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Posted by Jonathan Nurse on November 18, 2009 at 2:58 am 

**Chart Updated 11/18**

The FY10 appropriations process is moving slowly towards conclusion, and will likely end with the outstanding bills being lumped together into a “mini-bus.” Given that the new fiscal year begins each year on October 1st and several spending bills remain incomplete, Congress recently passed a second continuing resolution (CR) that is currently funding government operations at FY09 levels. The current CR runs through December 18th.

Bill	House Committee	Full House	Senate Committee	Full Senate	House Conference	Senate Conference	President
Agriculture	6/18	7/9	7/7	8/4	10/7	10/8	10/21
Commerce, Justice, Science	6/9	6/18	6/25	11/5
Defense	7/22	7/30	9/10	10/6
Energy and Water	7/7	7/17	7/9	7/29	10/1	10/15	10/28
Financial Services	7/7	7/16	7/9
Homeland Security	6/12	6/24	6/18	7/9	10/15	10/20	10/28
Interior, Environ.	6/18	6/26	6/25	9/24	10/29	10/29	10/31
Labor-HHS-Education	7/17	7/24	7/30
Leg. Branch	6/12	6/19	6/18	7/6	9/25	9/29	10/1
Military Con.-VA	6/23	7/10	7/7	11/17
State-For. Ops.	6/23	7/9	7/9
Transpo.-HUD	7/17	7/23	7/30	9/17

Posted by Jonathan Nurse on November 13, 2009 at 10:53 am 

Several national higher education advocacy associations — Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and The Science Coalition (TSC) — are preparing to launch ScienceWorksForUS.org; an effort to highlight important research made possible at institutions across the country through funding provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). University-based projects, including from the UW, will be highlighted on the website. The official lauch will take place on Tuesday November 17th at a session on Capitol Hill in DC. A draft press release is provided below.

For Planning Purposes Only:                  
November 17, 2009      

Contact:

Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu 202/898-7847
Paul Hassen phassen@aplu.org 202/478-6073
Ashley Prime aprime@qga.com  202/429-4002

 
Members of Congress, Scientists to Highlight Stimulus-funded Research and its Role in Recovery and Reinvestment Nationwide Read more

Posted by Maggie Mount on November 9, 2009 at 8:54 am 

The House is not in session this week.   Over the weekend, however, the House passed their version of the health care bill, 220-215.

The Senate will be in session on Monday and Tuesday only.    The Senate will take up HR 3082, Military Construction – VA Spending.

Senate Committee Meetings — Tuesday

• Budget — full committee hearing on Proposals for Long-Term Fiscal Stability;
• will hold a full committee hearing on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions;
• Finance full committee hearing on Climate Change Legislation and Jobs.

Source:  CQ Weekly Printed Edition

Posted by Jonathan Nurse on October 21, 2009 at 4:42 am 

The U.S. Department of State is seeking feedback on proposed regulatory changes in its Exchange Visitor Program, which effects foreign faculty, researchers, and students.  The proposed rules, which are open to public comment through November 23, 2009, amend Subpart A, General Provisions, of the J exchange visitor regulations. The notice can be found at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-22822.htm.

Posted by Maggie Mount on October 12, 2009 at 8:05 am 

[Please note that times listed are all Eastern Daylight Time.]

 Neither the House nor the Senate is in session on Monday, October 12, in observance of Columbus Day.

 The Senate:

• Convenes Tuesday at 2:00 pm (EDT) to consider HR 2847, the fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.   A procedural vote on a substitute amendment is expected Tuesday. 
• On Wednesday (tentative schedule), the Senate will consider HR 3183, the 2010 Energy-Water spending conference report and HR 2647, the Defense Authorization Conference Report. 

The House:

Convenes on Tuesday at 2:00 pm (EDT).

• Tuesday vote on Iran sanctions as well as a number of commemorative resolutions.
• Later in the week the House is expected to take up more spending bills.
• Convenes at 10:00 am on Wednesday and Thursday, and at 9:00 am on Friday.

 Markups

Tuesday:

• Senate Finance votes on draft health care overhaul legislation.  10:00 am.
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions votes on nominations.  10:00 am

 Wednesday:

• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment marks up legislation regarding water security (HR 3258), chemical facility security (HR 2868) and isotope production (HR 3276).  10:00 am.
• House Judiciary marks up legislation regarding internment of Latin Americans during World War II (HR 42), wartime treatment study (HR 1425), and national and commercial space programs (HR 3237). 10:15 am.
• House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation marks up draft legislation to reauthorize fire grants. 2:00 pm;
• House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee marks up draft legislation on AIDS treatment.  3:00 pm.

 Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday:

• House Financial Services marks up draft legislation regarding over-the-counter derivatives, as well as bills on consumer protection (HR 3126 & HR 3639) and business protection (HR 3763). 10:00 am all three days.

 Thursday:

• Senate Judiciary marks up legislation on a media shield law (S 448), generic drug availability (S 369), and radio royalties (S 379) and also votes on nominations.  10:00 am;  
• House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere marks up drug policy legislation (HR 2134). 2:10 pm. 

 Source: CQ Today Print Edition

Posted by Maggie Mount on October 5, 2009 at 12:56 pm 

The Senate reconvenes Monday to take up the fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.  The Senate is also expected to finiah work on the fiscal 2010 Defense spending bill.

The House does not reconvene until Tuesday when it will consider a number of minor resolutions.  Later in the week, the House will vote on a bill to allow advance budgeting for veterans’ health accounts.  The House is likely to adopt reports for fiscal 2010 agriculture spending and Homeland Security spending before the end of the week.  It’s possible that the House may also vote on a defense authorization bill this week.

Markups

Wednesday

House Science and Technology Committee  will mark up bills on algal blooms, solar technology research, and energy and water research.

Hearings

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday — House Financial Services hearings on financial regulatory overhaul

Wednesday — House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing on Green Technology.

Wednesday — House Oversight & Government Reform subcommittee hearing on Improving Dental Care for Medicaid Eligible Families.  Dr.  Joel Berg, Chairman of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Washington, is scheduled to testify.

Source:  CQ Today

Posted by Maggie Mount on October 5, 2009 at 9:36 am 

Since the end of July, Washington DC and the UW Office of Federal Relations welcomed no less than eleven faculty and staff from the Seattle and Bothell campuses.  Almost all were in DC to attend professional association meetings, but they were also able to spend some time speaking to representatives of federal agencies and staff of the Washington delegation on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Bob Crittendon, Chief of Family Medicine Service at Harborview Medical Center, and Dr. Jim Davis, Professor and Chair of Family Medicine at the UW Medical School, were in attendance at the family medicine association in August.  

In September, President Mark Emmert was in DC, along with Judy Wasserheit and King Holmes (C0Chairs of the UW’s Global Health), for the annual meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.  President Emmert was a panel member in an afternoon session on September 14th. 

Professor Deborah McCutchen (Educational Psychology) was in DC in mid-September to attend the Learning and Education Academic Research Network coalition meeting. 

Martha Somerman, Dean of the School of Dentistry, was in DC in September to attend the American Dental Association’s Legislative Advisory Committee meeting and to gain support for including oral health care services in the health care reform bill.

Kay Lewis, Director of Student Financial Aid, was in DC to gain Senate support for increases to the Pell Grant program. 

Paul Jenny, Vice Provost for Planning and Budgeting attended the meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and also visited the Office of Federal Relations

Bruce Kochis, Senior Lecturer of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences brought 23 students with him to DC to discuss human rights issues with staff at federal agencies and on the Hill.  They also met with Jonathan Nurse in the Federal Relations office to learn about the legislative process.

To end September,  John Delaney, Professor of Oceanography, met with staff from the Washington delegation offices to brief them on the Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI), a project that was recently funded by the National Science Foundation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  It’s an exciting collaborative effort, funded for 5.5 years, to construct a networked infrastructure of sciencedriven sensors that will measure the physical, chemical, geological, and biological veriable in the ocean and sea floor.

If you are planning a trip to Washington, DC, please contact the Office of Federal Relations (202-624-1420) for assistance in setting up appointments to meet with Members or staffers of the Washington state delegations.  We’re happy to help.

Posted by Maggie Mount on September 29, 2009 at 8:05 am 

Congress continues  to push through appropriations bills as fiscal 2009 ends on Wednesday. 

In the Senate:

•  considers HR 3326, 2010 Defense Spending;
• HR 2918, Legislative Branch and stopgap spending;  
• Finance Committee consinues marking up its health care overhaul bill;
• HR 3548 (tentative), Unemployment aid extension. 

In The House:

•  Considers a bill to expand non-military aid to Pakistan;
• Considers HR 3183, the Energy-Water spending Conference Report;
• Energy & Commerce Committee marks up HR 2221, consumer data security, HR 1319, file sharing data disclosure, & HR 2190, mercury pollution reduction;
• Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment marks up HR 3585, solar technology, HR 3598, energy and water research integration, & HR 3650, algal bloom research.
• Financial Services Committee hold a hearing on financial regulatory overhaul with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Source:  CQ Today Print Edition

Posted by Maggie Mount on September 21, 2009 at 2:27 pm 

In the Senate:

The Senate will debte amendments to the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment Spending Bill, with votes expected on Tuesday.  A vote on pasage is likely by the end of the week.  The Senate is then likely to consider either the fiscal 2010 Defense Spending Bill or the Military Construction-VA Spending Bill.

The Senate Finance Committee marks up its health care overhaul bill this week beginning on Tuesday and continuing the rest of the week.

In the House:

The House votes on a number of measures under suspendion of the rules on Tuesday, including an extension of unemployment aid.  Later in the week, they are scheduled to take up a defense production reauthorization bill, as well as a number of bills to extend certain authorizations — including for small business programs, the Federal Aviation Administration and surface transportation programs.  The House is also expected to vote on a continuing resolution to make stopgap appropriations into fiscal 2010.

Source:  CQ Today Print Edition

Posted by Maggie Mount on September 14, 2009 at 1:43 pm 

Monday, September 14

Floor Action:

• The Senate will resume consideration of the fiscal 2010 Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill (HR 3288). Roll call votes are possible after 5:30 p.m. 
• The House is expected to take up several measures under suspension of the rules. Votes expected at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 15

Both the House and the Senate will be in session.

Committee Meetings:

• Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources will hold a full committee hearing on the Impact of Greenhouse Gas Trading Program

Wednesday, September 16

Both the House and the Senate will be in session

• The House is expected to take up a fuel efficiency technology measure (HR 3246).
• The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a full committee hearing on Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources

Thursday, September 17

The House is expected to take up the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (HR 3221).

Committee Hearings:

• Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources will hold a full committee hearing on the Economic Effects of Climate Change Legislation  
• The House Committee on Natural Resources will continue its full committee hearing on Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources

  Friday, September 18

The House is not in session.

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