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News and updates

News and updates

Upcoming: House Appropriations Hearing on NIH FY21 Budget Proposal

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The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies Subcommittee will convene a hearing on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Budget Request for FY 2021.

Witnesses:

Dr. Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Dr. Ned Sharpless, Director, National Cancer Institute
Dr. Diana Bianchi, Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dr. Gary Gibbons, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Date: Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

Time: 10:00am EST

Place: 2358-C Rayburn House Office Building

To watch the hearing, please visit the committee website.

What We’re Reading this Week (February 18th-21st)

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

Boeing Tax Break: WA State Legislators have introduced a bill which would cancel an aerospace tax break for Boeing, but would also help the manufacturer avoid European tariffs. It would also protect WA agriculture from EU tariffs. More at Seattle Times.

Pardon Spree: This week President Trump has pardoned several convicted felons including former Illinois Governor Bob Blagojevich and others. More at Washington Post.

Roger Stone Trial: Roger Stone will face a sentencing hearing for impeding the 2016 investigation into Russian election interference. More at Washington Post.

Germany Attacks: 9 victims were killed on Wednesday night in a shooting at two German shisha bars. Chancellor Angela Merkel said there are indications that the attack was racially-motivated. 5 of the victims were Turkish citizens, and the Government of Turkey is pushing the German government to investigate quickly. More at BBC.

Intelligence Community: President Trump has appointed Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to be Acting Director of National Intelligence, the position which oversees all US intelligence. Notably, Acting Director Grenell is believed to be the first openly-LGBT member of Trump’s cabinet. Critics have argued that he does not have intelligence or significant high-level management experience. However, he has previously served in several government roles including at the US Mission to the UN. He is limited to serve for 210 days in an Acting capacity. More at NPR.

Diamond Princess: Two elderly passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died after contracting coronavirus. Passengers are slowly being allowed to disembark the cruise ship after being cleared following a two week quarantine in Japan. Several dozen passengers have tested positive, however. Communications from people on the ship describe a chaotic experience onboard. More at USA Today.

Upcoming: House Science, Space, and Technology Hearing on FY21 Budget Proposal

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The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will convene a hearing before the full committee:  “A Review of the Administration’s Federal Research and Development Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021”.

Witness: Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Date: Thursday, February 27th, 2020

Time: 10:00 am EST

Place: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building

To watch the hearing, please visit the Committee Website.

IBM Report: Reducing Administrative Burden in Federal Research Grants to Universities

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The IBM Center for the Business of Government released a new report analyzing the regulatory and policy requirements surrounding federal research grants. The study focused on financial and programmatic requirements to comply with federal mandates. The report reveals that university researchers may spend up to 44% of their time complying with administrative requirements, rather than actually conducting research. According to IBM, the burden is due in part to auditors’ drastically different interpretations of federal mandates. Inconsistencies among auditors leads universities to favor extremely risk-averse administrative policies. As a conclusion, the report offers several possible solutions to streamline oversight.

The full report can be found here.

The Details Still Aren’t Pretty (Part 2)

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We continue to look through the budget documents released yesterday.

National Science Foundation

As noted yesterday, AI research seems to fare well across the different agencies.  While the Computer Science Directorate seems to be primary beneficiary of that initiative at NSF, other directorates within the Research and Related Activities (R&RA) account at the NSF are slated for cuts in the budget.  In fact, NSF as an agency would receive a cut of 7 percent in FY2021. The total budget for R&RA would be funded at approximately $6.2 billion, a cut of more than $500 below the current appropriated amount.

DOD

With respect to DOD-sponsored research, the Science and Technology accounts, “6.1” through “6.3” accounts, would see an overall decrease of 13.5 percent below the current level.  The Basic Research programs (“6.1” research) would be cut by nearly 11 percent.

DOE

The Office of Science at the Department of Energy would be cut by more than 17 percent while ARPA-E is slated for elimination.

Environmental Science Programs

Not surprisingly, programs in the environmental and climate science arenas would also see cuts.

For example, at the EPA, the Office of Science and Technology would be reduced by 32 percent.  Within the USGS , the Administration has proposed eliminate the Cooperative Research Units and has proposed to fund the Climate Adaptation Science Centers at $9.78 million, which is currently funded at $38.3 million.

 

We will continue to provide further updates.  It is important to keep in mind that the president’s budget being released is the start of a very long process, with Congress having the final say in how the funds are actually appropriated.