CONTENTS
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
- House Subcommittee Approves FY16 Commerce-Justice-Science Funding Bill
- AAU Signs Coalition Letter on Labor-HHS-Education Funding Allocation
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
- Higher Education Community Submits Comments on Data Transparency
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
- AAU, COGR Comment on Revised NIST Guidance on Controlled Unclassified Information
BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS, TAX ISSUES
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES FY16 COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE FUNDING BILL
The House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee on May 14 approved its FY16 funding bill with no changes to the draft introduced on May 13. The measure totals $51.4 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion over the FY15 level and $661 million below the President’s request. It includes increased funding for both the National Science Foundation and NASA. The bill is expected to be considered in the full Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, May 20.
The bill provides $7.4 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), an increase of $50 million over the FY15 enacted level. All of the increase would go to the Research and Related Activities portion of the budget. NSF would be allowed to spend the increase only in the Biology, Computing, Engineering, and Math & Physical Sciences directorates, reports Science, and not in the Geoscience or Social and Behavioral Sciences directorates. Below is a general breakdown of the funding:
· Research and Related Activities would receive $5.98 billion, or $50 million (0.8 percent) above the FY15 enacted level;
· Education and Human Resources would be level-funded at the FY15 amount of $866 million; and
· Major Research Equipment and Facilities would receive $200 million, a slight reduction from the FY15 level of $200.8 million.
The bill appropriates $18.5 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an increase of $519 million above the FY15 enacted level. Below is funding by NASA directorate:
· The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) would receive $5.23 billion, or $7.2 million less than the FY15 enacted level. Within SMD, $140 million would support the Jupiter Europa mission. The bill includes previous language that spending for James Webb Space Telescope “shall not exceed $8 billion.”
· The Aeronautics Mission Directorate would be funded at $600 million, or $51 million (7.8 percent) below the FY15 enacted level.
· The Space Technology Mission Directorate would receive $625 million, an increase of $29 million (4.9 percent) above the FY15 enacted level.
· Education (Space Grant). The directorate would be level-funded at the FY15 amount of $119 million; within that total, Space Grant would be level-funded funded at $40 million.
The bill includes language that prohibits NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from engaging in bilateral activities with China unless authorized or certified via procedures established in the bill.
AAU SIGNS COALITION LETTER ON LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING ALLOCATION
AAU has signed on to a coalition letter that urges House and Senate appropriators to increase the FY16 funding allocations for their respective Labor-HHS-Education subcommittees to at least the FY10 funding level of $163.6 billion. The House FY16 allocation is $153.0 billion.
The May 8 letter, supported by 812 organizations, asks committee leaders to “recognize the value of health, education, child development, social services, and job training and workforce development in improving the lives of American families.” It notes that even if subcommittee funding is returned to $163.3 billion, that amount “will have considerably less purchasing power than in FY 2010 after six years of inflation, population growth, and other rising costs.”
The coalition letter was led by the Committee for Education Funding, the Coalition for Health Funding, and the Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce.
OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
HIGHER EDUCATION COMMUNITY SUBMITS COMMENTS ON DATA TRANSPARENCY
A group of 23 higher education associations, including AAU, on May 8 submitted comments to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in response to his panel’s white paper on federal postsecondary education data transparency and consumer information.
The letter, submitted by the American Council on Education (ACE) on behalf of the community, said that federal data and information for postsecondary education must serve three purposes. These are to 1) provide consumer information to help students and their families review options for postsecondary education and select the one that best suits their needs; 2) permit analysis and research into public policy questions involving the broad sweep of postsecondary education; and 3) ensure that public funds are properly spent and support efforts to hold institutions accountable.
The HELP Committee in March released three white papers outlining ideas for discussion during reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Along with data transparency and consumer information, they dealt with institutional accreditation and institutional risk-taking. ACE has submitted community comments for all three white papers. AAU submitted separate comments on the accreditation white paper.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
AAU, COGR COMMENT ON REVISED NIST GUIDANCE ON CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION
AAU and the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) on May 12 sent a letter to the National Institute on Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the agency’s revised draft guidance for federal agencies to use in protecting controlled unclassified information (CUI) in nonfederal information systems and organizations (NIST Special Publication 800-171).
The AAU-COGR letter urges NIST to strengthen its recognition that nonfederal organizations may implement alternate security measures to satisfy the proposed requirements. It also reiterates concern expressed in the associations’ previous comments that the CUI standards are likely to become prescriptive, which could have significant cost and compliance implications for universities. The letter further urges NIST to place the onus on federal agencies to state clearly when CUI is involved and when the standards contained in 800-171 must be invoked.