House Science Committee Passes FIRST (almost)

Posted on May 22, 2014September 17, 2014

In an incredibly partisan and late mark up, the House Science Committee finally finished considering the 27 proposed and debated amendments to the FIRST Act (HR 4186). Given the lengthy and contentious nature of the hearing, the roll call votes and final passage of the measure have been postponed until next week. Therefore, as of yet, the FIRST Act has not passed. The bill is expected to pass largely by party lines.

A list of amendments and 15 roll call votes can be found here.

Durring the mark up, Members did raise concern that the legislation as written would pass authorization levels for agencies like NSF that would be less than what Appropriators have already passed in the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill.

Before the markup, there was a significant opposition to the bill expressed by the science community. The National Science Board, which oversees NSF, took the largely unprecedented step in issuing a statement against the legislation because of the perceived Congressional intervention into which science has merit, rather than allowing NSF to continue peer review.

At this point, it is unclear if and when FIRST Act will pass out of Committee or if the FIRST Act will go to the House Floor.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to track the progress of this legislation.

House Committee to Consider the FIRST Act

Posted on May 19, 2014May 20, 2014

On Wednesday, the House Science Committee will mark up HR 4186, the FIRST Act, a bill which will reauthorize NIST, NSF and a host of other federal science-focused programs. This is the 113th Congress’s version of the America COMPETES reauthorization.

While in previous Congresses this legislation has been bipartisan and uncontroversial, the FIRST Act has been increasingly acrimonious through both committee hearings and markups. The political situation has been exacerbated by interactions between NSF and House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), which has been previously chronicled in the Federal Affairs Blog.

The higher education community has been, and remains, concerned about this legislation (and its various iterations) on several issues including: the overall funding level for NSF; directorate-level funding; and some significant policy changes including the public access embargo period.

Of primary concern is the change to not only the overall funding levels, but that Congress now specifically authorizes the various directorates within NSF for funding allocations. NSF has never had individual directorates called out for specific funding levels, which causes Congressionally mandated “winners” and “losers.”

Most troubling is the authorization funding levels. When you compare the proposed NSF authorization levels of FY14 to FY15, there are several notable increases in funding at the directorate level. Some NSF directorates receive significant increases at the expense of others. Here are the numbers:

Biological Sciences (Bio) +5.4%
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) +7.7%
Engineering (ENG) +7.0%
Geosciences (GEO) -2.9%
Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) +7.7%
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) -22.1%
Six cumulative: 3.2%

NSF would receive an overall 1.5% increase.

Some Members of Congress may suggest that the FY15 authorization levels in the FIRST Act provide real funding increases for NSF — the total level of funding for NSF is only up by 1.5% — however, this increase does not cover the cost of inflation (1.7 percent). In reality, NSF would have a .2% cut after inflation.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to track the legislation as it works through the committee process.

Congress: Issues to Watch this Week

Posted on May 19, 2014

The House is back in session this week after a weeklong recess period. They will be in session for two weeks before taking another break during the first week in June. The Senate is in this week, but will recess during the week of Memorial Day.

Appropriations: Appropriators appear to be adhering to their plans to move annual spending bills earlier than normal this year. Several of those measures are advancing this week – in both chambers. On Tuesday in the Senate, subcommittees will consider their Military Construction-VA and Agriculture spending bills with the hopes of moving them to full committee by the end of the week. Both bills have a history of bipartisan support and will be among the first the Senate considers on the floor in late June or early July. Meanwhile, the House will advance their Commerce-Justice-Science bill (HR 4660) for possible floor action by next week. House appropriators also plan to move two domestic spending bills this week: Agriculture and Transportation-HUD.

Sexual Assault Prevention: Today Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will hold her first of three roundtable discussions about sexual assaults on college campuses. The hearing will focus on federal reporting laws, including the Clery Act, which requires schools to report on a broad array of crimes that occur on and near campuses, and what is known as the SaVE Act, language included in last year’s Violence Against Women Act reauthorization that requires new training, including bystander intervention, for incoming students and new university employees, along with new reporting on stalking and domestic violence.

McCaskill is teaming up with Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Richard Blumenthal (CT) on the effort to combat sexual assault on college campuses, similar to their successful advocacy for a bill to overhaul the way the military deals with sexual assaults. Subsequent roundtables will focus on Title IX protections, and the campus administrative process and criminal justice system.

FIRST Act: On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will mark up the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 (HR 4186), which authorizes spending levels and specifies policy objectives in allocating resources for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Veterans in Higher Education: On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee holds a full committee hearing to learn about access and supports for veterans in higher education.

House to Vote on ESRA Reauthorization

Posted on May 6, 2014

The House is expected to consider H.R. 4366, the Strengthening Education through Research Act on Wednesday of this week. The legislation would reauthorize the Institute of Education Science, which is the research arm of the Department of Education.

Reauthorizing legislation of research agencies is typically noncontroversial, and surprisingly, that spirit has held true this year with the IES reauthorization — so far. The House is expected to pass the legislation as a Suspension bill, which requires 2/3rd of the House in the positive for the bill to pass.

This measure is one of several higher education reauthorization bills the Office of Federal has been tracking.

FY 2015 Appropriations Update

Posted on May 5, 2014

Both the House and Senate are in session this week. The Senate could consider energy efficiency and tax extenders legislation, while the House considers charter schools legislation and contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner.

Senate appropriators will learn about their committee allocations for their FY 2015 spending bills. This will allow them to begin drafting each of the 12 annual measures. The allocations, known as 302(b)s, won’t be official until approved by the full panel, which generally happens as the first appropriations markup for the year now set for May 22nd. Committee members will then have less than 90 days to mark up and debate as many of the 12 annual spending bills as possible before the August recess.

Meanwhile, House appropriators are about a month ahead of the Senate and are ready to move two more domestic funding measures: Transportation-HUD and Commerce-Justice-Science. House appropriators are due to back their allocations this week and have already moved their first two spending bills, Military Construction-VA and Legislative Branch, with temporary allocations.