News
This week in Washington
September 21 , 2009
Following the August recess, Members of Congress returned to Washington two weeks ago to resume legislative business on a particularly ambitious fall agenda. Although health care reform is currently dominating debate on Capitol Hill, we do anticipate progress on other key legislative, spending, and regulatory issues related to higher education and research before the end of the year.
The following is a recap of recent activities in Washington , D.C. of interest to the UCLA community.
CONGRESS | WHITE HOUSE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES | UCLA ADVOCACY
CONGRESS
Prior to the August recess, the House approved all 12 of its annual appropriations bills. The Senate, however, has completed just five of its spending bills and none of the appropriations measures have been enacted into law. With the start of the FY10 fiscal year just a week away, Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government operating beyond the end of the current fiscal year on September 30. After that, there is a strong likelihood that Congressional appropriators will ultimately combine several of the individual spending bills into an FY10 omnibus appropriations package.
Below are funding summaries and status updates on programs of greatest interest to the campus:
Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS)
The House passed the FY10 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill on June 18. Although the Senate CJS Subcommittee completed its version on June 25, the full Appropriations committee has not yet approved the bill but we anticipate it will do so before the end of the month so the full Senate can consider the measure.
For a summary of spending approved by the House for agencies including NSF, NASA, NIST, NOAA, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, see the June 22 Washington Update.
Defense
As previously reported, the House passed its FY10 Defense appropriations bill before the August recess. On September 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill, which the full Senate is expected to consider later this month.
Overall, the Senate measure would provide $12.37 billion for Defense Science & Technology (S&T) programs, which is $80 billion less than the House and $1.12 billion below the FY09 level. 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, the Senate would provide $41.83 funding for 6.1 basic research, which is $100 million below the House-passed FY10 level of $1.93 billion, and $10.4 million below the FY09 level, but higher than the Administration's request.
The Senate 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: $544.2 million (decrease of 0.6 percent)
Air Force 6.1 Basic Research : $480.8 million (increase of 2.5 percent)
Defense-wide 6.1 Basic Research: $365.6 (decrease of 5.4 percent)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): not available
With regard to the DARPA, the Senate report notes that the Administration's request is $3.248 billion and that DARPA spent an average of roughly $2.67 billion per year during fiscal years 2006-2008. The Senate report states: “Therefore, the Committee believes that such a significant funding increase to DARPA's program is fiscally imprudent.”
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 list of funding amounts proposed for all Defense accounts, please see: http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=9190.
Energy and Water
Both the House and Senate have passed their versions of FY10 Energy and Water (E&W) appropriations bills, which provide funding for the Department of Energy and other national water and infrastructure projects. To date, the two chambers have not started formal conference negotiations on the E&W measures, but we anticipate that conferees could begin working out the differences between the two versions this week.
On September 11, the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) sent a joint letter to Congress urging strong funding for the university community's three top DOE priorities: the Office of Science, the Administration's proposed Energy Innovation Hubs, and the proposed Re-gaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge (Re-ENERGYSE) initiative.
In addition, UCLA joined more than 60 other associations, universities, and corporations in sending a separate letter to the House and Senate E&W Subcommittees urging support for the proposed Energy Innovation Hubs. The letter notes that members of the group agree with DOE that existing structures for research, development, and commercialization are insufficient to quickly produce the advances needed to meet the nation's energy and climate goals
For a more detailed account of FY10 E&W appropriations priorities, see the August 3 Washington Update.
Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education
Prior to the August recess, the House passed 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 House measure includes $160.7 billion for LHHS programs, which is 3 percent above the FY09 level but $52 million below the President's request. The Senate Appropriations Committee has also approved its FY10 LHHS bill, which would provide $163.1 billion for LHHS programs, or $2.4 billion more than the companion House bill and roughly 4 percent above the FY09 level. The full Senate has not yet passed the bill.
For a more detailed account of FY10 LHHS appropriations priorities, see the August 3 Washington Update.
** For more on the status of all FY10 appropriations bills, see: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app10.html.
House Approves Student Loan Legislation with Amendments
On September 17, the House approved the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act by a 253 to 171 vote. In line with the Administration's education vision, the bill would overhaul federal student aid programs and direct the savings over ten years into a variety of programs. Pell Grants would receive $40 billion; the remaining tens of billions of dollars would go toward purposes outside of higher education, such as K-12 programs and reducing the federal deficit.
The biggest reform proposed would be the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, a program which subsidizes and guarantees loans made by the private lending sector. UCLA participates in the FFEL program. Under the House-approved bill, the Department of Education would redirect all new lending into the Direct Loan program, which allows students to borrow directly from the government.
In addition, the student loan bill would:
• Authorize $50 million in FY10 to assist schools in transitioning from FFEL to the Direct Loan program
• Provide mandatory grant funding for new competitive grant programs, which would focus on innovative improvements to community colleges and efforts to increase college access and completion rates
• Make it easier for families to apply for financial aid
• Increase support for college access and degree-completion programs
• Create an early learning challenge fund
• Clarify that part-time students are eligible to receive year-round Pell Grants, though this provision would sunset at the end of FY14
According to reports from Washington , the Senate is expected to mark up its version of the legislation by the end of the month. After the Senate passes its bill, lawmakers from the House and Senate must reconcile the differences between the two versions before it can be enacted into law.
E-Verify Update
On September 8, after months of delay the Administration implemented a rule requiring most federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, to use E-Verify. E-Verify is an online system that allows employers to check Social Security numbers and immigration status of workers to verify workers' employment eligibility. The rule applies to federal solicitations and contract awards government-wide. It provides contractors 30 days to sign up for E-Verify and then 90 days to verify the employment status of their workers.
With regard to E-Verify, congressional authorization for the program expires at the end of the September. Lawmakers already have included language in the pending FY10 Homeland Security appropriations bills to reauthorize the program. The House version of the appropriations bill would extend it for two years, while the Senate version would reauthorize it permanently. It is possible that Congress will include language reauthorizing E-Verify in the CR expected later this month.
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee
On August 25, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) passed away after 47 years of service in the U.S. Senate and 28 years as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. On September 9, Sen. Tom Harking ( D- IA ) was named Chairman of the HELP Committee after Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who was next in line for the post, announced that he would retain his chairmanship of the Banking Committee. Senate rules prevent a member from heading two committees.
The Senate HELP Committee has jurisdiction over several issues of national concern including health care and education.
Back to top.
WHITE HOUSE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES
GAO Indirect Cost Report
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is expected to issue a final report this fall on indirect cost reimbursements for university research funded by the Department of Defense. The House Armed Services Committee requested this report in order to determine how to address the 35-percent facilities & administration (F&A) cap on Defense basic research that House appropriators added to the FY08 and FY09 Defense appropriations bills.
On behalf of the research community, AAU provided information to GAO and suggested topics to examine to help explain university F&A rates, such as how university rates are determined and how university F&A expenditures for the conduct of government research compare to those of industry and federal laboratories.
New Administration Nominations
President Obama recently nominated and/or the Senate recently confirmed the following individuals to serve in federal posts:
National Endowment for the Arts
Chairman
Rocco Landesman
Occupation: President, and Owner of Jujamcyn Theaters
Education: University of Wisconsin (B.A.), Yale (M.F.A., D.F.A.)
Confirmed August 7, 2009
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chairman
Former Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA)
Occupation: Professor of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University
Education: Princeton (B.A.), Johns Hopkins University (M.A.)
Confirmed August 7, 2009
National Institutes of Health
Director
Francis Collins
Occupation: Director of National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH
Education: University of Virginia (B.S.), Yale (Ph.D.), University of North Carolina (M.D.)
Confirmed August 7, 2009 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
U.S. Permanent Representative to UNESCO
David Killion
Occupation: Senior Professional Staff member, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs
Education: Wesleyan (B.A.), UCLA (M.A.)
Confirmed August 7, 2009
Back to top. UCLA ADVOCACY
Chancellor Block in Washington , DC
Chancellor Block was in Washington , DC on September 8-9 for a series of federal agency and association meetings. During his trip, he met with top officials at the Department of Energy, Department of Education, and White House Office of Public Engagement.
Back to top. 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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