House Passes Infrastructure Legislation
On November 6, the House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) by a vote of 228-206. This $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the Senate in August 2021. President Biden is scheduled to sign the bill into law on Monday, November 15. In terms of Budget Reconciliation: Build Back Better Act of 2021 (H.R. 5376), the House and Senate Leadership are still in active negotiations with the White House. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) staff are currently preparing a cost estimate for the bill. According to a November 9 blog post, “CBO will start releasing estimates for individual titles of the bill as they complete them.”
Appropriations: Coalition for National Science Funding Letters
On November 5, CNSF sent another letter to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy regarding increased funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Fiscal Year 2023. NSF plays a critical role in advancing our nation’s competitiveness and addressing research and education challenges related to many Biden Administration priorities.
Recent Data on Mental Health at Institutions of Higher Education
The issue of mental health is critically important to CGS and graduate schools. In April 2021, CGS issued a report titled, “Supporting Graduate Student Mental Health and Well-being: Evidence-Informed Recommendations for the Graduate Community.” More information about the report is available here.
Veterans: Readjustment Counseling Service Scholarship Program
The RCSSP would assist VA in filling vacancies in Veterans Centers located in areas designated as medically underserved populations and in states with a per capita population of more than five percent veterans, calculated using data from the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics and the Bureau of the Census.