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Category: Appropriations

Snow Week

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Congress has screeched to a halt this week as DC continues to be quagmired in snow by Snowzilla.

Bench on Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC

A blizzard that blanketed the Northeast this weekend has disrupted the congressional calendar, with the House canceling all votes for the week and the Senate pushing its first vote to Wednesday evening. Congressional Democrats still plan on gather in Baltimore Wednesday evening until Friday for the annual Democratic issues retreat, which was truncating the Congressional calendar on the weather-shortened week. The Federal government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) closed all federal offices again on Monday as the District continues to dig out from record snow fall. Meanwhile the latest controversy in the District is the snow totals and how they are officially calculated for DC. The official totals, recorded at Reagan National Airport, came in at 17.8 inches of snow, and many are taking issue with this official recording. Dulles reported 29.3 inches of snow.

Other fun facts:

  • New York City missed is its all-time storm record by a tenth of an inch, with 26.8 inches at Central Park. Meanwhile, 30.1 inches was recorded at JFK airport.
  • Worst-hit was the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service, with 42 inches recorded in Glengarry and 40.5 in Shepherdstown.
  • Airports are recovering, but at least 1,500 flighs were canceled Monday according to FlightAware.

When Congress returns, they come back to a full and already truncated calendar. The FY 2017 Budget will be front and center as Congress waits for the President’s FY 2017 budget request as well as working through a potential budget itself. While Congress does not need to pass a budget for FY 2017 due to the budget deal reached last year that covered FY 2016 and FY 2017, reports of the rising deficit have brought federal budgeting again to the forefront. For the first time since 2009, the deficit will grow relative to the size of the economy, amounting to 2.9 percent of gross domestic product. This year’s deficit is projected to be $544 billion, up from $439 billion last year.

Politics will be in full swing as the Iowa and New Hampshire presidential primaries are fast approaching while the Senators and Members of Congress also begin to focus on their own primaries.

State of the Union, Tonight

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President Obama will address a joint session of Congress this evening in the annual State of the Union Address. It will be Obama’s seventh and final State of the Union address. Typically, the final address is used as a roadmap for the party and the presidential election to come (or already in full swing), and only 4 President’s have been able to take advantage of this opportunity.

The address is rooted in the Constitution, but has taken a decidedly partisan approach in modern politics. Recently, Members of Congress have booed or called out at the President during the address and Supreme Court Justices have refused to attend the address.

While the speech is not yet final, the White House is expected to discuss STEM and the success underrepresented students have had in the STEM fields. And a college student and STEM advocate will be a guest of first lady Michelle Obama, in addition to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. While the State of the Union is designed to set the tone for the legislative and political session while laying out sweeping initiatives, not all of these ideas have enjoyed political success. 

 

Federal Relations will have an update on the initiatives outlined and the Administration’s subsequent efforts following the address.

President’s FY 2017 Budget Delayed

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The Office of Management and Budget announced that the President’s FY 2017 Budget proposal will be delayed until February 9th. The President’s budget is statutorily required to be presented to Congress the first Monday of February, which this year is February 1st.

A delay on the budget transmission is not a new event for the Administration, and nearly all of the Obama Administration Budgets have been just or well past the first Monday deadline.

Federal Relations will continue to monitor the progress of the budget as well as the release and the resulting impacts.

Happy New Year!

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The 114th Congress is back in action this week for the second legislative session. The House reconvenes tomorrow and the Senate will return on Monday, January 11th. The 2016 Congressional calendar boasts roughly 110 legislative voting days with plenty of 4-day weekends and an early summer recess – beginning in July and running through Labor Day.

Congress will begin the New Year with a busy agenda. First, as a reminder, all legislation that was in play last year carries over to this second session of Congress. That means that there are plenty of existing bills to consider, with more on the way.

Second, it appears that Congress will attempt to take action on FY 2017 appropriations bills early this year. With funding for the current fiscal year finally behind them, albeit three months late, Republican leaders have pledged to restore the regular budget process by clearing the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the government by October 1st, the start of the new fiscal year. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has indicated that he wants to begin considering spending bills on the House floor by mid-March, an unusually early schedule for bills that often don’t reach the floor until the summer or later. The task could be made easier this year because of a two-year bipartisan budget agreement passed in October that already established overall spending levels for defense and domestic programs for FY 2017. That means lawmakers can begin their work this year with the top-line spending limits already settled.

And finally, there are plenty of policy issues to watch for in 2016 – mostly carryover issues from last year. We expect to hear more about Syrian refugees and homeland security, criminal justice reform, taxes, and gun control. We also expect to see some movement on FDA reforms, similar to those already approved in the House approved 21st Century Cures bill, as well as efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.

Other than those pressing issues, Congress will be overshadowed by the Presidential campaign. The National Journal has a great article out today that poses 11 questions that will define Congress in 2016 – many of which revolve around Presidential politics.

Congress Passes $1.8 Trillion FY 2016 Spending and Tax Extension Bill

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This morning the House & Senate approved a $1.8 trillion fiscal year 2016 omnibus spending bill, averting a government shutdown and funding the federal establishment through September 2016. The measure passed with a 316-113 vote in the House followed by a 65-33 vote in the Senate. President Obama is said to sign the measure into law imminently. We encourage you to review our FY2016 Omnibus Analysis. Please let Christy Gullion, UW Director of Federal Relations (cgullion@uw.edu), or Sarah Castro, UW Associate Director of Federal Relations (smcastro@uw.edu), know if you have questions.

 

As noted in a previous post, highlights of the bill include:

  • The National Institutes of Health received $32 billion, $2 billion above current levels.
  • The National Science Foundation is funded at $7.5 billion, an increase of $119 million, and directorates such as Social and Behavioral Sciences were funded at FY 2015 levels.
  • NASA is funded at $19.3 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level to advance America’s leadership in space and science. Within this total, $4 billion is provided for Exploration, including funding to keep the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System on schedule, and $5.6 billion is provided for science programs.
  • Defense research was funded at $69.8 billion for research, development, testing, and evaluation of new defense technologies, which was minor increases.
  • The maximum Pell Grant award is increased to $5,915.
  • Title VI International Education programs were held at FY 2015 levels.
  • NOAA received $5.8 billion, which is $325 million above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level. Funding was included for the National Weather Service to provide critical weather information to the public, and investments in new and existing weather satellites that are essential to maintain and improve weather forecasts, including the Polar Follow On program.
  • Maximum Pell Grant award to $5,915, funded by a combination of discretionary and mandatory funds.

 

In addition to omnibus appropriations, the bill includes a $680 million tax package, which makes permanent several tax provisions that were previously subject to extensions including the research and experimentation tax credit and several charitable donation tax breaks. More information on this can be found here.