April 29, 2016
What We’re Reading This Week, April 25-29
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week. Federal “Affordability” Conundrum – The crisis of college affordability may not be solvable by the federal government: It has had much less control over tuition than state policies. Read more in The Atlantic. On the Rise, But More to Go – Meanwhile, higher education…
April 22, 2016
What We’re Reading This Week, April 18-22
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations Team is enjoying this week. M-O-N-E-Y – An initial concern about Paul Ryan becoming Speaker was the sheer quantity of fundraising that the position requires and the amount of travel that will entail. Ryan, with two school-aged kids, was honest about not wanting to spend his weekends traveling…
April 21, 2016
Senate Full Committee Approves C-J-S and T-HUD Appropriations Bills, Plus Emergency Zika Funding
Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a draft FY 2017 C-J-S spending bill with $56.3 billion in discretionary spending that includes funds for efforts to combat heroin use. The FY 2017 amounts would be about $563 million above the currently enacted level, and $1.6 billion more than the Obama Administration request. Overall, it is a 1 percent increase…
April 20, 2016
Energy & Water Moves Forward with a Veto Threat
Last night, the House Appropriations Committee cleared its FY 2017 Energy & Water Appropriations legislation by voice vote, clearing the measure for Floor consideration. The bill includes $37.4 billion for the Department of Energy, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies and programs. House Democrats and Republicans sparred over language in the bill…
April 19, 2016
Senate Moves C-J-S Forward
Today, the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science approved its $56.3 billion FY 2017 legislation on a bipartisan voice vote, boosting the spending allocation by 1 percent over current levels. The full bill text is expected to be released when the legislation is marked up by the full committee Thursday. Overall, the bill would provide a $71 million boost, to…
OSTP Internship
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is currently accepting applications for its Fall Policy Internship Program. The application deadline is June 17, 2016. Students who are U.S. citizens and who will be enrolled in, or have just graduated from, an academic program should feel free to apply. More information and application instructions are available…
April 18, 2016
Senate Moves Forward on Budget
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) filed a budget motion in the Senate today to establish discretionary spending topline numbers, known as 302(b)s for FY2017. The move allows appropriations work to begin in earnest as the Seante prepares to take up its Energy-Water measure (S 2804) this week. Enzi set the budget limits at $551 billion…
Busy Week for Appropriators
House and Senate Appropriations committees show no signs of slowing down as both committees announced their intended schedules for the week. The Senate Appropriations Committee has announced subcommittee and full committee markup of FY 2017 Commerce, Science and Justice Appropriations bill, which funds federal research agencies including the National Science Foundation and NASA. Also hearings have been…
April 15, 2016
Appropriators Move Forward
Appropriators from both chambers of Congress advanced several of the annual spending bills needed to finance government agencies for the fiscal year that begins the first of October, but plenty of roadblocks could derail the process at any time. That includes the fact that Republican House leaders say they’re not giving up on getting a budget…
April 14, 2016
What We’re Reading This Week, April 11-15
Happy Tax Week! Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations Team has been enjoying this week. Financial Literacy – Americans are woefully uniformed about their finances. This situation has prompted both federal and state efforts to increase financial education, but much of it hasn’t helped. What has helped? NPR takes a look. Weakening Infrastructure…