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.”

                          

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

                          

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.

                          

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 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.

                          

NATIONAL ACADEMIES

U.S. COMPETITIVE POSITION HAS FURTHER DECLINED IN PAST FIVE YEARS, REPORT SAYS; 

NATION NEEDS SUSTAINED COMMITMENT TO INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION

The outlook for America’s ability to compete for quality jobs in the global economy has continued to deteriorate in the last five years, and the nation needs a sustained investment in education and basic research to keep from slipping further, says a new report requested by the presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, and authored by members of the committee that wrote the influential 2005 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.  

What progress has been made in addressing America’s competitiveness challenges came largely as the result of the America COMPETES Act and stimulus package spending advancing its provisions, but both are due to expire soon, warned authors of the new report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5.  

“The Gathering Storm effort once again finds itself at a tipping point,” said Norman R. Augustine, one of the new report’s authors and chair of the original Gathering Storm committee.  “Addressing America’s competitiveness challenge is an undertaking that will require many years, if not decades.”  The new report assesses changes in America’s competitive status since the release of Gathering Storm and the degree to which its recommendations have been implemented.

The report’s authors concluded that the nation’s competitive outlook has worsened since 2005, when Gathering Storm issued its call to strengthen K-12 education and double the federal basic-research budget.  While progress has been made in certain areas, the latitude to fix the problems being confronted has been severely diminished by the economic recession and the growth of the national debt over this period from $8 trillion to $13 trillion, the report says.  Moreover, other nations have been markedly progressing, thereby affecting America’s relative ability to compete for new factories, research laboratories, and jobs. 

The report notes many indications that the United States’ competitive capacity is slipping, including the following:

• In 2009, 51 percent of U.S. patents were awarded to non-U.S. companies. 
• China has replaced the U.S. as the world’s number one high-technology exporter and is now second in the world in publication of biomedical research articles.
• Between 1996 and 1999, 157 new drugs were approved in the United States.  In a corresponding period 10 years later, the number dropped to 74.
• Almost one-third of U.S. manufacturing companies responding to a recent survey say they are suffering from some level of skills shortage.

In addition, in spite of occasional bright spots, the nation’s education system has shown little sign of improvement, particularly in math and science, the report says.  According to the ACT College Readiness Report, 78 percent of U.S. high school graduates in 2008 did not meet readiness benchmark levels for one or more entry-level college courses in mathematics, science, reading, and English, the report notes.  And the World Economic Forum ranks the U.S. 48th in the quality of its math and science education. 

In 2007 Congress passed the America COMPETES Act, which authorized many recommendations from the Gathering Storm report.  But most of the Act’s measures went unfunded until the stimulus package was passed early in 2009, a package that increased total federal funding for K-12 education, provided scholarships for future math and science teachers, and funded the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which is dedicated to supporting transformational basic research on energy.

However, the America COMPETES Act is set to expire this year, and its funding — which came from the stimulus package, presumed to be a one-time initiative — is also nearing expiration.  In order to sustain the progress that has begun, the report says, it will be necessary to both reauthorize the America COMPETES Act and “institutionalize” oversight and funding of Gathering Storm recommendations — or others that accomplish the same purpose — so that funding and policy changes will routinely be considered in future years’ legislative processes.

The report’s authors acknowledged the difficulty of carrying out the Gathering Storm recommendations, such as doubling the research budget, in the current fiscal environment.  But such investments will need to be made if the nation is to maintain the economic strength to provide health care, social security, national security, and other basic services to its citizens, they said. 

The study was funded by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. These three organizations, together with the National Research Council, make up the National Academies.  They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter.  The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

                          

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.

                          

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

                          

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