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Congress Comes Back to Work

Congress returns to work this week for a final few weeks of work before the November elections.  While there is plenty of legislating to do, I don’t expect that we’ll see much action with most major issues being delayed until the post-election lame-duck session.  The only thing that Congress MUST act on before October 1st is to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to fund government for the next couple of months.  Appropriators are now working on the CR, which could run until the middle of next month or after Thanksgiving.  A second CR may also be needed to buy time as lawmakers work to clear the spending package before the end of the year.

Appropriations

No separate floor action on additional FY11 appropriations bills is currently expected in either the House or Senate, but the Senate may try to complete committee action on their three remaining bills:  Defense, Interior, and Legislative Branch.  All 12 of the House spending bills have been approved by subcommittee, with MilCon-VA and Transportation-HUD also receiving full committee approval.  

Small-Business Aid

The first priority for the Senate appears to be to pass the small-business lending bill.  The bill (HR 5297) would establish a $30 billion lending fund for small businesses, provide $12 billion in tax breaks, and enhance federal programs that support small businesses.  After the Senate passes the bill, the measure will go back to the House for consideration.  The version passed earlier by that chamber includes a smaller tax package, and thus fewer revenue-raising offsets.

Tax Cuts

Extension of the Bush tax cuts is the only other major budget-related legislation that may be considered in the next few weeks.  Senate leadership has indicated their desire to move on extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the middle class before the Senate adjourns for October but it may be difficult to get enough votes for that proposal.  This mirrors the President’s proposal to allow the tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000 and families making more than $250,000 a year to expire.  Others believe that all rates to be extended thus preventing any tax increases during these tough economic times.

Climate Change & Energy

The Senate has dropped plans to consider energy or climate legislation before November.  Senate leadership has indicated that they would like to take up in the lame-duck session either all or a portion of an oil spill and energy bill.

Immigration

There is almost no chance Congress will act on any legislation to assist the illegal immigrant population this year, but congressional aides expect lawmakers to at least talk about the issue over the next several weeks.  There is some pressure on the Senate to take action on a bill that allows children of illegal immigrants who go to college to earn citizenship (the DREAM Act) but it is still unlikely that this measure will move before November – at the earliest.  

Stem Cells

Thanks to a federal court’s decision last week to temporarily lift a judge’s ban on embryonic stem cell funding, a House vote on the volatile issue of government funding for stem cell research might be put off until after the midterm election.

Stem Cell Injunction Stayed by US Court of Appeals

** Updated 9/13** In response to the previously reported stay of the stem cell research injunction, the NIH has announced that it is resuming normal grant activities until directed otherwise:

NIH STATEMENT REGARDING STAY OF STEM CELL INJUNCTION

We are pleased with the Court’s interim ruling, which will allow promising stem cell research to continue while we present further arguments to the Court in the weeks to come. With the temporary stay in place, NIH has resumed intramural research and will continue its consideration of grants that were frozen by the preliminary injunction on August 23. The suspension of all grants, contracts, and applications that involve the use of human embryonic stem cells has been temporarily lifted. Human embryonic stem cell research holds the potential for generating profound new insights into disease, cell-based therapeutics, and novel methods of screening for new drugs.

 Original 9/9 Post

Last night, the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed an emergency motion to stay the preliminary injunction barring federal funding of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Today, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction pending briefing on the DOJ emergency motion. The plaintiffs have been given until September 14 to respond to the DOJ motion, and DOJ has until September 20 to respond back.

During the stay period, NIH can resume both its intramural hESC research and its normal extramural application and grant processes.
 
The text of the court order follows:

09/09/2010    CLERK’S ORDER filed [1264809] ORDERED that the district court’s August 23, 2010 order be stayed pending further order of the court. FURTHER ORDERED that appellees file a response to the emergency motion by September 14, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. The appellants may file a reply by 4:00 p.m. on September 20, 2010. [10-5287]

DoE Releases RFI on Energy Education and Workforce Development

The Department of Energy’s Technology Offices recently released an “Energy Education and Workforce Development” Request for Information (RFI). Through the RFI, the DoE technology offices seek to gauge the status, prevalence, quality, and gaps in energy relevant education and workforce development activities.
 
Responses are being sought from energy associations, academic associations, academia, the private sector, non-profits, and others. The collected information is intended to help DOE’s Technology Offices define the scope and priorities of its education and workforce development efforts.
 
You can find more information on the RFI and larger education and workforce development efforts on the Energy.gov “Strengthening America’s Energy Future through Education and Workforce Development” Blog post.

The RFI will be open until September 3, 2010. All questions should be directed to WorkforceRFI@hq.doe.gov. Members of the UW community responding to the RFI are asked to also share their input with the Office of Federal Relations.

Dept. of Education Seeking Input on New Grants Criteria

The Department of Education is seeking comments, due September 7th, on department-wide priorities that will be used in the awarding of competitive grants. The Department states that priority areas are proposed to focus federal financial assistance on expanding the number of programs and projects department-wide that support activities in areas of greatest educational need. The priority areas will impact grant decisions made for FY11 awards and beyond. The proposed priority areas are listed below.

Proposed Priority 1—Improving Early Learning Outcomes
Proposed Priority 2—Implementing Internationally Benchmarked, College and Career-Ready Elementary and Secondary Academic Standards
Proposed Priority 3—Improving the Effectiveness and Distribution of Effective Teachers or Principals
Proposed Priority 4—Turning Around Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools
Proposed Priority 5—Increasing Postsecondary Success
Proposed Priority 6—Improving Achievement and High School Graduation Rates of Rural and High-Need Students
Proposed Priority 7—Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education
Proposed Priority 8—Promoting Diversity
Proposed Priority 9—Support for Military Families
Proposed Priority 10—Enabling More Data-Based Decision-Making
Proposed Priority 11—Building Evidence of Effectiveness
Proposed Priority 12—Supporting Programs, Practices, or Strategies for Which There is Strong or Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness
Proposed Priority 13—Improving Productivity

The Federal Register notice provides details on how to respond to the request for public comment. Members of the UW community responding to the notice are asked to also share their input with the Office of Federal Relations.

Judge: Federal Government Cannot Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research

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