February 2, 2012
Automatic spending cuts, or sequestration, was established through the Budget Control Act passed by Congress last August and is set to go into effect January 2013. The sequestration process has great implications for all federal discretionary programs, including most – if not all – of federally funded research programs. Below is a link to a… Read More
January 27, 2012
Details are beginning to emerge on Obama’s proposal to make college affordable. He spoke to this during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, and again today at an event at the University of Michigan. US Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan has also been talking about this issue since late last year, and… Read More
November 8, 2011
Resolutions were introduced in both the House and the Senate (H.Res.458 and S.Res.313) recognizing the UW’s 150th year and its’ contributions to Washington state and the nation. The Senate resolution – introduced by Senator Cantwell and cosponsored by Senator Murray, passed the chamber this morning by unanimous consent. The House Resolution was introduced by Congressman… Read More
October 26, 2011
President Obama announced today at a speech at the University of Colorado Denver, a new initiative called ‘Know Before You Owe’ designed to make college loans more affordable and reduce the financial burden on recent graduates – many of whom are struggling to find employment. The administration is essentially speeding up by 2 years, a… Read More
September 29, 2011
The House Appropriations Committee released their draft Labor-HHS-Education spending bill today in which they executed several spending cuts and revoked all additional funding for “Obamacare”. Some highlights: Health & Human Services The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is funded at $6.7 billion, a $1.5 billion increase over FY11 levels The National Institutes of Health… Read More
September 15, 2011
The American Jobs Act introduced by President Obama last week and delivered to congress in full bill form this week, looks like it may carry some tax implications for UW. If passed, the bill would expand and extend the existing payroll tax reduction for employees from the already reduced rate of 4.2% to 3.1%. Would… Read More
July 28, 2011
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing yesterday on the Department of Education’s FY12 budget. Secretary Duncan was the witness. In his opening remarks, Duncan expressed concern that America has gone from being a world leader in education to now being “middle of the pack”. He… Read More
July 11, 2011
The National Science Foundation(NSF) and the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) launched a new collaborative program called PEER (Partnership for Enhanced Engagement and Research) last week. PEER is a new international, interagency joint initiative which will address environmental challenges that affect both the United States and the developing world by reinforcing existing relationships and… Read More
July 8, 2011
On July 6, the Department released the application for the next phase of the Promise Neighborhoods program, including a second round of planning grants and new implementation grants, totaling $30 million. Institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for funds to develop or execute plans that will improve educational and developmental outcomes for students… Read More
July 6, 2011
The Senate has been unable to quickly vote on the House-passed version of Patent Reform, and it now looks increasingly likely that votes will have to be allowed on a couple of controversial amendments to the bill which could cause further problems. One of the House adopted amendments would recalculate the filing period for patent term extension… Read More
