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Congress advances three-year SBIR/STTR reauthorization
STTI – September 22, 2022
On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill to extend the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs and related pilot programs through Sept. 30, 2025. The House is expected to act on the legislation next week, just ahead of the current expiration at the end of this month. In addition to reauthorizing the programs, the legislation makes changes to performance standards for companies with numerous awards, foreign risk management, topic solicitations, and requires several new reports by SBA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Auditors: Senior appropriators’ states dominate earmark tally
Roll Call – September 22, 2022
Government Accountability Office report required by new earmark disclosure rules shows where the money goes. Missouri, home to Republican Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Roy Blunt, finished fifth with $310.6 million.
Schumer starts process for taking up stopgap funding bill
Roll Call – September 22, 2022
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer took the first preliminary step Thursday toward considering stopgap funding legislation needed by the end of next week to avoid a partial government shutdown. Schumer teed up a legislative vehicle to swap in the contents of a stopgap bill that's still being worked on, filing cloture on a motion to proceed to unrelated House-passed legislation to cap monthly insulin copays. The House is ready to move straight to stopgap funding bill consideration next week under "same-day rule" authority once it comes over from the Senate.
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The Biden-Harris Administration Begins Implementation of CHIPS and Science Act to Benefit American Communities
White House Briefing Room – September 19, 2022
In further support of this implementation effort, the Department of Commerce launched CHIPS.gov to serve as an essential location for timely, accurate information for the public on processes related to CHIPS program initiatives. There you can find CHIPS for America, the implementation strategy for the CHIPS for America Fund, a $50 billion investment to catalyze long-term growth in the domestic semiconductor industry in support of our national and economic security and a thriving science and technology enterprise.
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Lawmakers strike deal on ‘practically clean’ FDA user fee bill
Roll Call – September 22, 2022
Senate committee leaders have struck a deal to reauthorize five-year user fee deals for the Food and Drug Administration, although details of a broader stopgap government spending bill remain unfinished. Together, the deals make up roughly one-third of the FDA’s budget and ensure the agency can pay staff in charge of product reviews and approvals for prescription drugs, biologics and medical devices. The reauthorization is expected to hitch a ride on the short-term government funding bill Congress is expected to take up next week.
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Legal Challenges to Student Loan Forgiveness Loom Before Midterms
Wall Street Journal – September 20, 2022
GOP state attorneys general, conservative groups and federal lawmakers are laying the groundwork to challenge President Biden’s executive action to cancel up to $20,000 of debt for most of the 40 million people with federal student loan debt. Would-be plaintiffs can’t take action until the administration makes a formal move toward cancellation, such as releasing an application for loan forgiveness or wiping out the balances of a first batch of borrowers.
Bill Would Make Colleges Pay for Defaults
Inside Higher Ed – September 22, 2022
Under the Make the Universities Pay Act, a university would have to pay 50 percent of its students’ loan balances in default. The colleges and universities also would be barred from raising tuition to cover this expense, “unless there is an equivalent percentage decrease in administrative expenses at the institution.”
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