The information covered below is from June 8, 2023 to June 15, 2023.

Highlights:

• On June 14, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy separately introduced competing bills to address the cost of postsecondary education.
• On June 13, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing titled, “Oversight of CDC Policies and Decisions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky testified.
• On June 14, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing to examine innovation in postsecondary education.

Administration:

Biden-Harris Administration launches campaign to increase access to high-speed internet: On June 14, the Biden-Harris Administration launched a digital equity campaign to increase access to high-speed internet. The campaign, named “Online For All,” has over 300 local and national partners that are working to drive enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program, for which families are eligible if the household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and meet other criteria. A White House fact sheet details an “all of government” effort from a number of federal agencies to raise awareness about the program, including a video from Vice President Kamala Harris. USED Secretary Miguel Cardona held a virtual event with educators, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Association of Education (NEA), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) to provide them with information on how to support families and keep students connected over the summer. More information about the efforts USED is taking to inform families of the program can be found here.

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED Secretary Miguel Cardona travels to Seattle to explore career and technical programs in K-12 and postsecondary settings: On June 9, USED Secretary Miguel Cardona traveled to Seattle, Washington with Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA) to visit secondary and postsecondary schools with strong career and technical education programs. Secretary Cardona visited Seattle Maritime Academy to learn about how the college helps prepare students to use their technical education skills in maritime careers. At Lake Washington High School, Secretary Cardona explored the school’s robotics and urban agriculture programs and heard from students how they are prepared for jobs after graduation.  Following the conversation with students, Secretary Cardona remarked on the program’s attention to each student’s unique interests, “That’s the beauty of public schools — we create pathways, we connect to the needs in the community and we create programs around that.”

Congress:

Senate:

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy separately introduce competing bills to address cost of postsecondary education: On June 14, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), with eight Senate co-sponsors and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced legislation to increase access to tuition-free and debt-free postsecondary education. More specifically, S. 1963, named the “College for All Act of 2023,” has been introduced each Congress since 2015 and would provide tuition-free community college for students in single households earning up to $125,000 and married households earning up to $250,000. The legislation would also establish a $10 billion grant program for states participating in the federal-state partnership to scale evidence-based practices and strategies, as well as double mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other Minority-Serving institutions. Additionally, the bill would:

• Double the maximum Pell Grant award: $7,395 to $14,790 for the 2024-2025 school year for students enrolled at public and private non-profit colleges;
• Triple Federal TRIO funding from $1.191 billion in FY23 to $3 billion in FY24; and
• Double GEAR UP funding from $388 million in FY23 to $736 million in FY24.

To fund these increases in student financial support, Chairman Sanders introduced an additional bill – the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023 – that would tax of 0.5 percent on stock trades, a 0.1 percent fee on bonds, and a 0.005 percent fee on derivatives and other financial instruments. A bill summary of the College for All Act of 2023 is here and a summary for the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023 is here.

Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA), with four Republican colleagues in the Senate, introduced a package of five bills that are targeted at addressing the increasing cost of higher education. Ranking Member Cassidy’s announcement notes that the bills would “create downward pressure” on postsecondary institutions that “have used the availability of federal loans to artificially increase their prices.” The package, named “Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act” includes the following bills:

• The bipartisan College Transparency Act changes the postsecondary data reporting system to improve the information that families and students can use to inform their postsecondary educational decisions around schools and programs.
• The Understanding the True Cost of College Act, also bipartisan and introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), requires institutions to use a uniform financial aid letter with clear indications of the types and breakdown of aid included, allowing families and students to better understand and compare their financial aid options. A fact sheet on the bill is here.
• The Informed Student Borrowing Act was introduced by Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and is targeted at improving the “passive decision-making process for taking student loans.” The bill would require loan entrance counseling on an annual basis and mandate that institutions provide borrowers with sample monthly repayment amounts based on the 10 year repayment plan and the median annual earnings for individuals who attended the institution and by specific program, among others. A fact sheet on the bill is here.
• The Streamlining Accountability and Value in Education (SAVE) for Students Act, was introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) would “streamline repayment options” by offering two options instead of nine. The two options would be the 10-year standard repayment plan and the REPAYE+ program, an income driven repayment plan that provides earlier forgiveness for low-income, low-balance undergraduate borrowers. A fact sheet on the bill is here.
• The Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans (GOAL) Act, introduced by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), “ends inflationary Graduate PLUS loans” and allows institutions to set lower loan limits by program to protect students from over-borrowing. A fact sheet on the bill is here.

A summary on the bill package is here.

Senate Finance Committee holds hearing regarding anti-poverty programs to support children and families: On June 14, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled, “Anti-Poverty and Family Support Provisions in the Tax Code.” Witnesses included Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel and Director Of Income Security at the National Women’s Law Center; Grant Collins, President of Fedcap Inc, a non-profit organization that provides vocational training and employment resources to those who face problems with disabilities and employment-related problems; Bruce Meyer, Professor in the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy; and Melissa Lester, a parent from Ohio who received the Child Tax Credit.

In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) called attention to the impact of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC), which was passed as a part of the American Rescue Plan in 2021. Chairman Wyden stated, “Expanding the CTC lifted 3.7 million American children out of poverty. Child hunger fell by nearly a quarter.” Chairman Wyden also shared stories from families who benefited from the expanded CTC and expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), adding that “in some cases, it actually helped more parents enter the labor force because it helped them pay for things like child care and transportation that are necessary prerequisites for holding a job.”

Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) also shared his support for working families during his opening statement, stating “if America is serious about reducing poverty and supporting families, work works.” Ranking Member Crapo cited his record of support for welfare reform and added, “recent polling from May shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans support work requirements for recipients of government benefits.” Ranking Member Crapo also referenced different tax programs from around the world and stated, “unconditional, direct-transfer policies simply do not achieve their aim of actually reducing poverty and dependency, even if they are called a tax credit.”

House:

House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens introduce legislation aimed at simplifying the federal student loan repayment process: On June 15, House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT), and Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) introduced H.R. 4144, legislation aimed at simplifying the federal student loan repayment process. Named the Federal Assistance to Initiate Repayment (FAIR) Act, the bill would stop the Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed changes to the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program and create one “predictable and affordable” IDR plan. Additionally, the bill aims to smooth borrowers’ transition to loan repayment following the pandemic-related loan repayment pause, requiring that USED and the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) provide “ample guidance” to student loan servicers to support borrowers. The legislation also “provides targeted student loan relief” to borrowers who have already paid back more than they originally owed in principal and interest, waiving their remaining balances. A section-by-section summary of the bill is here and a fact sheet is here. Relatedly, Chairwoman Foxx penned an op-ed in The Washington Times calling the Biden Administration’s handling of student loans a “game of monopoly” and stated that there is a “lack of accountability.”

House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic holds hearing with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky: On June 13, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing titled, “Oversight of CDC Policies and Decisions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The subcommittee’s only witness was Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This hearing is one of several in a series of hearings on COVID-19-related guidance, particularly on school closures, and, according to Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), the alleged influence by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on the CDC’s school reopening guidance in 2021. The first, titled “The Consequences of School Closures: Intended and Unintended” was held on March 28, 2023. The second hearing, titled “The Consequences of School Closures, Part 2: The President of the American Federation of Teachers,” was held on April 26, 2023, where Randi Weingarten, the President of the AFT, was the subcommittee’s only witness. At the June 13th hearing, CDC Director Walensky, in her opening statement, discussed the deliberative process used to develop “a roadmap to reopen schools for in-person instruction and help them remain open through consistent use of mitigation strategies…implementing layered prevention strategies based on community needs to protect students, teachers, and members of their households while getting kids back in the classroom.” Director Walensky noted that “Evidence available at the time suggested that many K-12 schools that strictly implemented mitigation strategies were able to safely open for in-person instruction and remain open” and further emphasized that the CDC’s school recommendations “were not and never have been requirements, [but rather] intended to provide broad guidance and serve as a foundation for local decision-making.” Subcommittee Chairman Wenstrup, in his questioning, with a continued focus on the AFT’s influence over the guidance asked “Did the AFT provide suggested edits to the CDC’s February 2021 school opening guidance, including a trigger to automatically close schools that, if implemented, would have kept more schools closed and kids out of the classroom?” Director Walensky responded that the AFT, along with nearly 50 other stakeholders, did provide comments on the draft guidance.

House Education and Workforce Committee advances legislation that prohibits K-12 and postsecondary schools from using facilities to shelter migrants: On June 13, the House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced H.R. 3941, the “Schools Not Shelters Act” by 20-16 vote. The legislation condemns “the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States.” A resolution of similar sentiment was marked up and advanced by the Committee on June 6. During the bill’s markup, Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) shared that states and communities “harboring migrants in public school and college facilities” is an “unacceptable consequence of the administration’s open border policies… [H.R. 3941] would put an end to that.” Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) shared, “H.R. 3941 further stokes Republican-fueled culture wars in education by prohibiting the use of school and college facilities to shelter undocumented migrants and threatening funding for schools and colleges that do not follow Republican politicians’ extreme agenda.”

House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development holds hearing on innovation in postsecondary education: On June 14, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing titled, “Postsecondary Innovation: Preparing Today’s Students For Tomorrow’s Opportunities.” Witnesses included Dr. Tim Renick, Executive Director of the National Institute for Student Success at Georgia State University; Keith Shoates, Chief Operating Officer at the Student Freedom Initiative (SFI); Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Education and Politics at Third Way; and Dr. Lori Carrell, Chancellor of University of Minnesota-Rochester and Co-Director of the College-in-3 Initiative.

During his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) called the current postsecondary system “unaffordable, inflexible, and outdated,” naming the Higher Education Act (HEA) – last reauthorized in 2008 – as a major reason. Chairman Owens shared that “universities are charting the path for Congress” to reauthorize the HEA, as institutions are “embracing competency-based education (CBE),” a change from the “conventional wisdom” around credit hours as a measurement tool. Highlighting additional innovations in postsecondary education, Chairman Owens mentioned three-year degree programs, online education, and public-private partnerships, stating, “HBCUs and MSIs are doing a fantastic job of partnering with private companies to ensure that their students have in-demand skills for the modern workforce.”

Subcommittee Ranking Member Frederica Wilson (D-FL) used her opening statement to call attention to “the declining value of the Pell Grant and state disinvestment in higher education” which has led to “declines in black student enrollment.” Ranking Member Wilson also added her support for “implement[ing] structural reforms that simultaneously tackle the challenge of making college more affordable and the facilitation of recruiting a more diverse student body.” Naming different institutional innovation efforts, Ranking Member Wilson stated that wraparound student services, financial assistance, employment support, pathways to college, and flexible learning opportunities, including dual enrollment, are all ways in which to support students. Ranking Member Wilson concluded, “Simply put, when we talk about innovation in higher education, we must remember that our responsibility is to expand not limit access to a high quality degree. We must ensure access to high quality degrees while innovating in higher education.”

Upcoming Events (Congress & Administration):

• On June 22 at 10:15 am, the House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing titled “Competencies Over Degrees: Transitioning to a Skills-Based Economy.” Witnesses have not yet been announced. More information is here.
• On June 22 at 10:30 am, the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a markup of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024. The markup includes the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024. More information is here.
• On August 9 at 3:00 pm, USED will host a webinar titled, “Guiding Principles for Creating Safe, Inclusive, Supportive, and Fair School Climates.” The webinar will discuss a recent publication of the same name, and is designed to enhance state and district implementation or strategies that promote safe, inclusive, supportive, and fair learning environments. More information and registration here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

• On June 20 at 3:00 pm, New America will host a webinar titled, “Strengthening Kindergarten to Improve Children’s PreK-3rd Grade Experiences.” A panel discussion will explore the biggest barriers to Kindergarten transition work, as well as opportunities to move transition work forward and how to keep equity at the center of this work. Panelists include Gloria Corral, President & CEO of Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE); Anya Hurwitz, Ed.D., Executive Director at Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL); Shantel Meek, Ph.D., Professor of Practice and Founding Director at the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University; and Connie Hall, 2023 Nevada State Teacher of the Year. More information and registration here.
• On June 22 at 1:00 pm, the National Working Group on Advanced Education will host a webinar titled, “How to Build a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners.” The webinar will discuss a report of the same name, including recommendations for districts, charter networks, and states. More information and registration here.
• On June 22 at 2:00 pm, The Hunt Institute will host a webinar titled, “Going the Distance: Closing Gaps Through High-Dosage Tutoring.” The webinar will consider the impacts of high-dosage tutoring, potential barriers to implementation, and hear from national experts about what does and does not work when providing students with accelerated learning opportunities. More information and registration here.
• On June 22 at 3:00 pm, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) will host a webinar titled, “Using State ESSER Funds to Support Innovative Educator Pathways.” The webinar will highlight findings from a new report, The Road to Recovery: How States are Using ESSER Funds to Support Teacher Recruitment and Retention, and feature state and local education leaders on how they are making systemic investments to improve teacher recruitment and retention. More information and registration here.

Publications (Congress & Administration):

• On June 7, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a new blog titled, “Update on student loan borrowers as payment suspension set to expire.” The update follows other analyses from CFPB that have shown an overview of the credit health of student loan borrowers during the first two years of the repayment pause, as well as how student loan borrowers were increasingly likely to struggle with payments on their other debts. New findings show that more than eight percent of borrowers are currently behind on their other payment obligations, which is higher than pre-pandemic rates. Additionally, roughly twenty percent of borrowers have risk factors that suggest they could struggle when scheduled payments resume.
• On June 13, the Government Accountability Agency (GAO) published a new report titled, “Science & Tech Spotlight: Generative AI.” The report explains both the opportunities and challenges of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, government, medicine, law, and other fields, as well as questions for policymakers to consider. Among opportunities, the report writes that AI can support users in rapidly summarizing information, enabling automation across multiple industries, and improving productivity through automation. Challenges of AI use include false information through the production of “hallucinations” or erroneous responses that seem credible, and privacy and national security risks due to technical failures. The report encourages policymakers to consider what AI guidelines are necessary to ensure AI systems are used responsibly, and what standards could be developed to evaluate the methods and materials used to train generative AI models and ensure accuracy of their responses.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

• On June 12, The National Working Group on Advanced Education, convened by the Fordham Institute, published a new report titled, “Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners.” The Working Group was created “in part by long-standing shortcomings in America’s handling of ‘gifted and talented’ schooling and in part by a rash of high-profile controversies about how best to develop the potential of the nation’s most academically talented students. The report makes a number of policy recommendations at both the local and state level. Some of the district-level recommendations are grounded in specific principles, such as student identification, academic acceleration, and equitable achievement grouping. More specifically, the report recommends that districts can better serve students by adopting universal screening to identify students with potential for high achievement, allow children who are ready for advanced material in all subjects to skip entire grade levels, and frequently and equitably evaluate all students. At the state level, the Working Group recommends mandating the identification of students with advanced-learning needs and provide services for said students, ensure that preparation and in-service professional-development programs offer evidence-based instruction in advanced education, and expand funding and other incentives to encourage schools to frequently and equitably evaluate all students.
• On June 12, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce published a new report titled, “Race, Elite College Admissions, and the Courts.” The report explores the legal history of racial equity in education, evaluates alternatives to considering race/ethnicity in college admissions, and proposes changes to the K-12 education system that would improve educational opportunity. Analyzing six admissions models, the report found that “a model that considers both the socioeconomic status and academic merit of students, in combination, could result in more racial diversity than the current system.” Turning to K-12 education, the report details how racial and economic segregation of K-12 education is at the root of the gaps in educational resources, and without addressing this segregation, will continue to “leave low-income and underrepresented minority students at a clear disadvantage.”

Legislation:

Introduced in the House of Representatives:

H.R. 3941
A bill to prohibit the use of the facilities of a public elementary school, a public secondary school, or an institution of higher education to provide shelter for aliens who have not been admitted into the United States, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Marcus Molinaro (R-NY)

H.R. 3967
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the exclusion from taxable income of any student loan forgiveness or discharge.
Sponsor: Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA)

H.R. 3975
A bill to amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish service programs dedicated to digital equity, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA)

H.R. 3981
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the methods by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs conducts oversight of certain educational institutions, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY)

H.R. 3998
A bill to establish a program to monitor and gather data on incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses, develop a national public safety messaging campaign, training materials, and model legislation to reduce such incidents, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN)

H.R. 4022
A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to include indoor agricultural technology as an activity that supports well-rounded education, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)

H.R. 4054
A bill to amend the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to reauthorize grants to improve trauma support services and mental health care for children and youth in educational settings.
Sponsor: Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL)

H.R. 4080
A bill to amend the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to extend a task force to develop best practices for trauma-informed identification, referral, and support.
Sponsor: Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA)

H.R. 4083
A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve oversight of private charter management organizations, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)

H.R. 4111
A bill to provide block grants to assign armed law enforcement officers to elementary and secondary schools.
Sponsor: Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)

H.R. 4117
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All.
Sponsor: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)

H.R. 4118
A bill to include financial literacy education as a graduation requirement in high schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity.
Sponsor: Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA)

H.R. 4139
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the refinancing of certain Federal student loans, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH)

H.R. 4144
A bill to streamline and improve the Federal student loan repayment system to protect borrowers and taxpayers.
Sponsor: Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT)

H.R. 4145
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require additional disclosures relating to gifts and contracts from foreign sources.
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN)

H.R. 4174
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Education to carry out a program to increase access to prekindergarten through grade 12 computer science education.
Sponsor: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)

H.R. 4176
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include certain part B institutions to be eligible for certain grants, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA)

H.R. 4179
A bill to amend the General Education Provisions Act to allow the release of education records to facilitate the award of a recognized postsecondary credential.
Sponsor: Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO)

H.R. 4186
A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish employer-directed skills accounts, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)

H.Res. 518
A resolution pushing back against the labeling of attempts by parents to ensure school curriculum and sports are age and sex appropriate as extreme.
Sponsor: Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI)

Introduced in the Senate:

S. 1930
A bill to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to support the buildout of clean school bus charging infrastructure through community facilities direct loans and grants.
Sponsor: Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)

S. 1957
A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the school lunch program to serve whole milk, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS)

S. 1963
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All.
Sponsor: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

S. 1968
A bill to modify the annual and aggregate limits of Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans for graduate and professional students, and to terminate Federal Direct PLUS Loans for graduate and professional students, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)

S. 1970
A bill to modify requirements relating to financial aid disclosures.
Sponsor: Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)

S. 1971
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for loan repayment simplification and income-driven repayment reform.
Sponsor: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

S. 1972
A bill to increase college transparency and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

S. 1992
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the earned income and child tax credits, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

S. 2013
A bill to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide funding to sustain and increase the supply and quality of child care, access to child care, and the child care workforce, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

S. 2027
A bill to amend the General Education Provisions Act to allow the release of education records to facilitate the award of a recognized postsecondary credential.
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)