A roundup of bills introduced in the last week that may be of interest to the higher education community: H.R. 700: A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED) to fund directed development projects to supported targeted breakthroughs in teaching and learning. Sponsor: George Miller (D-CA) … Read More

NIH Director Francis Collins announced to reporters yesterday after a tour of facilities with Senator Mikulski (D-MD), that he had informed each director of the 27 individual institutes and centers that they will have the authority to determine how to take the looming 5.1% ($1.5 billion) sequester cut to NIH scheduled to take effect on… Read More

A roundup of bills introduced last week that may be of interest to the higher education community: H.R. 729: A bill to amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to exempt the National Institutes of Health from sequestration under section 251A for fiscal 2013, and to reduce the sequestration by the… Read More

Last night, President Barack Obama used his fifth State of the Union address to lay out an ambitious second term policy agenda.  The president called for comprehensive immigration reform, managing college costs, raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour, universal access to preschool for all four year olds, gun safety, climate change, $50 billion for… Read More

A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community: S. 216: A bill to prevent harassment at institutions of higher education. (Also known as the Clementi Act) Sponsor: Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Introduced: 2/4/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Cosponsors: 5… Read More

A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community: H.R. 359: A bill to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety. The bill would provide grants to institutions of higher education to assist in carrying out the functions of the Center.  Sponsor: Robert Scott… Read More

A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community: S.1: A bill to reform America’s broken immigration system. The priority number of this bill indicates that it will likely be used for some sort of immigration reform in this congress – it will also change several times… Read More

The following are some bills that have been introduced in the first weeks of the 113th Congress that may be of interest to members of the UW community: HR 118 (Holt, D-NJ) – National STEM Education Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2013, which would provide a credit for qualified tuition expenses up to $1000… Read More

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D – TX) introduced the Deficit Reduction, Job Creation, and Energy Security Act (HR 70) last week, The bill directs the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, acting through NOAA, to initiate immediate action to create jobs in America by taking advantage of leasing opportunities and development of offshore… Read More

In a rare appointment for a freshman Member of Congress, Congressman Denny Heck has been selected by his colleagues to serve on the House Financial Services Committee. The Committee is one of only four “exclusive” committees in the House—the other three being Appropriations, Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce. The House Financial Services Committee… Read More