Congressman Norm Dicks announced today that he will retire at the end of this session of Congress.  His decision comes as a shock, but after 44 years in public service in Washington, DC, and at age 71, we all can certainly appreciate and understand his desire to spend more time with his wife Suzie, their children, and grandchildren.

Dicks will certainly leave a lasting legacy of Congressional accomplishments unlike nearly any other Member of the House or Senate.  There are very few places in Washington State or even the country that have not been beneficiaries of his fine work — including the University of Washington!

The following statement has been released from UW President Michael Young:

“On behalf of generations of students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington, I want to express our deep gratitude to Congressman Dicks for his lifetime of service to the citizens of Washington and especially for his unwavering support over the many years he served in Congress for higher education and his alma mater. His service to his constituents and his knowledgeable commitment to education have benefited countless numbers of people in the Northwest and beyond, especially his staunch support for protecting the environment and conducting research to understand it better. He also was one of the early supporters of establishing the University of Washington in Tacoma.  He has been a great friend to this University and a special alumnus in whose accomplishments as a public servant we take great pride. It is hard to imagine Washington’s Congressional delegation without him. If ever the phrase ‘well-deserved’ applies to a retirement announcement, this is certainly one of them.”

As part of the Obama Administration’s innovation agenda, the White House today announced the launch of the Startup America Partnership, a “public/private effort to promote entrepreneurship with new initiatives to encourage private sector investment in job-creating startups and small firms.”  The effort “brings together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies, to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of America’s entrepreneurs.” 

The goals of the initiative are expanded commercialization of the results of federally funded research, and a greater number of “high-impact entrepreneurship education programs” at high schools, community colleges, and universities.

White House Website for Startup America

Members of Congress returned to DC last week for a lame-duck session intended to address pressing issues, namely the need to finish the fiscal year 2011 appropriations process as well as to extend various tax cut provisions that expire at the end of the calendar year. Members spent the first week of the session largely in party caucuses, electings leaders of the Congress that will be seated in January 2011. Very little was accomplished on any of the substantive issues identified by the current leadership as under consideration. Congress will return from a week-long Thanksgiving recess on November 29th. Given the many issues to address and the intense political maneuvering underway, it is now expected that the lame-duck session will last well into December.

The federal government is currently funded through a continuing resolution (CR) that expires on December 3rd. A CR was required when Congress failed to pass a new budget in time for the beginng of fiscal year 2011 back on October 1st. The CR provides Congress additional time to produce a budget, and temporarily funds agencies/programs at last year’s levels. After the holiday, it appears that Congress will need to pass either a second short-term CR that temporarily continues government operations and rests the final outcome with the new Congress, or pass a year-long CR that essentially ends the FY11 appropriations process. The latter scenario would result in lost opportunities for research agencies (e.g. NIH, NSF) expecting increases over last year’s allocation. Further, a longterm CR would likely provide another setback to attempts to plug a $5.7 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program. A year-long  CR would also result in the removal of all congressionally directed appropriations from the spending bills. Completion of the FY11 appropriations process through an omnibus spending bill remains a remote possibility.

The extension of Bush era tax cuts seems to be one area drawing some consensus on Capitol Hill. However, the details of a so called “tax extenders” bill remain uncertain. Several provisions of interest to the higher education community are part of the tax debate, though generally less controversial. The items include an extension of the research and development tax credit, IRA charitable rollover that would facilitate giving to our institutions, and the above the line tuition and fees deduction.

At present, Congress also seems likely to pass another fix on physician Medicare reimbursements. On November 18th, the Senate approved an extension of current reimbursement rates through December, which would provide more time to approve a longer-term solution. 

Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) is pushing to fulfill a campaign promise to bring the DREAM Act to a vote. The legislation would provide a path to citizenship for some individuals who entered the country illegally with their parents. Despite support from a majority in the current Senate, and broad backing by the higher education community, the legislation is not likely to garner the 60 votes necessary to break an expected fillibuster.

Congress completed their leadership elections last week, which will take effect in January at the beginning of the 112th Congress.

In the House

Speaker of the House: John Boehner (R-OH)
Majority Leader: Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Majority Whip: Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Minority Whip: Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

In the Senate (no changes from current congress)

Majority Leader: Harry Reid (D-NV)
Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Majority Whip: Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Minority Whip: Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

Committees

Senate Budget Committee Chairman: Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Ranking Member, House Budget Committee: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

The mid-term congressional elections that took place on Tuesday, resulting in a Republican House majority and diminished Democratic Senate majority, will have a significant impact on issues of concern to the higher education community (FY11 appropriations, DREAM Act, COMPETES Act, tax policy) that were previously slated for consideration during the coming “lame-duck” session. The current Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill may decide, or be forced, to punt many legislative items to the new Congress. It is expected that the new Congress will increase efforts to constrain federal spending. How deeply those efforts impact research and student aid remains to be seen.

The Office of Federal Relations is gathering information on the likely leadership structure of the incoming 112th Congress, as well as on prospects for legislation of interest. A Federal Report will be produced and available on this website during the week of November 7th.

Late last week, the National Academies released a follow-on to their widely discussed 2005 report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.” The new report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5,” explains that many of the recommendations in the initial assessment have not been addressed. The National Academies press release follows.

Read more

The recently released UW Economic Impacts Report can be accessed through this post and as a permanent resource on the left bar of this website. The report details the economic, employment and government revenue impact of operations and research of all of the UW’s campuses and affiliates. The report was prepared by Trpp Umbach, a nationally recognized consulting firm.

The Office of Federal Relations has added a new member to the team.  Brianna Fields is my new Assistant, replacing Maggie Mount who left our office in early June.

Bri will take over our office administrative duties, as well as provide support for the UW’s overall legislative program.  Among other things, she will be responsible for scheduling appointments on Capitol Hill and for me when I travel back to campus, contributing to the Federal Relations report and blog, monitoring legislation and hearings, and submitting the University’s quarter lobbying reports. 

Bri is a proud Husky, having graduated from the UW last spring with a degree in Political Science.  During her senior year, she completed a 3-month internship at the US Department of Commerce working on legislative and public relations issues.  She also was a Finance Intern for the Obama for America/Democratic National Committee in the fall of 2008.  Earlier this spring, Bri moved to the DC area to start her career in the Nation’s Capitol.  We are lucky to have found her and look forward to utilizing her talents to help advance our federal legislative priorities.

I hope you will join me in welcoming Bri to the UW community!  Bri can be reached at bcfields@uw.edu or 202-624-1420.

After a couple of procedural setbacks, the House of Representatives passed a 5-year reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act on Friday May 28th. The legislation provides for 7% annual increases to the budgets of the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, and National Institutes of Standards and Technology -keeping them on a path to double funding by 2016. Sights are now set on the Senate, which aims to pass a companion bill by the July 4th congressional recess.

One issue of concern in the bill for the university research community is an amendment approved by the House that links public universities’ response to information requests from their labor unions with their ability to collect facilities and administrative costs for their research grants.  The UW Office of Federal Relations is working towards a modification or elimination of the language in the final bill that emerges.

House Science and Technology Committee Statement on COMPETES Passage

Despite the absence of any support from the minority party, which will be necessary to advance a bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and two of his colleagues — Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) — have released a rough framework for comprehensive immigration reform. The outline serves as a starting point for public discussions and negotiations on a comprehensive package, and should not viewed as actual legislation. Political observers remain skeptical of the prospects for immigration reforming passing in the partisan atmosphere that exists in advance of a mid-term election.

In its current form, the outline contains a number of provisions and addresses issues of interest to the academic and higher education communities, such as reform of the H-1B visa process that has come under fire for obstructing efforts to retain and attract highly skilled labor (i.e. research scientitst) from abroad.

Reid-Schumer-Menendez Immigration Reform Outline

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