May 27, 2014
THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA The Sine Die Resolution (H.5282) has been introduced and adopted in the House and is now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This resolution enables the General Assembly to return after sine die adjournment on June 5 to work on the state budget or other items agreed on by both bodies.
Since this is the second year of a two year session, bills that did not pass this session are not carried over to the 2015 legislative session.
Primaries are set for June 10th and the General Election is November 4th. The South Carolina House of Representatives and Constitutional Officers are up for election this year, as well as the entire US House of Representatives and 33 US Senate seats.
On Thursday, May 22, on a motion by Senator Leatherman and after extensive debate, the Senate recalled The University of Charleston Act (H.4632) (in a vote of 22 to 15) from the Senate Education Committee. The bill is now on the Senate calendar for debate.
The current version of the bill would keep MUSC and the College of Charleston separate, and designate a component of the College of Charleston as a research institution, The University of Charleston, which would receive a separate state appropriation and be eligible for endowed chairs. The College of Charleston would remain a liberal arts institution and the research university component would be used to offer graduate-level courses and expanded research efforts in the area. The proposal was further amended to ensure that the University of Charleston, South Carolina, would not duplicate degree programs already offered by other higher education institutions in the Charleston region.
BUDGET The FY 14-15 Appropriations Bill and related Capital Reserve Fund bill were returned to the House last week with the Senate's changes. The House is expected to take up the budget this week. The House and Senate are working to draft a compromise that could be voted on without having a conference committee.
From a state budgeting standpoint, Clemson is considered two separate state agencies: a research university that receives an educational and general (E&G) state appropriation for teaching and student support, and a land-grant Public Services Activities (PSA) division that receives a state appropriation to support agriculture, forestry and natural resource Extension, research and regulatory programs.
Detailed information on Clemson's 2014 state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2014-15 may be found at these links:
THE CLEMSON UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISE ACT The Clemson University Enterprise Act (S.535) remains on the House calendar for second reading. The bill was amended in the House Ways and Means Committee to provide "regulatory relief" in the area of the capital improvement process (facilities approval) for all higher education institutions in the state. The amendment was offered by Chairman Brian White and was unanimously adopted by the Committee.
BILLS OF INTEREST The Clemson University Governmental Affairs office is monitoring several bills that have potential impact on Clemson. A complete listing of these bills may be found here. Click on the bill number for a description of the legislation, along with the bill's current status.
CLEMSON ON CAPITOL HILL NSF reauthorization bill. Last week, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology began to mark up the ''Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014'' (FIRST Act, H.R. 4186), which would primarily authorize programs, funding, and policy objectives for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Specifically, the measure would authorize $8 billion in the current fiscal year and $8.1 billion in FY 2015 for the NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. It also includes language to require grant recipients to write truthful articles about their NSF-funded research.
Veterans' Education. During the debate in the House last week on the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), several amendments related to veterans' education were filed and considered by the Rules Committee. The measures primarily sought to curb using military tuition assistance funding for marketing and recruiting purposes, but may have had a broader impact on general outreach activities and would have been costly to implement. While the Rules Committee ultimately did not clear them for consideration on the House floor, we will continue to monitor discussions going forward, particularly as they may impact reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Also, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing Thursday titled "Examining Access and Supports for Service members and Veterans in Higher Education." Officials from the Departments of Education and Defense testified, as did representatives from the higher education community and the student veteran population.
Patent Reform Legislation. Last Wednesday (5/21), Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) pulled patent troll legislation from the committee's agenda, stating that policymakers were unable to reach consensus on several key issues. Earlier in the week, a letter signed by numerous higher education associations urged the Committee not to approve the legislation due to concerns that the measure goes too far to combat abusive patent litigation and discourages innovation. While the Chairman hopes to return to the issue later this year, the measure is likely dead until next Congress.
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