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Category: Legislation

Post-Election Legislative Agenda Uncertain

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The mid-term congressional elections that took place on Tuesday, resulting in a Republican House majority and diminished Democratic Senate majority, will have a significant impact on issues of concern to the higher education community (FY11 appropriations, DREAM Act, COMPETES Act, tax policy) that were previously slated for consideration during the coming “lame-duck” session. The current Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill may decide, or be forced, to punt many legislative items to the new Congress. It is expected that the new Congress will increase efforts to constrain federal spending. How deeply those efforts impact research and student aid remains to be seen.

The Office of Federal Relations is gathering information on the likely leadership structure of the incoming 112th Congress, as well as on prospects for legislation of interest. A Federal Report will be produced and available on this website during the week of November 7th.

Letter to Congress Asks for Increased Spending for NIH

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The Ad-Hoc Group for Medical Research, in collaboration with the Association of American Universities (AAU) drafted a letter to congress, urging them to provide NIH with the proposed $1 billion dollar increase in the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill. The increase was proposed by the administration and supported by both the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Ed subcommittees. The letter will be submitted shortly after the November elections and before both spending bills go before the full House and Senate.

DREAM Act Future Uncertain

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The DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants who attend college or the military and was rolled into the Senate’s defense authorization bill, failed to pass a crucial vote yesterday.  Requiring 60 votes to pass, the motion failed by a vote of 56 to 43.   Because the motion did not pass, the Senate will not be debating the defense bill in the immediate future, which means that amendments such as the DREAM Act, will not be considered either.

It appears that the defense authorization bill did not pass solely because of the language of the bill but because Majority Leader Harry Reid limited amendments by Republicans which resulted in some moderate Republicans refusing to support the bill due to what they deemed an unfair voting process. Still, the chance that this bill will be reconsidered soon is very small and it’s future will be very much dependent on the outcome of the November elections.

 

Judge: Federal Government Cannot Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research

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On Tuesday, Federal District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction which prohibits the federal government from funding any and all human embryonic stem cell research citing a pending lawsuit that contends that embryonic stem cell research violates the so called Dickey-Wicker provision. The Dickey-Wicker provision bars funding for “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero research”.

NIH Director Francis Collins provided details of the impact of the ruling, based on an interpretation by the Department of Justice. According to Dr. Collins, ongoing research (totaling around $131 million) that has already been funded will continue, undisrupted, until it reaches the point of renewal. Projects that are in review, even if they have been scored, or that are up for renewal, will be halted immediately, and applications will no longer be reviewed. NIH has also ceased reviewing applications for new embryonic stem cells lines. It remains unclear whether no-cost extensions of existing ESC projects would be allowed.

In addition to the problem presented by Dickey-Wicker, AAU is concerned about the findings related to the competitive status of the two adult stem cell researchers serving as plaintiffs in this case. The researchers were granted standing on the basis that they must compete for funds with ESC researchers. Judge Lamberth’s ruling goes a step further by declaring that these researchers suffer irreparable harm due to this competition. (He also determined that blocking federal funding would not do irreparable harm to ESC researchers.) This could have far-reaching – although not immediate – implications for all federally-funded peer-reviewed research, as it could effectively empower any researcher to sue a research agency over “unfair competition”.

Read the entire decision made by the Court

Murray Amendment Advances Crucial State Funding

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The Senate today passed a crucial amendment that will help states avoid education job losses, and provides desperately needed Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) payments to states . The FMAP/Teacher Jobs Bill passed the senate on a vote of 61-39 and will now be sent to the House where most expect it to pass and then sent to the President for his signature. The Amendment, which was attached to the Aviation Safety and Investment Act of 2010, will send more than $26 billion in aid to states and its costs are fully offset, largely due to spending reductions made in other areas. Patty Murray, was a driving force behind this bill and worked to achieve a solution that would draw bipartisan support.

The legislation provides $16.1 billion for FMAP, and will keep the level of federal Medicaid assistance (which was increased by a minimum of 6.2% in the Recovery Act) consistent for the next 6 months and then gradually decrease the contribution level for the following 6 months. The amendment will also provide $10 billion for additional support to local school districts to prevent imminent layoffs. Nationwide it is estimated that this fund will help to save the jobs of nearly 140,000 educators.

If the legislation passes the House, the State of Washington would realize approximately $546.3 million in FMAP funds. The bill will also prevent the layoffs of up to 3,000 teachers within our state and allow the State legislature to avoid conducting a costly special session. In the words of Senator Murray, “This amendment will allow Washington State to avoid layoffs, service cuts, or tax increases—and it will make sure our children don’t walk through the schoolhouse doors this September to larger class sizes and fewer subjects”.

In an uncommon move, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back from its August recess to vote on the measure. They are expected to take up the issue next Tuesday the 10th.