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Year: 2014

National Science Board releases report on S&E indicators

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Today the National Science Board released a biennial report that takes a dive into data and trends relevant to understanding the current science and engineering (S&E) environment in the US and abroad. According to the report, knowledge- and technology-intensive (KTI) industries continue to play a larger part in the US economy, though regional and national shares of worldwide KTI production have been shifting toward East and Southeast Asia.

Here are some interesting highlights from the chapter on higher education:

  • Public research universities account for the majority of all enrollments at research universities.
  • The racial and ethnic composition of those earning S&E bachelor’s degrees is changing, reflecting both population changes and increased college attendance by members of minority groups.
  • Over the last decade in the US, tuition and fees for colleges and universities have grown faster than median household income.
  • Women earned 40 percent of S&E doctoral degrees awarded in 2010.

The full report can be found here and the higher education chapter here. A tool to look at state-by-state data pertaining to STEM in education and the economy will be released within the next couple of months.

This Week in Congress

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This week it’s the Senate Budget Committee’s turn to hold a hearing on the Congressional Budget Office’s new economic outlook report, which the House Budget Committee discussed last week and we covered on the blog here.  Meanwhile, the House Budget Committee plans to markup two budget bills, HR 1872 and HR 1869, which would overhaul the budget process.

On Wednesday, Senator Markey will preside over a hearing on fisheries treaties. The panel will include folks from the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, NOAA, the US Coast Guard, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers and more.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing on state-level efforts to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy policy. The committee will hear from NORESCO, GoodCents, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, and more.

Thursday the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will take a look at minimum wage policy in a hearing titled, “From Poverty to Opportunity: How a fair minimum wage will help working families succeed.” We aren’t sure who will be part of the panel at this time. We’ll keep an eye on this discussion since similar conversations are taking place in the state legislature and the City of Seattle.

TUESDAY, February 11th

Senate Budget Committee
CBO Budget and Economic Outlook
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 AM, 608 Dirksen Building

House Budget Committee
Budget Process Overhaul
Full Committee Markup
10 AM, 210 Cannon Building

WEDNESDAY, February 12th

Senate Energy & Natural Resources
State Energy Efficiency
Subcommittee on Energy Hearing
2:30 PM, 366 Dirksen Building

Senate Foreign Relations
Fisheries Treaties and Port State Measures Agreements
Full Committee Hearing
2:30 PM, 419 Dirksen Building

THURSDAY, February 13th
 
Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions
Minimum Wage Policy
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM, 430 Dirksen Building

The Week Ahead: Debt Ceiling and Military COLAs

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Both the House and Senate are in session this week. The Senate is expected to consider legislation to a repeal a cut in the cost-of-living adjustment for younger military retirees, while the House could consider debt ceiling legislation before adjourning Wednesday for a Democratic retreat. Both chamber will recess next week for the President’s Day week.

Treasury Secretary Lew told Congress on Friday that February 27th is the deadline for extending the nation’s debt limit, giving lawmakers less than three weeks to act before the government may default on payments. According to Lew, the 27th is the date when Treasury will exhaust the “extraordinary measures” it uses to stave off the need for new borrowing. While most believe that Congress will extend the nation’s debt limit without threat of government default, there is currently no agreement on how best to do that. House Republicans insist they want a policy concession from the White House to be attached to a debt limit extension, but they have not been able to agree among themselves on a provision. The suspension of the debt limit included in last December’s budget deal (PL 113-46) ended on Friday, leaving the Treasury Department to rely only on extraordinary measures to pay its bills.

White House Budget to be Released in Two Installments

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The White House has previously announced that they will submit their FY2015 budget proposal on March 4th, nearly a month later than required. Now we are hearing that they will release the budget request in two installments. The first on March 4th as previously announced, which will include top line numbers. The second and more important installment won’t be released until March 11th, and will include the budget appendix and justifications behind the top line numbers. The budget appendix is the thickest of the budget volumes, containing more detailed information on individual programs and appropriations accounts than any of the other budget documents.

The President’s budget request will be late this year due to the late work on the FY2014 appropriations, which culminated in an omnibus bill approved by Congress just last month. This delay will cause a delay in the finalizing the UW Federal Agenda as we generally wait to see what the President is requesting (or not requesting) before we make our final decisions.

This all means there is still time to weigh in on the UW’s agenda. Please get in touch with the Office of Federal Relations if there is something you would like to flag or have included in the FY2015 federal agenda.

Secretary Jewell Visits UW’s College of the Environment

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UW President Michael Young, Secretary Sally Jewell, Dean Lisa Graumlich

 

Yesterday, UW’s College of the Environment was horned to host Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell for a roundtable discussion on Climate Change and Ocean Acidification.  The discussion included individuals from USGS, National Parks Service, and the UW’s College of the Environment.