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Category: Legislation

Week in Review

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New Staff Member in the Office of Federal Relations:  On Tuesday, Sarah Martin Castro joined the OFR team in our Washington, DC office as our new Associate Director.  Sarah comes to us after several years as the government relations officer for the University of Missouri System.  She has also worked on Capitol Hill for a House member of the Missouri federal delegation and at a public relations firm here in DC.  Sarah replaces Jonathan Nurse who left in early March to work for the American Association of Dental Research.  Sarah can be reached at smcastro@uw.edu or 202-624-1426. 

Debt Decision Time:  President Obama and Congressional leaders will meet over the weekend, when it is expected they will know whether a major deficit reduction deal is possible.   All parties want an agreement on deficit reduction as soon as possible to provide sufficient time for Congress to draft, debate, and pass the legislation to increase the nation’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit before the August 2nd date, which is when the Treasury says it will no longer have enough money to pay all its debts and obligations.  The President is pushing for a large deficit reduction deal totaling about $4 trillion over the next decade, although three different proposals have been discussed:  a “small” $2 trillion plan, a $3 trillion alternative, and the larger plan to cut deficits by more than $4 trillion.  The size of any eventual deal likely rests on the willingness of Republican leaders to agree to revenue increases to reduce the deficit.  A larger package might also include more significant changes to Medicare and Social Security.  Democrats are worried about the possible cuts to entitlement programs and have vowed to oppose any debt reduction deal that cuts them dramatically.  We’ll all know more by Sunday.

Proposed Cuts to Graduate Medical Education Funding:  Major reductions in GME support for teaching hospitals and physician training remain under careful consideration among high-level negotiators as part of the debt negotiations.  President Obama has suggested that GME cuts are “on the table” and may be considered to reach agreement with Republican leaders.  UW School of Medicine has weighed in with congressional members throughout the WWAMI region on how these potential cuts will impact our ability to train primary care and family medicine physicians.  Next week, UWSOM Dean Paul Ramsey will meet with Members on Capitol Hill to urge them to reject GME cuts.

FY12 Appropriations Update:   This week, House appropriators released draft spending bills for Interior-Environment, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Legislative Branch.  The FY12 Energy-Water and Financial Services bills have already been voted out of committee and are awaiting floor action.  FY12 bills funding Defense, Agriculture, Military-VA, and Homeland Security already passed the House and were sent to the Senate for action.   House leaders hope to approve these nine of the 12 annual measures before the House leaves for August recess.  That leaves the three most controversial bills – Transportation-Housing, Labor-HHS-Education, and State-Foreign Operations – waiting until September for action.  The Senate, meanwhile, is moving much more slowly on their FY12 bills.  So far, they have only released their FY12 Military-VA bill.

Proposed Cuts to the NSF Construction Fund:  Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA) fights back against proposed cuts to the NSF MREFC account that could affect the Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI).  Read more.     

House Panel Proposes Cuts to NEH Budget:  Yesterday, a House appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that would provide $20 million less to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in FY12 than the agency is receiving this year. The measure would allocate $135 million to the NEH, which would represent a reduction of 13 percent.  In an e-mail alert Thursday urging advocates for the humanities to oppose the measure, the National Humanities Alliance said that “these disproportionate cuts would compromise the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission.” The National Endowment for the Arts would also receive $135 million under the subcommittee’s bill, which the full Appropriations Committee is expected to take up next Tuesday.

UW Joins Colleagues to Support ARPA-E Funding:  The UW signed on to a Community Letter to the House in Support of FY12 Funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA‐E) Program.  We support funding for FY12 at a level equal to at least the FY11 level of $180 million.

Patent Reform Bill Stalled in Senate:  The Senate has been unable to quickly vote on the House-passed version of Patent Reform, and it now looks increasingly likely that votes will have to be allowed on a couple of controversial amendments to the bill, which could cause further problems.  One amendment which has already proven to be an obstacle is the issue of patent office funding.  While the House version of the bill included language that directed revenue to be continued to be handled through the appropriations process, a larger group of Senators continue to push for allowing USPTO to keep all of the revenue it generates from fees.  It is expected that the House would refuse any alteration made to the fee structure by the Senate.  Also holding up the process is the refusal by many in both chambers to discuss any other issues until the debt ceiling debate is resolved.

House Recess in Jeopardy:  The House will skip its next legislative break and stay in session the week of July 18th in order to continue working on a debt limit deal.  The next planned recess begins August 6th, after the Treasury Department’s deadline to raise the debt ceiling, when lawmakers will break until after Labor Day.

New Effort for Research on Global Development:  NSF and the Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday announced a new effort to promote research on global development.  Projects will be selected through peer review, and the National Academy of Sciences will administer the program.  Learn more.

National Science Board Seeking Nominations:  The NSB is seeking nominees for candidates to serve on the NSB for the years 2012-2018. All nominations will be given full consideration; the President nominates candidates who must be confirmed by the US Senate to serve on the Board.  Nominations are open through August 12, 2011.  The NSB is the 25-member policymaking body for NSF and advisory body to the President and Congress on science and engineering issues.  Drawn from industry and universities, and representing a variety of science and engineering disciplines and geographic areas, NSB members are selected for their eminence in research, education, or public service, and records of distinguished service.  NSB members are appointed for six-year terms.  The NSF director is an ex officio member of the NSB.  There is more information about the National Science Board and the nomination process online.

FY12 Energy Bill Released

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The House released its Energy & Water Appropriations bill for FY12 today.  The bill provides a total $30.7 billion for the Energy Department and federal water projects in FY12, $5.9 billion (16 percent) less than requested by the President and $1.7 billion (5 percent) less than FY11 enacted totals.  The bill provides an additional $1 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers for emergency disaster relief in areas affected by storms, tornadoes and flooding in the Mississippi and Missouri River basins.  The funding is designated as “emergency” and does not count against the bill’s total appropriated amount.

Historically, energy- and water-related appropriations have been mostly noncontroversial and most bills have been enacted with wide margins of support by both parties.  This year, however, a number of key disputes have arisen out of the push by the House leadership to significantly reduce spending.  The disputes have centered on Republican attempts to reduce funds for general science, renewable energy, nuclear nonproliferation, advanced energy research, renewable-energy development, and a provision prohibiting the use of funds provided by the bill to supplement Clean Water Act-related regulations.

Programs of interest to UW:

Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

The bill provides $1.3 billion for Energy Department energy efficiency and renewable-energy programs — $1.8 billion or 59 percent less than the President’s request and $491 million or 27 percent less than the FY11 enacted level.

Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E)

The bill provides $100 million for ARPA-E programs — $80 million or 44 percent less than the current level and $450 million or 81 percent less than the President’s request.

Science

The bill provides $4.8 billion for the science account, which funds the Energy Department’s work on basic energy research, nuclear physics, chemistry, biological and environmental sciences, fusion, and other related endeavors.  The appropriation is $616 million or 13 percent less than the administration’s request and $43 million or 1 percent less than the current level.

FY12 Appropriations Update

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Today, three House Appropriations subcommittees are expected to approve FY12 domestic spending bills that continue the push by House Republicans to cut domestic spending and reverse administration policies. 

Interior-Environment Bill:  Steep cuts are proposed for the EPA, federal clean water and drinking water programs, and for state environmental grant programs that Republicans say are a regulatory overreach.  The bill also contains policy riders that include a one-year delay of EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from stationary industrial sources.  Top Appropriations Democrat Norm Dicks (D-WA) warned that the cuts would be “devastating for the environment and for the preservation of America’s natural heritage.”  If the cuts stand, Republicans would have reduced the EPA budget by nearly a third over the last two years to $1.5 billion.

Commerce-Justice-Science Bill:  The C-J-S measure funds a range of agencies, from NASA to the Census Bureau, and would provide $50.2 billion, a drop of more than 15 percent from FY10 levels.  NASA, the Legal Services Corporation, and the Civil Rights Commissions would all face cuts while law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency, would receive modest increases.  

Legislative Branch Bill:  The Capitol Police would be spared cuts under the spending bill due to be backed by the Legislative Branch subcommittee today.  The $3.3 billion plan would cut $227 million, or 6.4 percent, from the FY11 enacted levels.  While the Capitol Police would be level funded at $340 million, it is still 12 percent less than the funding sought by the security force.  Appropriators are unlikely to reverse the cuts as Congress has cited its own budget as evidence that it will lead by example in making tough fiscal choices.

Amendments are not likely at the subcommittee markups, but Democratic attempts to restore funding and limit policy riders are expected at the full committee considerations, which could happen as soon as next week. 

Meanwhile, the FY12 Defense appropriations bill will be considered on the House floor later today.  While cutting domestic spending programs, the House is set to approve a FY12 Defense appropriations bill that would increase national security spending.  The House may still consider several amendments aimed at cutting funding for the Afghanistan war, but significant cuts are unlikely to be adopted.

After completing work on the Defense measure, the House is expected to begin floor debate on the FY12 Energy-Water spending measure.  The $30.6 billion bill comes in at $5.9 billion (19 percent) below the President’s request, bringing spending to around the FY05 level.

Patent Reform Bill Remains Stalled in Senate

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The Senate has been unable to quickly vote on the House-passed version of Patent Reform, and it now looks increasingly likely that votes will have to be allowed on a couple of controversial amendments to the bill which could cause further problems.

One of the House adopted amendments would recalculate the filing period for patent term extension applications for drug products and other patents covered by the Hatch-Waxman Act. This has raised concern among certain Senators because it would essentially only benefit one biotech firm which filed its application for extension of patent protection on day late.

The other amendment which has already proven to be an obstacle is the issue of patent office funding. While the House version of the bill included language that directed revenue to be continued to be handled through the appropriations process, a larger group of Senators continue to push for allowing USPTO to keep all of the revenue it generates from fees.

It is expected that the House would likely accept changes to the former amendment, but would refuse any alteration to the latter. Also holding up the process is the refusal by many in both chambers to refuse to discuss any other issues until the debt ceiling debate is resolved.

FY12 Commerce-Justice-Science Bill Released

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The House Appropriations Committee today released their FY12 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow.  The bill funds the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies.  In total, the draft legislation contains $50.2 billion in funding.  This is a reduction of $3.1 billion or 6 percent below FY11 levels, and $7.4 billion or 13 percent below the President’s request for these programs.  This total is also 3 percent below the pre-stimulus, pre-bailout level of 2008.

Bill Highlights:

Department of Commerce – The bill contains $7.1 billion for the Commerce Department – a reduction of $464 million or 6 percent below last year’s level, and $1.7 billion or 19 percent below the President’s request.  This includes funding for the following agencies:

  • Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) – The bill provides $2.7 billion for the PTO – the full amount requested by the President.  This funding is equal to the estimated amount of fees to be collected by the PTO during FY12, and is an increase of $588 million or 28 percent above FY11 enacted level.  The bill also includes language that allows PTO to keep and use any fees in excess of the estimated collected amount, subject to standard Congressional approval, and includes language requiring PTO to report on efforts to reduce the patent application backlog
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – NIST is funded at $701 million in the bill, which is $49 million below last year’s level and $300 million below the President’s request.  Within this total, important core research activities to help advance US competitiveness, innovation, and economic growth are increased by $10 million above the FY11 level.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The legislation contains $4.5 billion for NOAA, which is a cut of $103 million below last year’s level and $1 billion below the President’s request.  Within this total, National Weather Service operations and systems are fully funded at the requested level, and an increase of $430 million is included for the Joint Polar Satellite System weather satellite program to ensure the continuation of important weather data collection.
  • Economic Development Administration (EDA) – The bill includes $258 million in funding for the EDA – $26 million below last year’s level and $67 million below the President’s request.  This includes $5 million in grant funding to attract US jobs that have gone to other countries back into the US, and $5 million in loan guarantees to help advance innovative manufacturing technologies.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – NASA is funded at $16.8 billion in the bill, which is $1.6 billion below last year’s level and $1.9 billion below the President’s request.  This funding includes:

  • $4.5 billion for NASA Science programs, which is $431 million below FY11 enacted levels.  The bill also terminates funding for the James Webb Space Telescope.

National Science Foundation (NSF) – The legislation funds NSF at $6.9 billion, the same as last year’s level and $907 million below the President’s request.  Within this funding, NSF’s core research is increased by $43 million to enhance basic research that is critical to innovation and US economic competitiveness.

Other Provisions – The bill includes several general provisions, including:

  • A prohibition on the transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees into the U.S.
  • Rescissions of over $1 billion in unobligated balances left over from previous years
  • A prohibition on NASA or the Office of Science and Technology Policy from engaging in bilateral activities with China unless authorized by Congress.