“We are very interested in a long-term solution,” Duncan said. “The idea of coming back every two years to try and fix something, with all the real challenges we face, and the fact that we can’t take this off the table… I just don’t understand it. I look forward to working with you and others to find some common ground.”

Duncan’s response to Klein here. 

HR 1911 is expected to be considered by the full House this Thursday.

On April 25th, Chairman Smith sent a letter to the NSF, which asked for an explanation by NSF as to how five grants adhered to NSF’s “intellectual merit” guidelines. The grants in question were:

• Award Abstract #1247824: “Picturing Animals in National Geographic, 1888-2008,” March 15, 2013, ($227,437);
• Award Abstract #1230911: “Comparative Histories of Scientific Conservation: Nature, Science, and Society in Patagonian and Amazonian South America,” September 1, 2012 ($195,761);
• Award Abstract #1230365: “The International Criminal Court and the Pursuit of Justice,” August 15, 2012 ($260,001);
• Award Abstract #1226483, “Comparative Network Analysis: Mapping Global Social Interactions,” August 15, 2012, ($435,000); and
• Award Abstract #1157551: “Regulating Accountability and Transparency in China’s Dairy Industry,” June 1, 2012 ($152,464).

The Smith letter asked for a response within two weeks, which was May 9th. On May 10th, Marrett responded to Smith saying more time was needed for a response — that response came yesterday. A copy of the Smith Letter is here.

On April 26th, the Ranking Member of the House Science Committee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, issued a strong letter against Smith’s letter on April 25th. A copy of the Johnson Letter is here: 4 26 13 – LTR EBJ to Smith Re NSF Grants.

The Smith Letter appears to be the second step of a longer-term fight initiated in March 2013, where the House of Representatives blocked NSF from funding any political science research unless it “served to promote national security or economic development.” Further, the Smith letter appeared to be a precursor to legislation called the High Quality Research Act.

Shortly after the letter was sent to NSF, Chairman Smith announced the intent to mark up a bill to reauthorize the NSF called the High Quality Research Act the first week of May. The draft bill used the same standard as implemented in March on political science research and required the NSF director to certify before an NSF grant is awarded that: the research project is in the interests of the U.S.; is of the finest quality and groundbreaking; and does not duplicate other federally funded research projects. Smith said the intent of the bill was to weed out research not worthy of federal support.  The mark up was slated for May 8th, but was pulled from the committee calendar due to concerns expressed by a wide variety of scientific organizations and supporters.

Yesterday, NSF Acting Director Cora Marrett responded to Chairman Smith’s request by refusing to disclose the reviewer comments on five social science research projects it is funding that Smith questioned. Rather, Marrett offered to brief the committee on the NSF review process and how generally the five grants would have been selected.

The Office of Federal Relations is tracking this issue closely and will continue to update on activity and progress as this develops.

TUESDAY, May 7, 2013

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT
10:30 a.m. May 7, 124 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee (Chairman Reed, D-R.I.) of Senate Appropriations Committee will hold hearings on proposed fiscal 2014 appropriations for agencies, programs and activities under its jurisdiction.

Witnesses:
Sally Jewell, secretary of the Interior
David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior
Rhea Suh, assistant secretary of the Interior for policy, management and budget
Pam K. Haze, deputy assistant secretary of the Interior, Office of Budget, Finance, Performance and Acquisition

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT
9:30 a.m. May 7, B-308 Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee (Chairman Simpson, R-Idaho) of House Appropriations Committee will hold hearings on proposed fiscal 2014 appropriations for agencies, programs and activities under its jurisdiction.

Witnesses:
Neil Kornze, principal deputy director, Bureau of Land Management

Joint Committee
ROLE OF IMMIGRATION IN ECONOMIC STRENGTH
9:30 a.m. May 7, 562 Dirksen Bldg.
Joint Economic Committee (Chairman Brady, R-Texas) will hold a two-part hearing titled “Immigration and Its Contributions to Our Economic Strength.”

Witnesses Scheduled:
Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform
Adriana Kugler, professor, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute

WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2013

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
May 8, 10 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: ENERGY AND WATER
May 8, 2:30 p.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg
Subcommittee Hearing

House Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
May 8, 10 a.m., H-140 Capitol Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

House Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT
May 8, 9:30 a.m., Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

House Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT
May 8, 9:30 a.m., Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

House Ways & Means
IRS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TAX LAW COMPLIANCE
May 8, 2 p.m., 1100 Longworth Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation
IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY
May 8, 2:30 p.m., 253 Russell Bldg.
Full Committee Hearing

THURSDAY, May 9, 2013

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: TRANSPORTATION, HUD
May 9, 10 a.m., 138 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

House Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
May 9, 10 a.m., H-140 Capitol Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

S. 514: A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to provide additional educational assistance to veterans pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, math, or an area that leads to employment in a high-demand occupation.
Sponsor: Sherrod Brown (D-OH)   Introduced: 3/11/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Committee on Veterans’ Affairs   Cosponsors: 0

H.R. 1100: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve mental and behavioral health services on college campuses.
Sponsor: Janice Schakowsky (D-IL)   Introduced: 3/12/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Education and the Workforce   Cosponsors: 12

H.R. 1178: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for graduate medical education partnerships in states with a low physician-resident-to-general-population ratio.
Sponsor: Kathy Castor (D-FL)   Introduced: 3/14/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce   Cosponsors: 0

H.R. 1227: A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize certain aliens who have earned a Ph.D. degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering or mathematics to be admitted for permanent residence and to be exempted from the numerical limitations on H-1B nonimmigrants (STAPLE ACT).
Sponsor: Erik Paulsen (R-MN)   Introduced: 3/15/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary   Cosponsors: 3
Paulsen Press Release

H.R. 1271: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit against income tax as an incentive to partner with educational institutions to provide skills training for students (Job Skills for America’s Students Act).
Sponsor: Mark Takano (D-CA)   Introduced: 3/19/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means  Cosponsors: 0
Takano Press Release

S. 646: A bill to create the National Endowment for the Oceans to promote the protection and conservation of United States ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems.
Sponsor:  Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)   Introduced: 3/21/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation   Cosponsors: 3 (including Senator Maria Cantwell)

The full text of these bills can be found by searching for their respective bill number at thomas.loc.gov

FY13 Spending Package Nearing Passage

The Senate is now considering legislation that the House passed last week to maintain government funding and avoid a shutdown after the current continuing resolution (CR) expires on March 27^th. The current CR maintains funding for federal programs primarily at their FY12 levels, which meets the $1.043 trillion level agreed to in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011.

The House-passed bill includes full-year bills for two appropriations measures – Defense and Mil-Con-VA.  The Senate package included these two and added bills for Agriculture, Homeland Security, and Commerce-Justice-Science. Included in these bills is additional management flexibility for implementing the sequester, but not relief from it. The remaining seven appropriations bills are wrapped up into a larger CR.

The Senate process has been somewhat stalled due to a slew of amendments added to the measure, but bill managers are expected to work over the weekend to develop a smaller list and prepare the bill for floor action on Monday. It would then be sent to the House for final approval. While the CR doesn’t expire until the 27^th, the deadline is realistically the end of next week before Congress departs for the Easter recess.

FY14 Budget Resolutions
Both House and Senate Budget Committees released their FY14 budget resolutions this week. The two plans are vastly different, although they do abide by the same overall spending caps set in place by the BCA of 2011. While neither measure stands a legitimate chance of passing both chambers as-is, there is hope that each side laying their ideal plans out there will lead to a conference between the two parties and eventually some type of larger tax or deficit reduction deal.

The Ryan (House) Budget
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), unveiled his budget resolution earlier this week which balances the budget within 10 years and does not raise any tax revenue. His budget contains no direct sequester fix, and cuts spending by an additional $4 trillion dollars by turning Medicare into a voucher-like system, giving states more flexibility to run their health care programs, and reducing the non-defense discretionary spending cap more than $50 billion than the cap set by the BCA to $414 billion. This would take a large amount away from agencies that typically provide research funding and education programs. The Ryan budget also significantly bumps up defense spending – which would effectively mitigate the cuts from the sequester for that sector.

The budget passed the House Budget Committee last week on a party-line vote and is expected to be taken up by the full House sometime before the Easter recess.

The Murray (Senate) Budget
The Senate Democrats’ budget introduced by Budget Committee Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) this week would raise tax revenues by about $975 billion over 10 years and cut the budget by an equal amount over the same time period, reducing the deficit by a total of $1.85 trillion. The cuts would include $275 billion from health care, $240 billion from defense, $142 billion from non-defense discretionary spending, and $76 billion from mandatory programs. Unlike the Ryan plan, this one does not aim to balance the federal budget, and it calls for replacing the sequester with a mix of different spending cuts and tax increases, while adding about $100 billion in new spending on infrastructure and job training. Murray’s budget reflects the FY14 $966 billion spending cap set in place by the sequester law – allocating $497 billion for discretionary defense spending and $469 billion for discretionary domestic spending. It also generally protects areas such as education and innovation – adding $20 billion in research funding.

The Senate Budget Committee also passed the measure on a party-line vote. It is expected to be considered on the Senate floor beginning next week.

S. 440: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for loan forgiveness for early childhood educators.
Sponsor: Mark Begich (D-AK)  Introduced: 3/4/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions  Cosponsors: 0
Begich Press Release

S. 441: A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by establishing a program to provide professional development activities for educators.
Sponsor: Mark Begich (D-AK)  Introduced: 3/4/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions  Cosponsors: 0
Begich Press Release

H.R. 1037: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to include Occupational Therapists as behavioral and mental health professionals for purposes of the National Health Service Corps.
Sponsor: Paul Tonko (D-NY)  Introduced: 3/7/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce  Cosponsors: 3

The full text of these bills can be found by searching for their respective bill number at thomas.loc.gov

Wednesday, March 13
House Appropriations
FY14 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations
10 am, H-309 Capitol Building

House Appropriations
FY14 Homeland Security Appropriations
10 am, 2359 Rayburn

House Appropriations
FY14 Interior and Environment Appropriations
9:30 am, B-308 Rayburn

House Appropriations
FY14 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
10 am, 2358-C Rayburn

House Education and the Workforce
Student Loan Programs
10 am, 2175 Rayburn

House Homeland Security
DHS Role in Cybersecurity
10 am, 311 Cannon

House Science, Space, and Technology
STEM Education Initiatives
10 am, 2318 Rayburn

Thursday, March 14
House Appropriations
FY14 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations
10 am, H-309 Capitol Building

House Appropriations
FY14 Energy and Water Appropriations
10 am, 2362-B Rayburn

House Natural Resources
Energy Resources
10 am, 1324 Longworth

House Science, Space, and Technology
Challenges for Science Agencies
2 pm, 2318 Rayburn