The RISE Act would completely repeal the penalty and reinstate aid to all otherwise-eligible applicants. The bill had more than 70 House co-sponsors during the 109th Congress. There has not yet been a Senate companion bill.

The RISE Act, sponsored in the House by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) with 69 co-sponsors in
2006, would fully repeal the penalty. This legislation primarily serves to keep the issue in front of Congress in advance of HEA reauthorization legislation (see below). Thus, we aim to introducethe bill early in the session. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has committed to introduce a bipartisan RISE Act in the Senate duringthe 110th Congress. We are currently reaching out to moderate Republicans to secure an initial cosponsor.

In addition to previous RISE Act co-sponsors, a strong effort will be made to get most Democrats
on the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to co-sponsor the bill. Efforts will also be focused on the Congressional BlackCaucus and the House Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, as well as all freshman members.

We are hopeful that the House RISE Act will be bipartisan this year, having received positive indications from Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Effort will be invested in finding other Republicans who arewilling to co-sponsor the bill.

In an effort to secure maximum co-sponsorship, we will work with our coalition partners to distribute an organization sign-on letter, and to generate constituent support through action alerts. Weplan to hold a press conference when the bill is officially introduced.

In March we will coordinate a remote student lobby day and day of action among SSDP chapters
in support of the bill. We are hopeful that the House RISE Act will receive a hearing in committee this year, as indicated by friendly Congressional staffers.

HEA Reauthorization
Our best opportunity for full repeal is to have the language removed from the HEA reauthorization bill when it is introduced in the House Education and Labor Committee. Based on discussionswith staffers of key committee members, we are optimistic about our chances. Having the RISE Act introduced beforehand with substantial co-sponsors will greatly increase the likelihoodof this happening.

In the Senate we are likely to get some form of compromise, such as limiting the penalty to sales, since the committee works on a strong bipartisan basis. We will make an effort to persuade HELPCommittee members to include language fully repealing the penalty. In anticipation of compromise Senate language, we are prepared arm supportive Senators to fight for language fully repealing the penalty in conference with the House.

Labor-HHS-Education Appropriation
Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) has committed to introduce a bipartisan “Hinchey-style” amendment that would prevent the Department of Education from spending any money to enforce the penalty.As Congress gets closer to considering the bill, we will invest effort in finding a Republican co-sponsor.

Since this bill is likely to be considered after HEA reauthorization takes place, we hope the penaltywill already have been repealed. However, if the penalty is only partially reformed during reauthorization,the Andrews amendment presents an opportunity for de-facto repeal.