Today, the University of Washington Office of Federal Relations released its call for proposals for inclusion in the official FY11 University of Washington Federal Agenda. The agenda will serve as the basis for advocacy efforts during the congressional appropriations process that begins early next year. Guidelines can be found by clicking the Federal Agenda Submission link on the left side of this website. Submissions are due by October 26th, and questions can be directed to the Office of Federal Relations.
News and updates
FY 2010 Federal Appropriations Update
With FY09 set to come to a close on Wednesday September 30th and no FY10 appropriations bills completely through the legislative process and signed by the president, leaders in Congress are preparing a 30 day stop-gap continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government running. A CR funds government operations (usually on a temporary basis) at the previous fiscal year’s level.
The House of Representatives has passed all of its 12 FY10 spending bills. However, progress in the Senate has been slow, largely due to negotiations over health care reform and consideration of judicial nominations. The Senate has only passed 5 spending bills, none of which have officially gone to House-Senate conference. Additionally, some reports have stated that the House of Representatives will not go to conference until the Senate acquiesces on a request to convert all earmarks targeted towards for-profit entities into competitive opportunities.
President Obama Announces American Innovation Strategy
On Monday (9/21), President Obama announced his American Innovation Strategy. The strategy includes doubling the research and development budgets of three key science agencies: the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. The President also proposed an investment of more than 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in public and private research and development.
The President’s plan has three primary parts:
1. Invest in the Building Blocks of American Innovation: We must first ensure that our economy is given all the necessary tools for successful innovation, from investments in research and development to the human, physical, and technological capital needed to perform that research and transfer those innovations.
2. Promote Competitive Markets that Spur Productive Entrepreneurship: It is imperative to create a national environment ripe for entrepreneurship and risk taking that allows U.S. companies to be internationally competitive in a global exchange of ideas and innovation. Through competitive markets, innovations diffuse and scale appropriately across industries and globally.
3. Catalyze Breakthroughs for National Priorities: There are certain sectors of exceptional national importance where the market is unlikely to produce the desirable outcomes on its own. These include developing alternative energy sources, reducing costs and improving lives with health IT, and manufacturing advanced vehicles. In these industries where markets may fail on their own, government can be part of the solution.
The President’s plan provides no timeline for implementation. However, we are hopeful that these investments will be proposed and adopted as funds provided by ARRA run out, so that we can see sustained funding in the referenced agencies.
This Week on Capitol Hill, September 21-25
In the Senate:
The Senate will debte amendments to the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment Spending Bill, with votes expected on Tuesday. A vote on pasage is likely by the end of the week. The Senate is then likely to consider either the fiscal 2010 Defense Spending Bill or the Military Construction-VA Spending Bill.
The Senate Finance Committee marks up its health care overhaul bill this week beginning on Tuesday and continuing the rest of the week.
In the House:
The House votes on a number of measures under suspendion of the rules on Tuesday, including an extension of unemployment aid. Later in the week, they are scheduled to take up a defense production reauthorization bill, as well as a number of bills to extend certain authorizations — including for small business programs, the Federal Aviation Administration and surface transportation programs. The House is also expected to vote on a continuing resolution to make stopgap appropriations into fiscal 2010.
Source: CQ Today Print Edition
Full House Passes Landmark Student Aid Bill
Today, the full House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (HR 3221) by a 253-171 vote. The bill utilizes savings from the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) in favor of 100% college/university participation in the Direct Loan program. The legislation would index future Pell increases to the Consumer Price Index plus 1%. Financial institutions that provide student loans have fought the elimination of FFELP, as it essentially removes them from the federal student aid market. Funding recouped from the elimination of FFELP will also fund much of President Obama’s college access and persistence plan, as well as a number of additional initiatives.
The University of Washington’s Office of Student Financial Aid, and Office of Federal Relations have been active in providing members of the Washington Congressional delegation with feedback on HR 3221. There remains room to make improvements on the House bill, particularly in its provision of a College Access and Completion Fund, where funding provided to states could result in increased regulatory control by states over institutions of higher education. The legislation is now being worked on the Senate, and is expected to receive full consideration later this fall or early in 2010.