CGA NEWS
(7-19-13)
To: CGA
From: A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs Staff
Mentioned widely in the press, Senators Lamar Alexander, (R-TN), Tom Harkin, (D-IA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Angus King (I-ME), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have coalesced around an agreement (S. 1334) to reverse the recent rate increase on subsidized Stafford loans. The Senate will possibly take up a vote on the bill as early as Tuesday.
The proposal would peg interest rates to the 10-year Treasury note, plus 2.05 percentage points for both the subsidized and unsubsidized portions of the undergraduate Stafford loans, plus 3.6 points for graduate loans and plus 4.6 points for PLUS loans while offering a cap at 8.5 percent, 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively. The rates would be fixed for the life of a loan. The Congressional Budget Office scored the agreement as generating a savings of $715 million over 10 years. The proposal is not without controversy as in the out-years the rates are speculated to be above the current 6.8% rate. Senators Harkin and Alexander have left open the possibility of addressing the rates again in the upcoming Higher Education Act reauthorization.
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee approved, along a party line vote of 22-17, a two-year authorization of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (HR 2687) Thursday that would authorize $16.9 billion annually. Of note, the bill would authorize $600 million less for the Earth science program than currently authorized. It also would cancel the proposed reorganization of NASA education programs and prohibits the administration’s proposed Asteroid Retrieval Mission.
APLU joined American Council on Education (ACE) and several other several higher education groups in sending the attached letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury expressing concerns about the effect of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) on student employment at institutions. The associations ask that the Department carefully balance the goals of the ACA with the unique nature of employment of students on campus and through internships and cooperative education. We propose both Nature-of-Work and Work-Study Safe Harbors as we believe that provide a reasonable and fair approach to the community’s concerns.
The Sea Grant Association cordially invites congressional staff, agency personnel, and other interested parties to attend a lunch briefing:
NOAA Sea Grant’s Role in Creating More Resilient Communities in the Wake of Natural Disasters
Sponsored by the Office of Senator Brian Schatz of Hawai’i
July 26, 2013 from 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Russell Senate Office Building Room 253
This is a widely attended event; lunch will be provided
Agenda
· Welcome, Hawai’i Senator Brian Schatz
· Opening Remarks, LaDon Swann, President: Sea Grant Association and Director: Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
· Community Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico, Lannie Smith: Building Inspector and Floodplain Manager, City of Orange Beach, AL
· The Hawaii Homeowners Handbook and its Application in Other U.S. Regions, Doug Mayne: Vice Director, Hawaii State Civil Defense
· TBD - the third speaker will be from New England and also a stakeholder recipient of Sea Grant to share their personal perspectives on Sea Grant impacts in the region leading up to and following Hurricane Sandy.
The Sea Grant Association (SGA) is a non-profit organization created to coordinate Sea Grant university program activities, to set program priorities at both the regional and national level, and to provide a unified voice for these institutions on issues of importance to the oceans and coasts.
Please RSVP to pbye@oldakergroup.com or (202) 496-3452.
Please join the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) Coalition for a Capitol Hill Briefing on “VA Mental Health Research: Improving the Lives of America’s Veterans.” The briefing will be held on Wednesday, July 24th from 12 noon until 1:30 pm in the House Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing room (334 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC) and a complimentary lunch will be served. Please further details in the attached invitation.
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
Follow us on Twitter: @APLU_GovAffairs