November 13, 2012
Congress returns to Capitol Hill today to kick off the lame-duck session. They are expected to work this week, break next week for Thanksgiving, and then return the last week in November for three more weeks. During this session lawmakers will tackle big issues including sequestration, taxes, and disaster aid – among other issues. Congress… Read More
November 8, 2012
After a long and tenuous campaign season, the election results are in and essentially reflect the status quo. President Obama will serve a second term as President, the Senate will remain in the control of Democrats, and the House will remain in the control of Republicans. While the party-makeup of the new Congress will essentially… Read More
November 5, 2012
Tomorrow is election day – finally! Regardless of who wins the presidency, he will have to move quickly to find a solution to avert the fiscal cliff that can muster enough votes in a politically divided Congress. As I’ve been reporting for much of the year, Congress must take action by the end of the… Read More
October 29, 2012
Members of Congress are discussing the possibility of approving a continuing resolution (CR) for the entire fiscal year to avoid partisan political battles and a possible government shutdown. Appropriators continue to press for completing this year’s spending bills in a lame-duck omnibus, but it’s more likely that they will be left for the next Congress…. Read More
October 25, 2012
President Obama’s campaign recently released a brochure detailing how he might approach education issues during a second term. And there are now several articles popping up, including a comprehensive one from Inside Higher Ed, that look as how either an Obama second term or a new President Romney would look like. Based on his first… Read More
October 22, 2012
Even though Congress is in recess until after the November elections, efforts to find a solution to the so-called “fiscal cliff” continue among members of the Senate. A bipartisan effort aimed at avoiding scheduled increases in taxes and automatic, across-the-board spending cuts early next year are taking shape in Senate, with attention focused on replacing… Read More
October 10, 2012
Inside Higher Ed published a good article in today’s edition that details the higher education issues facing the next Congress. Budget issues will continue to be the most pressing issue confronting lawmakers when they convene the 113th Congress in January. Additionally, Congress will need to deal with looming student loan interest rate increases (July 2013),… Read More
September 27, 2012
AAAS just published some new estimates of sequestration impacts on science budgets through 2017. The report gets into individual agencies (in some instances, directorates) and states, and includes both a balanced scenario and a nondefense-only scenario. Washington state could lose nearly $1.7 billion dollars in federal R&D funding over the next five years. You can… Read More
September 26, 2012
An article in today’s Governing.com details how the sequester will affect state budgets. The news is not good, especially when you consider the sad shape of our state’s budget situation in general. If implemented on January 2nd, the across-the-board cuts at the federal level will likely leave the state legislature with little choice but to… Read More
September 19, 2012
The Senate’s in at 10:00am and will continue work on a veterans jobs bill. A series of votes are possible. The chamber will recess from 12:30 to 2:15pm for weekly caucus lunches. Then, the senate will hold a procedural vote on the House-passed six-month continuing resolution to fund the government. The House is in at… Read More
