House Releases NASA Authorization

Posted on April 28, 2015

The House Science Committee released another two year reauthorization, this time it was for NASA. Chairman Lamar Smith released the NASA Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017 today while also announcing the legislation’s markup for Thursday at 11 am. The FY2016 and 2017 authorization would make deep cuts to NASA’s earth science program under either of the two funding scenarios laid out in the bill – “aspirational” or “constrained.” Top-line funding for NASA would be the same as the President’s FY2016 budget request ($18.5 billion) under the aspirational level or the same as its current funding ($18.0 billion) under the constrained scenario. Overall, the bill favors human space exploration, planetary science, and astrophysics.

The funding section is complicated because two budget levels are recommended depending on whether Congress removes the caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA).

The bulk of the 129-page bill is policy provisions that appear to be virtually identical to those passed by the House in February in the 2015 NASA Authorization Act. That bill’s funding recommendations were only for FY2015, which is in progress and reflected what had already been appropriated. This Republican-sponsored bill substitutes funding recommendations for the next two years, FY2016 and FY2017.

In February of this year, the House Science Committee introduced and passed the following day HR 810- the 2015 NASA Authorization Act. It also passed the full House by voice vote. The bill was virtually identical to the FY2014 NASA Authorization Act passed by the House last year by a vote of 401-2.

Click here to read the text of the NASA Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017.

DOD Announces Silicon Valley Outpost for Cyber

Posted on April 23, 2015April 24, 2015

In a speech at Stanford today, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a new initiative designed to improve Department of Defense (DOD) innovation through the creation of a permanent Pentagon presence in Silicon Valley, a move already taken by the Department of Homeland Security. The Department plans to create the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental in Northern California to serve as a permanent office that will be a conduit between the California technology community, military reservists, and the DOD.

Secretary Carter emphasized increasing innovation with better partnering between industry, startups, and academia with government funded research and development. The Defense Innovation Unit will be designed to reach out to the commercial sector to drive new technologies, better connect DOD activities with those in Silicon Valley, and find better ways to transition DOD discoveries.

This effort is part of department’s work to regain technological superiority as announced in November through the Defense Innovation Initiative (DII). DII is intended to focus on three themes: increasing competitiveness by attracting talented workforce, develop and field breakthrough technologies and to use current capabilities in different ways, and finding new ways to fight, train and create organizational constructs. In addition, DOD recognizes the need to be more open to global, commercial technology and learn from advances in the private sector.

This annoucment is a significant update to the Pentagon’s four year-old cyber-strategy. It will commit DOD to creating an effective deterrent to cyberattacks against America, but also stresses the limits of the military’s role in cyberspace. Two key components of that deterrent will be denying attackers the benefits they hope to gain from a cyberattack and ensuring there’s a U.S. response to every major attack, even if it’s just a strongly-worded public statement, the official said.

Other strategy goals include strengthening DOD’s cyber infrastructure, improving the department’s cyber intelligence and warning capabilities, and working with the DHS to share information The strategy also reflects a shift to more actively incorporating the military’s Reserve and National Guard components into Cyber Mission Forces.

House Science Marks Up COMPETES Reauthorization

Posted on April 22, 2015April 23, 2015

Today, the full House Science Committee marked up HR 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization bill, which the House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith introduced late last week. Thirty four amendments were offered for consideration over the five hour mark up, and these amendments largely fell along party lines. Several controversial amendments passed, while amendements to restore certain directorate’s funding or amend climate change provisions.

Highlights of some amendments considered include:

An amendment offered by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) to amend the bill and add “human activity impacts climate change” to the DOE Science mission.
An amendment offered by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) to officially authorize the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) program, which passed.
An amendment offered by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) to direct and broaden DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences. which passed.
An amendment offered by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to have a report on STEAM education, which failed.

The amended bill was passed out of committee by a vote of 19-16, which was a party line vote. The next step for the bill is consideration by the full House. While there has been no definite timeline stated by House leadership as to consideration of HR 1806, it is expected to be considered soon.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor the bill and its progress.

Budgets, Doc Fix, and Reid Retiring

Posted on March 27, 2015

Breaking News: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will not run for reelection in 2016, he said in a video message released this morning.

Budget: GOP leaders in the House and Senate have achieved a major goal of approving their fiscal 2016 budget resolutions this week. The House approved their proposal on Wednesday with the Senate following suit in the early morning hours Friday. The two chambers now face the task of reconciling their two bills before the April 15^th deadline, which would establish the framework for annual appropriations bills and set the direction for other legislation through the privileged reconciliation process. The last time lawmakers adopted a budget conference report was in 2009. Both budgets push more funding to the military while laying the groundwork to dismantle the health care overhaul.

Doc Fix: On Thursday the House approved a package to replace Medicare’s oft-criticized physician payment formula in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The legislation (HR 2) passed 392-37, with 212 Republicans and 180 Democrats joining to support the deal negotiated by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

If it clears the Senate, the bill will put an end to a cycle of 17 short-term “doc fix” bills that temporarily averted cuts to Medicare doctors dictated by the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR. In addition to replacing the formula, the bill includes a two-year extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Teaching Health Centers for another two years, and would require wealthier seniors to pay more for their Medicare outpatient and prescription drug coverage to help offset the cost. The measure is only partially paid for, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that it would increase the federal deficit by $141 billion over 11 years.

Unfortunately, the Senate left for a two-week recess early this morning without taking any action on the bill. Instead they have vowed to make it their first order of business when they return to the Capitol on April 13^th.

The current one-year payment patch expires in four days and CMS has said it doesn’t have any plans to hold off on processing claims as it has done in the past to buy Congress time. But in an email to health professionals, the agency noted that electronic claims aren’t paid until at least 14 calendar days after they’re received, providing something of a cushion before doctors feel the scheduled cut. CMS also said it would provide an update by April 11 about whether Congress has acted.

Busy Budget Week in Congress

Posted on March 23, 2015

It’s shaping up to be a busy week as Capitol Hill continues its efforts to finally pass a repeal and replacement of the much-maligned Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) or “Doc Fix.” While a group of bipartisan legislative leaders released the broad outlines of a proposal last week, we are sure to see more detailed legislative language as early as today – and the official cost of the proposal. A vote could take place later this week, just a few days before the increased rates are to take effect (March 31^st) if Congress takes no action.

In addition to impending action on the SGR proposal, Congressional leaders from both chambers continue to debate their respective budget resolutions. Unlike the potential SGR fix, the budget debate will be largely partisan and include attempts (again) to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The result of these budget negotiations could go a long way toward setting up their overall strategy — and the tone for what they accomplish — heading into the heart of the legislative year.

Congress will then recess for a two-week Easter break, returning to the Capitol on April 13^th.