March 10, 2008
In this issue:
This week in washington
Congress and the federal agencies are consumed with budget discussions as the parade of agency and program heads marching to Capitol Hill continues this week. However, before leaving for their two-week Easter recess, both the House and Senate will deal with intelligence legislation (no jokes, please).
One item to watch for in the midst of Congress’ budget work is how the Majority will deal with calls to eliminate all earmarks. House Democratic leaders are contemplating a pre-emptive strike against Republican criticism by simply doing away with all earmarks for the coming year. The earmark fight is more likely to break out into the open in the Senate, where Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) plans to offer an amendment imposing a year-long moratorium on the projects.
Healthcare
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Chairman Glenn Hackbarth will testify Tuesday before the House Ways and Means Committee about MedPAC's latest recommendations on Medicare payments. Consistent with previous positions, MedPAC is calling for cuts in the 13 percent average extra payment to private Medicare Advantage plans which has been met with mixed reviews on Capitol Hill. While most lawmakers have given up on cutting the entire extra payment to Medicare Advantage plans, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) have made it clear they want to go after private fee-for-service plans in Medicare legislation this year.
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Competitiveness
Bill Gates will testify before the House Science Committee Wednesday about efforts needed to boost U.S. competitiveness and innovation. The next day, Gates will speak at a Northern Virginia Technology Council breakfast where he will highlight the need for investments in K-12 and collegiate science, technology, engineering and math education.
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UT Faculty Witnesses
This week, two UT faculty members are testifying in Washington:
- House Armed Services Committee
Irregular Warfare Threat Environment
Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing on "The FY2009 National Defense Authorization Budget Request - Department of Defense Science and Technology: Responding to the 21st Century Irregular Warfare Threat Environment."
Witnesses: Allan Shaffer, principle deputy director of Defense Research and Engineering at the Defense Department; Roy Schwitters, chair of JASON and professor of physics at the University of Texas Austin; Thomas Killion, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Research and technology; Navy Rear Adm. William Landay III, chief of naval research; Terry Jaggers, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for science, technology and engineering in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition; Anthony Tether, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Discussion on "Evaluating Energy Infrastructure Projects: A Case on the Costs and Benefits of LNG (liquefied natural gas) Investment."
Participants: Frank Verrastro of CSIS; Michelle Michot Foss and Mariano Gurfinkel of the University of Texas; Linda Stuntz of Stuntz, Davis and Staffier; and Gordon Weil of Weil and Howe
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Recent Activities
Last Friday, the Senate passed a one-month extension of the Higher Education Act. The legislation was set to expire March 30 but will now be extended through April 30. This will allow Members of the two Ecucaiton Committees to work out a compromise between their two versions of the HEA.
ADA Expansion
The House approved a mental health parity bill Wednesday that would require insurers to offer patients the same treatment and cost-sharing options for mental and physical conditions. The bill seeks to overturn a Supreme Court ruling which limited the application of ADA protections to mental health cases. Reportedly, business groups prefer the Senate version of mental health parity bill which passed on a unanimous vote last year. The White House has not issued a policy statement on either bill yet.
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NIH Open-Access Policy
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on March 7 that it is seeking public comment on implementation of its open-access policy. The agency will hold a public meeting about the policy at the NIH campus on March 20, 2008, and will publish sometime this month a Federal Register notice requesting comments on implementation of the policy.
The open-access policy was enacted into law by the FY08 Omnibus Appropriations Act. It requires articles that are based on NIH-funded research and accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008, to be made available freely to the public on the agency’s electronic archive. Information about the NIH request for comment and the public meeting is available on the NIH Web site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-057.html
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NIH Revamp of Peer Review
The National Institutes of Health will draw up a plan by mid-April to revamp its peer-review process for awarding grants for biomedical research, based on recommendations approved in draft form by an advisory committee. The recommendations include slashing the length of grant applications and placing more weight in grant reviews on the scientific effects of the proposed research. Those ideas largely parallel a preliminary set of suggestions unveiled in December by a separate task force. Another recommendation calls for immediate action allowing NIH peer reviewers to offer applicants a blunt “No, thanks, ever” if their ideas are unlikely to ever win agency financing. The existing system instead encourages resubmittals, which bog down the review process.
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Energy Legislation
The House has passed HR 5351, the “Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008,” by a vote of 236-182. The bill extends several renewable energy tax credits that expire at the end of FY 2007, including credits for renewable production, solar energy and fuel cell investment, and $5.6 billion in tax credit bonds to finance renewable energy and conservation projects.
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