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• Federal Relations E-Newsletter - 3.13.2015

  Mar 13, 2015 3:15 pm by Federal Relations
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  With several Member submission deadlines for appropriations right around the corner, Congressional offices are now in the process of reviewing external programmatic requests. Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans are putting final touches on their fiscal year 2016 budget resolutions, which are expected to be unveiled and marked up by budget committees next week. Majority leadership in both chambers intend to bring the budget blueprints to their respective floors the last week of March before adjourning for a two-week Easter and Passover recess.

  LEGISLATIVE OUTLOOK

  President Obama Announces Consumer Protections for Student Loan Borrowers

  Before a large crowd at Georgia Tech, President Obama announced a "Student Aid Bill of Rights" aimed to improve federal student loan servicing and help student loan borrowers better manage their loan debt. Among other directives, the initiative calls for the Department of Education (ED) to establish an online feedback system for students and borrowers to file complaints about federal student loan lenders, servicers, collections agencies, and institutions of higher education. The initiative charges ED to work with the Office of Management and Budget to regularly monitor and analyze borrowing trends to inform potential policy changes. The Administration also released state-by-state data that includes the amount of outstanding loan balances and total number of federal student borrowers.

  Illinois Republicans Participate in Immigration Reform Event

  The Illinois Business Immigration Coalition (IBIC) hosted an event involving Illinois Republicans leaders that demonstrated support for commonsense immigration reform. Participants included Governor Bruce Rauner, Sen. Mark Kirk, Representatives Adam Kinzinger, Bob Dold, and Aaron Schock, as well as Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich. The audience consisted of more than 150 immigration reform supporters, business leaders, and representatives from civic groups. After remarks from each of the speakers, the event concluded with a call to action for Congress to move forward with, and approve, immigration reform.

  DC VISITORS

  President Easter Promotes UI Appropriations Priorities

  While in town to co-chair a meeting for the APLU Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture, UI President Robert Easter went to Capitol Hill to discuss the university's agency and program priorities with the Illinois Congressional delegation. He encouraged robust funding for NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD, and USDA, among other programs. He met with senior staff within the offices of Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Rodney Davis, Sen. Dick Durbin, and Sen. Mark Kirk.

  College of Education Early Career Faculty Visit Federal Agencies

  Three Urbana College of Education faculty members—Maya Israel, Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, and Patrick Smith—traveled to DC as part of an early-career faculty trip to visit with program officers at federal agencies. They visited NSF, ED, and the Institute of Education Sciences where they shared background on their research interests and learned more about specific agency programs and processes.

  UI Participation in National Conferences, Agency & Hill Meetings

  Peter Constable, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Urbana, was in DC for the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) annual conference. He met with the offices of Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk, as well as Representatives Rodney Davis and Cheri Bustos to provide updates on the College and its federal priorities. Urbana College of Engineering Associate Dean for Research, Jennifer Bernhard, was in DC to attend the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Research Council annual conference. While in town, she also went out to NSF for meetings to learn about funding opportunities. Amelia Salter, Economic Outreach Coordinator for the Office of the Vice President for Research, attended a National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2) conference, which brought together university representatives from all over to the country to share best practices on creating and funding university startups. While in town, she also met with the office of Rep. Cheri Bustos.  Madhu Khanna from Urbana's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics served as a panelist at theAdvanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference. During her presentation, Professor Khanna spoke about the challenges to incorporating the goals of the bioeconomy with the desired growth, metric, and standard outcomes.

  CAMPUS VISITORS

  Rep. Rodney Davis had a productive visit to the Urbana campus on Wednesday. He started his afternoon with a tour of the Chemical and Life Sciences Lab, and then sat down with Chemistry Department Head Gregory Girolami, Professor Chad Rienstra, andProfessor Marty Burke. They discussed the importance of federal funding in supporting basic research to address significant human health challenges, such as fungal infections, Parkinson's disease, and heart disease. He also met with Chancellor Phyllis Wise, where they discussed the proposal for a new, engineering-focused College of Medicine on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

  Prior to the Academic and Student Affairs Committee (ASAC) meeting, Rep. Davis had a chance to greet members of the UI Board of Trustees. He met UI Board of Trustees Chairman Edward McMillan, Trustee Hannah Cave, Trustee Ramón Cepeda, Trustee Ricardo Estrada, Trustee Patrick Fitzgerald, Trustee Lucas Frye, Trustee Karen Hasara,Trustee Patricia Brown Holmes, Trustee Timothy Koritz, and Trustee James Montgomery. He also spoke with President Robert Easter and President-elect Timothy Killeen.

  Thank you, Melissa Haas | Acting Director | OGR Federal Relations

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