Washington Congressman Jim McDermott (7th District) joined 87 of his Colleagues in the House of Representatives to sign a Dear Colleague letter addressed to Interior Appropriations Chairman Jim Moran (D-VA) and Ranking Member Mike Simpson (R-ID). The letter, requested $232.5 million in FY 2011 funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities -an increase of approximately 40%. The letter also details the agency’s important work and states that current demand for humanities project support far exceeds funding availability. President Obama has proposed a $7.2 million cut to the agency’s program funds for FY 2011. A copy of the letter can be found here.
Author: jnurse
NASFAA Releases FAQs on New Student Aid Law
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has released a Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) web page on the student aid provisions of the recently signed Budget Reconciliation Act of 2010. The NASFAA site can be accessed here.
House Members Seek 7% Increase for NIH
A group of 99 members of the House of Representatives, including Washington’s Adam Smith (9th District), signed-on to a letter to House appropriators asking them to provide the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a 7% budget increase in FY11. The President’s FY11 budget request seeks a 3% increase for NIH. The debate over funding for NIH will play out over much of the sping and summer. The letter initiated by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), states that, “NIH research is a critical part of meeting health care challenges, strengthening our economy, inspiring the next generation of scientists and researchers, and maintaining our nation’s leadership in innovation.”
Some within the beltway have speculated that mid-term elections could result in a continuing resolution or level funding for FY11. However, it remains too early in the process to draw such a conclusion, and Congress is moving forward in regular order with the appropriations process.
Patent Reform Legislation Re-Crafted in the Senate
The Senate has released an amended version of S. 515, the Patent Reform Act of 2009 that appears to address many of the hopes for a simplified, and increasingly objective and transparent patent system in the United States. Two reforms included in the legislation that are key to the higher education community include: harmonizing U.S. law with that of the international community by adopting a first-inventor-to-file procedure, and improving patent quality and reducing litigation costs by creating a post-grant administrative procedure for challenging patents in their first year. Several higher education associations have expressed support for the amended legislation. In the associations’ letter it is noted that the substitute amendment “represents the successful culmination of a thorough, balanced effort to update the nation’s patent reform system to support more effectively the nation’s innovative capacity in the increasingly competitive global environment of the 21st century.”
At this time, it is unclear when the legislation will advance further in the Senate, and several challenges appear likely on the House side. In the coming weeks, Federal Relations will be briefing WA delegation staffers on the impact of the legislation at UW. Interested members of the UW community are encouraged to contact the Office of Federal Relations.
President Signs Health and Student Aid Reconciliation Bill
Yesterday, President Obama signed a bill of “fixes,” worked out between the House and Senate, to the health insurance reform bill that was signed into law last week. The changes, advanced as part of a budget reconciliation package, included the much anticipated overhaul of the federal student loan programs.
The March Federal Report, provided on the right-side user bar of this website, provides coverage of the health insurance and student aid legislation.