IMPACT OF THE ELECTIONS ON THE CONGRESS: THE FISCAL CLIFF AND EVER AFTER DECEMBER 13, CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Welcome Della Cronin, Vice President Audrey Busch, Senior Legislative Associate Kris Andrews, Chair, CUR Advocacy Committee 2 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Agenda  Review Annual Budget Process  6-month Continuing Resolution  Sequestration and its Impact on Federal Spending  Implications of Elections  Action in Lame Duck Session  Questions and Answers 3 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Annual Budget Process CUR Presentation - December 13,

Budget Process Annual timeline  State of the Union  Presidential budget request release  Congressional budget resolution  Annual appropriations process  Floor debate  Presidential approval CUR Presentation - December 13,

Current State of the Federal Budget With the exception of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, all 11 Appropriations bills were reviewed by the House and Senate But, the 2013 fiscal year did not go as Congress hoped Agreement for a 6 month Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep government running.  Expires March 27, 2013 – included a percent increase CUR Presentation - December 13,

Where does Sequestration fit into the budget and what is it? CUR Presentation - December 13,

Budget Control Act What is it?  Passed in August of 2011 and allowed for debt limit increase  Discretionary spending capped each year for the next decade  Spending cap in FY2013 = $1.047 trillion in discretionary spending  FY2013—$536 billion security/$501 billion non security  Super Committee failure to cut additional $1.2 trillion from budget over 10 years triggers sequestration – January 2013 CUR Presentation - December 13,

Sequestration Sequestration triggers automatic cuts for each of the nine years FY13-21 For FY2013 – fixed percentage of across-the-board cuts projected at 8.2 percent for discretionary programs and 7.6 percent for mandatory 9 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

The Breakdown of the 2012 Presidential and Congressional Election Results 10 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

White House President Obama Claims Another Term  Electoral College Votes: Obama’s 332 vs. Romney’s 206  Popular Vote: 60,790,754 vs. 57,896,757  Swing States: Obama claimed Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Colorado  Obama won among youth, Latinos, women and other minorities. GOP numerically unable to win now, and in future, with just the white male vote. 11 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Senate Breakdown of Senate:  Democrats – 53  Republicans – 45  Independents – 2 (Will caucus with Ds) Overall there were 33 Senate seats up for reelection and 18 of these seats were actually in play during the 2012 campaign cycle. Big wins for Democrats included Massachusetts and Indiana; kept seats in Montana, Florida and Missouri. 12 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Senate  Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) retiring, leaving a vacancy on the HELP Committee, and Mike Enzi (R-WY), while remaining on the Committee, will give up his Ranking position, most likely to Lamar Alexander (R-TN).  Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) retiring and opens the slot of Ranking Member on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee  Elizabeth Warren, new senator from Massachusetts, was formerly a professor at Harvard and believes in federal funding for research at colleges and universities 13 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Senate The Democrats will maintain Senate majority in the 113 th Congress, with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV) at the helm and 12 new Members joining. The Democrats did not gain enough seats to defeat a filibuster The Senate will welcome 20 women in the 113th Congress – a record number. 14 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

House of Representatives Breakdown of House  Republicans – 234  Democrats 201  1 seat in LA going to run-off but it will be held by a Republican regardless of the outcome Republicans retain the majority and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) will retain their leadership positions. Cathy McMorris Rodgers elected Vice Chair of the Republican Conference. 15 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

House of Representatives House Election Results of Note:  Education champions not returning to the House include Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Jason Altmire (D- PA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Todd Platts (R-PA).  Newly re-elected research supporter is Bill Foster from Illinois who is a physicist. 16 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

How Do the Elections Impact the Lame Duck Session? CUR Presentation - December 13,

Agenda for the Lame Duck Session Focus on the “fiscal cliff”  The fiscal cliff is the culmination of a variety of budgetary issues that include: Expiration of the Bush tax cuts Expiration of the Sustainable Growth Rate “Doc Fix” Expiration of extended Unemployment Insurance benefits Expiration of the Alternative Minimum Tax ‘Patch’ Expiration of the current estate and gift tax rates Deadline for addressing tax extenders And don’t forget sequestration in January along with hitting the debt limit in the beginning of 2013! 18 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012 Calendar of Events Impacting Fiscal Cliff November December January October February March Election Day Expiring Tax Policies U.S. likely to exceed debt ceiling* Sequestration takes effect Lame Duck Sessions (11/13- 12/31) 19

Fiscal Cliff Negotiations Bipartisan negotiations have begun which will include twists, turns and challenges Optimism for a bipartisan deal The “Jumpers” 20 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Action Other than Averting the Fiscal Cliff Effort to pass minibus FY '13 appropriations bill  Appropriations staff have been working to resolve differences so an appropriations bill can be passed before end of year.  A conference is expected for most of the appropriations bills.  LHHS bill very difficult to negotiate and may not be included in minibus – could end up being year-long CR. Other legislation  Farm Bill  Cybersecurity  STEM Jobs Act – Passed by the House, Senate will not consider 21 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Action on the Fiscal Cliff in Washington 22 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

Discretionary Spending Groups Align Forces Non-Defense Discretionary Spending Coalition  Spans a broad array of issue areas that includes health, education, and research spending.  Position: Discretionary spending received fair share of cuts already during the deficit reduction efforts – target what the underlying issue instead, entitlements.  CUR participates and drafted communications to Congress accordingly. 23 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

State of Play - Fiscal Cliff President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner have begun negotiations. It is clear a deal will likely be reached by Dec. 21 Mixture of revenue raisers, entitlement cuts, and spending cuts the likely combination 24 CUR Presentation - December 13, 2012

What YOU Can Do Talk with the governmental relations staff at your campus about risks to federal funding for research Send a letter to your elected officials, letting them know how the fiscal cliff and on-going defunding of federal agencies that provide grants and contracts will impact your research and that of your students Write an Op Ed piece for your local newspaper (s) on how the fiscal cliff and cuts to NDD negatively impact the campus, faculty, and students Working with your campus government relations staff:  Invite legislators and their staff to research celebrations on your campus – this is particularly effective for campuses that are close by elected officials home offices (or residences)  Visit elected officials’ district offices – particularly with a student researcher CUR Presentation - December 13,

CUR's Strategy in Washington Continue to partner with the NDD, AAAS, and be responsive to White House OSTP requests for information on excellent undergraduate research examples that were funded with federal sources Provide you with a template for a letter to send to your senators and representatives on the “fiscal cliff” Provide you with customized talking points on the “fiscal cliff” and its potential impacts to undergraduate research and faculty research Your ideas? CUR Presentation - December 13,

Questions? CUR Presentation - December 13,