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Category: Legislation

COMPETES Act Heading for the Senate Floor

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The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has approved — with bi-partisan support — its portion of the America COMPETES Act (S. 3605). The bill provides for three-year authorizations for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). An authorization for the Department of Energy Office of Science is expected to be added in a manager’s amendment on the Senate floor.

During the mark-up, the committee adopted 20 amendments to the bill, including a substitute amendment that reduced the funding levels by 10% for NSF and NIST. The bill’s only new program would fall within NSF and enable a $10-million-a-year effort to prepare science and engineering majors to be elementary and secondary school teachers. It’s modeled after the successful UTeach program at the University of Texas, Austin. To ease the fiscal bite, the bill would require a significant contribution from each university grantee (up to 75% by the end of the 5-year grant).

The legislation would require Department of Commerce to study the U.S. economy and innovation infrastructure, including an assessment of the nation’s economic competitiveness. Within one year of completing the study, the Department would be required to develop a 10-year national innovation and competitiveness strategy. 

Given the packed Senate schedule, it is unclear whether the bill will make it to the Senate floor before the August recess.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

S. 3605, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Committee Overview)

The original COMPETES Act was a response to the National Academies’ Rising Above The Gathering Storm, which warned that America’s place as a global leader in science and technology was at risk. Urgent action is still needed to guarantee American prosperity in the face of increasing global competition, especially in the areas of K-12 science and math education and funding for basic research. The America COMPETES Act reauthorization focuses on three primary areas of importance to increase American innovation and competitiveness: (1) increasing science and research investments, (2) strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and (3) developing an innovation infrastructure.

Increase Science and Research Investments

  • Authorizes funding increases for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology for fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013.
  • Supports programs to assist American manufacturers, such as the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Technology Innovation Program, and creates a loan guarantee program to support innovation in manufacturing.

Strengthen Educational Opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

  • Coordinates STEM education across the Federal government, with the goal of reinforcing programs that demonstrate effectiveness.
  • Supports research and internship opportunities for high school and undergraduate students, and increases the number of graduate fellowships supported by the NSF.
  • Reinforces the role of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to inspire and educate the future science and technology workforce and encourages the agencies to transfer their technological advances into the private and public sectors.

Develop an Innovation Infrastructure

  • Promotes productivity and economic growth by forming an Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to foster innovation and the commercialization of new technologies, products, processes, and services.
  • Requires the development of a national innovation and competitiveness strategy for strengthening the innovative and competitive capacity of the Federal Government, State and local governments, institutions of higher education, and the private sector.
  • Supports the development of regional innovation strategies, including regional innovation clusters and research parks.

DREAM Act May be Pushed Before November

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With it being an election year, many lawmakers have been avoiding the politically charged topic of comprehensive immigration reform, making it unlikely that it will advance before the end of the year. However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may attempt to push through the DREAM Act as a stand-alone piece of legislation before the November elections if advocates of a comprehensive bill strongly believe that there is no chance for full reform.

The DREAM Act, which is sponsored by Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) (co-sponsored by Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell) would provide a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who choose to go to college or serve with the US armed forces. Approximately 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools every year. Many of these students are unable to attend college, largely because they can’t afford it and lack accessibility to student aid. This Act would allow them to be eligible for student loan and work-study programs.

The University of Washington and much of the higher education community has voiced support for the DREAM Act as it would result in several economic and societal benefits. Research shows that there is a million dollar difference, over a lifetime, between the earning capacity of a high school graduate and a college graduate. People who attend college are also more likely to be healthier than those that do not, volunteer and contribute to their community, and are less likely to be incarcerated or rely on public assistance. The DREAM Act would allow these capable students to contribute to the economic growth of the United States and to their own self-sufficiency while becoming active members of American society.

Full text of Senate bill                                                            Full text of House bill

UW Participates in Senator Cantwell’s Press Conference on Oil Spill Prevention & Response

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UW Dean Lisa Graumlich at Cantwell press event
UW Dean Lisa Graumlich gives remarks on the Gulf oil spill at Cantwell press event

On Tuesday Senator Maria Cantwell held a press conference in Seattle regarding the need for better research and development on oil spill prevention and response. She announced that she will soon chair a hearing and introduce legislation that will require the oil industry to incorporate the latest and best technologies into their oil spill prevention and response plans.  The Senator proposed a joint Research & Development center between NOAA and the UW, an idea that the UW School of Marine Affairs has been exploring.

The UW Seaglider, which was present at the event, drew a lot of attention as an example of technology that, with some investment, could be much more useful in the event of an oil spill. Lisa Graumlich, the Dean of the College of the Environment (COEnv) said there are currently six Seagliders in the Gulf of Mexico aiding scientists and the government in identifying underwater oil plumes.  However, the Seagliders were developed as instruments for basic research and currently don’t have the power to carry large, heavy hydrocarbon sensors which would do a better job at finding the oil plumes.  Instead of detecting the oil itself, they are searching for a proxy for oil – an example of making do with the technology we have instead of the specific technology we need. Dean Graumlich emphasized that we do not require a major scientific breakthrough because the UW already has monitoring systems that examine the quality and movement of water in the Sound. With some tweaking, those technologies could be used to determine how an oil spill would spread through the Sound.

Several UW researchers and staff attended the event in support of the proposed legislation and to emphasize the need for more investment in research and development.  Dean Graumlich was accompanied by UW COEnv colleagues Russ McDuff (Director, School of Oceanography), David Armstrong (Director, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences), Fritz Stahr (Manager, Seaglider Fabrication Center), and Deanna Congdon (Advancement Specialist).  The group was also joined by Christy Gullion (Director, Office of Federal Relations) and COEnv Communication Director Michelle Ackerman. 

Cantwell press release

Statement_by_Dean_Graumlich

FY11 Appropriations Update

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On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice-Science approved its FY11 draft bill, which would provide $60.5 billion in discretionary spending.  The draft measure would provide $3.9 billion (6 percent) less than 2010 levels, mostly because of the significant increase provided last year to perform the census, and just $2.7 million less than President Obama requested.  House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) has said that discretionary spending in all of this year’s House appropriations bills, except for Homeland Security, will fall below the president’s request.  The draft bill would, however, provide a healthy boost for most of the agencies and programs under the Commerce Department, including $5.5 billion in discretionary funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) representing a 17 percent increase above FY10 levels.  The bill funds the Administration’s request for $26.4 billion for science programs, including $7.4 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Two additional markups are scheduled for today in the House:  Agriculture and State-Foreign Operations.

FY11 Appropriations Process Moving Forward

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Members of Congress face a busy week as they attempt to advance some major bills before the start of the July Fourth recess.  At the same time, the FY11 appropriations process may also begin to gear up this week and move forward after the July recess period.

House Democrats would like to approve the FY10 supplemental budget by the end of this week, which would provide critical war funding as well as some other “emergency” funding including money to help states prevent teacher layoffs.  Democratic leaders are considering using a process where two separate votes would be taken; one for the war money and another for all the other funding.  The supplemental plan now being circulated by Democrats would total $61.5 billion, and would include $10 billion to prevent K-12 teacher layoffs and $4.95 billion for Pell grants.  The Pell grant funding would help fill a hole in the president’s budget request for FY11, and effectively free up discretionary spending for this year’s appropriations bills.

Meanwhile, we may see action on the FY11 appropriations process this week as the House Appropriations subcommittees begin to consider a series of FY11 spending bills.  House appropriators could have half their bills approved at the subcommittee level by the end of the week, with five markups scheduled.  The Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee approved its draft last week, and the following five subcommittees are set to meet in coming days: Commerce-Justice-Science (Tuesday); Agriculture and State-Foreign Operations (Wednesday); and Legislative Branch and Transportation-HUD (Thursday).   However, most of these bills are not expected to be considered on the House floor before November, necessitating a long-term continuing resolution (CR).   Republican appropriators have already signaled that they intend to offer amendments at the subcommittee mark-ups as they may not get another chance to express their concerns about federal spending until after the mid-term elections.   

The Senate may also begin to move a few of their own spending measures.   The Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee has suggested that a couple of the FY11 spending bills would be considered this week but the schedule is still unclear at this point.  If markups for spending bills are scheduled this week and the committee follows past practices, both a subcommittee and full committee markup would be held for the bills considered.