View this email .
American Dental Education Association

Volume 1, No. 49, February 19, 2020

Extending the Deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment Moves to the Senate

 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove the time limit for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution by passing , which now moves to the Senate for a vote.

 

The Amendment was introduced in 1972 and set a seven-year deadline for ratification by the required three-fourths of the states—38 states—following the amendment’s submission to the states. In 1978 with only 35 states having ratified the Amendment, Congress extended the deadline for ratification to June 30, 1982.

 

Despite the deadline passing in 1982, Nevada ratified the amendment in 2017, Illinois approved it in 2018 and Virginia became the latest state to ratify it in January 2020, making it the 38th state to ratify the ERA. However, the future remains unclear for this amendment because three states that initially ratified the amendment have rescinded their ratification and there has been no judicial ruling on whether their rescissions are constitutionally valid.

 

If the proposed amendment were to be officially ratified, the sentence “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” would be added to the Constitution.

ADEA Launches Update to State Advocacy Toolkit

 

ADEA is proud to announce a recent update to its . The toolkit provides useful tips and insights to individuals who are either already engaged in state advocacy or just getting started. Covered topics include:

  • Tips for building relationships with state legislators,
  • In-depth information on how a bill becomes a law,
  • Differences among state legislatures and how those differences can be leveraged by advocates and
  • Why you should care about becoming a state-level advocate for dental education.
New York Senate Passes Cultural Competence Requirement

 

On Feb. 13, the New York Senate passed requiring cultural awareness and competence training for medical professionals. Under the bill, specified health care professionals, including dentists, would be required to complete continuing education that complies with regulations promulgated by the state’s Department of Health. It includes two hours of training encompassing minority health care issues and their impact on minority health care. The bill has been sent to the New York State Assembly for consideration.

U.S. Department of Education Delays Review of New Disclosure Standards

 

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) delayed the final review of its new disclosure standards. The new standards are being written in response to congressional calls for tighter oversight from ED over foreign gift reporting requirements for universities. The delay in the review is attributed to major from the higher education community.

 

Under current law, Section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires universities to report to the federal government any gift or contract from a foreign individual or organization of more than $250,000. Specifically, universities are only required to disclose the value of a gift or contract and the country of the donor or business. However, under the new disclosure standards proposed by the Trump administration, universities would have to disclose the identities of foreign donors, provide copies of gift or business contracts and report foreign funds received through independent organizations like research foundations.

 

Scrutiny over foreign involvement with universities, in particular research universities, has increased in recent months leading to charges of and other .

President’s FY 2021 Budget Makes Cuts to Several Priority Dental Education Programs

 

The Summary Table below shows the priority programs for which ADEA primarily advocates with the fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations and President Trump’s requested FY 2021 funding. When the President’s budget requests no funding for a program, this represents the third consecutive year he has made such a request. Medical and nursing training programs are also not funded in his budget. Congress has continued funding these health professions education and training programs.

The is published weekly. Its purpose is to keep ADEA members abreast of federal and state issues and events of interest to the academic dentistry and the dental and research communities.

 

©2020

American Dental Education Association

655 K Street, NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20001

202-289-7201,

 

twitter
Unsubscribe

B. Timothy Leeth, CPA

ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer

 

Bridgette DeHart, J.D.

ADEA Director of Federal Relations

 

Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.

ADEA Director of State Relations and Advocacy

 

Brian Robinson

ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations

 

Ambika R. Srivastava, M.P.H.

ADEA/Sunstar Americas, Inc./Jack Bresch Legislative Intern

 

Higher Logic