Washington Insights & Highlights June 27th

House Begins Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Appropriations Process

On June 25, the House Appropriations Committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill. The total funding allocation for the bill is $78.3 billion, which is $1.3 billion below FY 2024. This bill includes funding for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as independent agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). The bill proposes $9.2 billion in funding for NSF, which is a $198 million increase above FY 2024 funding for the science agency. The bill proposes $7.4 billion for the Research and Related Activities Directorate which is a $370 million increase over the FY 2024 enacted amount and $502 million below the FY 2025 budget request. The bill proposes $1 billion for the STEM Education Directorate which is $172 million below the FY 2024 enacted amount and $300 million below the FY 2025 budget request.

On June 26, the House Appropriations Committee also released its FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The total funding allocation for the bill is $185.8 billion, which is $8.6 billion below FY 2024. Funding for the U.S. Department of Education and National Institutes of Health (NIH) are included in the funding bill. The bill proposes $72 billion for the Department of Education, which is $11 billion below the FY 2024 funding levels. Of the total proposed for the Department of Education, $2.8 billion would be appropriated to higher education programs, which is a $500 million decrease. For the NIH, the bill proposes a flat budget of $48 billion. The appropriations bill also proposes new structural and policy reforms for the biomedical agency, including the consolidation of NIH’s existing 27 institutes and centers into 15 new centers.

The full committee will mark-up the FY 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill on June 28, followed by the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies bill on July 9. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill will then be considered on July 10.

For more information on FY 2025 appropriations, please view CGS’s Budget and Appropriations webpage and the FY25 Funding for CGS Programs of Interest document.

NIH Releases Draft Public Access Policy

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released an updated draft of its Public Access Policy and is requesting comments from the higher education and scientific communities by August 19, 2024. The draft NIH Public Access Policy proposes the elimination of the current 12-month embargo period and includes supplemental guidance on government use licenses and outlines considerations regarding rights and associated costs for publications resulting from NIH-funded research. The draft policy also provides information to researchers and publishers on how best to navigate issues such as copyright, licensing, and any fees involved in making research findings publicly accessible. The draft policy is expected to go into effect for manuscripts on or after October 1, 2025.

For more information on this draft Public Access Policy, please visit the NIH website.

Golden Goose Awards

Applications are now open for the 2024 Golden Goose Awards. This award recognizes the human and economic benefits of federally funded scientific research, highlighting how unpredictable scientific advances often build upon each other. It honors research projects that may have initially seemed obscure or trivial but ultimately led to significant societal impacts through unexpected breakthroughs. In September, the Golden Goose Award committee will honor the winner at a ceremony in Washington D.C. alongside members of Congress and guests from the research community.

Biden Administration Releases Changes for DACA and Dreamers

On June 18, President Biden announced two important changes to the nation’s immigration system. The first policy, which has received most of the attention, will allow noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the United States. The second policy would allow DACA recipients and Dreamers who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. university and received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree to receive a work visa more quickly. The U.S. Department of State will issue guidance on employment opportunities for Dreamers who have graduated from U.S. institutions. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State will work together to streamline the process for certain employment-based nonimmigrant visas.

Federal Judges Place Hold on Biden Administration’s SAVE Loan Repayment Plan

This week two federal judges in Missouri and Kansas issued temporary injunctions blocking the U.S. Department of Education from fully implementing the new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student loan repayment plan. This halts provisions set to become effective on July 1, 2024, including a significant reduction in monthly payments for undergraduate borrowers from 10 percent to 5 percent of their discretionary income. The temporary injunction also prohibits additional debt relief under the SAVE repayment plan. U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stated, “We strongly disagree with the Kansas and Missouri District Court rulings, which block components of the SAVE Plan that help student loan borrowers have affordable monthly payments and stay out of default. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan.”

Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement following a federal court temporarily blocking a portion of President Biden’s income-driven repayment (IDR). Cassidy stated “This IDR policy does not ‘forgive’ debt. It transfers the burden of $559 billion in debt from those who willingly took it on to Americans who chose to not go to college or already sacrificed to pay off their loans.”

Department of Education Releases Details on Upcoming FASFA Cycle

The U.S. Department of Education has released detailed launch plans for the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA), emphasizing an October 1 release date. The 2024-2025 FAFSA cycle has experienced technical issues, but over 11 million applications have been processed as of June 17. The submission gap has narrowed to below 8 percent compared to the previous year.

The Department of Education will not open next year’s FAFSA for public comment or make substantial changes to the previous cycle’s form. The higher education community and other stakeholders are invited to provide feedback through listening sessions and a request for information (RFI) to be released later this summer. Comments from the higher education and stakeholder communities will help inform the development of the “Better FAFSA Better Future Roadmap,” which will introduce new tools, including additional trainings, webinars, counselor guides, and student tip sheets, aimed at enhancing the FAFSA process and support for students and families.

Department of Energy Proposes Changes to Financial Assistance Regulations

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to amend its Financial Assistance Regulations to establish conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policies for non-federal entities applying for or receiving financial assistance from the DOE. The proposed rules “implement and standardize certain disclosure requirements applicable to financial assistance applications and awards, including responsibilities, general rules, and procedures for non-federal entities to identify, evaluate, resolve, and report conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, and organizational conflicts of interest, in financial assistance applications and awards.” Written comments on the proposed rulemaking must be submitted by August 19, 2024.

Please refer to the Federal Register Notice for more information about the DOE proposed changes.

Department of Veterans Affairs Requests Feedback on GI Bill School Feedback Tool

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is opening a 60-day public comment period on the GI Bill School Feedback Tool. This tool standardizes how to submit complaints against educational institutions for fraudulent recruiting, pay incentives, not meeting state requirements, or not following the Principles of Excellence. Comments are due August 16, 2024.

To learn more about the feedback request, please refer to the Federal Register Notice.