Category: Uncategorized

A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community:

S.1: A bill to reform America’s broken immigration system. The priority number of this bill indicates that it will likely be used for some sort of immigration reform in this congress – it will also change several times before we see the final legislation.
Sponsor: Harry Reid (D-NV) Introduced: 1/22/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary. Cosponsors: 15

S. 41: A bill to provide a permanent deduction for state and local general sales taxes.
Sponsor: Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Introduced: 1/22/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Finance. Cosponsors: 3

H.R. 357: A bill to amend Title 38 of the United States Code, to require courses of education provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at the in-state rate.
Sponsor: Jeff Miller (R-FL) Introduced: 1/23/13 Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Cosponsors: 1

S. 113: A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain creditors to obtain certifications from Institutions of Higher Education.
Sponsor: Richard Durbin (D-Ill) Introduced: 1/23/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Cosponsors: 2

The full text of these bills can be found by searching for their respective bill number at thomas.loc.gov

The following are some bills that have been introduced in the first weeks of the 113th Congress that may be of interest to members of the UW community:

HR 118 (Holt, D-NJ) – National STEM Education Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2013, which would provide a credit for qualified tuition expenses up to $1000 for K-12 teachers in the STEM fields who have received a STEM-related degree from an institution of higher education. The bill is vague in exactly how “qualified educational expenses” would be measured or verified.

HR 267 (McMorris Rodgers, R-WA) – The Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 would ease regulations on certain small hydropower projects and aims to make the process of constructing a conduit hydropower facility-one operated for the purpose of distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial uses, on a nonworking dam more efficient and streamlined.

HR 274 (Barber, D-AZ) – The Mental Health First Act of 2013, would direct the Secretary of DHHS to award grants to various state and local government organizations and non profits (institutions of higher education included), to develop and train individuals on the skills, resources and knowledge to assist individuals in crisis to connect with appropriate local mental health care services. The objectives of the training include safe de-escalation of crisis situations, recognition of the signs and symptoms of mental illness, and timely referral to mental health services in the early stages of developing mental disorders.

The full text of these bills can be found by going to thomas.loc.gov and searching for the respective bill number.

In a rare appointment for a freshman Member of Congress, Congressman Denny Heck has been selected by his colleagues to serve on the House Financial Services Committee. The Committee is one of only four “exclusive” committees in the House—the other three being Appropriations, Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce. The House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction over federal housing policy, Wall Street reform and consumer protection, and commercial insurance and banking issues. The Committee was Congressman Heck’s top request for committee assignment.

Due to the expansive list of policy concerns that fall within the Committee’s jurisdiction, Members who serve on one of the four exclusive committees are not permitted to serve on other House committees. As such, the Congressman will give up his seat on the House Budget Committee, which is a non-exclusive committee, to accept this high-profile appointment. Only six other members of the 49 member freshman Democratic class were named to an exclusive committee.

Full Press Release

The Senate is in recess through this week.

The House returns from recess on Wednesday. The House Rules Committee is expected to clear the way for floor consideration of three appropriations bills to be taken up over the next couple of weeks: MilCon/VA, Energy and Water, and Homeland Security. These may very well be the last bills they push through before the August recess.

On Thursday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee is holding a hearing on Promoting Manufacturing Innovation to discuss the Proposed National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.

Also on Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing to discuss President Obama’s energy strategies.