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Category: Budget

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.

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.

Short Term CR through December 16

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The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday released a five-day continuing resolution (CR) that would keep federal agencies operative through midnight on December 16th. The stopgap would provide omnibus negotiators with additional time to strike a deal on a $1.1 trillion agreement to close out fiscal 2016. Both chambers must pass the resolution by the end of the day Friday (December 11th) to extend current budget authority and avoid government shutdown.

It appears that December 16th was the shortest possible extension needed to finish appropriations work that’s still left, but the tight turnaround time runs the risk of another stopgap being needed.

Congress is scheduled to adjourn for the year on December 18th. While lawmakers say funding levels for agencies have largely been settled, a tax extenders package and “40 to 42” policy riders are still being negotiated, including language related to campaign finance, labor regulations, abortion, treatment of Syrian refuges, and environmental regulations.

Members will be in session tomorrow, but not over the weekend. Depending on the progress of negotiations, members will convene on Monday or Tuesday.

Read more from The Hill and Roll Call.

 

December 11th Deadline Looming

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The House and Senate return to Washington, DC today after a weeklong break for the Thanksgiving holiday. They are expected to be in session for approximately 15 days, giving them limited time to finish work on an several critical pieces of legislation, including an omnibus bill before the current continuing resolution expires on December 11th. But that omnibus is still mired down by issues such as addressing any last-minute funding requests for security after the Paris terrorist attack, resolving disputes on potential policy riders such as the treatment of Syrian refugees, and potentially blocking funding for Planned Parenthood.

All of these issues and others related to EPA regulations and water rights have some DC insiders speculating that lawmakers will miss the December 11th deadline and instead approve another short term CR – possibly running through March 2016 or even the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.

Before the Thanksgiving recess, congressional aides insisted that they would finish the omnibus by December 11th. The next few days may determine whether appropriators can still meet that deadline.

Read more here.