View from DC: Nominations and Budget Outlook

Feb 11, 2021

A federal perspective on public policy from our desk in Washington provided by Thomas Phillips, Congressional Affairs Specialist at Battelle.

Q: With a focus on education policy, where should we look now for the best insight into what's coming next?

In the last View from DC post, I mentioned the budget reconciliation process, and noted that Congress would likely leverage that process to take quick action on another round of pandemic relief. That came to pass last week, when the House agreed to the FY21 budget resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 (S.Con.Res.5). This kicked off a process in which a number of committees must draft and agree to specific components of the comprehensive $1.9 trillion relief package. (Remember, because this is part of “reconciliation,” the legislation will be filibuster-proof in the Senate, and can advance without Republican votes.)

On Tuesday, February 9th, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to “markup” the elements S.Con.Res.5 within its jurisdiction (Title II). This includes the nearly $130 Billion investment for K-12 schools proposed by President Biden, in Section 2001. These funds can “help schools take the steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure students and educators can return to the classroom safely. This includes repairing ventilation systems, reducing class sizes and implementing social distancing guidelines, purchasing personal protective equipment, and hiring support staff to care for students’ health and well-being.” One important caveat is that “schools must reserve at least 20 percent of the funding they receive to address learning loss.” (Read the budget resolution here) Additionally, while the House Democrats’ proposal is mostly aligned with President Biden’s plan, their plan eliminates a $5 billion education fund for governors, instead directing those funds to higher education.

The other notable Congressional actions on STEM from last week were the two nomination hearings for President Biden’s picks to lead the Departments of Education and Labor, Dr. Miguel Cardona and Marty Walsh held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Q: What did we learn from those hearings?

On the Department of Education front, we learned a bit more about Dr. Cardona’s stances on STEM education. He spoke specifically to the need for better integration of STEM in the core curriculum, as well as the importance of demonstrating the role of STEM in workplace to help increase participation in STEM and computer science. We also heard from him on some broader, more contentious topics, such as reopening schools, standardized testing, and accountability measures in the face of the ongoing pandemic. Regarding reopening, he indicated that schools would need to take sufficient health precautions and have surveillance testing protocols in place. On the issue of testing, he said that he was not in favor of a “one size fits all” approach on waivers, and that assessments are necessary to provide targeted resources and support, while maintaining that states will have the opportunity to weigh in on implementation. While his answers didn’t please all Republicans on the committee, we can expect that his nomination will advance to the full Senate with bipartisan support.

On the Labor front, Marty Walsh’s hearing went over smoothly, also earning bipartisan support. He committed to advancing Democrats’ priorities on worker protections while maintaining his openness to crossing the aisle and working with Republicans on employer concerns. Importantly, Walsh called out an area of concern to both parties, noting that “each and every one” of the Senators spoke about the need for job training and preparing workers for the economy of the future. To that end, Walsh indicated his support for expanded job training and re-skilling efforts. We can expect that his nomination will also advance to the full Senate.

Q: Another key milestone will be the release of the administration's budget request. Can you briefly remind folks how the federal budget is created?

Ideally, the budget process looks something like this flowchart. (And remember, this is just the first half of the Budget & Appropriations cycle; we’ll go through the appropriations process in more detail in a future post).

First, the Administration proposes their budget request for the upcoming fiscal year to Congress. Then, the House and Senate Budget Committees draft and amend their own budget resolutions. When that’s done, the resolutions are voted out of committee, and “sent to the floor” to be passed by each chamber. Once both resolutions have passed, a conference committee resolves the differences between the two resolutions, and the final product is once again voted on by the full House and Senate. At that point, the budget is set, and the Appropriations committee (and its 12 subcommittees) receive their allocations for the coming fiscal year.

Q: Where are we in that process now?

Because we’re entering a new Administration, this process is slightly delayed, but don’t fret – it happens every four years. Right now, we’re still waiting to see the Administration’s budget request. We’ll likely get a “skinny budget” in March, which includes most topline dollar figures, but not much programmatic spending details. Those details will come later in the spring, and will be released as they’re available from each Department. Remember that this is all for the upcoming fiscal year, FY22, set to begin October 1^st.

Q: What are likely areas of significant debate or agreement?

Right now, we’re seeing major debate play out on pandemic relief, as Congressional Democrats have leveraged the mechanism of reconciliation through FY21’s budget resolution to advance the substantial legislative package I mentioned above. Depending on how the rest of that debate plays out, and what level of relief is ultimately passed, additional relief could be at the forefront of the debates around FY22’s budget resolution. That said, we can also expect to see Democrats act decisively on climate change, a stated priority of the current administration, which will certainly cause a stir. However, in order to try and win some bipartisan support, there will likely be significant outlays for infrastructure investments – a Congressional priority for the last few years.

When it comes to education, the debate around when and how to open schools is likely to dominate the conversation. There is bipartisan consensus that schools need to reopen, but Republicans and Democrats are struggling to find agreement on what investments are necessary to make it happen, and safely. Luckily, there is significant bipartisan agreement around the need for STEM, and for broadening participation by increasing equity and access. Hopefully, we’ll see strong STEM support in the administration’s budget request; it will send the message that Congress needs to continue increasing its investment in STEM opportunities.

I’ll be presenting on the Budget and Appropriations process during the February STEMx Members’ Roundtable on 2/25. In the meantime, if you have any questions about STEM policy or advocacy, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via email (phillipstd at battelle.org) or phone.

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Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

By Rob Evans • 01 Nov, 2023

by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

By Rob Evans • 03 Oct, 2023

Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce