Newly Introduced Legislation

March 7, 2013

By Brianna C. Fields

A roundup of bills introduced in the last week that may be of interest to the higher education community:

S. 406: The “Students First Act” – a bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for new program review requirements. The bill is designed to go after ‘bad actors’ in higher education – those that use tax dollars to aggressively market to vulnerable students in potentially illegal ways.
Sponsor: Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)  Introduced: 2/28/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions   Cosponsors: 3
Link to Lautenberg Press Release

S. 424: A bill to amend Title IV of the Public Health Service Act to provide for a National Pediatric Research Network, including with respect to pediatric rare diseases or conditions. The bill would authorize the Director of the NIH to award grants to create up to 8 research centers.
Sponsor: Sherrod Brown (D-OH)   Introduced: 2/28/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions  Cosponsors: 6

S. 426: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation of particular specialists determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be directly related to the health needs stemming from environmental health hazards that have led to its declaration as a Public Health Emergency to be eligible under the National Health Service Corps in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
Sponsor: Jon Tester (D-MT)   Introduced: 2/28/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Link to Baucus Press Release

S. 433: A bill to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety
Sponsor: Mark Warner (D-VA)   Introduced: 2/28/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee   Cosponsors: 1

H.R. 891: A bill to establish a grant program in the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to fund the establishment of centers of excellence to support research, development and planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective programs in financial literacy education for young people and families ages 8 through 24 years old.
Sponsor: Andre Carson (D-IN)  Introduced: 2/28/2013    Last Major Action: Referred to House Committees on Financial Services and Education & the Workforce
Cosponsors: 0

H.R. 920: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation of optometrists in the National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs.
Sponsor: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)   Introduced: 2/28/2013   Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce   Cosponsors: 7

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

SNOW! Oh, and House Considers FY 2013 CR Today

March 6, 2013

By Christy Gullion

Federal government is closed today due to an approaching snow storm in the Washington, DC area. It is currently snowing heavily and sideways outside my window, but it is wet snow and doesn’t appear to be sticking much yet. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 3:00am Thursday morning, and the local ABC affiliate reports the metro region could get between 5 and 10 inches of snow with heavier snowfall in the suburbs.

All of this activity won’t keep the House from considering their legislative proposal to fund government for the remainder of FY 2013 (the current continuing resolution expires on March 27th). This morning the House will consider both the rule for and passage of the CR to fund the government, with votes wrapping up between 1:00pm and 1:30pm, which should give most members time to get out of town before the bulk of the snow hits the ground. Of course, this probably won’t help members like ours on the west coast as airports in the area have already started cancelling outbound flights.

The House is expected to pass the $984 billion CR today but it does not include much language to soften the blow of the sequester that went into effect last Friday. While it will give the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments more flexibility in implementing cuts, in addition to providing a few extra dollars for each, the proposal will do little to blunt the impact of sequestration on education and research programs.

The House bill would effectively cap regular FY 2013 discretionary spending at about $984 billion, with the sequester triggered on March 1st automatically slicing about $59 billion from the bill’s starting level of $1.043 trillion. That’s somewhat more spending than the $974 billion estimate offered by House Republicans before March 1st when the Office of Management and Budget released its final call on the sequester’s effects. The numbers changed after OMB removed the expenses of programs exempt from sequester, such as military pay, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Pell grants, and added in other money that had not been included in the original assessment of federal spending, such as some unobligated balances.

The Senate may try to move stand alone bills to fund some areas of government rather than just approving another CR. So far they have made some progress on bills to fund Agriculture, Commerce-Science-Justice, and Homeland Security. With only two more working weeks before the two-week Easter recess it is hard to imagine that they will be able to accomplish this and also get the House to agree to that process.

Obama Orders Sequestration

March 2, 2013

By Christy Gullion

Late last night, President Obama issued the order mandating sequester cuts across the federal government. Here is the order and link to the Office of Management and Budget’s report to Congress:

SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT TO SECTION 251A OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED

By the authority vested in me as President by the laws of the United States of America, and in accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended (the “Act”), 2 U.S.C. 901a, I hereby order that budgetary resources in each non-exempt budget account be reduced by the amount calculated by the Office of Management and Budget in its report to the Congress of March 1, 2013.

Pursuant to sections 250(c)(6), 251A, and 255(e) of the Act, budgetary resources subject to sequestration shall be new budget authority, unobligated balances of defense function accounts carried over from prior fiscal years, direct spending authority, and obligation limitations.

All sequestrations shall be made in strict accordance with the requirements of section 251A of the Act and the specifications of the Office of Management and Budget’s report of March 1, 2013, prepared pursuant to section 251A(11) of the Act.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 1, 2013

Next Week in Congress

March 1, 2013

By Brianna C. Fields

Below are some congressional hearings scheduled for next week that we will be keeping our eye on and may be of interest to the UW community:

Tuesday, March 5
Senate Budget
Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code
10 am, 608 Dirksen

Senate Veterans’ Affairs & House Veterans’ Affairs
Legislative Priorities of Veterans Organizations
10 am, 345 Cannon

House Appropriations
FY14 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations
10 am, H-309 Capitol Bldg

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

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

House Energy & Commerce
American Energy Security and Innovation
10 am, 2322 Rayburn

House Judiciary
Skilled Immigration for American Competitiveness
10 am, 2141 Rayburn

Wednesday, March 6
Senate Veterans’ Affairs & House Veterans’ Affairs
Legislative Priorities of Veterans Organizations
10 am, 418 Russell

House Appropriations
FY14 Agriculture Appropriations
10 am, 2362-A Rayburn

House Appropriations
FY14 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations
11 am, H-309 Capitol Bldg

Thursday, March 7
Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation (joint hearing with Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)
Cybersecurity Issues
2:30 pm, G-50 Dirksen

Senate Energy & Natural Resources
Interior Department Nomination (** Sally Jewell)
10 am, 366 Dirksen

House Appropriations
FY14 Agriculture Appropriations
10 am, 2362-A Rayburn

Sequestration Begins at Midnight Tonight

March 1, 2013

By Christy Gullion

Sequestration officially starts today around midnight, though Obama could issue the order sooner that will direct federal agencies to make cuts of about 9 percent for most nondefense discretionary programs and 13 percent for defense programs. This represents $85 million is spending cuts over the remaining seven months of FY 2013. If kept in full, sequestration would total $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and savings over the next decade.

It should be noted that today’s sequestration deadline is just the first of two budgetary deadlines in March. The second is on March 27th when the continuing resolution is set to expire, meaning Congress must approve a budget for the remaining seven months of FY 2013 or face a government shutdown. We believe this is a much more significant date than today’s sequestration deadline because it is the next best (and last) opportunity for Congress to soften the blow of sequestration for FY 2013.

No one really knows for certain how sequestration will impact individual federal programs, but we are starting to learn about how the cuts will start to impact the federal government. There is a lot of speculation out there, but here’s what to expect according to one article in Politico.com this morning:

Today: Sequestration goes into effect around midnight when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues a notice ordering agencies to make cuts. The first issue federal agencies will deal with are possible furloughs since they need to give 30 days notice to employees. Talks center on how the furloughs will be implemented, who’s covered, mandatory days off around holidays and whether to go in phases over the next seven months so budget officials can re-evaluate whether more or less time off is needed. Hiring freezes — used by some agencies to avert furloughs — will also go into effect

Next Week: The bulk of the furlough notices will start going out. Each agency and/or department will determine the number of days, but preliminary estimates include 13 days at the EPA and 15 days at USDA. Forced days off will mean cuts in annual pay of about 10 percent. Uniformed military personnel as well as employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Postal Service are exempt from the furloughs. States dependent on federal grants will most likely get word by next week about what’s happening to their money for the rest of the fiscal year. We should learn more information about Education Title I grants, HUD’s Community Development Block Grants, EPA Clean Water grants, and even some information on NIH grants.

March: Sequestration will begin to impact federally funding operations and services. For example, it will likely impact the opening of the commercial fishing season as NOAA will not have enough personnel to provide at-sea observers or resources to complete fisheries assessments. The Department of Education will immediately cut funds to states to help districts without large property tax bases, including students who live on military bases and Indian lands. And the US Forest Service will see immediate reductions just as they are gearing up for fire season.

April: This is the month that reality will set in. We won’t see closures or work stoppages, but rather a general slow down in federal government services. For example, furloughs will begin and are expected to impact everything from air traffic controllers, USDA inspections, and even the IRS just as tax season reaches its peak. And services like snow removal at Yellowstone National Park may delay the traditional opening of the tourist season there.

May and beyond: The cuts will continue to trickle down to states, municipalities, and other entities that rely on federal funds, like the University of Washington. This is likely when we will start to have a better sense of the direct impacts of sequestration.

The Office of Federal Relations continues to urge our Congressional delegation to do all they can to protect investments in research funding and preserve access to post-secondary education by protecting federal student aid programs.

Senate Sequester Delay Measures Fail

February 28, 2013

By Christy Gullion

As predicted, the Senate rejected a Republican bill giving President Obama broad discretion to implement $85.3 billion in spending cuts — or sequester — over the remainder of FY 2013. The proposal failed 38 to 62. Senate Democrats also fell short of the 60 votes needed to move ahead with their own plan to forestall automatic across-the-board spending cuts. The 51-49 roll call failed to attract Republican support because of differences over taxes. The defeat of these two measures makes it almost certain the sequester cuts will go into effect by midnight Friday, March 1st.

Sequestration Tomorrow

February 28, 2013

By Christy Gullion

The Sequester is scheduled to take effect tomorrow, March 1st. There are some efforts to delay, modify, or turn off the sequester but none of those proposals have sufficient support to move through the legislative process at this point. A policy brief on this topic will be sent to the UW community today.

That said, there is still some activity related to the sequester. The Senate will vote today on Democratic and Republican alternatives to the sequester, but both versions are expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed. The GOP plan would let President Obama come up with alternative cuts by March 15th. Democrats will advance a plan that includes a mix of taxes and other spending cuts in their version.

Why is the sequester taking effect now with so little debate by Congress? Mostly because no one is getting what they want, but they are all getting something out of the deal that they all call a bad way to run government. Some of the most liberal members of Congress see the cuts as a rare opportunity to cut defense spending. And the poor are protected from the worst of the cuts, and so the process could take some pressure off the Democratics to make changes to Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, the President gets some relief from fiscal issues to focus on his top policy priorities: immigration and gun control. And Republicans, while certainly concerned about the level of military cuts, finally see the federal government shrinking in real dollars.

So tomorrow we will see March 1st and the beginning of sequestration, but this is not the end of the debate. The next few weeks will determine how the sequester is actually implemented as Congress decides how to fund the remainder of FY 2013 when the current CR expires at the end of March. So there may be some “modifications” to sequestration during March. And Congress may actively try to modify other effects of the sequester through the FY 2014 appropriations process. Essentially, this process of reducing federal spending will continue on even without the threat of sequester.

Newly Introduced Legislation

February 27, 2013

By Brianna C. Fields

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)  Introduced: 2/14/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Education and the Workforce  Cosponsors: None

H.R. 812: Amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve education and prevention related to campus sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
Sponsor: Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)  Introduced: 2/25/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Education and the Workforce   Cosponsors: 28 (Including Rep. Larsen)
Maloney Press Release

H.R. 822: A bill to improve and expand geographic literacy among kindergarten through grade 12 students in the United States by improving professional development programs for kindergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through institutions of higher education.
Sponsor: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)  Introduced: 2/26/2013  Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Education and the Workforce   Cosponsors: 2

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

Impact of Sequestration on NSF

February 27, 2013

By Christy Gullion

The National Science Foundation has issued an Important Notice concerning the impact of sequestration on the NSF programs. In that notice, NSF indicates that they intend to make the necessary FY 2013 reductions with “as little disruption as possible to established commitments” and will use the following set of core principles to guide sequestration planning activities:

  • Protect commitments to NSF’s core mission and maintain existing awards;
  • Protect the NSF workforce; and
  • Protect STEM human capital development programs.

The notice goes on to detail what they foresee as the major impact of sequestration, which will be noticed through reductions to the number of new research grants and cooperative agreements awarded in FY 2013. They anticipate that the total number of new research grants will be reduced by approximately 1,000 for the remainder of this fiscal year.

But the good news for existing grants is that all continuing grant increments in FY 2013 will be awarded, as scheduled, and there will be no impact on existing NSF standard grants. The same intent applies to annual increments for cooperative agreements, though overall funding constraints may require reductions to certain major investments. These will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Jewell Confirmation Hearing March 7th

February 26, 2013

By Christy Gullion

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will consider the nomination of Sally Jewell to be the Secretary of the Interior next Thursday, March 7th, at 10:30am ET. The hearing will be webcast live on the Committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete. Witness testimony will be available on the website at the start of the hearing.