On Friday night, the House of Representatives voted 208-199 to approve the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. As previously posted, the $3.5 trillion bill provides significant financial additional assistance to individuals and sectors impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have indicated that they have no intention of moving the House bill forward. However, the Senate will likely need to act at some point this summer, as an extension of unemployment benefits and other aid becomes necessary.

A future Senate bill will be more smaller and more targeted. Over the next few weeks, the higher education advocacy community will primarily seek to increase support research recovery while preserving the significant funding for higher education included in the HEROES Act.