CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- FY16 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bills Move in House and Senate Committees
- AAU Issues Statement on House and Senate Bills
- Higher Education Associations Weigh in on House & Senate FY16 Labor-HHS-Education Bills
- AAU Issues Statement on Senate Committee Approval of FY16 Funding Bills for Science
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Organizations Issue Statement Opposing the Innovation Act (H.R. 9)
OTHER
- AAU Joins Business Leaders, Organizations In Issuing Innovation Imperative Statement
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
FY16 LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS BILL MOVE IN HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEES
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees this week approved their respective versions of the FY16 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill. The discretionary spending allocation for the House bill is $3.7 billion below the FY15 enacted level, with $2.8 billion of that cut from Department of Education programs; the Senate bill is $3.6 below the FY15 level with $1.7 billion taken from Education.
Both bills would provide significant funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and sufficient funding to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to its scheduled level of $5,915.
National Institutes of Health:
The House committee-passed bill would fund NIH at $31.2 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion over the FY15 level and $100 million over the Administration’s FY16 request. Increases would bolster targeted research in such areas as Alzheimer’s disease and antibiotic resistance, as well as in the Administration’s Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neuro-technologies (BRAIN) Initiative and the Precision Medicine Initiative.
The Senate committee-passed bill would fund NIH at $32 billion, which the Committee press release says would be the largest funding increase for NIH since the agency’s budget doubling ended in 2003. Like the House bill, the Senate measure would increase funding for the National Institute on Aging (which leads research on Alzheimer’s disease), antibiotic resistance, the BRAIN Initiative, and the Precision Medicine Initiative. The Senate bill would also increase funding for Institutional Development Awards and to “every Institute and Center to continue investments in innovative research that will advance fundamental knowledge and speed the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and preventive measures to improve the health of all Americans.”
Student Aid:
In both the House and Senate bills, the maximum Pell Grant Award would grow to the scheduled amount of $5,915 through a combination of mandatory ($1,055) and discretionary spending ($4,860). However, both bills would cut funding from the anticipated Pell Grant surplus: by $370 million in the House bill and by $300 million in the Senate bill.
The House bill would increase funding for the TRIO and Gear UP college preparatory programs by $60 million and $21 million, respectively, and level fund Federal Work Study (FWS) and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).
In contrast, the Senate bill would level fund both TRIO and GEAR UP, and cut FWS and FSEOG by $40 million and $29 million, respectively.
GAANN:
Both bills would also cut funding for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program, which is one of the few remaining aid programs for graduate students. The House bill would cut funding by $4 million, the Senate by $9 million.
Other Higher Education Programs:
The House bill would level fund Department of Education International Education programs at the FY15 level of $72.2 million, while the Senate bill would cut funding for the programs by $22 million. For the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the House bill would cut funding by nearly $164 million, or 29 percent; the Senate bill would cut funding by $11 million.
Policy Provisions:
Both bills would prohibit the Department of Education from moving forward with regulations that would establish a college ratings system, set new rules on teacher preparation, define “gainful employment” and “credit hour,” and stipulate how states must license higher education institutions.
AAU Issues Statement on House and Senate Bills
AAU earlier today issued a statement on the House and Senate FY16 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bills. The statement expresses appreciation for the increased funding for NIH and funding sufficient to provide the scheduled increase in the Pell Grant maximum award, but it raises concern about some significant cuts in the bill “forced by the sequestration-level discretionary spending caps under which Congress is working.”
HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS WEIGH IN ON HOUSE & SENATE FY16 LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION BILLS
Two groups of higher education associations, led by the American Council on Education, this week sent letters to House and Senate appropriators about their respective FY16 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bills. A group of 14 associations expressed support for the House measure, while noting some concerns; a somewhat different group of 17 associations detailed concerns about the Senate bill. AAU signed on to both letters, which also offered strong support for efforts to comprehensively address the sequester-level discretionary spending caps.
AAU ISSUES STATEMENT ON SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL OF FY16 FUNDING BILLS FOR SCIENCE
AAU on June 23 issued a statement about three FY16 appropriations bills passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee that fund scientific research. The statement expresses disappointment at flat funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), a deep cut in planetary sciences at NASA, and a relatively small increase for Defense 6.1 basic research. It also notes that the Senate provides small increases for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and ARPA-E.
The statement adds, “…the Senate has generally taken a measured approach to research funding in the context of the current budget caps, in contrast to the House of Representatives, which has deeply cut critical areas of research.” (The AAU statement about the House-passed bills is available here.)
The three FY16 appropriations bills are: Commerce, Justice, Science, which funds NSF and NASA; Energy and Water, which funds the DOE Office of Science and ARPA-E; and Defense, which supports Defense basic research (category 6.1).
The statement goes on to urge a larger budget deal:
“…what these bills make clear is that Congress and the President need to reach a budget agreement that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges and allows for the elimination of the sequestration-level budget caps, thus facilitating greater and sustained investments in scientific research. Such an agreement will require that our leaders finally address entitlement and tax reforms.”
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
ORGANIZATIONS ISSUE STATEMENT OPPOSING HOUSE INNOVATION ACT (H.R. 9)
With the House of Representatives expected to consider the Innovation Act (H.R. 9) in mid-July, a number of organizations, including AAU, issued a statement on June 25 expressing strong opposition to the measure. The statement says the bill needs significant work and should not be considered on the floor in its current form. The groups’ statement adds:
“As drafted, H.R. 9 would dramatically weaken intellectual property rights and undermine a patent system that is vital to incentivizing innovation and job creation in our country. The bill also fails to adequately address abusive practices against legitimate patent owners. We urge House members to meaningfully revise H.R. 9 to target abuses of patent trolls without damaging our nation’s entire innovation ecosystem.”
The six higher education associations that have been working together on patent reform, including AAU, issued a joint statement of opposition to H.R. 9 on June 10, in advance of the House Judiciary Committee’s markup of the bill on June 11.
OTHER
AAU JOINS BUSINESS LEADERS, ORGANIZATIONS IN ISSUING INNOVATION IMPERATIVE STATEMENT
AAU joined top business leaders and a group of 253 other organizations on June 23 in issuing a call to action for stronger federal policies and investments to bolster domestic research and development.
The statement warns that the nation’s leadership in innovation is now at risk for having given too little priority to federal scientific research investments and policies that promote innovation. It highlights seven areas where Congress particularly should take action:
1. Renew the federal commitment to scientific discovery,
2. Make permanent a strengthened federal R&D tax credit,
3. Improve student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,
4. Reform U.S. visa policy,
5. Take steps to streamline or eliminate costly and inefficient regulations,
6. Reaffirm merit-based peer review, and
7. Stimulate further improvements in advanced manufacturing.
Those promoting the statement on social media platforms are using the hashtag, #InnovationImperative.