APLU-CGA Update

CGA NEWS

(6-11-14)

To:       CGA

From:   A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs Staff



·         Senate Passes VA Medical Bill With In-State Tuition Provision

·         Senate Appropriations Committee Postpones FY15 L-HHS-E
Appropriations Markup

·         House Science, Energy Subcommittee Holds Markup of DoE
Research and Development Act

·         House Appropriations Committee Approves FY15 Defense
Appropriations bill

·         Invitation to Attend National Coalition for Food and
Agricultural Research Seminar





·         Senate Passes VA Medical Bill With In-State Tuition Provision



The Senate voted this afternoon to add the Sanders-McCain veterans’
medical bill, S. 2450, Veterans' Access to Care through Choice,
Accountability and Transparency Act, as an amendment to the Pay Our
Guard and Reserve Act (H.R. 3230), which was necessary for House
origination reasons. The Senate then overwhelmingly passed H.R. 3230,
with S. 2450 included. As noted in CGA News (6-10-14), S. 2450 while
primarily covering Veterans’ Affairs medical issues also had a section
requiring public institutions to charge in-state tuition for veterans,
for a period of three years post-discharge, and for certain eligible
dependents in order for that institution to remain eligible for
Post-9/11 GI and Montgomery GI bill benefits.  It is the understanding
of CGA staff that the in-state tuition section was in the final bill.





·         Senate Appropriations Committee Postpones FY15 L-HHS-E
Appropriations Markup



The Senate Appropriations Committee has postponed the full Committee
markup of the FY15 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. It was
previously scheduled for markup tomorrow, Thursday, June 12. At this
time it is not known when the markup will occur.



The L-HHS-E Subcommittee approved the bill on Tuesday, June 10 by
voice vote. A summary of the bill is available on the Subcommittee
website here. The text of the bill won’t be available until after the
full Committee markup.





·         House Science, Energy Subcommittee Holds Markup on DoE
Research and Development Act



On June 11, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,
Subcommittee on Energy held a short, contentious hearing on the
Department of Energy Research and Development Act of 2014. The
legislation did not make it past a first reading and now will be
considered at a later date by the full House Science, Space, and
Technology Committee.



This bill will reauthorize the Office of Science and research and
development programs at the Offices of Nuclear Energy (NE), Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Fossil Energy (FE),
Electricity Delivery, and Energy Reliability (OE), and the Advanced
Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E). Attached is a
section-by-section of the legislation. Some of these levels are below
FY14 appropriated levels, including EERE, which is $486 million below
FY14 and ARPA-E, which is $40 million below FY14.



Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Alan Grayson (D-FL) spoke in
opposition to this legislation. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson,
who is not on the Energy Subcommittee, but serves as Ranking Member of
the full Committee also expressed her concerns with this bill.



·         House Appropriations Committee Approves FY15 Defense
Appropriations bill



On June 10, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY15
Defense Appropriations bill by voice vote. This legislation includes
$11.936 billion for Science and Technology (6.1-6.3) programs at the
Department of Defense, a decrease from the FY14 level of $12.185
billion. This legislation includes $2.028 billion for basic research
(6.1) at the Department of Defense, a decrease below the current
funding level of $2.167 billion.



·         Invitation to Attend National Coalition for Food and
Agricultural Research Seminar



CGA are invited to attend a lunch seminar hosted by the National
Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (National C-FAR). This
seminar will feature a leading agricultural economist discussing
policy approaches to farm animals as the only dual-purpose research
models that benefit human medicine and agriculture. The seminar will
take place on Monday, June 16 from 12:00 – 12:55 in 1300 Longworth. If
you are interested in attending, you can RSVP here until Friday, June
13. More information about the CFAR lunch and learn series is
available on their website.