The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

Three Days Until Potential Government Shutdown, Continued Resolution Proposed
Office of Research Integrity Seeking Public Comment on Updates
ED to Move Forward with "Secret Shopper" Loan Servicer Program
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The Highlights 📰

Budget & Appropriations

The latest coverage on Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations that are relevant to Duke.

Duke Government Relations' primer on the federal appropriations process.

T-MINUS THREE DAYS UNTIL POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN

Lawmakers have just until Friday to pass another stopgap funding measure to avoid another potential shutdown. Today, the House took the initial step and passed Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) proposed laddered continuing resolution (CR). The CR would fund certain government agencies until January and others until February. Both the White House and the Senate have signaled support for the CR to avert a shutdown.

Running Down the Clock

HOUSE WILL CONSDIER L-HHS-ED FUNDING BILL THIS WEEK

The House currently debating the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education funding bill after tabling it last week. Several proposed amendments made it through the House Rules Committee, including ones that would cut funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to the Association of American Universities, of which Duke is a member, another amendment "would change underlying text of Section 533 of the bill by expanding a ban on funding for 'gain-of-function research involving a potential pandemic pathogen' to all countries, including the United States. The original bill language was limited to foreign adversaries as determined by the Secretary of State."

Also up for consideration this week, the marked-up Commerce-Justice-Sciences appropriations bill.

L-HHS-ED Considerations Resume

Research

The latest updates on legislation and regulations that impact Duke's research enterprise.

HHS' OFFICE OF RESEARCH INTEGRITY SEEKING COMMENT ON PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES POLICY UPDATE

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update its Public Health Service Policy on Research Misconduct. The last time this policy was updated was in 2005. The proposed revisions are based on the experience ORI and institutions have gained with the regulation since it was released 18 years ago, and includes revisions that seek to clarify and streamline the office's rules and workflow.

Proposed Policy Update

NATIONAL QUANTUM INITIATIVE REAUTHORIZATION UP FOR DISCUSSION

The National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act is up for committee markups this week, set to be discussed by the House's Science Space and Technology Committee on Wednesday. H.R. 6213 would reauthorize the law originally enacted in 2018, which sought to "accelerate quantum research and development by authorizing new activities, programs, and centers at the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy (DOE)." Key provisions in the reauthorization act include requiring a plan to bolster competitiveness in quantum as well as establishing centers to advance quantum research.

Quantum Back In Queue

Student Aid, Institutional Support and Taxes

The latest updates regarding legislation and regulatory actions related to student aid, higher education institutional support, taxes and more.

NASFAA Student Aid Reference Desk

BIDEN ADMIN TRYING TO EASE CAPABILITY TO TRANSFER COLLEGES

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision impacting affirmative action earlier this year, the Biden administration has said it wants to find other ways to make higher education more accessible to more students. One way to achieve that would be looking at easing the burden for students to transfer from one institution to another.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona:

“Our current higher education system stacks the deck against community college students who aspire to earn four-year degrees – denying acceptance of their credits, forcing them to retake courses, and ultimately making their educational journeys longer and costlier than they need to be."

Testing Transfers

ED DEPT. TO UTILIZE "SECRET SHOPPERS" TO MONITOR LOAN SERVICERS

As the Department of Education begins to ramp up student loan repayments, it will also move forward with a "secret shopper" program to help monitor servicers and ensure they are helping borrowers in the right way. Last month third-party servicer MOHELA was in the news for failing to send billing statements to some 2.5 million borrowers. The ED said the ultimate goal of the "secret shopper" program is to ensure loan servicers are held accountable and to incentivize them to do well.

Secret Shoppers

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT FEDERAL ISSUES? SIGN UP FOR FEDERAL FORUMS

Have questions about federal issues impacting Duke? Duke's Office of Government Relations (OGR) hosts weekly virtual office hours for members of the Duke community, "Federal Forums." Join us on Fridays at 10:00 AM to hear OGR staff give a quick rundown of the latest news out of DC of most relevance to Duke, answer questions, provide connections to resources and more! Register in advance to receive the Zoom link, and please include any issues you'd like to discuss.

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