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09.10

By Russ Harrison

When Congress returns from its August recess just after Labor Day, there will be approximately eight weeks left until the General Election on 2 November.  Since most legislators want to spend as much of this time in their home states and districts campaigning as possible, very little time remains to finish work on legislation. 

This deadline pressure, along with electoral pressure, should make the next two months among the most active of the year in Washington as Congress rushes to finish work on its priorities in time to tell their voters.

America Competes Act

The House of Representatives passed its version of this re-authorization bill on 28 May.  The Senate has passed a different version of the bill out of committee, but still needs to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a full vote.  The Senate version of the Competes Act authorizes less spending than the House version and will reauthorize the Act for only three years, rather than five. 

Once the Senate passes their version of the bill, it will have to be reconciled with the House version at a Conference Committee.  The resulting compromise bill then needs to be passed again by the House and Senate before it can go to the President for a final signature, preferably before the existing act expires on October 1^st. 

Originally passed in 2007, the America Competes Act authorizes a host of programs designed to improve the long-term competitiveness of our economy.  Among its provisions are support for K-12 STEM education (especially teacher training) and numerous research programs in universities and at the national labs. 

If it misses the Oct 1 deadline, Congress can easily extend the 2007 Act for a few days, or even a few weeks, so that existing programs are not disrupted. It is expected that the America Competes Act will pass the Senate in late September and that President Obama will sign it into law. 

Energy Reform

The House of Representatives passed a comprehensive energy reform bill on 26 June 2009.  The bill included a host of tax and financial incentives to build everything from solar and wind farms to high-efficiency buildings.  Funds were also authorized to develop smart grid technology, electric vehicles and improved batteries.  It also included an aggressive plan for tackling global warming and other environmental positions. 

In part because of the bill’s more controversial environmental provisions, Congress has made little progress on passing any broad energy and environmental reform bill and there is little chance of this changing before November.

However, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has suggested that in September he might try putting together a smaller bill focused only on non-controversial energy provisions.  These would include incentives to invest in alternative energy, tax incentives to improve the energy efficiency of appliance and buildings, and perhaps even provisions to promote plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Even with support from Sen. Reid, the prospects of this happening are small.  Congress already has a number of big bills they must deal with.  Plus, even simple, broadly popular bills take time to negotiate and write.  It is not clear that, even with Sen. Reid’s support, a new bill could be drafted and passed before the election.  On the other hand, drafting a bill that includes most of the energy policies that enjoy broad bipartisan support could help Congress act quickly on them next year.

Immigration Reform

High-skill immigration reform made an unexpected appearance in early August when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added a provision on temporary work visas to a border security bill.  To help pay for increase security measures, Congress increased the fee for H-1B visas by $2,000 and for L visas by $2,250.  These new fees only apply to outsourcing companies; more specifically, companies with at least 50 employees and with more than half of their employees using one of the temporary visas.

While it is not clear what affect the new fees will have on outsourcing companies, their intended target, Congress’ willingness to act on this issue demonstrates a growing hostility to temporary work visas in Congress.  Congress is increasingly worried about the corrosive impact outsourcing firms have on the economy and now appears ready to take action.

Beyond this narrow bill, Immigration Subcommittee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-16) is expected to introduce a broad high-skill immigration reform bill in September.  The bill will promote the use of green cards for immigrants with skills and educations while marginalizing temporary work visas.  Specific provisions will likely include a direct path way from a student visa to a green card for some students, an exemption from the EB visa cap for dependents of skilled workers, and additional restrictions on the use of the temporary H-1B and L visas.

Rep. Lofgren’s bill is not expected to pass this year, but should focus Congress’s attention for 2011.

Patent Reform Legislation

A major intellectual property reform bill remains stalled in the Senate.  An attempt to attach the bill to a small business loan bill failed in early August and legislators remain divided on a number of major issues.  Among these are increased funding for the Patent Office, infringement penalties and pre and post grant review procedures.

Since time is running short prospects for passage later this year are poor.  A version of this bill will likely be re-introduced in the new Congress early next year.

2011 Budget

Traditionally, Congress spends most of its energies in September finishing the budget for the following year.  This year will be no different.  As of mid-August, the House had passed just two of the thirteen appropriations bills, while the Senate had passed none.  The bills technically must be passed by October 1, the beginning of the 2011 fiscal year.

Unless, that is, Congress passes a Continuing Resolution.  Such a bill would continue to fund the government at 2010 levels (plus a small increase for inflation) for a specified amount of time after the start of the 2011 fiscal year.  Continuing Resolutions can also include changes to specific programs, although Congress usually tries to keep these to a minimum, preferring to deal with policy changes in normal appropriations bills.  Congress frequently uses Continuing Resolutions to give itself more time to finish the appropriations bills, especially in election years.

It is likely that Congress will put off much of the work on the 2011 budget until after the November election.  It could take up the appropriations bills during a “Lame-Duck” session after the election, or simply continue funding the government at 2010 levels well into 2011.  This is not uncommon.  Congress has only managed to pass all 13 appropriations bills by 1 October four times since 1977, the most recent being 1997.

Because of this uncertainty, it is not yet clear what the funding levels will be for programs IEEE members support.  Early reports are optimistic, showing at least steady budgets in research, education, energy and the other programs that affect engineers.  These levels would lock in the significant budget increases we enjoyed over the past few years.

Russell T. Harrison, CAE, is IEEE-USA's legislative representative for grassroots activities.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.