Dr. Ellen Williams, the new Director of ARPA-E, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week and sworn in earlier today by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Williams served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy and previously served as the Chief Scientist for BP. She is currently on a leave of absence from the University of Maryland where she has served as a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology since 2000.
Dr. Williams has served as a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland since 1991. She founded the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and served as its Director from 1996 through 2009. In 2005, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences; two years earlier, she was selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
To learn more about Dr. Williams, visit the ARPA-E website to view her full bio.
Category: Administration
White House Announces New Manufacturing Innovation Hubs Competition
Today, the President announced nearly $290 million in public-private investment for two new Manufacturing Innovation Hub Competitions. The two New Manufacturing Innovation Hub Competitions will consist of two competitions for manufacturing innovation institutes today—one in smart manufacturing at the Department of Energy and one in flexible hybrid electronics at the Department of Defense. Each institute will receive $70 million or more of federal investment to be matched by at least $70 million from the private sector for a total of more than $290 million in new investment.
- The Department of Defense will lead a competition for a new public-private manufacturing innovation institute in flexible hybrid electronics. Flexible hybrid electronics combine advanced materials that flex with thinned silicon chips to produce the next generation of electronic products seamlessly integrated into the things around us. These include items as diverse as comfortable, wireless medical monitors, stretchable electronics for robotics and vehicles, and smart bridges capable of alerting engineers at the first signs of trouble. For the nation’s warfighters, these new technologies will make lifesaving advances and improve mission effectiveness. For example, intelligent bandages and smart clothing will alert soldiers to first signs of injury or exhaustion; structural integrity sensors will offer real-time damage assessment for helicopters or aircraft after engagement; and small, unattended sensors will give soldiers greater situational awareness.
- The Department of Energy will lead a competition for a new public-private manufacturing innovation institute focused on smart manufacturing, including advanced sensors, control, platforms, and models for manufacturing. By combining manufacturing, digital, and energy efficiency expertise, technologies developed by the institute will give American manufacturers unprecedented, real-time control of energy use across factories and companies to increase productivity and save on energy costs. For energy intensive industries – like chemical production, solar cell manufacturing, and steelmaking – these technologies can shave 10-20% off the cost of production. The new institute will receive a federal investment of $70 million that will be matched by at least $70 million in private investments and represents a critical step in the Administration’s effort to double U.S. energy efficiency by 2030.
More information on the manufacturing innovation institute competitions is at Manufacturing.gov.
House Considers Charitable Tax Extenders
Last week, the House voted to renew most extenders for one year — restoring them for the current 2014 tax year so that companies and individuals can make use of the breaks when filing their 2014 tax returns. The Senate expects to clear that measure in the coming days.
Today, the House considered HR 5806, the Support America’s Charitities Act, which would make permanent a number of popular charitable tax provisions related to food contributions, conservation property and contributions from certain retirement accounts to charitable entities..
The measure’s provisions were previously passed by the House as part of December’s one-year tax extender bill (HR5771) passed last week. This measure, however, makes these provisions permanent.
Of not for universities, the legislation would make permanent the rule allowing certain tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes. Taxpayers must be at least 70-and-a-half years old and make distributions of $100,000 or less per year directly to a qualifying charitable organization. According to the House Ways and Means Committee, in the first two years that the IRA provision was available, it led to more than $140 million in charitable donations, with the median gift just under $4,500. The Joint Committee on Tax has previously estimated that enacting this provision would reduce revenues, and thus increase federal budget deficits, by about $8.4 billion over 10 years.
The measure is noncontroversial and is expected to pass under suspension of the rules. It is unlikely the Senate will consider the bill. The Administration issued a Statement of Administrative Policy against the legislation, which included a veto threat.
House to Pass Tax Extenders
The House is set to consider HR 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act today. The measure would retroactively extend more than 50 expired tax breaks for one year. It would renew the individual deduction for state and local sales taxes and the equalization of tax-free benefits for transit and parking, the business research and development tax credit, bonus depreciation and other expensing rules along with the work opportunity tax credit.
Most of the renewed tax extenders, notably the R&D and tuition tax credits, expired at the end of calendar year 2013. In total, Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that the tax extenders would reduce revenue by $41.6 billion over 10 years.
These provisions expired on December 31, 2013, but will receive a one year extension. Originally, Senate Democratic leaders began negotiations with House Republicans on a potential deal on extenders that would renew most for two years and make a number of provisions permanent — at an overall cost of more than $400 billion over 10 years. The White House, however, last week announced that the President would veto such a deal because, while it made certain business tax breaks permanent, it would not permanently extend tax provisions for the working poor such as the expanded earned income tax credit and child tax credit. These provisions were last extended in January 2013 in the American Taxpayer Relief Act, which was the measure to avert the fiscal cliff.
Tax reform is expected to be a central focus for the next Congress. In coming Chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has announced his intention to examine and reform the nation’s tax structure.
Update: The measure passed by a vote of 378-46.
Obama Takes Action on Immigration
President Obama has announced during a prime-time television address on Thursday evening that he will take executive action on immigration. The sweeping actions aim to shield as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and will grant work permits to some.
A new program will allow the parents of US citizens and permanent residents to apply for work permits and deferred deportation. It is estimated that around 4 million parents are eligible to take advantage of this sweeping reform. To be eligible, parents must be here illegally for at least five years and have no felony convictions.
In addition, federal law enforcement officers are directed to shift enforcement efforts to illegal immigrants with criminal records, gang affiliations, or ties to terrorism going forward. There will also be a long-overdue expansion of high-tech visas, and restrictions on would-be entrepreneurs will be loosened to allow them to travel more freely to the US to launch companies.
The GOP has confirmed that the executive actions cannot be blocked through appropriations. While many within the GOP claim the President does not have legal authority to make such sweeping actions, the White House maintains it does and points to the fact that every US President in the last half century has taken executive action on immigration.