[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”BUDGET: CJS SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING DRAWS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR NSF RESEARCH”] On March 27, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce Justice and Science and Related Agencies (CJS) held a hearing examining the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budget request. The hearing is among the last duties of Cora Marrett attending in her…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”BUDGET: SCIENCE INVESTMENT MIXED BAG IN PRESIDENT’S FY 2015 PROPOSAL”] On March 4, the president released his annual proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015. The budget proposal functions as a wish list of what the administration will seek to prioritize in federal policy in the coming year. However, Congress, holding the “power of the…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”WHITE HOUSE: OBAMA PROPOSES CLIMATE FUND AMONG ACTIONS TO ADDRESS DROUGHT”] On Feb. 14, President Obama spoke in Fresno, CA regarding his plans to assist California amid its drought crisis. The president took the opportunity to relate climate change to the incident and discuss his latest proposal to address the issue. “Scientists will debate…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’DEBT CEILING: CONGRESS PASSES BILL EXTENDING DEBT LIMIT TO 2015′] This week, the House and Senate passed a bill to extend the debt ceiling through March 2015. The bill was passed shortly after the US Department of Treasury announced it had to resort to extraordinary measures to keep the nation from defaulting on its federal…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’STATE OF THE UNION: OBAMA HAILS 2014 AS ‘YEAR OF ACTION’’] After a year of very few real legislative achievements in Congress outside of averting a politically self-inflicted federal government shutdown, President Obama cautioned that continued gridlock and inaction from the legislative branch during the second session of the current 113th Congress will spur unilateral…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS PASSES FY 2014 SPENDING BILL’] This week, Congress passed a $1.012 trillion omnibus spending measure to fund the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014, which ends Sept. 30. Overall, the bill alleviates the effects of sequestration for some federal programs while placing limits on certain regulatory efforts through federal riders. The…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: CONGRESS APPROVES BILL ON SPENDING LEVELS FOR FY 2014, 2015′] In its last major legislative achievement before the holiday recess, Congress passed a bipartisan budget bill (H.J.Res. 59) that sets overall federal spending levels for Fiscal Year 2014 and 2015. The deal passed the House by a vote of 332-94 and the Senate 64-36….
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’WHITE HOUSE: ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL CHAIR TO STEP DOWN’] On Dec. 3, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chairwoman Nancy Sutley announced she will resign from her post in February. Sutley has held the position since Jan. 22, 2009, when the Senate confirmed her by unanimous consent. As CEQ chair, Sutley played a pivotal role…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’SCIENCE: SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEWS LEGISLATION TO REAUTHORIZE NSF’] On Nov. 13, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research considered the Frontiers in Innovation Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) Act, draft legislation to reauthorize programs in the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the White House Office of…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’WHITE HOUSE: NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER BUILDS ON CLIMATE ACTION PLAN’] On Nov. 1, President Obama issued a new broad Executive Order, instructing federal agencies to help states strengthen their ability to cope with increasingly intense storms, severe droughts, wildfires and other various effects of climate change. The Executive Order establishes a Task Force on Climate…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS, DEAL PUNTS FISCAL BATTLES UNTIL EARLY 2014′] In the closing hours of Oct. 16, Congress passed a deal to reopen the federal government through Jan. 15 and allow the president to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. Under the agreement, which was signed by the president, Congress can only…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: GRIDLOCK CONTINUES IN CONGRESS, NO END IN SIGHT’] This week, Congressional leaders continued debating bills to temporarily fund the government, as well as yet-to-be-introduced legislation to prevent the nation from defaulting on its debt. The government shut down its “nonessential” functions on Oct. 1, the start of current Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, after…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS DEBATES SHORTTERM SPENDING MEASURE’] This month, the House and Senate wrestled over a measure to temporarily fund the federal government beyond the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2013. The CR does not address authorization provisions of the farm bill that also expires on Oct. 1. The most significant portions of the…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: CONGRESS EXPECTED TO PUNT PRIORITY FUNDING ISSUES’] Congress returned this week with votes planned on legislation to authorize military force against Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons as well as a bill to a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the government while Congress negotiates an agreement on government program spending…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: CONGRESS ADJOURNS AMID IMMINENT SPENDING DEADLINES’] Congress has adjourned for the August district work period leaving a full plate of must-dos when members return after Labor Day. Many items on their list will need to be addressed before the end of September. The largest item will be the completion of the appropriations cycle. While…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIES SLASHED, FIRE PREVENTION GETS BOOST’] On July 22, House Republicans released a draft of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The bill primarily funds environmental agencies such as the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Forest Service. The Interior and Environment appropriations…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE CJS BILL CUTS SCIENCE INVESTMENT’] On July 9, the House Appropriations Committee released its Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, which includes funding for the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce and several key science agencies for the coming fiscal year. In total, the CJS…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’CLIMATE CHANGE: OBAMA OUTLINES PLAN TO REGULATE GREENHOUSE GASES’] On June 25, President Obama announced his plan to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The plan seeks to implement federal action on addressing climate change in lieu of Congress that has not passed comprehensive legislation to reduce carbon emissions throughout the president’s first-term. “Today, about 40 percent…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’EDUCATION: STEM REORGANIZATION EFFORT MEETS BIPARTISAN CRITICISM’] On June 4, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee convened for a hearing examining the Obama Administration’s proposed reorganization of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) programs outlined in its proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Under the plan, 110 of 226 federal agency STEM programs would be…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET SEQUESTRATION: COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IMPACTS ON NATIONAL PARKS’] House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Edward Markey (D-MA) recently released a report further detailing sequestration’s impacts on national parks. Noting that visitors to national parks spent about $30 billion in 2011, the report highlights several impacts it says are unavoidable. The report was released May…