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Category: Energy R&D

COMPETES on the House Floor Wednesday

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The House is set to consider HR 1806 – the America COMPETES Reauthorization Bill of 2015 on Wednesday. The rule allows for the consideration of two other bills,  HR 2353 – Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 and HR 2250 – Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2016.

Out of the 45 amendments filed, only 12 amendments were made in order. None of the amendments to be considered increase the GEO or SBE directorate funding authorizations despite several amendments being authored to do such.

Additionally, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on the bill late yesterday, warning “If the President were presented with H.R. 1806, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.” The SAP Statement charges that the bill “would undermine critical investments in science, technology, and research.”  Further, HR 1806 sets “maximum funding levels significantly below those provided in the President’s FY 2016 Budget” for DOE, NSF, NIST, and OSTP with some authorizations less than half that requested.  The SAP also criticizes program policy changes in the legislation.

Federal Relations will continue to monitor the legislation as it moves on the House Floor.

House Appropriations Posts FY16 CJS

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The House Appropriations Committee released the text of the FY16 Commerce Justice State legislation this morning in immediate advance of their mark up. The Appropriations Committee released both the text of the legislation and a press release of highlights on the measure.

At first glance, there do seem to be clear winners and losers in the bill.

WINNER: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – NASA is funded at $18.5 billion in the bill, $519 million above the 2015 enacted level. This funding includes:

  • $4.8 billion for Exploration – $403 million above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. This includes funding to continue the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System flight program, and to continue progress in the commercial crew program.
  • $5.2 billion for NASA Science programs – $7 million below the 2015 enacted level. This includes funding above the President’s request for planetary science to ensure the continuation of critical research and development programs.

LOSER: Department of Commerce – The bill includes $8.2 billion for Commerce , which is $251 million below the FY15 enacted level and $1.6 billion below the President’s request. Within Commerce, there was funding levels of the following :

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The legislation contains $5.2 billion for NOAA, which is $274 million below the enacted level. Within this total, the National Weather Service is funded at $968 million – $4 million above the President’s request. The bill also includes full funding for the continuation of the current Joint Polar Satellite System weather satellite program and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite program to help maintain and improve weather forecasting to warn communities about potentially devastating natural disasters.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – NIST is funded at $855 million in the bill, which is $9 million below the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. Within this total, important core research activities are funded at $675 million to help advance U.S. competitiveness, innovation, and economic growth, and to improve cyber security.

National Science Foundation (NSF) – The legislation funds NSF at $7.4 billion, an increase of $50 million above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. This funding is targeted to programs that foster innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness, including funding for research on advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, neuroscience and STEM education.

The House CJS Subcommittee is expected to mark up the legislation this morning.

While specific details within the agencies are still unclear, the Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor the measure and provide a more complete analysis when information is available.

Two Down…10 To Go

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Yesterday the House passed the first appropriations vote of the season. The FY16 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (HR 2029) passed with a vote of 255 – 163, largely along party lines. Known colloquially as MilCon-VA, the measure is historically the least controversial of all the 12 annual appropriations bills. It passed last year with the support of every House Democrat and Republican with the exception of Rep. Raúl M. Labrador  (R-ID), a conservative with an idiosyncratic voting record.

On Wednesday morning, threats to withhold votes on the bill took on new significance as Democrats were emboldened by President Barack Obama’s veto threat, disapproval from the VA secretary and grumbles from influential veterans services organization. All the stakeholders said the funding levels were too low.

And by Wednesday evening, Republicans saw a second red flag, prompting them to suddenly cancel scheduled votes that night on remaining MilCon-VA amendments and final passage.

House Democratic leaders succeeded in holding all but 19 of their Members in voting against the measure without even formally whipping against the Republican bill.

This morning, the House approved its FY16 Energy & Water spending bill (H.R. 2028) on a largely party-line vote of 240-177. The bill includes $5.1 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, which is a small increase of $29 million, or 0.6 percent, above the FY15 enacted level.

Within of the Office of Science are the following funding amounts:

  • Advanced Scientific Computing Research: $537.5 million, an increase of $3.4 million, or 0.6 percent, above FY15;
  • Basic Energy Sciences: $1.7 billion, an increase of $37 million, or 2.1 percent, above FY15;
  • Biological and Environmental Research: $538 million, a significant cut of $54 million, or 9.1 percent, below FY15;
  • Fusion Energy Sciences: $467 million, a slight increase of $100,000 over FY15. The measure would freeze funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) at the FY15 level of $150 million, and raise funding for the domestic fusion science program by $100,000 to $317 million.
  • High Energy Physics: $776 million, an increase of $10 million, or 1.3 percent, above FY15;
  • Nuclear Physics: $616 million, which is $20.6 million, or 3.5 percent, above FY15; and
  • ARPA-E: funding is frozen at the FY15 level of $280 million.

 

 

 

House Science Marks Up COMPETES Reauthorization

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Today, the full House Science Committee marked up HR 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization bill, which the House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith introduced late last week. Thirty four amendments were offered for consideration over the five hour mark up, and these amendments largely fell along party lines. Several controversial amendments passed, while amendements to restore certain directorate’s funding or amend climate change provisions.

Highlights of some amendments considered include:

  • An amendment offered by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) to amend the bill and add “human activity impacts climate change” to the DOE Science mission.
  • An amendment offered by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) to officially authorize the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) program, which passed.
  • An amendment offered by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) to direct and broaden DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences. which passed.
  • An amendment offered by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to have a report on STEAM education, which failed.

The amended bill was passed out of committee by a vote of 19-16, which was a party line vote. The next step for the bill is consideration by the full House. While there has been no definite timeline stated by House leadership as to consideration of HR 1806, it is expected to be considered soon.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor the bill and its progress.