CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, & TAX ISSUES
- President’s FY16 Budget Contains Increases for Research, Higher Education
- AAU Posts Summary of Key FY16 Research and Higher Education Proposals
- AAU Statement Says Funding Proposal Would Help Close the Innovation Deficit
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Higher Education Associations Detail Concerns about House Patent Reform Bill
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- AAU Comments on Department of Education’s Proposed College Rating System
- Associations Raise Concerns About Proposed Teacher Preparation Regulation
OTHER
- Carrie Wolinetz Heading to NIH
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, & TAX ISSUES
PRESIDENT’s FY16 BUDGET CONTAINS INCREASES FOR RESEARCH, HIGHER EDUCATION
The President’s FY16 budget, released on February 2, makes clear that research and higher education remain among his priorities. Along with calling for an end to the sequester funding caps, the budget would provide funding increases for several research agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy Office of Science. The President’s proposal for a precision medicine initiative, which he mentioned in the State of the Union address, has drawn real support on Capitol Hill.
The budget discusses the Administration’s research and development priorities, including continuation of the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing (page 277), a network of 45 university-industry innovation centers around the country. Along with supporting the nine existing centers, the budget would provide an additional $350 million in discretionary spending for seven new innovation institutes in the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and Energy. It also includes a proposal for $1.9 billion in mandatory spending to support the remaining 29 institutes in the network.
Among the many proposals in higher education, the budget would expand access to Pell Grants and college opportunity, including funding to support the first two years of community college. It also proposes to consolidate several higher education tax credits into an expanded American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and make the credit permanent.
Amidst this ambitious research and education agenda, however, the budget would cut basic research at the Department of Defense by more than eight percent, even as overall defense spending would rise significantly.
In order to support new spending, the budget includes a variety of new and previously proposed tax increases, most of which have little to no support among congressional Republicans. These include higher taxes on capital gains and corporate global profits, as well as the previously proposed cap on the value of charitable deductions for high-income taxpayers. New this year is a proposal to disallow the deduction for charitable contributions that are a prerequisite for purchasing tickets to college sporting events.
AAU Posts Summary of Key FY16 Research and Higher Education Proposals
The AAU summary and analysis of the budget proposals for key research and higher education programs is available here, along with the AAU funding priorities table and related budget materials. We will continue to update these documents.
AAU Statement Says Funding Proposal Would Help Close the Innovation Deficit
The AAU statement about the President’s FY16 budget expresses appreciation that the budget includes “the kinds of investments in scientific research and higher education that would help close the nation’s innovation deficit.” It also expresses our concern about the proposed cut in Defense basic research.
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS DETAIL CONCERNS ABOUT HOUSE PATENT REFORM BILL
The group of six higher education associations that have been working together on patent reform issued a statement on February 5 expressing serious concerns about the Innovation Act (H.R. 9), legislation introduced in the House. The bill is intended to address the abusive litigation practices of “patent trolls,” a goal shared by the associations, but they asserted that the legislation would go too far and cause damage to the U.S. patent system.
H.R. 9, which the sponsors say is identical to the measure (H.R. 3309) approved by the House in 2013, was introduced by a bipartisan group of House Members, led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).
The associations said they support legislation to target those who abuse the patent system, but they could not support the Innovation Act, as drafted. The measure is so broad, they said, that it would substantially raise the costs and risks associated with patenting, thus discouraging technology transfer of university research to the private sector.
“To be clear, our associations want Congress to pass legislation this year that would put an end to the abusive behavior of patent trolls,” the associations said. “However, such legislation should promote, not discourage, technology transfer. And it must sustain our fair and strong patent system, which is the envy of the world. We believe that Chairman Goodlatte’s bill has the potential, if properly redrafted, to accomplish this goal. We look forward to working with him to achieve such a positive outcome for patent holders and the American public.”
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
AAU COMMENTS ON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S PROPOSED COLLEGE RATING SYSTEM
AAU on February 3 submitted detailed comments to the Department of Education on the agency’s proposed college rating system. The comment letter builds on earlier comments submitted to the Department in December 2013 and January 2014. It states that AAU believes that providing students and families with clear, accurate, and useful information about higher education institutions is an appropriate federal role. But AAU asserts that it is inappropriate for the federal government to rate institutions. The letter states:
“…We do not endorse a new rating system, and we are concerned that a rating system does not reflect the diversity of higher education institutions and their missions, and may confuse and mislead prospective students.”
Comments on the proposed rating system are due February 17.
ASSOCIATIONS RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT PROPOSED TEACHER PREPARATION REGULATION
A group of 31 higher education associations, including AAU, submitted comments to the Department of Education on February 2 expressing serious concerns about the draft teacher preparation regulation the Department published in the Federal Register on December 2, 2014.
The letter states that the higher education community shares the goal of furthering teacher preparation reforms, but that the proposed regulation has the potential to harm students by producing confusing and inaccurate assessments of program quality. The letter concludes:
“In summary, the proposed regulation is likely to cause significant harm to teacher preparation programs, institutions of higher learning and the schools and communities their graduates serve. It is thoroughly at odds with congressional intent and represents a staggering overreach by the federal government through the rulemaking process. It accomplishes all this at massive cost and on a foundation of discredited data and metrics. We respectfully request that the proposed regulation be withdrawn pending further study and analysis. We stand ready to work with the Administration, Congress and all stakeholders to develop more workable policies for regulatory adoption or as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.”
OTHER
CARRIE WOLINETZ HEADING TO NIH
NIH Director Francis Collins on February 2 announced the appointment of Dr. Carrie Wolinetz, AAU’s Deputy Vice President for Federal Relations, as the next Associate Director for Science Policy. Her appointment is effective February 23; today is her last day at AAU.
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