Government Relations

Legislative Update

July 7, 2006

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In this issue:

STATE UPDATE

No State Update this week.

FEDERAL UPDATE

Both the House and Senate will reconvene the week of July 10.

Before leaving for the 4th of July recess, the House approved the FY07 Science-State-Commerce appropriations bill with the budget increases approved in committee for the National Science Foundation and NASA science.

The bill would fund NSF at the President’s requested level of $6 billion, including fully funding the agency’s portion of the American Competitiveness Initiative. The agency total is $439 million above FY06 funding. It includes $4.6 billion for research, which is $334.5 million above FY06 funding, and $832.4 million for science education, which is $16.2 million above the request, and $35.7 million above FY06 funding.

Within education, the committee’s extra $16.2 million would add $11 million to the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program (http://www.howsafeareyou.com/pubs/2006/nsf06528/nsf06528.htm) and add $5 million to the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=EPSCOR). The bill would also provide $25 million for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeships (http://www.igert.org/).

The bill provides no funding increase for NSF’s Math and Science Partnership program.

For NASA, the measure would provide about $16.709 billion. The bill would fund the President’s Vision for Space Exploration. The measur4e would provide $824 million for aeronautics research. Science would be funded at $5.375 billion.

The Senate approved the FY07 Energy and Water appropriations and endorsed substantial increases for the Department of Energy Office of Science. The Office would receive $4.241 billion, significantly more than the Administration’s request and the House-approved level. The bill fully funds the President’s request for the Office of Science under his American Competitiveness Initiative.

In other congressional developments, Senate Majority Leader Frist offered a unanimous consent request to allow consideration of the Stem Cell Research and Enhancement Act (H.R. 810), as well as two related measures. By doing so, he fulfilled the promise he made last year to bring stem-cell research legislation to the Senate floor. Floor consideration is likely in July. The two other bills, which are not viewed as alternatives for those Senators who are not sure about voting for the House-passed H.R. 810, are on fetal farming and alternative stem cell approaches. Only H.R. 810 does what is wanted to expand the President’s policy on stem cells.

The Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education has released a staff-written first draft of its report, due in September, which criticizes U.S. higher education as “equal parts meritocracy and mediocrity.” The draft document has prompted concern. ACE President David Ward said it was based on a “highly selective reading of testimony” and was prepared “without the slightest input of commission members.”

Commission members met in closed session on June 28 in two groups to discuss the draft. The discussions have been characterized as cordial and constructive. The draft now goes back to staff and an outside writer for revising. There will be public meetings held before submitting the report to Secretary Spellings in September. The draft report is available at: http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/report.pdf.

The Department of Education also announced how it plans to implement two new programs – Academic Competitiveness Grants and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent – that eligible students may apply for beginning July 1.

Related information is available at: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2006/06/06292006b.html.

An official from the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education has been invited to Wisconsin on July 17 to address financial aid and other administrative staff. A tentative confirmation has been received, and campuses will be learning more about this opportunity in the near future.

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