THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
The State Budget Process The Conference Committee on H.3701-the Appropriations Bill, met last Monday but made very little progress as much of the decisions related to resolving the differences between the House and Senate version of the bill cannot be made until the other revenue bills have been finalized.
Follow this link for a chart detailing Clemson-specific funding in the House and Senate versions of the budget and the Capital Reserve Fund.
The Senate Finance Committee convened last Wednesday and passed a Continuing Resolution (H.4266) that would allow state government to continue to operate at current funding levels if the revenue measures are not resolved before the end of the fiscal year (June 30). The House passed the Continuing Resolution prior to sine die adjournment on June 4.
When they return this week, it is likely that General Assembly will have to adopt another sine die resolution that will allow them to come back into session to deal with all of these bills as well as any gubernatorial vetoes.
Detailed information on Clemson's 2015 state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2015-16 may be found at these links:
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 House Approves FY2016 Defense Appropriations Bill On June 11, the House approved the FY2016 Defense Appropriations bill (H.R.2685) by a vote of 278 to 149. The Science & Technology account is funded at $12.67 billion, which is $422 million, or 3.4 percent, above FY15 funding. Within that total, funding for 6.1 basic research is cut by $177 million, or 7.8 percent; funding for 6.2 applied research and 6.3 advanced technology development is increased by $190 million (4.1 percent) and $409 million (7.7 percent), respectively.
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY2016 Defense Appropriations Bill On June 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY2016 Defense Appropriations bill by a vote of 27 to 3. This legislation would provide $70.3 billion for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation programs at the Department of Defense, an increase of approximately 10% above FY2015 enacted levels. Basic research would be funded at $2.317 billion, an increase of 1.7% above the FY2015 level. This bill would fund the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) at $2.865 billion a 1.7% decrease from the FY2015 level.
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY2016 CJS Appropriations Bill On June 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY2016 CJS Appropriations bill by a vote of 27 to 3. This legislation would provide flat funding for the National Science Foundation at the FY2015 level of $7.344 billion.
Patent Reform The House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 9, the Innovation Act, last Thursday by a vote of 24-8. In advance of the markup, several higher education associations expressed strong concerns with the lack of progress in the manager's amendment to address mandatory, presumptive fee shifting and involuntary joinder and oppose the bill in its current form.
This Week's Hearings: - Wednesday, June 17: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will mark up its Fiscal 2016 spending bill. - Wednesday, June 17: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing titled "Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Evaluating Accreditation's Role in Ensuring Quality."
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