The White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan has issued another letter on the FY16 appropriations proposal currently working their way though Congress. Today, Director Donovan’s letter was addressed to the Senate and expressed concern over the Senate’s FY16 CJS spending bill. The letter outlines concerns about underfunding the important investments in a diverse set of agencies and programs (from science agencies like NSF and NOAA to law enforcement as well as the census) and includes highly problematic ideological riders. Over all the letter echo previously seen concerns about Congress crafting these bills in accordance to sequestration funding limitations, while not working on a FY16 budget that would supplant the sequester.
Specically, the letter outlines concerns for maintaining our nation’s ability and capacity at science-focused agencies.
The bill cuts the President’s Budget by $245 million, or 64 percent, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) next generation ofpolar-orbiting weather satellites which puts the continuity of the polar weather observations at substantial risk.
The bill underfunds the National Science Foundation, providing $380 million, or 5 percent, less than the President’s Budget for an agency that carries a major share of the Federal Government’s responsibility to support basic research in science and engineering-research that produces the seed com on which future innovation depends, but by its nature is too uncertain in ultimate application to attract private-sector funding. Compared to the President’s Budget, the bill would lead to about 700 fewer research grants, affecting about 9,100 researchers, technicians, and students.
Here is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.
OPM, Oh, No! – In the wake of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach and less than stellar performance (more disastrous and painful to watch) OPM performance at last week’s House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about the breach last week, OPM Director Katherine Archuleta still employed, despite speculation that the Administration might use the traditional time for dumping embarrassing and unpleasant news to announce her departure. Atchuleta is expected to testify in additional hearing this week (Senate Appropriations, House Oversight for a second time, and Senate Homeland Security). Read more about the two attacks and fall out at the New York Times.
US Capitol, May 2015
King v. Burwell – The Supreme Court is wrapping up its session this week and one of the most highly anticipated decisions is King v. Burwell, a case that challenged the (highly popular) federal health care subsidy. The potential impacts could be far reaching and diversely impacting. The New York Times has an excellent walk-through of who would be impacted and how.
UPDATE: The Court, with a 6-3 ruling, has upheld the subsidies, Moreover, the majority opinion was written by Chief Justice Roberts. The high court ruled that the health care law as written does allow residents of states using the federal insurance exchange to receive premium subsidies for their coverage – an outcome that saves subsidies for 6.4 million people.
The ruling is a huge win for the Administration and massive set back Congressional Republicans on their repeal ObamaCare agenda. Read more at Politico. Read the opinion here.Read more about Obama’s AWESOME week in Roll Call.
Pay for Performance – Financial support for college students has long been based on how well they perform in the classroom. Now, for public colleges and universities, it’s their turn to be graded. From Maine to Hawaii, some 36 states are allocating money for higher education based, in part, on performance measures designed to reward schools that raise graduation rates, award more high-tech degrees and better prepare students for the job market. Read more at CNBC.
GI Bill – On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the GI Bill. Fearing the consequences of millions of veterans returning from war to scarce employment and housing opportunities, Roosevelt passed the legislation to offer unemployment compensation, home and business loans and tuition support. The GI Bill radically changed access to higher education. Read more at Time.
Trolling – With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reporting a spike in debt relief companies skirting the law online, the bureau is calling on Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Bing to stop scam artists from using their search engines to target struggling borrowers.Read more at the Washington Post.
Puff, Puff, Not Gonna Pass – Most of the medical conditions that marijuana is prescribed to treat under state laws would never pass muster if pot were put through the rigor of FDA approval like a typical drug, according to a review in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read more at the LA Times.
Career Path – On Capitol Hill, there are essentially two different tracks to take: policy or communications. Both jobs come with plusses and minuses, and need to work together, but what is the best direction to focus on for those looking to work their way to the top (of the proverbial) heap and become a Chief of Staff? Roll Call has some answers.
Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed it’s FY16 Labor-H bill by a vote of 16-14. The Senate draft would cut spending from the 2015 enacted level by almost $4 billion to $153 billion and is $14.5 billion below President Barack Obama’s request. The bill would eliminate funding for the Independent Payment Advisory Board, created by the 2010 health law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) to recommend Medicare spending cuts under certain circumstances.
Both the House and Senate FY16 Labor-H proposals are now cleared to be considered by their respective bodies. There is no timeline on when the Senate would begin consideration of its draft.
The House Appropriations Committee passed it’s FY16 Labor-H bill by a vote of 30-21. The passage came after hours of debate during which Democrats bitterly criticized funding levels for domestic discretionary accounts and saw a series of their amendments defeated. The bill is $3.7 billion below fiscal 2015 enacted levels and $14.6 billion below President Barack Obama’s budget request. It contains increased funding for the National Institutes of Health but would block new discretionary spending to implement the Affordable Care Act. Additionally, the Administration has issued a letter of concern about the legislation. It is speculated that an official veto threat will not be far behind.
The legislation is expected to be considered on the House Floor after the Fourth of July Recess.
As discussed yesterday, the House’s FY16 Interior appropriations bill contained significant cuts and policy riders which would be of serious concern to the White House. Accordingly, the White House has issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) about the House’s draft bill, which includes a veto threat. Additionally, the OMB Director Donovan wrote a letter on the House’s FY16 Labor-H appropriations bill outlining the Administration’s concerns.
This not the first veto threat offered by the administration this year (see here and here). Both SAPs for the House’s FY16 Interior and FY16 Labor-H measures cite the conformance to Sequestration levels of funding as an overarching reason to veto the measures, which has been a reoccurring theme all year.
The SAP on the FY16 Interior bill cites the drastically underfunded core Department of the Interior programs as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s operating budget. Additionally, the SAP states concerns with “the numerous highly problematic ideological provisions that have no place in funding legislation. These provisions threaten to undermine the ability of States and communities to address climate change and protect a resource that is essential to America’s health—clean water, as well as the most basic protections for America’s special places and the people and wildlife that rely on them.
Additionally, the Administration raises concerns with the numerous policy riders including: blocking the Department of the Interior’s proposed fracking regulations; preventing the implementation of the National Ocean Policy; prohibit funding for the EPA to impose new Green House Gas standards; prevent the EPA from continuing work to implement the 2008 Lead Renovating and Repairing rule until the EPA develops a commercially available “improved” lead paint test kit; and allow the use of lead ammunition in the hunting of migratory waterfowl on public lands.
Finally, the SAP raise separation of powers concerns with the bill due to the policy provisions.
The OMB letter on the FY16 Labor-H bill cites the cuts and restrictions to the Affordable Care Act, the cuts to programs like Head Start, the $6.7 billion cut to the Department of Ed (from the PBR’s proposal), and the effective $370 million cut to Pell. The SAP says in part:
“Through a combination of funding cuts and ideologically-motivated restrictions, the Subcommittee bill would obstruct the functioning of the Health Insurance Marketplaces, jeopardizing or disrupting coverage for the more than 10 million people currently enrolled in health insurance plans through the Marketplaces. It would also deny assistance to States expanding their Medicaid programs under the ACA, jeopardizing coverage for many millions more.
– and –
“This bill includes a $370 million cut to the Pell Grant program, which will make it more difficult to help students pay for college over the next decade. It also cuts funding for administering and overseeing the student aid programs by $136 million, or roughly 9 percent, below the President’s request, hurting the Department of Education’s ability to hold the approximately 6,500 colleges and universities that receive Federal dollars accountable to students and taxpayers and ensure that all students have access to high quality loan servicing.”
Additionally the letter cites concerns about the elimination of Title X family planning funds, cuts to the Social Security Administration, and cuts to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) which procures new medical countermeasures to protect against potential chemical; biological, radiological and nuclear attacks. Finally, the Administration is concerned about the numerous policy riders including the prevention of the ED from implementing the Gainful Employment regulations as well as the host of riders designed to defund and effectively kill the ACA.
