CGA NEWS
(8-2-13)
To: CGA
From: A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs Staff
The House cleared the Senate amendment to HR 1911, the student loan interest rate bill, by a vote of 392-31 earlier this week. It is off to the President for signing. APLU’s Peter McPherson issued a statement on the passage.
APLU and the Association of American Universities (AAU) sent a joint letter today to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell asking the Administration to provide “robust” funding for research and student aid programs in its FY2015 budget. A copy of the letter is attached.
APLU submitted the attached suggestions and recommendations for the upcoming Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization to the House Education and the Workforce Committee today. APLU also endorsed the broad higher education community comments submitted by the American Council on Education (ACE) today.
Today, Representative Chris Collins of New York and Representative Derek Kilmer of Washington introduced the TRANSFER Act of 2013 to support innovative approaches to technology transfer. The Act provides for agency-based grant programs, funded through a small portion of STTR funds, to support proof-of-concept and other necessary work to help move early stage technology to a point where it is viable for commercialization. The types of eligible projects include proof-of-concept and translational research, prototype construction, collecting performance data, investigating commercial business opportunities, entrepreneurial education, and others.
APLU, AAU, and other associations worked closely with House Science Committee staff on the development of the bill, and will continue to work with the co-sponsors and others on fine-tuning the language and making improvements. The attached letter of support was sent from our associations to Representatives Collins and Kilmer yesterday afternoon. Jim Woodell at APLU can help with questions or feedback: jwoodell@aplu.org, 202-478-6044.
APLU Recommendations for HEA 2013 Final