CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- House Adopts FY16 Budget Conference Agreement
- House Approves FY16 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Senate Judiciary Committee Leaders Introduce PATENT Act
- Higher Education Associations Issue Statement on PATENT Act
- House Energy & Commerce Committee Marks Up TROL Act
- Energy and Commerce Leaders Introduce 21st Century Cures Discussion Draft
- AAU Releases Statement on the Discussion Draft
- House SST Committee Approves NASA Reauthorization Bill
- AAU Sends Letter to Committee Members in Advance of NASA Bill Markup
- ACE Submits Comments on Senator Alexander's Concept Paper on Accreditation
OTHER
- MIT Report Details Threat of a U.S. Innovation Deficit
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
HOUSE ADOPTS FY16 BUDGET CONFERENCE AGREEMENT
The House of Representatives on April 30 approved the FY16 budget resolution conference report (S. Con Res 11), sending the measure to the Senate for final congressional approval. The measure provides overall guidance for spending but is not signed into law by the President. The FY16 agreement follows the spending caps enacted in the Budget Control Act for both defense and non-defense discretionary spending in FY16, but it bolsters defense spending by using the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, which does not count against the spending caps. The measure provides $96 billion for the OCO in FY16, or $38 billion more than the President requested.
The conference agreement authorizes the use of the expedited reconciliation process only for making changes to or repealing the Affordable Care Act.
HOUSE APPROVES FY16 ENERGY & WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILL
The House of Representatives this morning approved its FY16 Energy & Water spending bill (H.R. 2028) on a largely party-line vote of 240-177.
The bill includes $5.1 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, which is a small increase of $29 million, or 0.6 percent, above the FY15 enacted level.
Within of the Office of Science are the following funding amounts:
- Advanced Scientific Computing Research: $537.5 million, an increase of $3.4 million, or 0.6 percent, above FY15;
- Basic Energy Sciences: $1.7 billion, an increase of $37 million, or 2.1 percent, above FY15;
- Biological and Environmental Research: $538 million, a significant cut of $54 million, or 9.1 percent, below FY15;
- Fusion Energy Sciences: $467 million, a slight increase of $100,000 over FY15. The measure would freeze funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) at the FY15 level of $150 million, and raise funding for the domestic fusion science program by $100,000 to $317 million.
- High Energy Physics: $776 million, an increase of $10 million, or 1.3 percent, above FY15;
- Nuclear Physics: $616 million, which is $20.6 million, or 3.5 percent, above FY15; and
- ARPA-E: funding is frozen at the FY15 level of $280 million.
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE LEADERS INTRODUCE PATENT ACT
A bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members, including the Committee leadership, on April 29 introduced their long-awaited patent reform legislation, the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act. The Committee also released a one-page summary and a section-by-section analysis of the bill.
The bill sponsors are Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and committee members John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mike Lee (R-UT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
--Higher Education Associations Issue Statement on PATENT Act
The six higher education associations that have been working together on patent reform, including AAU, issued a statement on April 30, thanking the Senate sponsors for listening to the concerns of the higher education community in drafting the bill. The associations said they “will have improvements to suggest during the legislative process,” but noted that the bill is a “substantial improvement” over the House bill, the Innovation Act (H.R. 9), and “takes a more measured approach to addressing the abusive litigation practices of patent trolls while protecting the integrity of our patent system.”
The six associations are AAU, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Council on Education, the Association of University Technology Managers, and the Council on Governmental Relations.
HOUSE ENERGY & COMMERCE COMMITTEE MARKS UP TROL ACT
The House Energy & Commerce Committee on April 29 approved the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act (H.R. 2045), without amendments. AAU and APLU on April 16 issued a statement on the bill.
ENERGY AND COMMERCE LEADERS INTRODUCE 21ST CENTURY CURES DISCUSSION DRAFT
Leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on April 29 released a new discussion draft of their legislation, the 21st Century Cures Act, which aims to bolster biomedical research and speed disease cures and treatments to patients through a variety of means. Among other provisions, the discussion draft would increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by raising authorized discretionary spending and by providing $10 billion over five years in mandatory funding, starting in FY16.
--AAU Releases Statement on the Discussion Draft
AAU issued a statement on April 30 that commends Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Committee member Diana DeGette (D-CO) for their strong bipartisan appreciation of the central role of NIH in developing scientific and medical innovations, and the draft bill’s recognition of the need for sustained, predictable funding for the agency. The statement adds that AAU will continue to analyze the full text of the legislative draft and looks forward to working with Congress to establish sustained, predictable funding for NIH.
HOUSE SST COMMITTEE APPROVES NASA REAUTHORIZATION BILL
The House Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee on April 30 approved its two-year NASA reauthorization bill (H.R. 2039) on a party-line vote of 19-15. The measure, which covers FY16 and FY17, will now be referred to the full House for consideration.
During the markup, Committee Democrats offered several amendments, all of which failed to pass. Among them was an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) to bolster authorized funding for NASA’s Earth Science program, the Aeronautics Directorate, and the Space Launch System and Orion programs.
--AAU Sends Letter to Committee Members in Advance of NASA Bill Markup
In advance of the markup of H.R. 2039, AAU sent a letter to all members of the Committee detailing the association’s views. The letter describes AAU’s concerns about the low authorized funding levels for the Science, Space Technology, and Aeronautics directorates, with even greater cuts proposed for the Science Directorate’s Earth Science program. “Given the complementary goals and activities of the directorates,” the association wrote, “adequate funding for all the directorates is necessary for NASA to operate effectively and to successfully achieve its mission.”
The AAU letter also expressed appreciation for the bill’s strong support for student participation in NASA research missions, along with its recognition of the importance of funding small, medium, and flagship missions, as well as research and analysis grant programs, technology development grant programs, and suborbital research activities.
ACE SUBMITS COMMUNITY COMMENTS ON SENATOR ALEXANDER'S CONCEPT PAPER ON ACCREDITATION
The American Council on Education (ACE) on April 30 submitted comments to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in response to his request for comments on the Committee staff concept paper on accreditation. The ACE-led comments include language supportive of differential review, which AAU strongly endorses. AAU submitted its own comments on the accreditation white paper on April 24.
The concept paper is one of three prepared for the Committee to inform its reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The other two concept papers deal with institutional risk sharing and with federal government data collection and transparency. ACE has submitted higher education community comments on the institutional risk-sharing white paper, and expects to do so soon on data collection.
OTHER
MIT REPORT DETAILS THREAT OF A U.S. INNOVATION DEFICIT
At an event on April 27, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released anew report that examines why the declining federal investment in basic research threatens to create an innovation deficit for America.
The report, “The Future Postponed,” features areas of research where the U.S. is at risk of falling behind its international competitors, such as Alzheimer’s disease, synthetic biology, and cybersecurity. The report was written by the MIT Committee to Evaluate the Innovation Deficit, a group of university faculty. AAU cosponsored the event, which featured AAAS CEO Rush Holt, MIT Committee Chair Marc Kastner, and other industry leaders and MIT faculty members.