Today US Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released a detailed analysis of the impact of sequestration on dozens of health, education and labor programs. The report includes State level information on funding cuts and details the impact in every State. The report will be featured at a rally this afternoon in DC with non-defense groups.
Read the report Under Threat: Sequestration’s Impact on Nondefense Jobs and Services.
FY 2013 Continuing Resolution: Several Republican lawmakers are advocating for an early vote on a stopgap spending bill for FY 2013 that would keep the government running into early next year, leaving contentious funding decisions for the next Congress. Most believe they are betting that they’ll have more power next year – possible control of the Senate and the White House – and will be in a better position to force deeper spending cuts. In a letter circulated by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), and signed by 20 members of the House and Senate, lawmakers said they would try before the August recess to clear a continuing resolution (CR) at a “fiscally responsible” level that would avert a new standoff over a potential government shutdown in the fall. Conservatives may support at CR at roughly the current annual spending level of $1.043 trillion if it extended into the next session of Congress, offering a temporary cease fire in the House GOP’s current efforts to cut $15 billion from discretionary spending through the FY 2013 appropriations process. Regardless of this new effort, no decisions are likely before September. Few Democrats are likely to back a CR that extends beyond December. You can read the Republicans letter here.
L-HHS-ED Appropriations: On Wednesday, the House L-HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee approved their FY 2013 draft spending bill mostly along party lines 8-6. The bill would provide a total of $150 billion in discretionary funding, which is $6.3 billion below FY 2012 levels and $8.8 billion less the President’s request. Much of the House panel’s debate centered on the bill’s health provisions and primarily on GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but Democrat’s efforts to restore that funding fell short. Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA) also offered an amendment that would have removed GOP-supported language that would rescind funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio.
Sequester: Also on Wednesday, House lawmakers approved legislation that would force the Administration to detail how automatic budget cuts due early next year would be implemented. The bill (HR 5872) would require the White House to produce a report within 30 days explaining how the $109 billion in cuts scheduled to take effect January 2, 2013 would affect both domestic and defense programs. The Senate passed similar legislation in June, but that plan calls for more detailed reports from the Defense Department, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House on the cuts. It’s unclear how the issue will be resolved between the House and Senate bills. The Senate could back the House bill, but it’s unclear if Democrats leaders, who pushed for the version that requires more detail about the impact on domestic cuts, will allow it to come up. Lawmakers would prefer to have a deal in place before the August recess, so they can have the information when they return in September to argue for averting the sequester.
Earlier today, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved their FY 2013 appropriations measure by a vote of 10-7. That bill would provide $158.8 billion in discretionary spending for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, as well as related agencies. This is about $2 billion more than the FY 2012 level and roughly equal to the President’s budget request. The bill includes a discretionary program level of $12.342 billion for the Department of Labor (FY 2012 level $12.553 billion), $71.0 billion for the Department of HHS (FY 2012 level $69.62 billion), $68.52 billion for the Department of Education (FY 2012 level $68.112 billion) and $14.15 billion for related agencies (FY 2012 level $13.832 billion).
The full Senate Appropriations Committee plans to markup the bill on Thursday. At this time, we hope to also see the report accompanying the bill, which will provide more detailed information on how funds are to be spent within each of the programs. Stay tuned for more information.
You can read a summary of the bill on the Senate Appropriations Committee web page.
On Thursday, the National Academies of Science will officially release a report entitled “Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation’s Prosperity and Security.” This report is being billed as a follow-up report to the National Academies report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, which in 2007 issued a clarion cry for increased national commitment to federal support of research and education. This new report was requested by Congress to identify “the top ten actions that Congress, the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century.” Read more here.
The National Science Foundation released an Info brief entitled Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering Grew Substantially in the Past Decade but Slowed in 2010. As the title suggest, the report finds that graduate student enrollment in the U.S. has grown by 30 percent over the last decade, but tapered off a bit most recently. Read more here.
The National Science Foundation also released its annual FY 2011 merit review report to the National Science Board. This report provides an annual look at the number of grant proposals received by the NSFNational Science Foundation, along with the success rates (number of proposals that are awarded), broken down by several categories. While the report finds that NSFNational Science Foundation received 7 percent fewer grant applications than last year, it also demonstrated that the number of proposals received by the agency has increased dramatically (60 percent) since 2001. Read more here.
In its annual long term budget outlook released June 5, CBO projects that by the end of 2012, federal debt held by the public will exceed 70 percent of GDP, a dramatic increase from the end of 2008 when federal debt equaled 40 percent of the nation’s annual economic output. CBO attributes the sharp rise in debt partly to lower tax revenues and higher federal spending caused by the severe economic downturn and from policies enacted during the past few years, but notes “the growing debt also reflects an imbalance between spending and revenues that predated the recession.”
Read more about the report on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) web site.