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News and updates

Labor-HHS-Ed Passes Senate Appropriations

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This week the Senate Committee on Appropriations took action on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations measure.  Most notably, the measure provides a $2 billion bump for the National Institutes of Health and restores year-round Pell Grants. 

National Institutes of Health is funded at $34 billion in the proposal, a 6.3% increase above FY2016. This includes:

  • $300 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, an increase of $100 million;
  • $1.39 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, an increase of $400 million;
  • $250 million, an increase of $100 million, for the BRAIN Initiative to map the human brain;
  • $333.4 million, an increase of $12.5 million, for the Institutional Development Award;
  • $463 million, an increase of $50 million, to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria;
  • $297.3 million for Title VII Health Professions, a 13.3 percent increase above the FY 2016 level.

Notably, the measure would restore the year-round Pell Grant, benefitting an estimated one million students. The reinstated year-round Pell program is modeled after the program included in S. 1062, the “Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act,” which does not have a minimum credit requirement or acceleration clause for eligibility.The bill would also raise the maximum Pell Grant award from $5,815 to $5,935. In addition, the provision would provide level funding year-over-year for Federal Work Study at $990 million, TRIO at $900 million, and GEAR UP at $323 million. Title VI International Education is funded at $67 million, which is a $5 million cut to the Fulbright Hayes program and level funding for the domestic programs.

What We’re Reading This Week, June 6-10

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Here’s a selection of articles Federal Relations is reading this week.

Top 10 – Senate Republicans are in a tough position this year to defend their majority. While Senate Democrats only have to defend 10 seats, Republicans have to defend 24 seats — most of them in blue or purple states. The Hill has the top 10 most likely to flip Republican seats. 

Dome Restoration - March 2016 (AOC)
Dome Restoration – March 2016 (AOC)

No 2 – Here’s a look at who Hillary Clinton could pick as her running mate. Read more at NBC. 

BAD Idea – For the first time this year, colleges are required to publicly disclose the number of rapes, broken out from sexual assaults, reported on their campuses. That means it’s possible to create a list of the most rape-ridden colleges in the US. Read more at Vox. 

ReBrand – For the second time in less than a decade, the industry association representing colleges and universities has changed its name, part of a three-year plan to reverse dramatic enrollment declines that have resulted in closings and bankruptcies. The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities will become Career Education Colleges and Universities, or CECU, it announced at its annual convention here. The new group, which has lost several of its for-profit members, will also welcome nonprofit institutions for the first time. Read more in The Hechinger Report. 

No Agreement in Sight – Sexual assault is a huge problem in the US military. And for many victims, the process of reporting their crime and seeking justice can be as traumatic as their assault. Congress, Americans, and the military agree something needs to change, but there’s a profound disagreement on how, and how much, the system needs to change. Read more at Vox. 

History Lesson – A similar scenario to Donald Trump’s candidacy unfolded in 1848, when General Zachary Taylor conquered the Whig Party as nominee…and it broke the party. Read more in Politico. 

First to Fall – Several states held primaries on Tuesday. While, a Democratic incumbent has already lost the primary, Tuesday saw the fall of the first GOP member, the embattled Renee Elmers, who’s endured a series of unfortunate events including a scandal over an affair, the Tea Party turning against her, and redistricting. Roll Call had the preview. 

A Day in the Life – Official White House photographer Pete Souza has chronicled the most intimate, candid and comical moments of Barack Obama’s two-term presidency. See the photos and story at The Guardian. 

 

 

 

White House Issues Veto Threat of Senate’s NDAA

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In a Statement of Administration Policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the White House issued a veto threat on the Senate NDAA and contends the legislation would “hinder” the administration from executing defense and foreign policy.

“Specifically, the bill attempts to micromanage DoD by impeding the department’s ability to respond to changing circumstances, directing overly prescriptive organizational changes, preventing the closure of Guantanamo and limiting U.S. engagement with Cuba, and includes provisions that set an arbitrary limit on the size of the president’s National Security Council staff,” the White House said.

The veto threat comes during the second full day of Senate floor debate on the annual policy bill.

Last month, the White House similarly threatened a veto of the House version of the bill.

Senate Subcommittee Passes FY 2017 Labor-H

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Today, the Senate appropriations subcommittee approved the first bipartisan Labor-H funding bill since Obamacare became law more than six years ago.

The Senate’s FY 2017 bill includes a $2 billion increase for NIH (the same as the FY 2016 increase), a near doubling of funding to fight the opioid epidemic to $261 million, and $7.1 billion for CDC – $76 million more than the White House requested. Additionally, the Pell grant program would be expanded allowing students to access Pell over the summer. The expansion would allow roughly a million students to receive a second grant to take a third semester of classes, usually in the summer, helping them to graduate sooner. The students would also be expected to graduate with less debt, as the average recipient would be expected to see $1,650 more in aid. Additionally, the Senate bill would allow students to receive the additional Pell Grant even if they only attended school part-time. In the Administration’s FY 2017 budget proposal, the White House proposed an expansion to summer Pell, but would limit year-round Pell only to full-time students. 

The legislation does not include any new restrictions on funding for the Affordable Care Act, which has been one of the key obstacles to a bipartisan funding bill in recent years. Additionally, the legislation also avoided cuts to Title X women’s health and family planning programs, which have been the source of partisan battles in recent years.

The full Senate Appropriations committee will mark up the legislation on Thursday morning.

Federal Relations will continue to monitor the legislation and will post as more information becomes available.

Congress Gets Back to Work for the Long Slog

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The House and Senate return to work this week in what will be the largest number of consecutive legislative days prior to the August Recess.  Both legislative bodies will push pause and briefly come together for a joint session to receive Indian Prime Minister Modi.

The Senate returns today to resume consideration on its FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which was slightly detoured last week. The Senate Appropriations Committee to have full consideration of the FY 2017 Labor-H Appropriations bill this week — subcommittee will mark up Tuesday and full committee will consider Thursday. The Labor-H bill contains many of the issues that the higher education community is concerned about including student loans, Pell grants, Perkins, and NIH funding among others. The bill is currently in a close hold, but it is expected to expand the Pell grant program to become year round.

More information will be made available as soon as possible.

The House will return Wednesday to consider the FY 2017 Legislative Affairs appropriations bill as well as legislation to bailout Puerto Rico from its $70 billion in debt (for an island of under 3.5 million people). The island has defaulted three times, and its next big payout is due July 1. The Puerto Rico “bailout” has been very controversial on the House-side of the Hill. The territory has argued it simply needs leniency to restructure its current debt to reduce or delay payments.

Meanwhile, the FY 2017 Legislative Affairs bill could be the debut of the new House standard operating procedure of considering appropriations bills under a structured rule, rather than the traditional open rule. The traditional open rule having caused significant meltdown of the FY 2017 E&W bill before the break.