Welcome to the Universities of Wisconsin Government Relations Newsletter. The Office of Government Relations provides legislative and political updates that impact the Universities of Wisconsin at the state and federal level.

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State Relations

Check back for future updates.

Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER)

The Joint Committee on Employment Relations will be holding a Public Hearing and an Executive Session on Wednesday, September 3, at 9am on the 2025-27 State Compensation Plan and the 2025-27 University of Wisconsin System Pay Adjustment.

You will be able to watch live on WisconsinEye.

Federal Relations

2026-27 FAFSA

Last week, the Department of Education confirmed that the 2026-2027 FAFSA form will be available on time this fall.

In a press release from the Department of Education at the time of this announcement, Secretary McMahon said, “Under President Trump’s leadership, our team has prioritized technical competence and expertise, which has led to the earliest testing launch of the FAFSA form in history. The Biden Administration failed the FAFSA rollout two years ago, leaving millions of American students and families without clear answers or a path forward in their educational journey. Congress gave us a mandate to improve the form and deliver it on time for students, families, and institutions of higher education – and I am proud to certify that the form will launch on time this fall.”

If interested in reading more, you can review the letter Secretary McMahon sent to Congress certifying this timeline.

Federal Guidance on Mitigating Foreign Threats to Research

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and other federal partners issued new guidance and mitigation strategies related to foreign threats to research in higher education.  

For more, you can review the press release and review the Safeguarding Academia bulletin. 

Department of Homeland Security Update

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a new proposed rule related to “duration of status.” For more, you can review the Department’s press release and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register.

House Appropriations Committee Update

On September 1, the House Appropriations Committee released the FY 26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill.

The Subcommittee is set to markup the bill beginning at 4:00PM Central Time on September 2nd. For more information and to watch live, you can visit the Committee website.

Full House and Senate Hearing Schedule

If interested, you can see a full list of upcoming hearings on the Senate Hearings & Meetings Page. A review of this week’s committee hearings in the House of Representatives is available via the Committee Schedule within the House of Representatives Legislative Activity section on the Chamber’s main page.  

House and Senate Floor Schedules

The House of Representatives and Senate are both scheduled to be in session and voting this week. A full list of votes can be found on the respective websites for the House of Representatives and the Senate as they are released. 

Note: Links to external sites are provided for informational purposes and not meant to convey an endorsement of the Universities of Wisconsin.