The U.S. Senate returned to Washington, D.C. this week and the U.S. House of Representatives returns the week of September 11, following several weeks of a Congressional “recess.” It was anything but a recess in the traditional sense of the word! The Office of Federal Relations led several informative visits with our delegation and their staff this month.
August started off with a celebratory event twenty years in the making at the groundbreaking of the new USDA ARS building with Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA ARS Leadership, Senator Patty Murray, and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers in Pullman.
Chancellor Chilton hosted Senator Murray on campus after the groundbreaking where we highlighted our research at the College of Veterinary Medicine (including the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab—WADDL), the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, and the Functional Genomics Initiative.
Sen. Murray ended the day with a visit to see the reigning PAC-12 Champion Women’s Basketball team. The Senator and her husband Rob are huge fans of women’s basketball, and it was a highlight for both them and the team.
WSU’s Office of External Affairs and Government Relations (EAGR) hosted our annual Congressional and Legislative Staff Trip at WSU Pullman and WSU Spokane. The trip focused on student services and health care on both campuses. Attendees represented Senator Murray and Cantwell’s teams, as well as staff from Representatives DelBene (D-WA-1), Larsen (D-WA-2), Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-3), and Schrier (D-WA-8). Congressional committee staff also joined our state colleagues for the three-day visit to the campuses.
The Office of Federal Relations worked with stakeholders and campuses to host additional Congressional staff visits throughout the state — in Pullman, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, the Puyallup R&E Center, and Everett — where we focused on highlighting WSU’s growing research portfolios, community partnerships, our agriculture work, health sciences, and the growing work WSU is doing with sustainable aviation fuels.
WSU also had the opportunity to highlight its innovative AI work through the AGAid Institute at Senator Cantwell’s “Future of AI Forum” in Seattle. Dr. Manoj Karkee with the Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems highlighted the work we are doing to support the agriculture industry in Washington.
Dr. Karkee also participated in a panel discussion with representatives from Microsoft, the Allen Institute, Washington State AFL-CIO, Senator Maria Cantwell, and Laura Locasio, the U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. Senator Cantwell focused on the growing benefits of artificial intelligence in industries like agriculture and health care, and applauded WSU’s leadership in the agriculture space.
What’s next?
August was a busy month for our Congressional delegation and WSU. Now that Congress is back in D.C., the one thing top-of-mind is the upcoming end to the federal fiscal year on September 30. As to date, none of the bills funding the federal government have been signed into law.
Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (“FRA”) passed earlier this year, a one percent cut to discretionary spending goes into effect on January 1st if all 12 appropriations bills are not passed – this would impact funding supporting WSU students and research. The one percent cuts would be off FY23 enacted levels, which include a higher non-defense discretionary number than the FY24 limits in the FRA and lower defense discretionary spending than the FRA.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has started to have conversations with his caucus about passing short-term continuing resolutions (CR) to fund the federal government, giving him time to move the bills forward and avoid the Jan. 1 deadline. He has floated dates of either November 1 or November 15, with the House expected to move on those proposals when they return in coming weeks, giving him time to work with his caucus to pass several more appropriations packages. However, a group of House Republicans have disavowed a CR without further cuts and the inclusion of several policy riders that face no future in the Senate.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Schumer sent a letter outlining the Senate’s plans for September, including further work on appropriations bills. Senator Murray, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has passed all 12 funding bills out of the full committee. It is reported that the Senate is seeking to identify a potential vehicle to start passing appropriations bills ahead of the House. Minority Leader McConnell has also shared he envisions a short-term CR extending through the end of the year, putting him at odds with Speaker McCarthy.
Additionally, the White House has a $40 billion emergency supplemental request that could further complicate negotiations between the chambers. Politico reports that OMB published a list of requested anomalies in case of a CR.
Should Congress not reach an agreement on short-term funding, we could end up with a government shutdown — the goal of course is to have this have minimal impact on government services and force an agreement to fund the government. Historically, these shutdowns have not had long term impacts on WSU’s research and students, but we will be monitoring this very closely.