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Deficit Talks Continue…

Bipartisan deficit reduction talks broke down again over the weekend and congressional leaders are now writing their own proposals to avoid a government default in eight days (August 2nd).  Lawmakers could vote on their separate plans later this week, which may form the basis for a compromise.  The House Speaker will present a plan to House Republicans today with the goal of having legislation filed later in the day to allow a vote as early as Wednesday.  This proposal calls for a two-step process to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and cut spending.  The first debt limit increase, which seems likely to cover government borrowing through at least the end of the calendar year, would rest on discretionary spending caps for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, which could yield $1 trillion or more in savings over the next decade.  The plan also would create a bicameral deficit committee that would recommend more budget cuts, which would then get a vote in the House and Senate.  The second installment of increased borrowing authority will likely be contingent on Congress clearing the committee’s recommendations for additional spending cuts of $3 trillion to $5 trillion over the next decade.  The White House and Democrats would likely oppose that plan.

Meanwhile, the Senate Majority Leader does not appear opposed to two rounds of spending cuts or a bicameral committee, but has joined the White House in seeking a debt limit increase that would last through the 2012 elections and in opposing a short-term increase.  His plan is likely to call for a $2.7 trillion increase in the debt ceiling with equal spending cuts without any changes in entitlements programs or increases in revenues.  The time frame for a Senate vote is not clear, but could come by the end of the week.   The White House seems likely to back the plan that also could gain some GOP support in the Senate, but it would face resistance in the House if entitlement cuts are not part of the deal.  Details of the spending cuts have yet to be released.

Both the House and Senate proposals will likely use most of the $200 million in cuts that Vice President Biden and congressional negotiators agreed to earlier this year in deficit reduction talks, including cuts aimed at aid for needy students, such as Pell grants, and federal dollars for disadvantaged school districts.  One option that will not resurface in coming weeks is the “cut, cap and balance” plan (HR 2560) promoted by House conservatives, which the Senate rejected last Friday in a party-line procedural vote.  The bill would have made an increase in the debt limit contingent upon the passage of a balanced-budget constitutional amendment and deep spending cuts.  The measure’s defeat had been expected, but a vote on the plan was intended to show conservatives’ support for deep cuts, and was seen as a necessary step toward reaching a compromise on deficit reduction.

Debt Deal Advances While Appropriations Slows Down

Debt Limit:  President Obama and House Speaker Boehner are continuing their negotiations on a new “grand bargain” that would raise the federal debt limit by August 2nd, call for $3 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, and promise a federal tax code overhaul next year.   The deal would be a new version of the “grand bargain” congressional leaders abandoned two weeks ago, after Republicans refused to consider revenue increases.  The latest proposal would aim to draw GOP support by not seeking any immediate increase in revenue and by putting off any changes in taxes until after 2012.  Democrats, however, expressed frustration with the emerging plan that would almost certainly require deep cuts in spending.  An agreement will likely hinge on what guarantees can be made on the proposed tax overhaul to get Democrats on board, without losing the support of House Republicans, who insist any deal that raises taxes now or in the future is a non-starter.

Earlier today, the Senate blocked the House version of a deficit reduction plan known as “Cut, Cap and Balance” on a party line 51-46 vote.   The House passed the same plan earlier this week, and the Senate rejection comes as House Speaker Boehner and President Barack Obama have already moved on to negotiations on a different deficit reduction plan.   The vote handed conservatives a chance to showcase their strategy for restricting future spending in Washington, but it faced a veto from the President, making it more of a symbolic vote for Republicans to put their mark on deficit reduction.

Unless Congress raises the debt limit by August 2nd, Treasury officials say the government will run out of money to pay its bills and default on its loans for the first time in history.   

FY12 Appropriations:   The House and Senate spending committees are waiting until September to consider any more annual appropriations bills.  The Senate has only approved one of their 12 bills, the bipartisan Military Construction-VA measure.  They have indicated that they are waiting on a budget deal that would set spending levels for the remaining 11 bills.  Senate Appropriations staff say they are working behind the scenes to draft the bills that could move quickly once a funding deal is in place.

House appropriators, who hope to have 10 of their 12 annual spending bills marked up before the break, have postponed markups set for this month on the Labor-HHS-Education and Transportation-HUD bills until September.  Those two remaining bills contain the vast majority of the GOP’s planned budget cuts of about $30 billion for FY12 and might take considerable time to move through committee, let alone the House floor.  The Office of Federal Relations continues to advocate for important programs funded through the Labor-HHS-Education bill such as NIH, HRSA, student financial aid, International Education, and others.

Once September comes, Congressional efforts will inevitably focus on stopgap measures – or continuing resolutions – to ensure funding for the new fiscal year, which begins October 1st, rather than any remaining bills.

NEH Grants Available for Development of Undergrad Course

Through September 15, the National Endowment for the Humanities invites applications for grants of up to $25,000 to support the development of an undergraduate course on an “enduring question.”  This course will encourage undergraduates and educators to grapple with a fundamental question addressed by the humanities and to join together in a sustained program of reading in order to encounter influential thinkers over the centuries and into the present day.  Up to four faculty members in any discipline may develop the course, but each co-director must teach it separately. 

More information here.

DOD’s Minerva Initiative Calls for New Round of White Papers and Funding Proposals

University consortia and individual investigators are encouraged to submit white papers and full funding proposals to the Minerva Initiative, the Department of Defense’s competitive, university-based social science basic research program.  Because of a delay in release of the funding solicitation, program managers have extended the deadline for white paper submissions to Friday, September 16, 2011, and the deadline for full proposals to Tuesday, November 22, 2011. 

The Minerva Initiative was created in 2008 under the leadership of former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a means to improve our fundamental understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S.  Secretary Gates announced the Initiative at the April 2008 meeting of the AAU presidents and chancellors in Washington, DC. 

The Minerva Initiative is inviting white papers and full proposals for basic research in the following seven areas:

(1)    Strategic Impact of Religious and Cultural Changes
(2)    Terrorism and Terrorist Ideologies
(3)    Science, Technology and Military Transformations in China and Developing States
(4)    National Security Implications of Energy and Environmental Stress
(5)    New Theories of Cross-Domain Deterrence
(6)    Regime and Social Dynamics in Failed, Failing, and Fragile Authoritarian States
(7)    New Approaches to Understanding Dimensions of National Security, Conflict, and Cooperation

DOE Announces $120 Million to Support Development of Innovative Manufacturing Processes

As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership launched last month by President Obama, the Department of Energy is offering an investment of up to $120 million over three years to develop transformational manufacturing technologies and innovative materials. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in emerging technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance US competitiveness.

The selected projects will emphasize new processes and materials that are revolutionary in their design or impact and that are capable of being commercialized within the next five to seven years. By boosting investment in near-term technology development, the Department is supporting projects that might otherwise take far longer to contribute to U.S. industrial competitiveness. DOE expects to fund 35 to 50 cost-shared projects under the initiative.

Projects associated with innovations in the earlier stages of development, such as applied research projects or those that establish a proof of concept, will be eligible for awards up to $1 million. These projects must be completed within two years. Projects associated with innovations further along in their development, such as laboratory testing or verification of a prototype system, will be eligible for awards up to $9 million.

Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by September 1, 2011 in order to be eligible to submit a Full Application by October 5, 2011

 For more information, see the funding opportunity announcement and the DOE press release.