CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- Congress Approves Two-Year Budget Package
- AAU Issues Statement on Budget Package
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Fifty-four Senators Ask Leaders to Take up House-Passed Perkins Loan Extension
OTHER
- AAU Launches Water Research Webpage
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
CONGRESS APPROVES TWO-YEAR BUDGET PACKAGE
The Senate early this morning gave final congressional approval to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314). The vote was 64 to 35. The action followed House approval of the measure on October 28 by a vote of 266 to 167. The President has indicated he will sign the bill.
The budget package provides $80 billion in sequester relief for discretionary spending over two years—split equally between defense and nondefense programs—and suspend the federal debt limit through March 15, 2017. The added discretionary spending is allocated by $50 billion in FY16 and $30 billion in FY17. The package includes an additional $32 billion over two years for defense and nondefense security programs from the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund. That account does not count against the discretionary spending caps.
The increased discretionary spending would be paid for with cuts in the Social Security Disability Insurance fund, Medicare payments to doctors and other health-care providers, crop insurance subsidies, and other areas. New revenue would be raised, in part, by auctioning off portions of the government-owned broadcast spectrum and selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The House and Senate appropriations committees will now begin crafting an omnibus appropriations bill; the current continuing resolution, which has sustained federal funding largely on autopilot, will expire on December 11.
AAU ISSUES STATEMENT ON BUDGET AGREEMENT
AAU on October 29 released a statement on the Bipartisan Budget Act expressing support for Congress approving the measure and also enacting appropriations bills this year and next that “increase federal investments in such vital areas as higher education and scientific research.”
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
FIFTY-FOUR SENATORS ASK LEADERS TO TAKE UP HOUSE-PASSED PERKINS LOAN EXTENSION
A bipartisan group of 54 Senators on October 29 sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asking them to take up the House-passed extension of the Perkins Loan program (H.R. 3594). The program authorization expired on October 1.
As a result of the lapse, says the letter, “…thousands of current and future students face uncertainty and hundreds of institutions are struggling to find another way to help their neediest students afford their education.”
OTHER
AAU LAUNCHES WATER RESEARCH WEBPAGE
AAU has launched a new webpage to show how research at AAU universities is helping address the chronic challenge of fresh water supply and demand.
Helping Solve the Fresh Water Puzzle features stories about the scientific breakthroughs and technical developments at AAU campuses dealing with drought, flooding, climate change, pollution, and the growing demand for fresh water around the country and around the world.
The water research page is the first of a series of webpages that AAU plans to launch over time to demonstrate the value of research universities in addressing major societal issues.