Federal update

A $2B increase in National Institutes of Health in the final FY17 budget deal in April. Then a devastating 21% cut to NIH in the Trump administration's FY18 budget proposal in May.  

Approval of year-round Pell grant funding. Then a proposed roll-back of Obama administration regulations. 

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against the Trump administration's travel ban executive orders. Then bureaucratic and procedural roadblocks thrown by the administration into the visa process.

DC has become a game of dodgeball. You don't where the next hit is coming from. 

The Federal Budget: FY17 and FY18

Thanks go out to the 600 U researchers who contacted their Minnesota members of Congress in April to advocate for National Institutes of Health research funding. In addition to an NIH funding increase, the final bill had modest research funding increases for many agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense. See the details. 

Less than a month later, the administration's FY18 budget was released with proposals to gut research accounts across the federal agencies. See a full analysis.

Congressional appropriation committees have begun to tackle FY18 with little regard for the administration's budget proposal. Last week, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Appropriations Subcommittee stated in his opening remarks:

"In particular, I want to be clear that, as chairman of this subcommittee, I will not write a bill this year that reduces funding for the National Institutes of Health. As you are aware, this subcommittee has spent the last two years making NIH a priority by providing back-to-back funding increases. NIH funding is important for those individuals suffering from life-threatening illnesses, as well as for the American taxpayer who pays for many of these individuals' care through Medicare and Medicaid. I will not erase the gains we have made over the past two years."

Popular wisdom suggests there will be multiple Continuing Resolutions for FY18, beginning on October 1, 2017. 

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs Capped in the Administration's Budget 

The Trump administration's budget proposes a 10% cap on F&A costs on NIH research. Our Sponsored Projects Administration estimates this would translate into a reduction of $44M annually in research support to our university and would drastically alter the research climate.

We are meeting with our Congressional delegation to brief them on this critical issue. And President Eric Kaler and Al Levine, vice president of research, sent a letter to Health and Human Services secretary Price and Office of Management of Budget director Mulvaney opposing the 10% cap.

AAAS Resource 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science Research and Development (R&D) policy team has created a real-time R&D appropriations tracking dashboard. The dashboard is set up to compare relative changes in the major funding accounts proposed by the White House and recommended by House and Senate appropriators. 

Education

There is plenty going on at the Department of Education, too:

• Students will be eligible for year-round Pell grant funding on July 1.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, June 21, on Free Speech 101: The Assault on the First Amendment on College Campuses.
• The Department of Education announced it would re-open rulemaking on two Obama administration-era institutional accountability/student protection rules: Borrower Defense to Repayment and Gainful Employment. 
• Big Ten financial aid directors are weighing in with Congress in favor of continuing the Perkins Loan program.

Immigration

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities issued a helpful immigration overview, featuring policy updates and talking points.