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Author: Sarah Castro

Reviewed 9/22

Farm Bill goes to mark up

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Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are working on the Farm Bill this week. The respective farm bills scheduled to be marked up in Senate Agriculture on Tuesday and House Agriculture on Wednesday. The draft House plan released on Friday would save a projected $39.7 billion over a decade through reductions to nutrition programs, farm and crop insurance, and conservation efforts. Like the Senate bill (S.10), it would eliminate yearly direct payments to farmers and shift financial risk management away from traditional subsidies to insurance-based alternatives.

The UW’s School of Environment and Forest Studies is impacted by the legislation’s Research (Title VII) and Forestry (Title VIII) titles. The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring the progress and changes of each bill as it goes through the legislative process.

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Consolidated STEM Programs in the President’s Budget

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The President’s FY2014 Budget, released on April 10th, proposed moving STEM funding from across the federal government to NSF as well as reorganizing and eliminating certain STEM programs. Dr. John Holdren, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech Policy (OSTP), testified to the House Science and Technology Committee today about the impacts on Science and Tech in the President’s Budget. His testimony can be found here.

In addition, OSTP has information on the nature of the reorganization including a listing of the specific STEM education programs that will be eliminated/consolidated across federal agencies, as well as the new STEM education programs that the budget proposes.

Below are the 78 programs proposed for consolidation in the 2014 Budget, along with the current agency homes.

Tuition Assistance Restored in CR

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One of the notable provisions included in the year long CR (HR 933) was the restoration to Tuition Assistance (TA) programs for active duty service members. Previously this month, the Army and the Marine Corps decided not to continue their respective TA programs after March 8, 2013 because of cuts from the sequester.  An amendment offered by Seantors James Inhofe (R-OK) and Kay Hagan (D-NC)  passed by voice vote in the Senate yesterday. The House subsequently approved by the Senate CR today with no additional changes.

The bill, which will now go to the President for his signature, requires all branches of the armed services to provide TA for service members.

Military Tuition Assistance Programs Zeroed Out by Sequester

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One of the first causalities of the the federal Sequester is the Tuition Assistance (TA) program provided by the Army and Marine Corps. Following the Marines Corps lead, the Army announced on Friday, March 8th that soldiers will not be allowed to enroll in TA-funded courses after the day of the annoucement. The Marines announced on Thursday, March 7th. Both programs would not go forward after March 8th. Soldiers who are currently in courses may complete their classes, but may not pay for additional courses with TA.

Military TA programs provide up to $4,500 per year for active-duty troops who are attending high school completion courses and certificate programs, or are working toward college degrees. According to the Army, 201,000 soldiers took advantage of the Army’s TA program in fiscal year 2012. The TA program provided $373 million, helping 2,831 soldiers earn associate degrees, 4,495 earn bachelor degrees and 1,946 receive graduate degrees.

The Navy and the Air Force are considering similar cuts, but as yet, have not publicly decided to follow suit.

UW estimates this will keep 100 soldiers from using TA in the Spring Quarter across all three campuses.