CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS & TAX ISSUES
- AAU Urges Congress to Complete FY17 Appropriations Process
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Senate Commerce Committee Marks Up Competitiveness Bill
- TFAI Applauds Senate Competitiveness Bill
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- NAS Issues Regulatory Reform Report Part II, Urges Withdrawal of Human Subjects NPRM
- Senators Urge Administration to Clarify Graduate Student Health Plan Rules
- AAU and APLU Submit Comments to USCIS on Proposed Employment Processing Fee Increases
OTHER
- AAU Calls on Presidential Candidates to Advance Policies on Innovation, Other Areas
- AAU Seeks Two Student Interns for Fall 2016
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS & TAX ISSUES
AAU URGES CONGRESS TO COMPLETE FY17 APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS
AAU on June 27 issued a statement on FY17 appropriations that urged Congress to complete the FY17 appropriations process, place a high priority on research and higher education, and lay the groundwork for serious budget reforms in the next Congress.
The statement noted the considerable bipartisan support in Congress for research and higher education, particularly for increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and use of the Pell Grant surplus to restore the year-round Pell program. AAU also expressed concern about cuts in Defense basic research and NASA science, and flat funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE MARKS UP COMPETITIVENESS BILL
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on June 29 approved by voice vote the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S. 3084), the Senate reauthorization bill for a portion of the America COMPETES Act. Chairman John Thune (R-SD) expressed hope the bill would be considered by the full Senate in the next few weeks.
The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters (D-MI), reauthorizes programs at NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (The Senate in April approved separate legislation reauthorizing Department of Energy Office of Science programs.)
The bill contains many positive provisions. It reaffirms NSF’s peer review process; creates a new commercialization and proof-of-concept grant program at NSF, which AAU has long advocated; and, as amended in the markup, contains authorized funding levels for the two agencies. NSF would be authorized at $7.5 billion in FY17 (the level approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee), with a four-percent increase in FY18 (not accounting for inflation). NIST would be authorized at $974 million in FY17 and just over $1 billion in FY18. The bill as amended raises the micro-purchase threshold to $10,000 for NSF, NASA, and NIST awards.
The committee also approved a modified amendment by Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) that would require the NSF inspector general to audit the agency’s policies and procedures for sub-recipient monitoring. AAU and other associations continue to support the elimination of sub-recipient monitoring, especially in instances where the primary and sub-recipients of the funds are subject to the Single Audit Act.
As the bill moves forward, AAU will encourage the Senate to extend the authorization period beyond two years.
In advance of the markup, AAU issued a statement expressing appreciation for the positive provisions in the bill, and encouraging committee approval of the amendment with authorized funding levels.
TFAI APPLAUDS SENATE COMPETITIVENESS BILL
The Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI), in which AAU participates, sent a letter to the lead Senate sponsors of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act on June 28 thanking them for advancing the bill and for a number of key provisions. The letter also urged the Senators to increase authorized funding levels for NSF and NIST.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
AAU AND APLU SUBMIT COMMENTS ON PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT PROCESSING FEE INCREASES
AAU and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) today submitted comments to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging that if the agency raises fees for employment processing, it use the additional revenue to reduce processing times. The associations noted that processing currently can take up to eight months, forcing universities to pay premium fees of tens of thousands of dollars for expedited review.
NAS Issues Regulatory Reform Report Part II, Urges WITHDRAWAL OF HUMAN SUBJECTS NPRM
A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) on June 29 released Part II of its report on regulatory reform of federally funded academic research. The report included a call for the Obama Administration to withdraw its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Common Rule, which deals with the use of human subjects in research.
The report, Optimizing the Nation’s Investment in Academic Research: A New Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century, addresses research regulation in such areas as human subjects in research; export controls; select agents and toxins; and university technology transfer reporting requirements.
Perhaps its most significant recommendation is its call for the Administration to withdraw its NPRM on the Common Rule and to work with Congress to create an independent national commission to examine and update the ethical, legal, and institutional frameworks governing research involving human subjects.
AAU has not specifically endorsed the report’s recommendations, but the association earlier expressed concerns about the NPRM in comments submitted with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to the Department of Health and Human Services. The concerns raised by AAU and many others in the scientific community are clearly reflected in the NAS report.
AAU will continue working to advance legislative proposals that address research regulatory reform, including those proposed by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) in the House (H.R. 5583) and Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) in the Senate (S. 2742).
SENATORS URGE ADMINISTRATION TO CLARIFY GRADUATE STUDENT HEALTH PLAN RULES
A group of 17 Democratic Senators, led by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), wrote to three department heads in the Obama Administration on June 22 urging them to reconsider the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) interpretation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) regarding subsidized health insurance coverage for graduate students.
The Senators asked the Secretaries of Health & Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to issue final guidance clarifying that it is consistent with ACA for universities to provide subsidized student health insurance coverage for their graduate students. The IRS and the three departments issued a notice in February stating that such coverage for graduate students might violate the ACA, but provided colleges and universities a one-year transitional period through academic year 2016-2017.
AAU strongly agrees with the Senators’ call for positive clarification and will continue efforts with others in the higher education community to secure this clarification.
OTHER
AAU CALLS ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO ADVANCE POLICIES ON INNOVATION, OTHER AREAS
AAU on June 30 urged the contending presidential candidates to advocate policies that promote U.S. innovation, enhance college affordability, attract and retain top international talent, and make the federal investments in research and higher education more efficient.
“Our country faces extraordinary challenges in the coming years, and it should be clear that we cannot solve them unless we nourish the ideas and discoveries that lead to innovation, and the talent from every part of our society that makes them possible,” said AAU President Mary Sue Coleman. She added that the federal government should reform its regulation of research and higher education in order to make these activities “more efficient and cost-effective.”
AAU SEEKS TWO STUDENT INTERNS FOR FALL 2016
AAU is seeking applicants for two student internships in its Washington, D.C. office for the upcoming fall semester. Applicants may be undergraduate or graduate students and do not need to attend an AAU university. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 22.
The internships focus on science and higher education policy and public affairs.
Information about the internships, including full descriptions of the positions and past intern projects and comments, is available on the AAU Internship Program webpage.