Gov Lee signed legislation that will give political appointees sweeping authority over Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The new law is an unprecedented effort to seize local control of the state’s largest public school district through a nine-person oversight board appointed by the state’s top three Republicans, including the governor.

Texas

  • State lawmakers tackle STAAR scores, school closures, AI, and safety during House Education Committee hearing – Some of the biggest issues facing public schools took center stage as lawmakers questioned education leaders during a House Committee on Public Education hearing. (KCEN TV News)  Read More
  • Public schools see first non-pandemic enrollment drop in decades – Roughly 76,000 fewer students enrolled in public schools this academic year — the first non-pandemic decline in nearly four decades — with Hispanic students accounting for the overwhelming majority of the loss, according to a report released. (The Texas Tribune) Read More

Virginia

  • Business and education leaders form group to advocate for Virginia’s K-12 schools – A high-powered coalition of business leaders is launching a group to push for more school funding — and closer ties between schools and employers. (Cardinal News) Read More
  • Spanberger signs bills to ban firearms at Virginia’s public colleges, universities – Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed legislation at the University of Virginia to protect students’ and faculty’s safety on public college and university campuses following a 2022 shooting. (WRIC News) ​​Read More

West Virginia

  • Governor Patrick Morrisey signals potential cuts to childcare assistance, clothing voucher programs due to debt – After announcing a projected $40 million deficit in its TANF funding, Gov. Morrisey announced cuts could be coming to the state’s child care assistance and a voucher program that helps low-income families afford school clothes. (West Virginia Watch) Read More

National/Federal Updates

Early Childhood Education News and Resources

  • Warning signs: State child care assistance policies 2025 – This analysis of child care assistance policies offers warning signs—while a few states made notable strides forward on their policies, several states have taken steps backward, and many states have made little or no progress in addressing the gaps in their policies. (National Women’s Law Center) Read More
  • Amidst rising costs and care challenges, middle-income families feel the squeeze in a system not built for them – A new poll highlights how caregiving costs are straining household budgets, disrupting workforce participation, and undermining long-term economic stability across all income levels, with middle-income families bearing a disproportionate share of the burden. (Bipartisan Policy Center) Read More
  • Five ways to put your fiscal map into actions – This article discusses five examples of how states and communities have put their fiscal maps into action to support their goals for children and youth. (Children’s Funding Project) Read More
  • U.S. Health and Human Services seeks to undo Biden-era Head Start reforms – A proposed rule issued seeks to roll back Head Start wage and benefit requirements approved during the Biden administration, according to a notice in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (K-12 Dive) Read More
  • State child tax credits: A promising policy to improve child outcomes – This report provides background on state CTCs, explains their expected benefits for children and families, describes variation in credit design across states and over time, and offers a timely synthesis of the evidence on their impacts within an organized framework to inform current policy decisions. (Child Development Research and Policy Considerations) Read More

K-12 Education News and Resources

  • Education Department to release $144M for special education, early intervention – States and districts will receive an additional $144 million this year for services to infants, toddlers, children, and young adults with disabilities, according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Education. (K-12 Dive) Read More
  • AI in education policy – moving at the speed of change – AI is moving faster than most public systems are designed to adapt. For state education leaders, that speed presents both opportunities and challenges. (Education Commission of the States) Read More
  • Framing the social implications of AI – As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms our society, navigating the complex public narratives of promise, fear, and ethics can be challenging. Framing the Social Implications of AI equips researchers, advocates, and communicators with evidence-based strategies to effectively shift the discourse around AI technologies. (Framework Institute) Read More
  • Equal protection and public education access for immigrant students: a 50-state review – This resource introduces the Plyler case and its related principles, and it provides an overview of the Court’s decision and its reasoning. It summarizes the current state of legislation and other public signals of potential state action, using maps that illustrate the current national landscape of activity advancing or challenging the principles of Plyler. (Bellwether) Read More
  • Colleges got more rural students to apply. The challenge is getting them to attend – Ninety percent of rural students graduate from high school, more than their peers in cities or suburbs, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But only a little more than half go straight to college, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports. (National Public Radio) Read More
  • As Trump demands English only, he guts federal support for English learners – Nothing characterizes the Trump administration so much as its certainty that government efforts to make things better never work. Whatever the public problem, the administration is certain that its solution involves … doing less to try and solve it. (The 74) Read More
  • Supreme Court to determine if school employees can sue under Title IX – Can employees who work at schools or colleges that receive federal funding personally sue their employer for sex discrimination under Title IX? For years — and in most parts of the country — the answer to that has been yes. (K-12 Dive) Read More
  • How the federal tax credit scholarship program may affect states – The passage of H.R. 1, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, by Congress in July 2025 included the Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program. While state policymakers await further regulations to inform implementation decisions, the Commission has outlined some key questions leaders are considering in the meantime. (Education Commission of the States) Read More
  • Digital Trailblazers: Lessons from a school on the frontier of artificial intelligence – Artificial intelligence has arrived in America’s schools faster than most educators and policymakers were prepared for. While students are already using AI, many schools remain uncertain about how to respond. (FutureEd) Read More
  • OPINION: HBCUs, Rosenwald Schools, and Education’s Historic Role in Democracy and Equality – The HBCU, Rosenwald, and Tuskegee exhibitions provide unique insights into American history, the nation’s track record of racial inequality since its founding, and education’s central role in democracy and equality. (Forbes) Read More

Higher Education News and Resources

    • Education Department releases final rule for Workforce Pell – The U.S. Department of Education released final regulations detailing the process by which programs as short as eight weeks can receive approval from their governors and the federal government to be eligible for Pell Grants. (Higher Ed Dive) Read More
    • FAFSA simplification yielded 570,000 more pell-eligible students – The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a comprehensive report of its analysis of federal data assessing how the FAFSA Simplification Act changed students’ Pell Grant eligibility in 2024-25. The bottom line finds that more than half a million more students became eligible for Pell, and almost two million more became eligible for the maximum award. (National College Attainment Network) Read More
    • Accurate and accessible data could be the backbone of direct admissions – As the school year ends in communities across the U.S., it’s time for students transitioning out of their K-12 journeys to decide on their next steps. Increasingly, many students will choose to attend schools that they hadn’t even applied to through a process called direct admissions, sometimes referred to as “automatic” or “guaranteed” admissions. (Education Commission of the States) Read More
    • Higher Education at a Crossroads: Fiscal considerations for states – This report was prepared by the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures Budget Working Group, formed in 2022 to examine state budget strategies, reduce fiscal distress, and improve long-term sustainability. (National Conference of State Legislatures) Read More
    • The Pell Institute releases 2026 indicators report warning U.S. higher education progress is stalling – The tenth edition of the report, titled The State of Higher Education Opportunity: Examining Differences Between Equity and Equality, documents both the tremendous expansion of higher education opportunity in the United States over the past century and the persistent inequities that continue to shape who enrolls in college, who graduates, and who benefits economically from higher education. (The Pell Institute) Read More
    • Education Department reallocates Minority-Serving Institution funds again – The U.S. Department of Education announced that it’s reallocating funds for minority-serving institutions to the Strengthening Institutions Program, a capacity-building grant for low-resourced colleges that serve high numbers of low-income students. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, and if we can assist with any government affairs or advocacy issues moving forward.

Sincerely,

Fred Jones, Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy,

fjones@southerneducation.org

Darian Burns, Legislative and Public Policy Analyst,

dburns@southerneducation.org

Allison Boyle, Research and Policy Specialist,

aboyle@southerneducation.org