The University of Washington has published our 2022 Federal Agenda reaffirming our commitment to a robust partnership with the federal government. You can view the agenda here.
On March 24th at 12pm PT, Director of Federal Relations Sarah Castro will participate in a Town Hall highlighting the key elements of our federal agenda. Members of the UW community can register here.
The House passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022 (H.R. 4521) on a nearly party-line vote. The bill has a broad focus attempting to tackle research, climate, supply chain, education, and immigration issues. As it stands, the legislation reauthorizes the NSF and key components of the Department of Energy, invests in semiconductor chips production, and contains diplomatic, research security, and immigration provisions. Several amendments were adopted, and the bill will need to be conferenced with the bipartisan US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA, S. 1260). You can find a fact sheet here.
The Office of Federal Relations will host a virtual town hall for the campus community on Thursday, March 24th from 12pm-1pm PT. Our staff will provide an update on the federal budget, infrastructure and competitiveness bills, and preview the UW’s 2022 federal agenda. This will be followed by an opportunity for Q&A. Register here (NetID restricted).
Please join us for the inaugural quarterly Federal Relations Town Hall.
Thursday, October 21st at 12:00pm PT
After a presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions or offer comments/concerns regarding the UW’s federal advocacy priorities.
If you would like to join in-person, please RSVP here. Space is limited.
If you would like to join via Zoom, please register here.
This event is restricted to members of the UW community. A valid Net-ID is required to participate.
Democrats have decoupled the provision to raise the debt ceiling from the continuing resolution (CR) package that would keep the government funded through December 3. This has allowed the Senate to vote on the slimmed-down package this afternoon. After passage by the Senate, the package is expected to be taken up by the House quickly.
Although this means that a shutdown will be averted and that the government will be funded through at least the first few days of December, the question of how to deal with the impending breach of the debt ceiling remains unanswered. Read more about the CR situation here and here.
At the same time, Democrats continue to battle among themselves in a fight over if and when a budget reconciliation bill might be brought to the floor, a decision that also controls if and when the infrastructure legislation might be considered in the House. As noted previously, House progressives have insisted that the entirety of their $3.5-trillion package be brought up first as a way to guarantee their support for the infrastructure bill and to ensure that moderates who are not as comfortable with the size of the reconciliation legislation cannot just vote for the $1.5-trilllion infrastructure bill and oppose the bigger measure.
The same group of House progressives has insisted that the two Democratic Senators who appear to be the most prominent holdouts on the reconciliation bill, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema, offer up a counter-proposal to the $3.5-trillion figure. Just after lunchtime in DC today, Sen. Manchin publicly stated that he is interested in a reconciliation package that would be limited to $1.5 trillion. How these developments impact the negotiations remain to be seen.
Read more about the developments around reconciliation and infrastructure bills here, here, and here.