CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS & TAX ISSUES
- FY17 Continuing Resolution Gets Over the Finish Line
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- House Hearing Looks at Streamlining Research Regulations
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- Associations Endorse Legislation to Delay New Overtime Rule
OTHER
- CEOs Publish Ad in Support of Federal Research Funding
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS & TAX ISSUES
FY17 CONTINUING RESOLUTION GETS OVER THE FINISH LINE
Congress and the President this week approved the FY17 continuing resolution (CR) needed to keep the government running after midnight tonight. The measure will keep the government funded through December 9 when Congress returns after the November elections.
The CR is attached to the FY17 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill ( H.R. 532 5), which was conferenced in June, so the programs in that bill will receive full-year funding. Other programs will be funded through December 9 at largely their current levels, but overall discretionary funding is reduced by 0.496 percent.
Both chambers are out of session. The House will return November 14, the Senate November 15.
When Congress returns in November, the focus will be on funding the government through the rest of FY17, perhaps in a series of small “minibuses” rather than in one omnibus appropriations package. Among other issues on the post-election agenda will be consideration of the 21st Century Cures bill (H.R. 6) and House-Senate conferences on the energy policy and defense authorization bills, reports CQ.com.
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
HOUSE HEARING LOOKS AT STREAMLINING RESEARCH REGULATIONS
A subcommittee of the House Science Committee on September 29 convened a hearing to examine how government regulation of research could be streamlined without compromising accountability and scientific integrity. The Science and Technology Subcommittee focused on recommendations for regulatory relief made in recent reports by the National Academy of Sciences ( NAS ) and the U.S. Government Accountability Office ( GAO).
Among the witnesses were James Luther, associate vice president of finance at Duke University, and Larry Faulkner, former president of the University of Texas at Austin and chair of the NAS committee that prepared its report.
Subcommittee Chair Barbara Comstock (R-VA) and Ranking Member Dan Lipinski (D-IL) have each introduced regulatory legislation that AAU has endorsed: the Research and Development Efficiency Act (H.R. 1119) and the University Regulations Streamlining and Harmonization Act (H.R. 5583).
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
ASSOCIATIONS ENDORSE LEGISLATION TO DELAY NEW OVERTIME RULE
A group of nine higher education associations, including AAU, on September 27 sent a letter to leaders of the House Education and the Workforce Committee expressing support for legislation (H.R. 6094 ) to delay for six months the Obama Administration’s new overtime rule.
The associations’ letter explains why the six-month delay would help colleges and universities comply with the new law, which is scheduled to go into effect December 1, 2016. The Department of Labor released the final overtime rule in May. The rule raises the salary overtime threshold from $23,660 to $47,476, below which most salaried employees will be eligible for overtime pay.
The House passed H.R. 6094 on September 28 by a vote of 246-177, largely along party lines. Also that day, similar legislation ( S. 3462) was introduced in the Senate by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and co-sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The White House has issued a veto threat against the bill.
OTHER
CEOS PUBLISH AD IN SUPPORT OF FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING
A group of 36 CEOs and other leaders of top American corporations signed on to an ad supporting federal basic research funding that ran in the print edition of the New York Times on September 26 and in today's print Wall Street Journal.
The business leaders represent a broad swath of American industries, including tech, aerospace, manufacturing, health, energy, finance, telecommunications, and consumer goods.
The University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, whose Science of Science Communication program sponsored the ad, has issued a press release about the statement. AAU supports this effort and has asked its member universities to do the same.