ESEA Moves through Senate HELP Committee

Posted on April 16, 2015April 17, 2015

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in the markup of the Every Child Succeeds Act.

In a rare example of legislating and bipartisanship, the HELP Committee unanimously passed its rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education reauthorization bill this afternoon. The bill, called Every Child Succeeds, includes historically toxic education topics like testing and school performance ratings. The bill has been so toxic that the last three Congresses have tried and failed to rewrite it. The House had to pull the measure from the House Floor earlier this year after full consideration because of lack of support for final passage.

In contrast, the bipartisan legislation, cowritten by Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, figuratively flew through the committee. It was unveiled last week and considered Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

In contrast, the 2013 consideration of legislation to reauthorize these programs, with a committee largely comprised of the same group of Senators, was mired in partisan gridlock, dozens of amendments and two long days of fighting. What ultimately passed on June 12, 2013 was by a party-line vote of 12-10. All Democrats on the committee approved the bill and all Republicans opposed it.

Conversely, today, every member of the committee, Republican and Democrat, including the polarizing Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Tim Scott (R-NC), Al Franken (D-MN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), all lined up their support behind the committee chairs and the legislation. The overall tone to the whole process between Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray has been one of cooperation and compromise.

Senator Alexander hopes the Senate] can take up the measure before the Memorial Day recess.

While passing the Senate seems all but assured, the Senate version is vastly different than the House measure. What, if anything, will pass the House remains to be seen.

More information about the Every Child Succeeds can be found here.

To watch the markup, click here.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor this bill and report on it’s progress.

House Releases COMPETES

Posted on April 16, 2015

The House Science Committee Republicans released their version of the America COMPETES reauthorization legislation. The COMPETES bill reauthorizes major science programs including then entirety of the National Science Foundation, the science programs within the Department of Energy, and NIST.

The bill is here.

In addition, the legislation will mark up the Full Committee next week on April 22nd at 10:15 EST. You can watch the mark up here.

The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring this legislation and will give updates as it progresses.

What We’re Reading, April 13-17

Posted on April 16, 2015

6818248768_de9cf75c30_z — Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias on the Capitol Grounds

After taking the two week recess with Congress, here’s a selection or articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

For the Win – A look as to why it’s likely (right now) that Hillary will win the presidency (or at least a Democrat will). Read it at New York Mag.

Fake – An article on why legitimate publications are publishing fake “peer-reviewed” articles. Read it at Slate.

NCLB – Ed Week did a nice overview of what to expect during this week’s HELP Committee mark up of the long-awaited and much over due Elementary and Secondary Education legislation. Read more at Ed Week.

Starving – An Op-Ed about the need for the Humanities and humanities education, which is what makes us well rounded humans. Read read it at NY Times.

What We’re Reading, March 23-27

Posted on March 27, 2015

Here’s a selection of articles the Office of Federal Relations has been reading this week.

Deal or No Deal? – The House Republicans and Democrats are increasingly optimistic that they have a deal to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare. Maybe they will? Read more at The Hill.

Not Anymore – And then, the bipartisan health deal has hit a snag…the Senate. Read more at The New York Times.

Truth Teller – As the 2016 presidential field begins to take shape, some are taking unique tactics on how to engage votes. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has decided to pick honest and is telling his party, “You can’t govern angry.” He’s at the bottom of the polls. Read more at Politico.

Budgets, Doc Fix, and Reid Retiring

Posted on March 27, 2015

Breaking News: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will not run for reelection in 2016, he said in a video message released this morning.

Budget: GOP leaders in the House and Senate have achieved a major goal of approving their fiscal 2016 budget resolutions this week. The House approved their proposal on Wednesday with the Senate following suit in the early morning hours Friday. The two chambers now face the task of reconciling their two bills before the April 15^th deadline, which would establish the framework for annual appropriations bills and set the direction for other legislation through the privileged reconciliation process. The last time lawmakers adopted a budget conference report was in 2009. Both budgets push more funding to the military while laying the groundwork to dismantle the health care overhaul.

Doc Fix: On Thursday the House approved a package to replace Medicare’s oft-criticized physician payment formula in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The legislation (HR 2) passed 392-37, with 212 Republicans and 180 Democrats joining to support the deal negotiated by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

If it clears the Senate, the bill will put an end to a cycle of 17 short-term “doc fix” bills that temporarily averted cuts to Medicare doctors dictated by the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR. In addition to replacing the formula, the bill includes a two-year extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Teaching Health Centers for another two years, and would require wealthier seniors to pay more for their Medicare outpatient and prescription drug coverage to help offset the cost. The measure is only partially paid for, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that it would increase the federal deficit by $141 billion over 11 years.

Unfortunately, the Senate left for a two-week recess early this morning without taking any action on the bill. Instead they have vowed to make it their first order of business when they return to the Capitol on April 13^th.

The current one-year payment patch expires in four days and CMS has said it doesn’t have any plans to hold off on processing claims as it has done in the past to buy Congress time. But in an email to health professionals, the agency noted that electronic claims aren’t paid until at least 14 calendar days after they’re received, providing something of a cushion before doctors feel the scheduled cut. CMS also said it would provide an update by April 11 about whether Congress has acted.