Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Legislation

House Clears Aviation Extension, Short-term Relief for FAA Reauth

Posted on

On Monday night, the House cleared  a measure that would extend aviation programs through July 15, 2016, giving Congress another three and a half months for the two chambers to seek an agreement on a long-term reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Procedurally, the House  concurred with a Senate amendment to the short-term extension (HR 4721) the House had passed on March 21. The original House measure extended aviation programs through July 15, 2016, but  included revenue-raising provisions through March 31, 2017. On March 17, the Senate amended HR 4721 to extend both aviation programs and revenue provisions through July 15 of this year.

The current authorization FAA reauthorization is set to expire March 31. Enacting this extension gives Congress over three months to reach a long-term agreement literally just before lawmakers leave for the presidential nominating conventions and the August recess.

Already the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved HR 4441 a six-year, $69 billion measure in February and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has marked up S 2658, a $33.1 billion bill that would authorize the programs through FY 2017 in March.

 

House on Science in the “National Interest”, White House Threatens to Veto

Posted on

The House will take up a bill today, HR 3293 – Scientific Research in the National Interest Act, that would require the National Science Foundation to show the grants it doles out to scientists are in the national interest. Similar to previous measures restricting NSF sponsored by Congressman Lamar Smith, the legislation is expected to pass.

Predictably, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) threatening to veto the measure on Tuesday. The SAP stated that the bill would “add nothing to accountability in federal funding for scientific research” and replace existing law with “confusing language that could cast a shadow over the value of basic research.”

 

Read the SAP here. 

State of the Union, Tonight

Posted on

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.

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

Posted on

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.