Health Care Providers to Receive Help with Student Debt

June 11, 2009

By jnurse

[The following is a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services]

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the availability of nearly $200 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support student loan repayments for primary care medical, dental and mental health clinicians who want to work at National Health Service Corps (NHSC) sites.

The NHSC is now accepting applications for Loan Repayment Awards funded by $200 million ARRA funds. Applications will be accepted continuously until funds are expended or September 30, 2010, whichever comes first.

The NHSC Loan Repayment Program provides $50,000 (or the outstanding balance of qualifying student loans if it is less than $50,000), tax free, to primary care medical, dental and mental health clinicians in exchange for two years of service at an approved site in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Upon completion of the service commitment, clinicians may be eligible to apply for additional support for extended service. (more…)

House and Senate Announce Health Reform Legislation

June 10, 2009

By jnurse

Senate panel announces health reform legislation
Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today released health reform legislation, saying they will continue to discuss key outstanding issues, including a public plan option and coverage requirement for employers, with Republicans on the committee. Committee Chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said the legislation will allow people to keep the coverage they have while providing new, more affordable options; reduce health care costs through stronger prevention, better quality of care and use of information technology; give citizens more information to support prevention; invest in training for doctors, nurses and health professionals and improve care coordination; and enable the elderly and disabled to live at home and function independently. The committee has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday. It plans to begin marking up legislation June 16.

House leaders issue draft health reform proposal
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) today released a four-page outline of draft health reform legislation. The three committee chairmen, who share jurisdiction over health care issues in the House, announced they will continue to seek input from colleagues, stakeholders and the administration as they craft a final bill, and expect to send legislation to the House floor prior to the August recess. Among other provisions, they said their legislative proposal would establish a health insurance exchange “to create a transparent marketplace for individuals and small employers to comparison shop among private insurers and a new public health insurance option”; introduce administrative simplification and standardization to reduce administrative costs across health plans and providers; invest in the health care workforce, prevention and public health programs; offer sliding-scale credits to ensure affordability for low and middle-income Americans; and establish shared responsibility among individuals, employers and government.

VA Medical and Health Centers to Receive ARRA Funding

June 10, 2009

By jnurse

President Obama and Vice President Biden today released a plan to create or save more than 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days by accelerating implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Roadmap to Recovery plan includes a Department of Health and Human Services project to enable 1,129 health centers to expand access to primary and preventive care services, and a Department of Veterans Affairs project to improve 90 VA medical centers. Details on specific projects and their funding should be available on each department’s Web site in the next few days, Biden said. According to the administration, the ARRA has created or saved 150,000 jobs since it was enacted in February. “We’ve laid a good foundation in the first 100 days of the Recovery Act and in the next 100 we plan to build on that foundation and accelerate our efforts so we can accomplish even more,” Biden said.

Secretary of Education Calls for Measurable School Reforms

June 9, 2009

By jnurse

FOR RELEASE:

June 8, 2009 

Contact: John White, Press Secretary
(202) 401-1576

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said today that school reforms should be monitored and judged by results that can be backed up by research proving their effectiveness.

Speaking at the fourth annual conference of the Institute of Education Sciences, Duncan told an audience of education researchers that supporting states’ efforts to build warehouses of data on student achievement is one of his top priorities.

“Education reform is not about sweeping mandates or grand gestures,” Duncan told the group of researchers who conduct research for IES, which is an independent section of the Education Department. “It’s about systematically examining and learning, building on what we’ve done right, and scrapping what hasn’t worked for kids.”

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, states must make assurances that they are making progress in four key areas of school reform:

  • Adopting rigorous standards that prepare students for success in college and the workforce;
  • Recruiting and retaining effective teachers, especially in classrooms where they’re needed most;
  • Turning around low-performing schools; and
  • Building data systems to track student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

States must report their progress toward completing these assurances in their applications to receive money under the $48.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The Department of Education will evaluate states’ success in meeting the four assurances when considering states’ applications for competitive grants under the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund.

Duncan told the researchers today that the data systems should inform education policies that will improve practices. He urged them to work on improving accountability models based on the growth of student test scores and developing fair models of compensating teachers and other school staff based on the achievement of their students. Ultimately, he added, the data should be used to ensure that students are on track to graduation and success in college.

“Hopefully some day we can track kids from pre-school to high-school and from high school to college and college to career,” Duncan said. “Hopefully we can track good kids to good teachers and good teachers to good colleges of education.”

Duncan’s speech is the first in a series over four weeks in which the secretary will detail the Department of Education’s policies on each of the four assurances.

Week at a Glance June 8-12

June 8, 2009

By jnurse

Monday, June 8th

·        Senate resumes consideration of HR 1256, Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.  A cloture vote on a substitute amendment to the bill is expected. 

·        The House will take up several measures under suspension of the rules.

HR 1736 — International Science and Technology Cooperation   

Act of 2009

HR 1709 — STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009

H Res 492 — A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of High-Performance Building Week.

 

Tuesday, June 9th

·        The House considers measures under suspension of the rules.

·        The Senate Appropriations subcommittees (Financial Services and General Government Labor; HHS; Education) hearings on proposed FY10 appropriations.

·        Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee hearing on the “Future Economic Role of Oceans.”

·        Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources markup of the Comprehensive Energy Policy.

·        House Appropriations markup of FY10 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and 302(B).

·        House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on “Allowance Allocation Policies in Climate Change Legislation” and on “Green Marketing Practices.”

 

Wednesday, June 10th

·        House is expected to consider HR 2410 that would authorize the State Department and other diplomatic programs in FY10.

 

Thursday, June 11th

·        House is expected to consider HR 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement (PEACE) Act.

·        Senate Appropriations subcommittees (Military Construction, Veterans; Transportation-HUD) hearings on proposed FY10 appropriations.

·        Subcommittee of Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation hearing on the 2010 NOAA budget.

·        Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on Indian health care

·        House Agriculture Committee hearing on climate change.  

·        House Appropriations Subcommittee markup of FY10 proposed funding for Interior.

 

Friday, June 12th

·        The House will reconvene at 9 a.m. and continue legislative business from the previous day.

Senator Feingold Introduces Bill to Help Displaced Workers

June 8, 2009

By jnurse

Senator Feingold on Helping Displaced Workers Find Health Care Jobs

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation today to help displaced workers in communities hit hard by the tough economy retrain for high-demand health care jobs. Feingold’s Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act specifically targets communities that have suffered job loss in a variety of industry sectors including manufacturing, construction and service sectors.  The legislation would allow communities to apply for grants that would fund retraining efforts led by local workforce development boards.  In April, the unemployment rate in Wisconsin was 8.8 percent according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. 

“In this tough economy, communities throughout Wisconsin have lost manufacturing jobs both at large factories and small manufacturing businesses,” Feingold said.  My bill is designed to give hard-hit communities the opportunity to help retrain their citizens for good, in-demand jobs in the health care field.  This bill will help get people back on their feet and remain in their communities while strengthening our health care industry.” (more…)

DOE Issues Grant Solicitation for Wind Energy Consortia between Universities and Industry

June 3, 2009

By jnurse

June 02, 2009

DOE has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled, “Recovery Act: Wind Energy Consortia between Institutions of Higher Learning and Industry.” This funding was originally announced by Secretary Chu on April 29. The FOA provides $24 million for the development of consortia between universities and industry to focus on critical wind energy challenges. The FOA and can be found at FedConnect by searching for the Reference Number DE-FOA-0000090.

This $24 million program initiative will fund consortia between institutions of higher learning and industry that will perform focused research on critical wind energy challenges. DOE intends to award 2-3 grants. The maximum range of a DOE award will be between $8-12 million. Applicants must provide at least a 10% cost share of total project costs including at least 20% for R&D. DOE funds will be provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to preserve and create jobs, promote economic recovery, and provide investments needed to increase wind energy R&D. (more…)

President Obama Nominates Former Congressman to Chair NEH

June 3, 2009

By jnurse

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2009

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate former GOP Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate former Republican Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

President Obama said, “I am confident that with Jim as its head, the National Endowment for the Humanities will continue on its vital mission of supporting the humanities and giving the American public access to the rich resources of our culture.  Jim is a valued and dedicated public servant and I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual today:

Jim Leach, Nominee for Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
Jim Leach served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the state of Iowa for 30 years. He founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus, which is dedicated to  advocating on behalf of the humanities in the House of Representatives and to raising the profile of humanities in the United States. The Caucus worked to promote and preserve humanities programs and commissions such as the Historical Publications and Records Commission. Mr. Leach and his co-founder, Rep. David Price, received the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance in 2005. During his tenure in Congress, Mr. Leach also served as Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services (1995-2001), a senior member of the House Committee on International Relations and Chairman of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs (2001-2006). In addition, Mr. Leach is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Vice Chairman of the Century Foundation’s Board of Trustees and has served on the boards of the Social Sciences Research Council, ProPublica, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Kettering Foundation. Since leaving Congress in 2007, he has taught at Princeton University and served as the interim director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

**********************************************************

Several national associations, including the Association of American Universities and the National Humanities Alliace, have reacted positively to the announcement.

Seen in DC

June 3, 2009

By jnurse

Elaine Faustman, UW professor and Director of the UW Center for Child Environmental Health Risks Research, met with UW Federal Relations Director Christy Gullion and staff from the offices of Representatives McDermott and Reichert on May 8th. She was in DC to discuss the Center and sources of funding.  The Center was formed to learn more about children’s susceptibility to pesticides and the way pesticides affect normal development and learning.  Funding for this Center and the research comes from the EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 

The Center has also recently been awarded two grants through NIH to participate in the National Children’s Study, which is a long-term research project that will examine the environmental influences on children’s health and development. The grant allows for work in Grant and King Counties, with the possibility of expanding to Thurston County and Marion County, OR (work is approved, but funds are not yet available).

Nancy Nihan, Director of UW Transportation Northwest (TransNow), was in DC May 19-20 to discuss a request the UW made in partnership with WSU, to be designated as a National University Transportation Center (UTC).  The UW is currently designated as a Regional UTC, which was awarded through a competitive process.  National UTC designation can only happen through a transportation reauthorization bill and will allow the UW and WSU to play a more national role in transportation research on safety, freight mobility, and traffic management.  Nancy met with staff in the Senate office of Pattty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as staff from the offices of Representatives McMorris Rodgers’, Larsen, Baird, and McDermott.

Dan Schwartz, professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the UW’s recently funded BioEnergy Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program, was in DC with two of his graduate students, Laurel James and Kurt Spies.  Dr. Schwartz was impeccably dressed for the meetings with representatives from the Interior Department, staff from the offices of Senators Murray and Cantwell and Representatives Inslee and Dicks.  The IGERT Program’s focus is the development of sustainable energy projects for tribal nations, and also on training a new generation of tribal PhD scientists. Our first IGERT project involves work with the Yakama Nation and the second IGERT project is with the Colville Tribes.  Dr. Schwartz, Laurel, and Kurt briefed staff on UW IGERT work, and discussed opportunities (either through the Recovery Act or annual programs) in the Department of Interior and Department of Energy that might bolster its activities.

Week at a Glance on Capitol Hill June 1-5

June 1, 2009

By jnurse

Congress returns this week for a four-week stretch in which Democratic leaders hope for quick progress toward writing the 12 regular appropriations bills and plan to push ahead on sweeping global warming and health care legislation.

Monday, June 1

  • Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. and will begin consideration of the motion to proceed to a bill to allow antitrust lawyers to regulate railroad mergers (S 146—Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009). Consideration may continue the rest of the week.
  • The House will not be in session.

 

Tuesday, June 2

  • The Senate will continue debate on S. 146, the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009.
  • Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Catherine Radford Zoi to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy; William F. Brinkman to be Director, Office of Science, Energy Department; and Anne Castle to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for water and science. 
  • The House will reconvene at 2 p.m. for legislative business and take up several measures under suspension of the rules. Votes are expected at 6:30 p.m.

 

HR 2430 — A bill to direct the secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

H J Res 40 — Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009

HR 1380 — Josh Miller Helping Everyone Access Responsive Treatment in Schools (Josh Miller HEARTS) Act of 2009

 

Wednesday, June 3

  • The House will take up several measures under suspension of the rules.
  • The House Committee on Science and Technology will hold a full committee markup of the National Climate Service Act (HR 2407).

Thursday, June 4

  • The House is expected to consider a bill (HR 2200) that would reauthorize the Transportation Security Administration and a federal employee parental leave bill (HR 626). The chamber could also consider the conference report on the fiscal 2009 supplemental spending measure (HR 2346).
  • Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold a markup on Comprehensive Energy Policy, including building efficiency/renewable electricity standard; oil and gas/public lands; carbon capture, transportation and storage.
  • House Education & Labor Committee will hold a full committee hearing on “Building on What Works at Charter Schools.”

Friday, June 5

Senate will be in session; House may or may not be.

 

Source – Congressional Quarterly