With 4-10 inches forecast, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) held a hearing on opportunities in the Arctic today despite the federal government being shut down due to snow in the District of Columbia. UW professor Cecilia Bitz testified before the Alaskan Senator, who is also Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on the topic. Professor Bitz was invited to testify by Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Category: Environmental Research & Sustainability
New ARPA-E Director Confirmed by US Senate
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.
FY15 Appropriations Released
Last night, House and Senate Appropriators unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending package that is a combination of all but one of the Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) appropriations bills rolled into an omnibus for the remainder for FY15, plus a continuing resolution (CR) funding the Department of Homeland Security through February 2015. The FY15 appropriations package, dubbed the “Cromnibus,” would provide new funding for all government agencies and programs, except the Department of Homeland Security, and is designed to gain bipartisan support and avert both a government shut down or another continuing resolution, as was seen in FY 2014. The current CR runs through tomorrow (December 11, 2014).
The deal is a victory for appropriators, who have insisted that spending caps set under the 2013 budget agreement would allow them to move most of the annual measures for FY15. The Homeland Security stopgap portion is an effort by Republicans leaders to force a showdown with the White House on immigration in the new Congress, when Republicans will control both chambers of Congress.
The Cromnibus will move as HR 83, a previously considered piece of energy legislation. By using a previously considered bill, House and Senate leadership is trying to overcome Senate procedural hurdles so that measure could be cleared as early as Friday. Regardless, with the current stopgap funding expiring on tomorrow, the House will likely pass a two- or three-day CR to guarantee there is no shutdown before the Senate takes action and sends the “cromnibus” to the President.
For domestic agencies, flat funding is the norm, with some spending tradeoffs made to build political support. For example, the bill’s education programs are almost level funded at $70.5 billion, only $100 million less than last year. Democrats, however, will be pleased with level funding of $8.5 billion for Head Start and $22.5 billion for Pell grants, an amount that would raise the maximum grant award by $100 to $5,830.
Overall, Appropriators said the entire Labor-HHS-Education section of the spending bill would contain $156.8 billion in discretionary money, roughly the same level enacted last year. The title is always among the most contentious of the annual spending bills because of the wide reach of the programs under its jurisdiction and has become even more of a lightning rod since passage of the health care overhaul in 2010.
Additionally, the bill would provide $100 million, a $1.6 million increase, for the Office of Civil Rights, which is responsible for investigating Title IX complaints of inappropriate campus response to sexual violence. Moreover, the Student Aid Administration received a $230 million increase from last year to $1.4 billion with part of that funding going to increased enforcement and data collection under the Clery Act. The Committee commended the Education Department for its emphasis on campus sexual assault prevention.
The Defense Department, however, would see its base budget rise $3.3 billion over current funding to $490.2 billion, an amount still $500 million less than what was requested by the Pentagon.
Of note in the Cromnibus:
- National Institutes of Health received $30.1 billion, which is $150 million more than FY14.
- National Science Foundation received $7.34 billion, which is $172.3 million above the 2014 enacted level. NSF’s MREFC received $200.8 million.
- The Department of Education was cut by $166 million overall. Pell grants, however, received a net increase for ED of $137 million increasing the maximum award to $5,830. Federal Work Study received an increase of $15 million. The Student Aid Administration received an increase of $230.924 million. Race to the Top was eliminated.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) received $18.01 billion for which is $363.7 million more than the 2014 enacted level.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) received $5.4 billion, which is $126.4 million more than the 2014 enacted level. Big winners at NOAA were Weather, which received $90.8M, which is $9.6M above the FY14 enacted level. Climate accounts remained relatively level with previous funding. Sea Grant received level funding of $62 million. NOAA Cooperative Labs and Institutes received $60 million, which is level funding. The bill provides $60 for Climate Competitive Research, Sustained Observations and Regional Information, the same as the FY14; $38M for Regional Climate Data and Information; $8.5M for Integrated Ocean Acidification, which is $1.5M above the FY14 enacted level; $41.3 for Sustained ocean observations and monitoring, which is comparable to the FY14 enacted level
- National Weather Service operations received $954.2 million for, which is $526,000 above the 2014 enacted level.
- The US Geological Survey received $5 million in additional funding Early Earthquake Warning funding on the Pacific Coast.
- The Department of Defense’s S&T programs generally enjoyed increases in funding (6.1: $2.279 billion (+$112 million over FY14); 6.2: $4.605 billion (-$38 million below FY14); 6.3: $5.530 billion ($155 million above FY14)
The House is expected to pass the measure on Thursday and send to the Senate. The Senate is expected to pass it Thursday or Friday. The President is expected to sign it into law Friday.
Federal Relations will continue to update information on the Cromnibus as it move through the Congress and becomes law.
The Week Ahead
This week lawmakers continue to debate FY2015 appropriations, student loans, and VA reform.
Tonight, the House will vote on S. 1254, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013. The bill would authorize $20.5 million annually through 2018 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to reduce the effects of algal blooms and hypoxia in bodies of water.
By mid-week, the Senate will turn its attention to a bill that would allow the nearly 40 million people with more than $1 trillion in student loans to refinance to current lower interest rates. The student loans bill is part of Senate Democrats’ “fair shot” 2014 agenda that included an unemployment insurance extension, minimum wage increase, and pay equity for women. But it is unlikely that enough Republicans will join Democrats to advance the bill, which is paid for by raising taxes on millionaires.
Read more about the week ahead at The Hill.
House Republican leadership has detailed a busy legislative agenda for the remainder of June in a memo sent from Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) to House Republicans sent Friday. The House will address issues at the Department of Veterans Affairs, three appropriations bills, three tax extender bills, and legislation to make gas and other energy prices cheaper. Notably absent from the agenda: any mention of immigration, an unemployment extension, or the expiring Export-Import Bank. Read the memo at Roll Call.
The Office of Federal Relations continues to advance our appropriations priorities, as well as monitoring legislative efforts on student loans.
House Continues CJS, House Science Cmte Passes FIRST
Adjourning well after midnight last night, the House will consider its floor consideration of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill this morning. The House is expected to pass the measure late tonight. Thus far, the House has considered a number of amendments, and some of interest are below.
Passed Amendments:
- An amendment, offered by Mr. Reichert (R-WA), to reduce funding for periodic census and programs by $110 million and to increase funding for community oriented policing services programs (hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers) by a similar amount.
- An amendment, offered by Mr. Langevin (D-CT), to designate $5 million for a survey on the NIST cybersecurity framework for reducing cyber risks to critical infrastructure.
- An amendment, offered by Ms. Sinema (D-AZ), to reduce funding for Salaries and Expenses, General Administration in the Department of Justice by $1 million and to increase funding for Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs (College Campuses) by a similar amount.
Failed Amendments:
- An amendment, offered by Mr. McDermott (D-WA), to reduce funding for Periodic Censuses and Programs by $3 million and to increase funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the purpose of salmon propagation by a similar amount.
- An amendment, offered by Mr. Holt (D-NJ), to transfer $37,450,000 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the purpose of climate change research.
Amendments pending a vote:
An amendment, offered by Mr. Bridenstine (R-OK), to reduce funding for Periodic Censuses and Programs by $12 million and to increase funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the purpose of weather research by a similar amount.
Also last night, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee (HSSTC) passed H.R. 4186, the “Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 Act”. The controversial measure was marked up last week with final votes postponed until after Memorial Day. In straight party-line votes, the committee speedily made its way through all 15 amendments and ultimately passed the measure by a vote of 20-16.
The remaining votes on amendments also passed along party lines. Of note, Congressman Rohrabacher’s (R-CA) Amendment #28, which passed, would reduce funding for Social, Behavioral, and Economic research at the National Science Foundation by $50 million. Also, the committee approved Amendment #67 offered by Congressman Bridenstine (R-OK) that would repeal the National Technical Information Service.