Washington Highlights: January 4,
2008
Contents
Prior Issues
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President Signs FY 2008 Funding Package
President Bush Dec. 26 signed the omnibus "Consolidated Appropriations
Act for FY 2008" (H.R.
2764), the $555 billion spending package approved by Congress
Dec. 19 [see Washington
Highlights,
Dec. 21]. When combined with the previously-passed Defense spending
bill (P.L.
110-116), the omnibus meets the President's overall discretionary
spending limit of $932.8 billion.
According to a White House press
release, President Bush called the spending levels in the omnibus
"reasonable and responsible," but criticized lawmakers'
use of "nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion."
Most of the programs in the Labor-HHS portion of the omnibus were
subject to a 1.747 percent across-the-board cut to meet the President's
spending limit. For NIH, the omnibus provides an appropriation of
$29.229 billion, an increase of $329 million (1.1 percent) over
FY 2007. The bill provides $194 million for the Title VII health
professions training programs, a $9.2 million (5 percent) increase
over FY 2007.
The bill also includes language reinstating for FY 2008 the NIH's
authority to transfer 1 percent of its budget for National Research
Service Awards (NRSA) to the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The language
inadvertently had been deleted in 2006.
Looking forward to the FY 2009 budget, the President stated, "In
February I will submit my budget proposal for fiscal year 2009,
which will once again restrain spending, keep taxes low, and continue
us on a path towards a balanced budget."
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Department of Education Appoints COSFA Chair
to Rulemaking Committee
The Department of Education Dec. 31 named Carrie Steere-Salazar
to represent the AAMC and graduate/professional schools on the upcoming
negotiated rulemaking
committee on student loans. Ms. Steere-Salazar is chair of the AAMC
Committee on Student Financial Assistance (COSFA) and director of
Student Financial Services at the University of California, San
Francisco, School of Medicine.
The committee is charged with developing regulations to reflect
changes made to the Higher Education Act by the "College Cost
Reduction and Access Act" (P.L.
110-84) [see Washington
Highlights,
Sept. 7, 2007], an education budget bill signed by the President
Sept. 27, 2007 . The student loan panel will address the following
issues:
- Income-based repayment plan (IBR);
- Conforming the economic hardship deferment with IBR;
- Public service loan forgiveness;
- Definition of not-for-profit holder; and
- Federal preemption of state laws related to improper inducements
and arrangements between schools, lenders and other entities in
the students loans programs.
The Department has tentatively scheduled 3 negotiated rulemaking
sessions in Washington, DC, for Jan. 14-16, Feb. 4-6, and March
3-5.
Information:
Matthew Shick, Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
mshick@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
IRS Releases Revised Form 990
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Dec. 20 issued an updated version
of its Form
990, the return that tax-exempt organizations are required to
file annually. The final format includes a "core form"
and a series of schedules. The new core form allows an organization
to describe its exempt accomplishments and mission. Other changes
were made to the form's summary page, governance section, and various
schedules, including those relating to executive compensation, related
organizations, foreign activities, hospitals, non-cash contributions
and tax exempt bonds. The new form will be used for the 2008 tax
year (for returns filed in 2009).
The IRS also provided a document that describes highlights
of the Schedule
H form, for use by tax-exempt hospitals. It briefly discusses
comments that were received on the draft schedule, and describes
the changes that were made. In 2008, only Part V (a list of facilities
and the activities and programs conducted at each) will be required.
Other parts of the form will be optional next year but mandatory
for tax years beginning in 2009. While Schedule H will allow reporting
of bad debt and Medicare shortfalls, they will not be reported as
community benefit. The document provides few details about the reporting
of education and research, other than to state that Part III "requires
reporting of aggregate Medicare reimbursements (including DSH and
IME, but not GME)."
The AAMC will provide members with more information as it becomes
available.
Information:
Ivy Baer, Director & Regulatory Counsel
AAMC Health Care Affairs
ibaer@aamc.orc
(202) 828-0490
President Bush Signs CHIMP Act Alteration
President Bush Dec. 26 signed into law the "Chimp Haven is
Home Act" (S.
1916), which prohibits removal of chimpanzees from a federal
sanctuary for chimps retired from research. The "Chimpanzee
Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act" of 2000
(CHIMP Act, P.L.
106-551) established the sanctuary administered through the
National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Research
Resources (NCRR), for chimpanzees that are no longer thought to
be needed in NIH and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) research.
S. 1916, introduced Aug. 1 by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), deletes
the provision in the CHIMP Act that allowed chimps to be removed
from the sanctuary for research. The bill still allows the use of
sanctuary chimps in noninvasive behavioral studies and medical studies
that use information collected during the course of normal veterinary
care within the sanctuary.
Information:
Abigail Schopick, Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
aschopick@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Dept. of Commerce Committee Finds "Deemed Export"
Rules are Obsolete
The Deemed Export Advisory Committee (DEAC) to the U.S. Department
of Commerce (DOC) Dec. 20 released its final report,
recommending revised deemed export regulations that more selectively
build higher "walls" around specific technologies and
allow for more latitude and flexibility in industry and university
controls. The term "deemed export" refers to the release
of technology to foreign nationals within the United States. The
DEAC - an independent, ad hoc committee chaired by Norman Augustine,
retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation - has determined
that the current regulatory regime for deemed exports does not effectively
protect national security, and in fact may hinder U.S. industry
and universities as they seek to collaborate or compete with their
increasingly sophisticated international counterparts.
Under existing DOC regulations, deemed exports from a list of protected
technologies with potential civilian and military use could require
an export license. But the DEAC finds that the current list is unnecessarily
broad and that the DOC inconsistently and ineffectively implements
the rules. In 2005-06, the DOC, responding to criticism by its Inspector
General, had proposed tightening deemed export restrictions in ways
that would have dramatically and adversely affected universities
and many other research organizations [see Washington
Highlights, April 1, 2005]. Responding to industry and university
concerns, the DOC suspended the proposed revisions and in October
2006 appointed the DEAC, with members from industry and academe,
to examine the current regulatory regime and to propose changes.
In its final report, the DEAC also proposes a new category of "trusted
entities" that could include academic institutions and companies
that "voluntarily elect to qualify for special, streamlined
treatment in the processing of Deemed Export licenses by meeting
certain specified criteria." The DEAC also recommends using
a more conventional definition of fundamental research than is currently
the case, and not distinguishing products of fundamental research
from the use of certain equipment or technologies in performing
that research (a problem under current rules). But the committee
leaves open options for federal restriction of publication of research
results, for example, in classified research. It is not clear from
the report if other types of restrictions on publication would be
sought.
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Senior Research Fellow
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
Susan Ehringhaus, Associate General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sehringhaus@aamc.org
(202) 828-0543
On The Hill...
Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) was appointed by Mississippi Governor
Haley Barbour (R) Dec. 31 to fill the Senate seat vacated by former
Sen. Trent Lott (R). The former ranking member of the House VA Appropriations
subcommittee, Rep. Wicker's departure leaves an open seat on the
House Appropriations Committee. Gov. Barbour will call a special
election within 60 days to fill Rep. Wicker's House seat.
Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) Jan. 3 announced that he is retiring
from Congress. Rep. Peterson, 69, cited health problems at home
as the reason he has decided to retire at the end of the 110th Congress.
No other candidates have filed for the seat with the Federal Elections
Commission, though the state filing deadline is not until Feb. 12.
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