Congressional News
Congress in Recess until November 14
Congress has been in recess since passing a stopgap funding bill on September 28, which will keep the government funded until December 9. The House and Senate will both return the week of November 14 for a five-week lame duck session and will be focused funding the government past December 9 and accomplishing other legislative priorities before the 114th Congress adjourns on December 31. Of course, much of this action depends on the outcomes of the elections next month and which party will hold the majority in 2017. See COSSA’s appropriations state-of-play analysis for full details of the fiscal year…
Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Returns to Campaign Trail
Congress successfully passed a stopgap funding bill on September 28 to keep the government operating into fiscal year (FY) 2017, which began October 1. The bill will fund the government until December 9 and includes a number of policy and funding provisions that have been hotly debated in recent months, including funding to combat the Zika virus and the opioid epidemic, as well as aid in response to the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan and flooding in Louisiana. The text of the Continuing Resolution is available here. Congress will reconvene following the elections in November and what happens next…
Congressional Supporters of 21st Century Cures Bill Hope for Passage by End of 114th Congress
Supporters of the 21st Century Cures legislation have not given up on seeing the legislation become law in the 114th Congress. On September 28, the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), respectively, released the following statement: “We continue our work on bipartisan legislation to spur cures and treatments and better health for Americans. We’ve been working for a year and a half on behalf of patients and scientists, and we are committed to getting a result this year that will lead to lifesaving medical breakthroughs…
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Academic Research Regulatory Relief
The Subcommittee on Research and Technology of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing on September 29 to review recommendations related to regulatory relief for academic research. Rep. Barbra Comstock (R-VA), the Subcommittee Chair, and Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), the Ranking Member, have both introduced legislation to help ease the administrative burden on federally-funded researchers. The hearing highlighted a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that provides recommendations to the Department of Energy, NASA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Science Foundation on how to streamline administrative requirements. Witnesses included John…
Lawmakers Poised to Pass Stopgap Funding, Return to Campaign Trail
Members of Congress are hoping to get out of town by the end of the week — a week early — to head back out on the campaign trail. However, at the time of this writing, challenges remain in negotiating a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operating into the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1. Lawmakers had planned to stay in session for the remainder of September, but noted earlier in the month that they were poised to strike a deal on a continuing resolution (CR) by this week, allowing them to head home until after…
Congress Returns with Much Left Undone
Congress returns to work this week for one more stretch before the November elections. This will be the final work period before the current fiscal year (FY 2016) expires on September 30. That means some type of action is needed in the coming weeks to keep the federal government funded and operating come October 1. See COSSA’s analysis of the state of play of FY 2017 Appropriations bills for full details. In addition to action on the annual spending bills (which will undoubtedly result in a continuing resolution punting final action to after the election), Congress will be looking to…
Congressional Briefing on Violence Prevention
The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy and WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center are hosting a Congressional Briefing on Tuesday, September 27 on violence and violence prevention. Topics covered will include strategies for violence prevention, patterns of violence, as well as the influences and costs of violence. Nancy Rodriguez, the Director of the National Institute of Justice, will introduce a diverse panel of experts from the public, academic, and non-profit sectors, including COSSA board member and Director of the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center Nancy La Vigne. Register to attend the briefing here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
State of Play: FY 2017 Funding for Social Science Research
Congress has adjourned for a seven-week recess and will not be returning to work until after Labor Day. Despite promises for a return to “regular order” in the annual appropriations process, we find ourselves in familiar territory with none of the 12 annual spending bills expected to be enacted into law before the new fiscal year begins October 1. In fact, none of the bills that fund research agencies and programs (the Commerce, Justice Science bill and the Labor, HHS, Education bill) have yet to make it to the House or Senate floors for debate. Upon returning to work in…
Preliminary Details of House Labor-HHS Bill Released
On July 7, the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee passed its fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations bill for agencies and programs under its jurisdiction, which include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Department of Education, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), among others. While text of the draft appropriations bill was released to coincide with the Subcommittee markup, the Committee Report is not expected to be released until the bill is marked up by the full Appropriations Committee on…
Tri-Caucus Introduces 2016 Health Equity and Accountability Act
On June 15, led by Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL), members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) (H.R. 5475). The groups, also known as the Congressional Tri-Caucus, have introduced versions of the legislation since 2007, which has served to inform other health-related legislation considered by the Congress, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Introducing the bill, Rep. Kelly, chair of the CBC Health Braintrust, noted that HEAA “is a reminder that there is much work to be done to improve health…
Senate Introduces “COMPETES” Reauthorization Bill
On June 22, Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Thune (R-SD), and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced the bipartisan American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S. 3084), which is the Senate’s version of America COMPETES Act reauthorization legislation. As COSSA has been reporting, the America COMPETES Act is legislation originally enacted in 2007 to bolster U.S. investment in basic scientific research at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal science agencies. The House’s efforts to reauthorize COMPETES took a negative turn in recent years, resulting in legislation that would decimate federal funding for social science research and dismantle the…
Appropriations Process Grinds to a Halt
It was only a matter of time before the fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations process ground to a halt in anticipation of the extended summer recess. Tensions came to a head last week with a Democratic sit-in on the House floor in demand of a vote on gun safety legislation, and a 15-hour Democratic filibuster of the FY 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill in the Senate to force votes on gun violence-related amendments, which were allowed late in the week. In light of the renewed focus on gun control in the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy, any bipartisan progress…
Lipinski Introduces Legislation to Improve Research Regulations
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced legislation on June 24 intended to develop ways to alleviate some of the administrative burden placed on federally funded researchers and institutions. The University Regulations Streamlining and Harmonization Act of 2016 (H.R. 5583), which is co-sponsored by Lipinski’s Illinois colleague from across the aisle, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), builds on recommendations from a 2015 National Academies report, Optimizing the Nation’s Investment in Academic Research: A New Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century, Part 1 (part 2 of the report will be released on June 28). The improvements and efficiencies proposed in the bill include establishing…
Senate Presses Forward on 2017 Spending Bills
The Senate Appropriations Committee has been making progress over the last several weeks on its fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations bills in an effort to pass as many of the bills as possible before heading home in mid-July for the party conventions and August recess (follow all of the developments on the COSSA website). The FY 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, which made it out of Committee on April 21, is expected to be on the Senate floor later this week. Stay tuned – COSSA will be closely monitoring the floor debate as this is when we could…
Lawmakers Call for CDC Gun Research
On May 31, 146 Members of Congress signed a letter in support of eliminating appropriations riders that have prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from conducting research on gun violence prevention since 1996 (the “Dickey amendment”). The bipartisan letter, led by Rep. David Price (D-NC) states, “Although Members of Congress may disagree about how best to respond to the high incidence of gun violence, we should all be able to agree that our response should be informed by sound scientific evidence,” and argues that Congress should “allow the research community to investigate evidence-based solutions that could help…
Senate Committee Approves Librarian of Congress Nominee
On June 9, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration approved Carla D. Hayden’s nomination for Librarian of Congress. If approved by a vote of the full Senate, Hayden will be the first African-American and the first women to lead the Library of Congress. Hayden currently heads the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and has previously worked at the Chicago Public Library. Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) said he expects her nomination to move to the Senate floor later this month. If her nomination is approved, Hayden will also be the first term-limited Librarian of Congress, limited to…
House Bill Includes Flat Funding for NSF, Boosts for NIJ, BJS, and Census
On May 24, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill. This bill serves as the vehicle for annual appropriations for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and countless other federal departments and agencies. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the CJS bill on April 21. The House bill would provide NSF with a total budget of $7.4 billion in FY 2017, slightly below the FY 2016 level of $7.46 billion. Most notably, the bill does…
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY 2017 Agriculture Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its fiscal year (FY) 2017 spending bill for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (S. 2956) on May 19 (the bill had marked up in the Subcommittee earlier in the week). The House passed its version of the legislation (H.R. 5054) in April. So far, neither chamber has scheduled the Agriculture appropriations bill for floor consideration, although given that they are relatively uncontroversial, it would not be surprising to see votes on the floor before the summer recess. The Senate bill would provide the Economic Research Service (ERS) with $86.8…
Senate Committee Discusses U.S. Science Investments; COMPETES Bill Expected Soon
On May 11, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing entitled, “Leveraging the U.S. Science and Technology Enterprise.” The Committee heard from a panel of experts in science and engineering representing the university and private sectors. The hearing was designed to inform the Committee’s efforts as it works to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, which is legislation originally enacted in 2007 to bolster U.S. investment in basic scientific research. The Committee has oversight jurisdiction for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other basic science agencies. Read on for full details and check out COSSA’s complete coverage…
Senate Bill Seeks Flat Funding for NSF, NIJ for FY 2017
On April 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill. This bill serves as the vehicle for annual appropriations for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and countless other federal departments and agencies. The next step for the CJS bill is consideration on the Senate floor, which has not yet been scheduled. The bill would provide NSF with a total budget of $7.5 billion in FY 2017, flat with the FY 2016 enacted level. Most notably the Senate bill does…