DC Insight - 7/15/22

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The House Is Ready to Start Voting on Fiscal 2023 Spending Bills, But the Senate Is Much Further Behind 
Government Executive – July 13, 2022  
The House will vote next week on a package of six of the 12 annual spending bills Congress must pass each year. Lawmakers have approved all 12 of the bills necessary to avoid a shutdown at the committee level. The Senate, the ultimate clearinghouse for funding measures, is just starting the process of writing bills and has not yet agreed upon top-line spending levels. 

U.S. Senate to vote as soon as Tuesday on slimmed-down China chip bill
Reuters – July 14, 2022 
Voting in the Senate on a bill to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry and improve competitiveness with China could begin as early as Tuesda. The bill is likely to include, at a minimum, billions of dollars in subsidies for the semiconductor industry and an investment tax credit to boost U.S. manufacturing. 

House passes $839B defense bill, swatting down Biden’s military plans 
Politico – July 14, 2022 
The House approved sweeping defense policy legislation on Thursday that marks the second straight year Democrats and Republicans endorsed significant increases to President Joe Biden’s Pentagon spending plan. The $839 billion National Defense Authorization Act, approved in a 329-101 vote, is $37 billion more than the administration sought in military spending. 

U.S. says it is concerned critical minerals vulnerable to manipulation 
Reuters – July 11, 2022 
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the government is concerned that supplies of critical minerals, used widely in clean energy technology, could be subject to weaponisation as oil and gas have been amid the Ukraine conflict. 

The national bidding war for ARPA-H 
Axios – July 6, 2022 
The Advanced Research Project Agency for Health, or ARPA-H, would focus on breakthrough health care and technology innovations, looking for and funding ways to cure cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and more. An intra-state bidding war has broken out for the chance to house the headquarters of this multibillion-dollar new science agency aimed at curing major diseases — before the agency's structure has even been finalized by Congress. 

Biden administration says pharmacists cannot deny contraceptives
Roll Call –  July 13, 2022 
The Department of Health and Human Services sent guidance to roughly 60,000 retail pharmacies reminding them of their legal obligation under federal civil rights laws to dispense medication as prescribed, including contraceptives and medication for women experiencing pregnancy loss or needing a medication

Higher Education Must Invest In Students, Not The Other Way Around 
Forbes – July 13, 2022 
The Gates Foundation and the Institute for Higher Education Policy, found that nearly one third of all institutions, leave students with zero economic return after accounting for the cost of attendance. University leaders, policy makers, employers, and anyone associated with or underwriting higher education, need to take stock of the value our institutions and system are providing.