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American Dental Education Association
Volume 2, No. 81, December 20, 2022
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Second Case Opposing Biden Administration’s Student Debt Relief Program
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear [ [link removed] ] a second case opposing the Biden administration’s student debt relief program.
In Myra Brown, et al. v U.S. Department of Education et al. [ [link removed] ] , plaintiffs argued that the debt relief plan violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not seeking public comment on the plan and harmed two plaintiffs who did not meet the eligibility requirements for debt relief. One plaintiff has student loans that are now privately held and not eligible for forgiveness. The second plaintiff was eligible for just $10,000 in debt forgiveness—not $20,000—because he did not receive a Pell Grant. According to their compliant, “plaintiffs want an opportunity to present their views to the Department and to provide additional comments on any proposal from the Department to forgive student loan debts.” They believe that it is “irrational, arbitrary and unfair” to exclude them from student debt relief plan. The lower court agreed with this argument and further believed that the basis for the program itself was unconstitutional, and thus, the lower court declared the Biden Student Loan Debt Relief Plan unlawful and vacated the program. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed the decision.
Two weeks prior to accepting the Brown case, the Supreme Court Justices agreed to hear [ [link removed] ] Nebraska v. Biden [ [link removed] ] , a case brought by six state Republican Attorneys General. The Attorneys General sought an injunction against the program to prevent it from canceling federal student loan balances. They had a two-pronged argument. First, they argued that the Biden administration overreached its executive authority by canceling student loans under the auspices of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 [ [link removed] ] (HEROES Act), a law created to give the President authority to cancel or modify student loans after natural disasters or national emergencies. The Attorneys General argue that the law was meant to address emergencies, such as terrorist acts, and that the current public health emergency cited by the Biden administration as the basis for the student loan cancelations does not qualify as an emergency under the HEROES Act. Second, MOHELA, Missouri’s student loan servicer that is part of its state government, could see a drop in revenue caused by borrowers consolidating and transferring their federally guaranteed student loans back to the federal government, thereby causing the state harm due to the potential drop in revenue. The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Attorneys General. The DOJ appealed the decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled hearings on both cases in February 2023. Currently, the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan is put on hold due to the injunctive relief granted by the lower courts. The injunctions will remain in place until the court’s ruling, which is not expected to come until May 2023 or June 2023.
Congress Has an Additional Week to Pass Appropriations Bills
Congress passed and President Biden signed a second Continuing Resolution to allow the government to continue to operate through Dec. 23 when, hopefully, it will be able to enact an omnibus appropriations bill encompassing the authority needed to maintain operations through fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30, 2023.
An outline emerged early last week when the Democratic leaders of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Appropriations and the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee announced a framework to complete the action. The House Committee’s Republicans opposed the framework and instead argued for pushing the deadline into calendar year 2023 when Republicans will control the House.
The framework calls for a total of $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending, $858 billion of which is set aside for defense with the balance being non-defense discretionary spending.
Supreme Court Upholds California’s Ban of Flavored Tobacco Products
The Supreme Court refused to hear arguments [ [link removed] ] from tobacco manufacturers who challenged California’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The ban, which was upheld by voters [ [link removed] ] in November, was contested by RJ Reynolds and other tobacco manufacturers, who argued it violated the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, a federal law that prohibits states from blocking the sale of tobacco products.
The Court did not provide an explanation for its refusal to hear the case, but the rejection likely ends two years of court battles over the ban. The ban was originally signed into law in 2020 when California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed SB 793 [ [link removed] ] . However, before the law could take effect, tobacco manufacturers successfully gathered enough signatures [ [link removed] ] to place a referendum of the law on the ballot.
Washington State Can Offer ACA Marketplace Health Insurance to Undocumented Immigrants
In 2024, Washington state may begin offering health insurance to all immigrants [ [link removed] ] , regardless of status. A waiver approved by the Biden administration [ [link removed]- ] on Dec. 9 would allow the state to offer subsidized health insurance to all of its residents through the state-run Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace.
The ACA prohibits marketplaces from offering access to health and dental plans to undocumented immigrants, but Section 1332 of the ACA allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to waive sections of the law to states pursuing “innovative strategies.” Washington state’s waiver was approved under Section 1332 [ [link removed]. ] , and if the state agrees to additional conditions specified by CMS, it will be permitted to operate under the waiver until 2028.
ADEA Advocate Will Be on a Holiday Hiatus
This ADEA Advocate issue will be the last for 2022. The next Advocate will publish on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Keep an eye on the ADEA Connect “All Member” Community for any AGR breaking news.
ADEA Advocacy in Action
This appears weekly in the ADEA Advocate to summarize and provide direct links to recent advocacy actions taken by ADEA. Please let us know what you think and how we might improve its usefulness.
Issues and Resources
• Applications open [ [link removed] ] for HRSA Dental Public Health Research Fellowship
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on teledentistry
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
• ADEA policy brief [ [link removed] ] regarding overprescription of antibiotics
• For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click here [ [link removed] ] .
Key Federal Issues [ [link removed] ]
ADEA U.S. Interactive Legislative and Regulatory Tracking Map [ [link removed] ]
Key State Issues [ [link removed] ]
The ADEA Advocate [ [link removed] ] 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.
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American Dental Education Association
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Tel: 202-289-7201
Website: www.adea.org [ [link removed] ]
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B. Timothy Leeth, CPA
ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer
Bridgette DeHart, J.D.
ADEA Director of Federal Relations and Advocacy
Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.
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Brian Robinson
ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations
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