News
This week in Washington
August 3, 2009
Following a busy month of legislative business, Members of Congress return home from Capitol Hill this week for the August district work period. While health care reform and climate legislation have dominated the headlines, Congress has managed to make progress on a number of other important matters including the annual appropriations process. Prior to adjourning on Friday, the House approved the last of its 12 appropriations bills. In addition, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed their version of the comprehensive health care bill.
The Senate remains in session this week and is expected to approve its fourth spending bill and vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor before adjourning on Friday. Both chambers are scheduled to resume legislative business following the Labor Day holiday on Tuesday, September 8.
The following is a recap of recent activities in Washington , D.C. of interest to the UCLA community. With Congress out of session for the remainder of this month, we will provide our next update in early September.
CONGRESS | WHITE HOUSE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES | UCLA ADVOCACY
CONGRESS
Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Appropriations Update
The House has approved all 12 of its annual appropriations bills, while the Senate has completed three and is expected to pass its fourth by the end of this week. When Congress returns from the August recess, appropriators will begin meeting in conference to work out the differences between the House and Senate spending bills, with the goal of completing the full appropriations process before the start of the FY10 fiscal year (October 1).
Highlighted below are updates on the status of spending for programs of greatest interest to the campus.
Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education
On July 24, the House of Representatives approved its version of the FY10 Labor-HHS-Education (LHHS) appropriations bill which provides funding for federal student aid programs and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Overall, the measure includes $160.7 billion for LHHS programs, which is 3 percent above the FY09 level but $52 million below the President's request.
On July 30, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY10 LHHS bill. Overall, the legislation provides $163.1 billion for LHHS programs, which is $2.4 billion more than the companion House bill, and roughly 4 percent above the FY09 level. The Senate bill does not provide additional funds for programs receiving large increases in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). According to a Senate Committee press release, “The Committee expects to put a higher priority on these critical programs in the fiscal year 2011 appropriations bill.” The full Senate is expected to take up the bill after the August recess with likely floor consideration in September. The following are highlights from the Senate LHHS bill:
NIH: $30.8 billion, 1.5 percent above the FY09 level and the same as the Administration's request. In comparison, t he House would fund NIH at $31.3 billion, roughly 3 percent above the FY09 level and $500 million above the Administration's request. In 2007-08, UCLA received $418.8 million in NIH awards, which accounted for approximately 69% of all federal funding awarded to UCLA.
Pell Grants : Maintain the maximum Pell Grant at $5,500, as provided under the Recovery Act. The House approved the same amount, which is an increase of $200 over the FY09 maximum award. In 2007-08, 9,047 UCLA undergraduates received federal Pell Grants. Advocating for increased Pell Grant funding was a primary focus of our “UCLA Day in Washington, DC ” advocacy trip back in May.
TRIO: $848 million, which is $20 million less than the House bill. The Federal TRIO program includes six outreach and support programs targeted to low-income, first-generation college students. UCLA currently participates in two of the six federal TRIO programs: the Ronald E. McNair Post baccalaureate program and the Program Leading to Undergraduate Success (PLUS).
Federal Work-Study (FWS): Level-funded at $980 million, the same as the House bill. In 2007-08, 3,382 UCLA students participated in the FWS program, earning a total of $6,891,061 in financial aid.
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG): Level-funded at $757 million, the same as the House bill. In 2007-08, federal SEOG funding was awarded to 2,569 UCLA students.
Defense
On July 30, the House approved the FY10 Defense appropriations bill. Overall, the measure would provide $13.18 billion for Defense Science & Technology (S&T) programs, which is 2.2 percent less than FY09 but 13.2 percent above the Administration's request. S&T programs include defense-wide and military service funding for 6.1 basic research, 6.2 applied research, and 6.3 advanced technology development.
Of interest to the university research community, funding for 6.1 basic research is higher than FY09 levels and the President's FY10 budget request. The House measure would provide $1.93 billion for 6.1 basic research, which is 4.8 percent above the FY09 level and 7.4 percent above the Administration's request. The House would provide the following funding levels for specific research accounts (as compared to FY09):
Army 6.1 Basic Research: $441 million (increase of 0.4 percent)
Navy 6.1 Basic Research: $541.7 million (increase of 0.1 percent)
Air Force 6.1 Basic Research : $476.8 million (increase of 1.7 percent)
Defense-wide 6.1 Basic Research: $465.8 (increase of 20.5 percent)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): $3.048 billion (decrease of 2.6 percent)
In 2007-08, UCLA received $34.6 million in Defense research awards, which accounted for approximately 5.7 percent of all federal funding awarded to UCLA.
For a detailed list of funding proposed for all Defense accounts, please see AAU's table at: http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=9190.
Energy and Water
On July 29, the Senate approved its version of the FY10 Energy and Water appropriations bill. As previously reported, the House passed its version on July 17. Overall, the Senate measure provides $27.4 billion for the Department of Energy, which is 1.9 percent higher than the House-approved level of $26.9 billion but about 3.6 percent below the Administration's request. The Senate bill provides the following for accounts of interest to university researchers:
DOE Office of Science: $4.9 billion, which is 3.9 percent above FY09 (Office of Science also received $1.6 billion in Recovery Act funds to be spent over FY09 and FY10). The Senate bill includes about $41 million in congressional directed projects; the House bill includes about $38 million. These earmarks would reduce the amount of money available to support the basic research funding requested by the President.
The Senate-passed bill funds Basic Energy Sciences at $1.65 billion, which is $25 million less than the House level and about $35 million below the request. Advanced Scientific Computing would receive $399 million, which is $10 million below the House level and the request. Nuclear Physics would receive $540 million, or $4 million above the House level and $12 million below the request; High Energy Physics would receive $813 million, $6 million below both the House level and the Administration's request; Biological and Environmental Research would receive $604 million, which is $ million above the House level and the same as the Administration's; and Fusion Energy Sciences would be funded at $416 million, or $25 million below the House level and $5 million below the request.
Energy Innovation Hubs: Secretary Steven Chu requested $280 million to create eight Energy Innovation Hubs in 2010. The Senate bill supports the creation of three of these hubs: Fuels from Sunlight (within the Office of Science), Energy Efficient Building Systems (within in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy), and Modeling and Simulation (within Nuclear Energy). The Senate report says that the Fuels from Sunlight and Energy Efficient Building Systems hubs should each receive $22 million, but only if the Secretary is able to allocate Recovery Act funds to an infrastructure/roads project associated with the planned expansion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It is unclear from the Senate report how much funding would be provided for the Modeling and Simulation hub.
In comparison, the House bill provides just $35 million in the Office of Science Basic Energy Science account to create one Energy Innovation Hub, citing redundancy of the program with other DOE initiatives and a lack of implementation details. As previously reported, UCLA is working closely with other research universities to advocate for increased funding for these hubs. UCLA, along with other the research universities in California , is well-positioned to compete for this funding. We are continuing to reach out to our Congressional delegation to urge their support for expanding funding for Energy Innovation Hubs in FY10.
RE-ENERGYSE: The Senate bill provides no funding for a new clean energy education initiative called REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge (RE-ENERGYSE), for which the President had requested $115 million. Similarly, the House did not provide funding for RE-ENERGYSE, noting that the Administration's request lacked sufficient details for the program. The House bill, however, allocates $7.5 million for the DOE to conduct a study to better define future energy education and workforce needs and to understand gaps in existing federal STEM education efforts that should be filled appropriately by DOE.
ARPA-E: Neither the Senate or the House provided funding for the new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), for which the Administration had requested $10 million. ARPA-E did receive $15 million in FY09 and $400 million in Recovery Act funds to be spent over FY09-FY10.
In response to the Senate and House Energy and Water appropriations bills, the White House Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) expresses concern that Congress has proposed less than requested for the Office of Science, which “would not maintain the President's proposed path to double the funding of this office over 10 years.” The statement also “strongly opposes” reductions in funding for both the Energy Innovation Hubs and RE-ENERGYSE.
** For more on the status of all FY10 appropriations bills, see: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app10.html
E-Verify Update
The Obama Administration recently announced that it would move ahead with full implementation of a federal rule that would require federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive ARRA funds, to use E-Verify. E-Verify is an online tool that allows employers to check Social Security numbers and immigration status of workers to verify workers' employment eligibility. The rule will apply to federal solicitations and contract awards government-wide starting on September 8, 2009.
On July 21, Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) held a hearing to examine E-Verify. He also revealed his plans to introduce a new immigration proposal that would overhaul the nation's immigration laws and provide an estimated 12 million illegal workers a path to legalization. The bill is expected to create a new national work identification system that would rely on the use of biometrics to verify the identity and legal status of workers. The legislation would also mandate that all workers, both immigrants and U.S. citizens, enroll in a massive national work identification system. Under the Schumer proposal, the new system could be financed by charging fees to undocumented workers and immigrants and by fining those who fail to comply with U.S. immigration laws.
On July 23, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examined the option of mandating worker background checks as well as the possibility of charging U.S. employers a fee for using the E-Verify program. Currently, E-Verify is free to employers. The exact amount employers would have to pay would be contingent on several factors. These factors include whether or not a federal mandate would be phased in over time and if Congress would require the use of biometrics to verify worker identities.
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WHITE HOUSE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES
New Administration Nominations
President Obama recently nominated and/or the Senate recently confirmed the following individuals to serve in federal posts:
U.S. Department of Education
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana
Occupation: Superintendent, Pomona Unified School District
Education: UCLA (B.A.), USC (Ph.D.)
Confirmed July 24, 2009
U.S. Department of Education
Deputy Secretary of Education
Anthony W. Miller
Occupation: Director, Silver Lake Private Investment Firm
Education: Purdue University (B.S.), Stanford University (M.B.A.)
Confirmed July 24, 2009
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Climate Change Forum
On Friday, August 21, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D- Los Angeles ) and CA Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) will co-host a forum on climate change at UCLA. Campus entities sponsoring the forum include the Institute of the Environment (IoE), the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at the School of Law , the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, and the Office of Government and Community Relations. The program will feature Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (and former IoE director), as well as several science and policy experts on climate change. The forum will focus on the interplay between AB32, California 's landmark climate legislation, and the American Clean Energy and Security Act, recently approved by the House of Representatives.
Registration for this event is now closed.
A live webcast will be available at: www.newsroom.ucla.edu
Those interested can also follow the event at: www.twitter.com/UCLAnewsroom.edu
FBI Event on Animal Rights Extremists
On August 27 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., the FBI will host a conference to address growing concerns of private and public industry around the illegal activity of animal rights extremists. The meeting will also address efforts by state, local, and federal law enforcement to combat ongoing threats and attacks on specific researchers. Presentations by state and local prosecutors, as well as law enforcement, will address these concerns. A roundtable discussion is also planned.
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If you have questions about this update or other federal issues, please contact:
Kim S. Kovacs Executive Director, UCLA Federal Relations (310) 794-6808 or kkovacs@support.ucla.edu
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