In advance of his State of the Union address, President Obama is traveling to Tennessee today to announce one of his keystones of his 2015 agenda: two free years of community college. The proposal, called America’s College Promise, is based on Republican Governor Bill Haslam, who developed and launched Tennessee Promise, which begins this year. Tennessee Promise allows any high school graduate in that state is eligible for two years of free community college tuition under the Tennessee Promise. The President’s announcement is expected to be a cornerstone of his FY16 Budget Request.
The Administration’s proposal would make community college free for any student who enrolls at least part-time and maintains a 2.5 grade point average. The plan would allow anyone admitted to a community college to attend without paying tuition, so long as they enroll in a program meeting certain basic requirements, and they remain on track to graduate in three years.Qualifying programs would be one of two types: it would had credits that fully transfer to local public four-year colleges and universities or it would consist of training programs with high graduation rates that lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. All community college students, including those first entering community college or those going back to school, would be eligible for the program.
The White House estimates that approximately 9 million students would participate a year.
Any state participating would have to maintain funding for all higher education as well as pay 25% of the total cost. It is estimated the program could cost upwards of $15 billion per year. It is unclear how it would be paid for, but that information is expected to be made clear in the President’s Budget Request for FY16 on February 2.
Typically, the President would do these visits to promote new initiatives after the State of the Union and before the release of the President’s Budget Request. However, the President will be making a state visit to India after the State of the Union, and so promotion for big initiates is happening now in what the Administration is calling a Spoiler Alerts.
The President is expected to formally announce the America’a College Promise at 1 pm Eastern. In addition to Governor Haslam, the President will be joined by both of Tennessee’s Republican Senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander. Senator Alexander is the Chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee. Watch the announcement live here.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to track and update information on this initiative as it becomes available.
As the 114th Congress convenes, House and Senate leadership are facing a challenging timeline of To Dos or Must Dos in 2015. The House and Senate Republican leadership have announced their intentions to pass legislation to allow for the Keystone XL pipeline, reform our patent system, and overhaul the nation’s tax structure. However, any number of issues or deadlines, expected or a surprise, can derail these efforts.
A number of complicated and esoteric legislative fights are spread throughout the coming year giving House and Senate leadership regular hurdles to pass their legislative priorities or any legislation at all. The stumbling blocks range from tricky transportation issues, to how to fund parts of the government, to updating a pricey Medicare program, and the always contentious issue of how to raise the national debt ceiling.
Arial view of the Capitol restoration (US Architect of the Capitol)
Below is a timeline of must-do items, all of which will pass only with high-stakes, inside the beltway political brinksmanship, that Congress has to address in 2015.
January 20th, State of The Union Address
Obama delivers his penultimate State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern. There he will outline areas where the Administration believes it can reach agreement with Republicans. Last year, Obama stressed his willingness to use his executive authority when Congress does not take action, and he acted on it. As he enters the last two years of his term, he is likely to be more willing to exercise that authority, as he has shown through Executive Orders on immigration and Cuba.
February 2, President’s Budget Due
Due by the first Monday of February, the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for Fiscal Year 2016 Budget (FY16) is expected to layout big agenda items and initiatives for the Administration. The PBR follows up with more detail to the roadmap laid out by the President in the State of the Union address. Each year of the last several years, Democrats have expressed support and hope Republicans would work with them, and Republican leaders quickly disabused them of that notion. This year, the Administration has signaled FY16 will continue support for a number of science and technology priorities, including heightened emphasis on using big data to advance agency missions and a push for further scientific discovery and innovation and clean energy, much like in FY15.
For the last several years, the Obama Administration has missed the first of February deadline and the expectation is that it will do the same for FY16. Expect the budget to be revealed at the end of February or early March.
February 27, Immigration Fight
On February 28th, funding expires for the Department of Homeland Security. A short-term extension of Homeland Security funding was a condition for many House Republicans to vote “yea” last year for the “cromnibus.” House Leadership contended such a move would force the President’s hand on his immigration executive orders. It is currently unclear whether the House GOP has a plan to extract concessions in exchange for legislation to float the DHS coffers through the rest of FY15 or if Members are prepared to see the critical agency shut down on the first of March.
March 15, Debt Ceiling reached
The debt limit will technically be reached on March 15, though the Treasury Department’s “extraordinary measures” and springtime tax revenue are expected to buy Congress several months of additional time. It is estimated lawmakers have sometime between late Spring perhaps to early Fall before Congress has to act to avoid government default. Typically, the Treasury Department pushes lawmakers to act more quickly, while congressional leaders often seek to vote at the last minute in order to increase pressure on wavering lawmakers.
The account that pays for critical improvements to the nation’s transportation infrastructure, bridges and roads is due to run out of money by the end of May, and lawmakers would like to come up with something more than another short-term patch. The existing extension’s looming expiration date sets up another intraparty fight between Republicans who think the federal government ought to invest in transportation and infrastructure improvements and those who believe that should be left to the states.
Additionally, there will also be some important new regulations, including a Department of Transportation rule due out early in 2015 that would address the recent series of oil train accidents by setting new standards for the tank cars. And, the Federal Aviation Administration could put out a new rule on commercial drones to address the safety hazards if they get too close to large passenger planes. The drone rules could have a chilling effect on university research related to security, agriculture, natural resources, and aviation.
Mid-to-late June, Decision on Obamacare subsidies
The Supreme Court has decided to hear King v. Burwell, which will decide whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) gives millions of people a federal subsidy to buy health insurance. Plaintiffs in the case argue that the subsidies can be given only to those people who live in states that have created their own health exchanges, which would mean that residents of more than 30 states do not qualify.
The court will hear oral arguments March 5th and likely hand down a decision near the end of its term in June. At least four justices agreed to review whether an appeals court was right to uphold the subsidies, not a good sign for the Obama administration. This ruling sets the stages for more legislative attempts to repeal the the ACA.
September 30, Federal fiscal year ends
Congress must pass appropriations bills by the end of September. No one wants another government shutdown, as we saw in 2013, but the inevitable friction between the Republican Congress and the Democratic Administration, especially over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, is inevitable.
The GOP will probably try to defund the Obamacare in the spring budget process because budgets cannot be filibustered and thus need only 51 votes. But Obama would veto any fiscal legislation that rolls back his signature achievement. The real test will come in September when Republicans have their truest chance to block money for implementing the law. And, if Congress has not yet taken action on the debt limit by this point, Republicans could hold all the FY16 appropriations bills hostage in order to gain leverage for greater spending cuts and/or a repeal of the ACA.
Sept. 30, FAA out of money
Funding for the whole government is set to expire at the end of September, the very same day funding for the FAA is also due to lapse. As with the Highway Trust Fund and surface transportation programs, lawmakers must secure support for an extension of the FAA and federal aviation initiatives, even if it is only a short-term fix. Fights could erupt within the House GOP over funding for small and rural airports — and inside both parties over daily limits on long distance flights coming into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which sits in closest proximity to the Capitol out of all the area airports.
October 1, Return of Sequestration
The deal cut by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) set spending levels through FY15. That means Congress is virtually certain to resume its fight over total, military and domestic spending this year when it considers the FY16 budget resolutions, if there are bills to pass, and in the FY16 appropriations bills. If the Senate or House is unable to pass a budget reconciliation bill, which is a common occurrence in recent years, the top line budget numbers will likely be included in a measure with items like the debt ceiling increase or defunding Obamacare. Neither the House nor Senate has majorities to override a veto.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor these issues and update on the situation and progress as it evolves.
The 113th Congress came to a close on Wednesday December 17th. The House and Senate adjourned Sine Die, the House on Friday, December 12 and the Senate on late Tuesday, December 16th, officially ending the 113th Congress. The 114th Congress will convene on January 6th, 2015.
According to Gallup, Congress’ approval rating this year averaged just 15%, one point above last year’s record-low average.
As for productivity in the 113th Congress, only 203 bills have been signed into public law so far during the past two years — down from the 112th Congress’ previous record low of 283. In comparison, the 80th Congress, which the President Truman infamously called the “Do Nothing Congress,” passed 906 pieces of legislation into law.
Looking forward, the 115th Congress will see both the House and Senate controlled by the Republican party, and the GOP leadership of both bodies are working out how they can work together. The House GOP has pledged that the first order of business will be a vote to block the Administrations Executive Order on immigration, while the Senate Republicans have pledged to pass legislation to start the Keystone XL pipeline.
Some food for thought…Right now, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, only 7% approve of both the Administration and Congress while 39% disapprove of both. After significant wins in November, only 8% of Republicans say the country is headed in the right direction.
Happy New Year from the Office of Federal Relations, and we look forward to updating you on the 115th Congress!
Dr. Ellen Williams, the new Director of ARPA-E, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week and sworn in earlier today by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Williams served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy and previously served as the Chief Scientist for BP. She is currently on a leave of absence from the University of Maryland where she has served as a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology since 2000.
Dr. Williams has served as a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland since 1991. She founded the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and served as its Director from 1996 through 2009. In 2005, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences; two years earlier, she was selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
To learn more about Dr. Williams, visit the ARPA-E website to view her full bio.
Today, the President announced nearly $290 million in public-private investment for two new Manufacturing Innovation Hub Competitions. The two New Manufacturing Innovation Hub Competitions will consist of two competitions for manufacturing innovation institutes today—one in smart manufacturing at the Department of Energy and one in flexible hybrid electronics at the Department of Defense. Each institute will receive $70 million or more of federal investment to be matched by at least $70 million from the private sector for a total of more than $290 million in new investment.
The Department of Defense will lead a competition for a new public-private manufacturing innovation institute in flexible hybrid electronics. Flexible hybrid electronics combine advanced materials that flex with thinned silicon chips to produce the next generation of electronic products seamlessly integrated into the things around us. These include items as diverse as comfortable, wireless medical monitors, stretchable electronics for robotics and vehicles, and smart bridges capable of alerting engineers at the first signs of trouble. For the nation’s warfighters, these new technologies will make lifesaving advances and improve mission effectiveness. For example, intelligent bandages and smart clothing will alert soldiers to first signs of injury or exhaustion; structural integrity sensors will offer real-time damage assessment for helicopters or aircraft after engagement; and small, unattended sensors will give soldiers greater situational awareness.
The Department of Energy will lead a competition for a new public-private manufacturing innovation institute focused on smart manufacturing, including advanced sensors, control, platforms, and models for manufacturing. By combining manufacturing, digital, and energy efficiency expertise, technologies developed by the institute will give American manufacturers unprecedented, real-time control of energy use across factories and companies to increase productivity and save on energy costs. For energy intensive industries – like chemical production, solar cell manufacturing, and steelmaking – these technologies can shave 10-20% off the cost of production. The new institute will receive a federal investment of $70 million that will be matched by at least $70 million in private investments and represents a critical step in the Administration’s effort to double U.S. energy efficiency by 2030.
More information on the manufacturing innovation institute competitions is at Manufacturing.gov.
