APLU-CGA Update 3.25.2013

CGA NEWS

(3-25-13)

To:       CGA

From:   A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs

• Senate Passes Budget Resolution
• Deadline Extended to Sign-On Community Letter in Support of AFRI
• CEF and CHF Circulating Labor-HHS-Education 302B Sign-on Letter
• House Programmatic Request Deadlines

•  Senate Passes Budget Resolution

For the first time in four years, the Senate passed a Budget Resolution early Saturday morning after a marathon "vote-a-rama" on scores of amendments.  The budget passed by a vote of 50-49, with 4 Democrats (Sens. Kay Hagan (NC), Mark Pryor (AR), Max Baucus (MT) and Mark Begich (AK)) voting with all Republicans against the measure.  Although senators filed nearly 600 amendments, only 100 amendments received a vote. 

Amendments of interest to APLU institutions which passed include:

• Brown (D-OH) amendment to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to establish a national network for manufacturing innovation that leverages private and public sector investments for proven United States based manufacturing industries. (#455) Agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
• Durbin (D-IL) amendment to establish a deficit neutral reserve fund to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health.  (#525)  Agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
• Franken (D-MN) amendment to provide an additional use for the deficit-neutral reserve fund for higher education. (#479) Agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent
• Merkley (D-OR) amendment to increase investment in high-impact breakthrough clean energy technologies through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy of the Department of Energy. (#398) Agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
• Burr (R-NC) amendment to protect the American people and strengthen our national security by fully funding the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the BioShield Special Reserve Fund. (#232) Agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.

The House passed its budget resolution last week also, and the differences in the House and Senate Budget Resolutions are stark.  The House version keeps in place the sequester and balances the budget in 10 years by cutting projected domestic spending by an additional $4.6 trillion and repealing Obamacare.  The Senate version replaces the sequester with tax increases and other spending cuts.  Neither measure is binding and there is no expectation that the two versions will be reconciled.

• Deadline Extended to Sign-On Community Letter in Support of AFRI

As mentioned in CGA News (3-18-13), Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) is circulating the attached letter to the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee leaders in support of at least $325 million in FY2014 for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The latest version of the letter attached. The deadline for signing has been extended to COB on Wednesday, March 27.

APLU institutions interested in signing are asked to contact Dottie Bond at dbond@russellgroupdc.com or (703) 979-6900.

• CEF and CHF Circulating Labor-HHS-Education 302B Sign-on Letter

The Coalition for Education Funding, Coalition for Health Funding, and Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce are circulating the attached letter urging Senate and House Appropriation leaders to provide the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittees the largest possible “302(b)” allocation in FY 2014. As you know the 302(b) allocation is the amount of funding the Appropriations Committees provide to each of their 12 subcommittees. To sign on, please click here by COB on April 5^th.

• House Programmatic Request Deadlines

House Appropriations Subcommittees have received the following programmatic requests deadlines from their respective Chairman. Further information and guideline language from the House Appropriations Committee can be found here. There are reports that the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee will have a programmatic request deadline of May 10^th, but the other Senate Subcommittees have not yet announced deadlines.