CR Through March 2013?

Posted on July 27, 2012October 17, 2012

House and Senate leaders appear to have reached a deal on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government for six months beyond the start of the federal fiscal year on October 1^st. The CR would extend current funding levels through March 2013. The effort, if approved by Congress, will avert any threats of a government shutdown just a month before the November elections.

Details of the CR will likely be released early next week but it is not yet clear when the House and Senate might vote on the measure. Both chambers are scheduled to recess on August 3^rd and won’t return to Capitol Hill until the second week in September. And the House is already scheduled to take another break during the last week in September, leaving only 8 full working days in September (taking into account the Jewish holidays). The CR will need to be approved by September 30^th.

The rest of the “fiscal cliff” – the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, the doc fix, and automatic cuts that were part of the debt limit deal (sequester) – still loom with no deal in sight before the post-election lame-duck session. However, this potential agreement on continuing federal government spending would take at least one crisis off the table for the lame duck.

What does this mean for UW? Federal agencies will face uncertainty about their funding – even with the CR – so many may hold back on releasing grant announcements or otherwise act conservatively with their funding. And, depending on the outcome of the November elections, Republicans could gain more control in Congress or the White House and then advance their priorities to drastically cut discretionary spending to protect or shore up defense spending. So, while the 6-month CR takes one issue off the table for the lame duck session it does not create much certainty for federal agencies or the research universities that they fund.

Report Required on Sequester Impacts

Posted on July 26, 2012October 17, 2012

We may soon learn more about how the scheduled automatic budget cuts, or sequester, will affect federal programs. Yesterday, the Senate passed a House measure (HR 5872) giving the Obama administration 30 days to describe its plans for implementing the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect beginning in January. The measure had broad bi-partisan support, passing the Senate unanimously after having passed the House last week in a 414-2 vote. Republicans pushed the bill as a way to highlight what they say will be a devastating reduction to the military budget. Democrats also backed the proposal as a way to highlight what the cuts would mean, including the portion that will come from domestic programs supporting education, health and human services, and scientific research. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.

Sequester Impacts

Posted on July 25, 2012October 17, 2012

Today US Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released a detailed analysis of the impact of sequestration on dozens of health, education and labor programs. The report includes State level information on funding cuts and details the impact in every State. The report will be featured at a rally this afternoon in DC with non-defense groups.

Read the report Under Threat: Sequestration’s Impact on Nondefense Jobs and Services.

“Doc Fix” Uncertain

Posted on July 25, 2012October 17, 2012

Congress continues to discuss how best to overhaul the system that Medicare uses to determine physician reimbursements, known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR). The current rates are set to expire at the end of the year but little legislative progress has been made. Most lawmakers agree that they want to replace the current formula but there are still questions about the government’s role in determining doctors’ payments. These questions, along with disagreement on how to pay the nearly $300 billion cost of repealing the current formula, are obstacles to any comprehensive solution.

The current reimbursement formula was put in place to try to limit spending growth in Medicare. For ten years, the formula has called for cuts in physician payment rates, and Congress has enacted a series of payment patches to avoid those reductions. Physicians face a nearly 28 percent rate cut when the latest patch expires at the end of this year. UW physicians would be negatively affected if Congress allows the current SGR extension to expire.

Labor-HHS-Ed Bill Status

Posted on July 24, 2012October 17, 2012

The House Appropriations Committee has not yet announced a full committee markup for its FY 2013 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, and now many are raising doubts that it will ever do so. On Monday, Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, expressed his belief that his GOP colleagues have “indefinitely postponed” further work on the Labor-HHS-Education bill. The current draft of the bill seeks to de-fund implementation of the 2010 health care overhaul (Affordable Care Act), and also contains policy riders and cuts to education programs. In the Senate, appropriators still say they will mark up two spending bills before the August recess. The committee may unveil its Defense and Legislative Branch measures next week, although expectations are dim for a markup of the Interior-Environment bill.

The Labor-HHS-Education bill is the last one remaining to be finished by the House Appropriations Committee, which already has approved its 11 other bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved nine of their 12 bills.