July 12, 2011
Debt Negotiations Continue: Congressional leaders will meet with President Obama at the White House again today as both sides show no sign of softening their positions. Obama has increased the pressure on Congressional leaders to reach a deal in the coming weeks by stating that he would not agree to any short-term measures. The President… Read More
July 11, 2011
The National Science Foundation(NSF) and the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) launched a new collaborative program called PEER (Partnership for Enhanced Engagement and Research) last week. PEER is a new international, interagency joint initiative which will address environmental challenges that affect both the United States and the developing world by reinforcing existing relationships and… Read More
July 8, 2011
New Staff Member in the Office of Federal Relations: On Tuesday, Sarah Martin Castro joined the OFR team in our Washington, DC office as our new Associate Director. Sarah comes to us after several years as the government relations officer for the University of Missouri System. She has also worked on Capitol Hill for a… Read More
July 8, 2011
On July 6, the Department released the application for the next phase of the Promise Neighborhoods program, including a second round of planning grants and new implementation grants, totaling $30 million. Institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for funds to develop or execute plans that will improve educational and developmental outcomes for students… Read More
July 7, 2011
The House released its Energy & Water Appropriations bill for FY12 today. The bill provides a total $30.7 billion for the Energy Department and federal water projects in FY12, $5.9 billion (16 percent) less than requested by the President and $1.7 billion (5 percent) less than FY11 enacted totals. The bill provides an additional $1… Read More
July 7, 2011
Last week the National Science Board (NSB) issued new draft criteria for the peer review of proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The two “merit review” criteria of the last 14 years – intellectual merit and broader impact – remain, but they are now framed by a preamble that offers a set of… Read More
July 7, 2011
Today, three House Appropriations subcommittees are expected to approve FY12 domestic spending bills that continue the push by House Republicans to cut domestic spending and reverse administration policies. Interior-Environment Bill: Steep cuts are proposed for the EPA, federal clean water and drinking water programs, and for state environmental grant programs that Republicans say are a… Read More
July 6, 2011
The Senate has been unable to quickly vote on the House-passed version of Patent Reform, and it now looks increasingly likely that votes will have to be allowed on a couple of controversial amendments to the bill which could cause further problems. One of the House adopted amendments would recalculate the filing period for patent term extension… Read More
July 6, 2011
The House Appropriations Committee today released their FY12 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The bill funds the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies. In total, the draft legislation contains $50.2 billion… Read More
July 6, 2011
Latest Budget Talks: President Obama has summoned lawmakers to the White House Thursday for a fresh round of talks on the budget and debt limit. While some progress has been made over the holiday weekend, but there is the two sides are still a long way apart if they want to reach agreement before the… Read More
