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News and updates

FY2021 Appropriations Bills Finally Moving

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With schedules and logistics thrown into complete disarray by COVID-19, progress on the FY2021 spending bills had been stalled.  The logjam has been partially broken, at least for now, in the House, with all 12 bills scheduled for markup this week.

Office of Federal Relations will provide additional details as they become available.  The following are some of the highlights of several different bills so far:

Labor-HHS-Education

National Institutes of Health

  • $47 billion total, an increase of $5.5 billion above current level ($5 billion of the increase is emergency appropriations, meaning the regular appropriation for the agency is $42 billion)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

  • $343 million, an increase of $500 million

Student Aid

  • Pell Grant Maximum:  $6,945, an increase of $150
  • SEOG:  $880 M ($15-million increase)
  • Federal Work Study:  $1.2 billion ($30-million increase)
  • GEAR UP:  $1.1 billion (an increase of $5 million)

The legislation would also prohibit the Department of Education from implementing its new Title IX regulations.

The text of the bill is available here and a summary of the bill prepared by the committee staff is available here.  The report accompanying the bill, which contains most of the detailed breakdown of funding, is not yet available.

Commerce-Justice-Science

National Science Foundation

Under the bill unveiled earlier today, NSF would be funded at $8.55 billion, an increase of $270 million.  Within NSF:

  • Research and Related Activities Directorate would be funded at $6.97 billion (an increase of $229.9 million
  • Education and Human Resources would be funded at $970 million (an increase of $30 million.

NASA

NASA would be flat-funded at $22.63 billion in the bill.  The bill proposes to divide up the funding, in part, in the following manner:

  • Science:  $7.1 billion (a decrease of $42 million)
  • Aeronautics:  $819 million (an increase of $35 million)
  • Space Tech:  $1.1 billion (level funded)
  • Space Grant:  $50 million (an increase of $2 million)

NOAA

The bill would fund NOAA at $5.45 billion, an increase of $101.9 million.

This is the text of the bill and a summary is available here.

Interior

The current version of the House bill contains $36.76 billion in regular appropriations, an increase of $771 million, and $15 billion in emergency appropriations.

While we have not yet seen further breakdowns for the agency, the USGS is slated to receive an increase of $22 million under this bill.

Both the NEH and the NEA would each be funded at $170 million, an increase of $7.5 million.

The bill text is available here and the summary of the bill is available here.

Energy and Water

Under the the subcommittee-approved bill, the Department of Energy Office of Science would see an increase of $50 million and would be funded at $7.05 billion.

ARPA-E would see an increase of $10 million, while the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program.would be funded at $2.85 billion, an increase of $58 million.

The summary for the bill is available here.

Full Committee

The full Appropriations Committee is slated to take up the Interior bill on Friday and is scheduled to mark up both the Labor-HHS-Education and Energy and Water bills next Monday.

We will provide further details as they become available.

 

ICE SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Student Visas

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Today, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) modified temporary exemptions for non-immigrant students taking online classes due to COVID-19.

The modifications include:

  • Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States.
  • Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations.
  • Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model—that is, a mixture of online and in person classes—will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. These schools must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” certifying that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load this semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program.

Even under the hybrid model, F-1 students may not remain in the US if all of their classes are online.

Currently, US Embassies and Consulates are still not conducting any routine visa services. Additionally, foreign students may be affected by COVID-19 entry restrictions, which bar foreign nationals coming from Brazil, China, the Schengen Area, UK, Ireland, and Iran.

What We’re Reading this Week (June 22nd-26th, 2020)

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Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.

Reopening DC: Washington, DC entered phase 2 of reopening on June 22nd, allowing limited indoor retail and dining. More at NBC Washington.

Boeing 737 MAX: International Regulators, including the EU, want significant design changes in order for the 737 MAX to fly again, after two deadly crashes and drawn-out scandal over design flaws. More at Seattle Times.

Seattle Police: Mayor Jenny Durkan announced a proposed $20 million budget cut to Seattle Police, as the agency reoccupied the East Precinct on Capitol Hill, which had been taken by protesters. Full story at Seattle Times.

CHOP: Several business owners in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle will sue the City, claiming harm caused by the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP). More at King 5.

East Coast Quarantine: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will require visitors from 8 different states to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, citing high COVID infection rates. More at CNN.

China and India Clash: Recent satellite photos indicate China has built structures in a disputed border area near the Himalayan Mountains, where Indian and Chinese troops fought earlier this month leaving at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. More at BBC.

NSF Issues Updated Guidance for Grant Recipients Impacted by COVID-19

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The National Science Foundation has issued guidance in accordance with OMB Memorandum M-20-26, “Extension of Administrative Relief for Recipients and Applicants of Federal Financial Assistance Directly Impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) due to Loss of Operations”.  The guidance extends two of the short-term administrative relief related to salaries and other project activities, and single audit submissions. Recipients are reminded to maintain appropriate documentation of all charges.

The full updated guidance can be found here.

 

Presidential Proclamation on Non-Immigrant Visas

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Today, President Trump signed an executive order curtailing H-1B, H-2B, H-4, L, and certain J visas, as well as immigrant visas, through December 31, 2020: “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak”.

Limited exemptions may be provided for those working in the food supply chain, as well as limited national security exemptions as determined by the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security. Also exempted under Sec. 4(a)(i) are persons providing medical care for COVID-19 patients or conducting medical research to combat COVID-19. With regards to J visas, professors, alien physicians, and research scholars appear to be exempt.

The proclamation applies only to persons who are outside the United States and who do not hold a valid non-immigrant visa or official permission to travel as of June 24, 2020.

The full text of the proclamation is available here. Our office is actively working with our partners to better understand the scope of this proclamation, and will update this post as new information becomes available.