A
weekly review of the latest
legislative & regulatory news from
Washington.
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THIS WEEK...
DEADLINE
SET FOR ENERGY CONFERENCE
Rep. Billy
Tauzin (R-LA), Chairman of the Conference Committee currently working on
reconciling energy legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate, set a September 30,
2002 deadline for completion of the final bill.
After a slow
start, the conference committee is still waiting to grapple with such
difficult issues as oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
(House says yes; Senate no), an electricity restructuring provision
(Senate bill has one; House bill doesn't), construction of a natural gas
pipeline in Alaska (Senate and
House bills differ on the proposed route), and what, if anything, to do about
climate change.
Impacting the Committee's work are indications
from the White House about what the President will and will not agree to in the compromise
bill. For example, the White House has let it be known to conferees that
the President will not sign a final bill that fails to address electricity
restructuring, additional petroleum production, or that fails to modify
the Senate bill's language on climate change.
Additional
information on the Energy Conference can be found on the Senate Energy
Committee's web site at http://www.senate.energy.gov/, or
by contacting Francis Dietz at dietzf@asme.org.
SENATE APPROPRIATORS APPROVE $25 MILLION FOR MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS
Earlier
this week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $25 million for a
Math and Science Partnerships Program at the Department
of Education - far less than the $450 million authorized by H.R. 1, the No
Child Left Behind Act, for fiscal year 2003.
The Math and Science Partnership Coalition, of which ASME's
Council on Education is a member, had requested $450 million for the partnerships. In a letter to Senate
appropriators, Robert Simoneau, senior vice president for ASME's Council
on Education, stated, "The engineering community has long been concerned
with the state of K-12 STEM education. To increase student learning in
these areas and enable the United
States to globally compete with a strong, technologically literate
workforce, we need to commit a significant amount of resources for STEM
education now."
The House of Representatives still has to take
action on its FY 2003 education appropriations bill. It is anticipated,
however, that funding levels for federal education programs will be
considerably lower in the House appropriations bill. The final funding for
federal educational appropriations will be contingent on a reconciliation
of House and Senate funding
levels.
The new Mathematics and Science Partnerships program created in the "No
Child Left Behind Act" will allow higher education and K-12 districts to create programs
targeted specifically to address the needs of local science and mathematics educators. These
merit-based partnerships among
school districts; university science, engineering, and math departments; businesses; and educational organizations seek to
improve teacher quality and
student achievement.
For more information on the Math and Science Partnership program contact Patti
Burgio at burgiop@asme.org.
NASA CITES AGING WORKFORCE, KNOWLEDGE GAP
In testimony this week beforethe House Science Committee's Space Subcommittee,
NASA said its age 60+ scientists and engineers outnumber the under-30
workforce 3-to-1, and that
approximately 25 percent of NASA's S&E workforce is eligible to retire
within the next five years.
National trends in the reduction of
science, math and engineering (particularly aerospace
engineering) students have contributed to NASA's workforce problems.
Moreover, NASA faces serious knowledge gaps in key areas such as
nanotechnology, propulsion systems and information technology.
NASA presented legislative proposals to help combat the workforce
problems, including a scholarship for service program that was unanimously
supported by Members and
witnesses. Other proposals include an industry exchange program, enhancing
the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, streamline hiring authority for
critical needs, and early
retirement options. Science
Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) pledged at the hearing, "to
move forward with some proposals that would ensure that NASA has the
people it needs."
Hearing testimony and an archived web cast of the hearing
can be found on the Science
Committee web site at http://www.house.gov/science. For more information,
contact Kathryn Holmes at holmesk@asme.org.
INDIANA'S 21ST CENTURY RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY FUND SURVIVES
LEGISLATURE
Indiana's 21st Century
Research and Technology Fund was
rescued at the eleventh-hour from elimination by the Indiana General
Assembly. In the end, the Assembly also ended up doubling the state's
research and development tax
credit to 10 percent, repealing an unpopular apportionment formula in the
R&D tax credit, and adding a
venture capital investment tax credit to the state's portfolio as well.
The state had been faced with a massive state budget deficit, partisan
squabbles, and a longstanding
need to restructure the state's tax code.
The 21st Century Fund,
which supports large-scale research projects at universities and private industry, did take a deep
40 percent cut and will receive
only $15 million each year over the biennium. The program also had $50
million in unspent funding rescinded last fiscal year to help balance the
state's $1.3 billion budget deficit.
For more information, contact
Melissa Murray at murraym@asme.org.
NGA RELEASES STATE TECHNOLOGY-BASED ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT GUIDES
The National Governors' Association
(NGA) released three guides at its annual meeting last week designed to
help governors develop technology-based economic development strategies to
help states' global competitiveness.. The papers, prepared by the NGA Task
Force on State Leadership in the Global Economy in partnership with the Council on
Competitiveness,present introductions to building state science and technology capacity, developing
cluster-based economies, and
creating a 21st-century workforce.
The titles of the papers are: A
Governor's Guide to Building State Science and Technology Capacity; A Governor's
Guide to Cluster-Based Economic Development; and A Governor's Guide to Creating a
21st - Century Workforce. All three papers are available through http://www.nga.org/
*****************************
Melissa R. Murray Government
Relations ASME International 1828 L Street, NW, Suite 906 Washington, DC
20036 Phone: 202.785.7380 Fax: 202.429.9417 Email: mailto:murraym@asme.org
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