CONTENTS:
- FY19 Appropriations Update
- President Signs FY19 Minibus Averting Shutdown
- Negotiations Fail for FY19 Minibus Containing NEH Funds
- AAU Thanks Congress for Increased Energy Research Investments
- House Committee Holds Hearing on Campus Free Speech
- White House Releases National Strategic Plan for Quantum Information Science
- DHS Announces Proposed Rule to Target Immigrants on Public Assistance
FY19 APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE
President Trump today signed the FY19 minibus that combines Labor-HHS-Education and Defense appropriations and funds at FY18 levels all other federal agencies and programs not addressed through December 7. Approved earlier this week by Congress, the FY19 spending bundle would provide a $2 billion increase to the NIH, a $100 boost to the Pell Grant maximum award, and increase Department of Defense 6.1 basic research funds by nearly 12 percent. See AAU’s FY19 Funding Priorities table here.
- Ahead of the bill’s passage, AAU and several other associations wrote to House leadership to urge approval of the FY19 Labor-HHS-Education and Defense minibus. The letter says the associations are grateful for the “meaningful increases for the programs that make college accessible and promote medical research.”
Conference negotiations have reportedly failed for another FY19 minibus spending package containing Agriculture-FDA, Interior-Environment, Financial Services, and Transportation-HUD. The Interior-Environment bill would have provided $155 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a $2 million increase over FY18. The agencies and programs covered by the four bills will be funded at FY18 levels through December 7, per the continuing resolution in the Labor-HHS-Education and Defense minibus.
President Trump last week signed into law the FY19 minibus spending package that combines Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Legislative Branch appropriations, increasing funds for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and ARPA-E by 5.2 and 3.6 percent over FY18, respectively.
- The Energy Sciences Coalition, of which AAU is a member, wrote to House and Senate appropriators to thank them for their efforts to secure funding increases for Department of Energy Office of Science research and infrastructure priorities in FY19.
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RESOURCE AVAILABLE: FY19 Funding Priorities Table |
HOUSE COMMITTEE HOLDS CAMPUS FREE SPEECH HEARING
The House Education and Workforce Committee held a Wednesday hearing titled "Examining First Amendment Rights on Campus." Witnesses included Zachary Wood (author, Uncensored), Joseph Cohn (FIRE), Suzanne Nossel (PEN America), and Ken Paulson (Newseum’s First Amendment Center and Middle Tennessee State University). In her opening remarks, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) suggested that by attempting to curb offensive speech, colleges and universities are preventing students from developing the necessary critical thinking skills for their professional development. Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) criticized the administration’s selective enforcement of hate speech while aggressively pursuing statements of interest in First Amendment cases. Scott also noted that universities must reconcile protecting First Amendment rights and complying with Title VI and Title IX mandates.
There was consensus among the witnesses that the First Amendment should not be divisively partisan; that diversity on campuses – both demographic and viewpoint – is critically important; and that students should be educated about the First Amendment before arriving to college. There was not agreement, however, regarding the need for federal legislation on campus speech. Mr. Wood and Mr. Cohn indicated that they would support legislation like Senator Hatch’s Free Right to Expression in Education Act (S. 2394). Ms. Nossel and Mr. Paulson cautioned that campus speech issues don’t readily submit to legal or regulatory solutions and could counterintuitively result in more speech suppression, and they emphasized that congressional support for civics education and proactive, transparent university commitments to ensuring free speech would be more effective.
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AAU Presidents and Chancellors Statement on Free Speech; from Mary Sue’s Desk, Free Speech is to be Encouraged, Not Stifled |
WHITE HOUSE RELEASES NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE
The White House on Tuesday announced a National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science in conjunction with the Office of Science and Technology Policy Summit on quantum science. The strategic overview outlines six policy priorities that federal agencies are expected to consider, including prioritizing quantum research investments, coordinating research across agencies and with private industry, promoting quantum education and workforce training, providing access to government facilities and research, and international cooperation. The plan emphasizes collaboration between academia, industry, and federal agencies as essential to technology development and details a plan to form a “U.S. Quantum Consortium” to forecast challenges and coordinate pre-competitive research, address intellectual property concerns, and streamline technology-transfer mechanisms.
DHS ANNOUNCES PROPOSED RULE TO TARGET IMMIGRANTS ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
The Department of Homeland Security earlier this week announced a proposed rule to consider current and past use of public benefits above certain thresholds as a “heavily weighed negative factor” for those applying to legally remain in the U.S. According to a DHS press release, the proposed rule would also make nonimmigrants who receive or are likely to receive public benefits above the designated threshold generally ineligible for change of status and extension of stay. The policy would impact those seeking to immigrate to the U.S. permanently and others who are in the country on temporary visas — including students and workers. Once published in the Federal Register, DHS will accept public comments on the proposed “public charge” rule for 60 days.