Today, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) joined his colleagues to introduce a bill to stop the across-the-board budget cuts scheduled for March 1st with a balance of increased revenue and sensible investments. The Balancing Act will halt impending automatic federal budget cuts, known as “sequester,” which would threaten important national investments like those in medical research—a staple of Washington State’s economy. Read more here.
Today President Obama called on lawmakers to quickly pass a package of limited spending cuts and tax changes that can head off the automatic, across-the-board reductions — or sequester — that are set to take effect on March 1st. Obama will acknowledge that a broader budget agreement is unlikely to be reached by next month’s deadline when the cuts to domestic and military programs will go into effect, so is now urging Congress to avoid cuts in spending through a balanced approach that raises new tax revenue by closing loopholes on wealthy Americans and the oil and gas industries. The push by the President to avoid the sequester is also an admission that efforts to reach a bigger deal with Congressional Republicans to cut spending and raise revenues is not likely to be reached in the coming months.
Also happening today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the 2013 federal deficit to be $845 billion, the first time the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has forecast a deficit below $1 trillion under the current Administration. The reduction in the budget deficit is due to the actions Congress took on New Year’s Day to avoid the fiscal cliff by approving higher tax rates on households with annual income above $450,000. But the long-term forecast from CBO shows the fiscal cliff deal that prevented higher tax rates on most households did little to help the nation’s long-term budgetary outlook. CBO sees the deficit falling to $430 billion by 2015 before slowly rising again. By 2023, CBO projects the nation will be nearing the $1 trillion mark with a $978 billion budget deficit as the aging population and rising health costs explode entitlement spending.
Yesterday Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced the Primary Care Workforce Access Improvement Act of 2013 (HR 487). Their bill promotes the training of primary care physicians in rural areas and tests innovative and cost-neutral ways to distribute graduate medical education (GME) payments for the purpose of increasing the number and quality of primary care physicians in the United States. This could prove helpful to the UW WWAMI program, which focuses on producing primary care physicians for a five-state region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho). Learn more here.
Today
The House is in at 2:00pm with votes expected at 6:30pm on the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (HR 297), the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act (HR 235), and the National Pediatric Research Network Act (HR 225). The Senate is also back at 2:00pm and at 5:30pm will hold a key procedural vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (S 47).
Last week
Congress approved legislation last week to delay a debate on raising the debt limit by allowing the Treasury Department to borrow whatever it needs from now through May 18th without regard to the statutory $16.39 trillion debt ceiling. The measure also would impose “no budget, no pay” rules, deferring payment of congressional salaries after April 15th until approval of a budget resolution in both the House and Senate chambers. The bill now awaits the President’s signature.
This Week
A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community:
H.R. 359: A bill to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety. The bill would provide grants to institutions of higher education to assist in carrying out the functions of the Center.
Sponsor: Robert Scott (D-VA) Introduced: 1/23/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to House Judiciary Committee Cosponsors: 2
S. 39: A bill to improve the health of Americans and reduce health care costs by reorienting the Nation’s health care system toward prevention, wellness and health promotion. The bill would aim to provide equal physical activity opportunities for students with disabilities at elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education.
Sponsor: Tom Harkin (D-IA) Introduced: 1/22/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to the Senate Finance Committee Cosponsors: 0
S. 169: A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize additional visas for well-educated aliens to live and work in the United States.
Sponsor: Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Introduced: 1/29/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee Cosponsors: 14
S.193: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for startup businesses to use a portion of the research and development credit to offset payroll taxes.
Sponsor: Chris Coons (D-DE) Introduced: 1/31/2013 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Finance Committee Cosponsors: 6
The full text of these bills can be found by searching for their respective bill number at thomas.loc.gov