CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- No Omnibus Deal Yet; Short-Term CR On-Track
- Status of Tax Extenders Unclear
- Flake “Wastebook” Includes Some Research Grants
OTHER
- AAU Undergraduate Internships Available for Spring 2016
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
NO OMNIBUS DEAL YET; SHORT-TERM CR ON-TRACK
The House today gave final congressional approval to a five-day continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through next Wednesday, December 16. The President has agreed to sign the short-term CR (HR 2250), which the Senate approved yesterday. Those actions will avoid a government shutdown when the current CR expires tonight at midnight.
The deadline extension gives congressional negotiators on the FY16 omnibus appropriations package additional time to work out a deal. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) says he hopes the text of an agreement can be made public on Monday, December 14. But Republicans and Democrats reportedly remain far apart. Bipartisan support will be needed to pass the bill in the House because Republican leaders will face too many defections to build a majority from Republican votes alone.
At issue are differences on funding levels and more than three dozen policy riders on such issues as environment, campaign finance, Syrian refugees, and research on gun violence, as well as the package of tax extenders, which is expected to be linked to the omnibus spending bill, reports CQ.com.
STATUS OF TAX EXTENDERS UNCLEAR
The status of a measure to extend expired and expiring tax provision remains unclear. House and Senate negotiators developed a package that would make some provisions permanent, but criticism over the high cost of the measure—$750 billion—prompted them also to develop a lower-cost package of $600 billion, as well as a two-year, $108.4-billion renewal, reports CQ.com.
If one of the larger packages is approved, it is expected to include permanent extensions of several business tax provisions, such as the research and experimentation tax break, as well as long-term extensions of the earned income tax credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for education related expenses, both of which expire in 2017.
CQ.com adds that the tax package also would likely include a two-year pause for both the medical device tax and the tax on so-called Cadillac health care plans, as well as “two-year extensions of other tax breaks that expired in 2014 and that are not in line for longer extensions.” Presumably the latter group could include the Individual Retirement Account charitable rollover, which expired at the end of 2014.
As noted above, the tax extender package is likely to be paired with the FY16 omnibus funding bill.
FLAKE “WASTEBOOK” INCLUDES SOME RESEARCH GRANTS
Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) this week released his 2015 report on what he views as wasteful federal spending, “Wastebook: The Farce Awakens.” The report is similar to one released on November 30 by Senator James Lankford (R-OK), “Federal Fumbles,” and contains some of the same examples. Senator Flake’s report includes university research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
NSF has issued a detailed response to Senator Lankford on the NSF-funded research projects he highlighted in his report. Duke University responded on its website to the inclusion of one of its research grants in the “Wastebook.”
AAU has responded to similar past reports through its Scientific Enquirer, which features stories of odd-sounding science that turned out to be important to society. Likewise, the Golden Goose Award honors research that might have been viewed as obscure or odd-sounding, but which has provided significant benefits to society.
OTHER
AAU UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR SPRING 2016
AAU is offering two unpaid internships for college undergraduates for the spring 2016 semester with a focus on science and higher education policy. Interested students are invited to submit a resume, a letter of interest, and a writing sample to Traci Carlson ([email protected]) as soon as possible.
Additional information is available on the AAU website.