Federal news While a government shutdown looms, Medicaid legislation (H.R. 7217, IMPROVE Act) passed in the House and has moved to the Senate. Bills passing both House and Senate include S. 2465, Sickle Cell Disease and Other Heritable Blood Disorders Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act and S. 3029 PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2018 (to…
Author: Carmen Howard
Legislative Update – 11/30/2018
Federal news Some post-election headlines include focus on news related to health care: With Democrats in control of U.S. House, science panel gets fresh start (Science) Psychiatric nurse-turned politician, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) will chair the House science committee. Nurse Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and pediatrician Kim Schrier (D-WA) are both eyeing seats on one…
Legislative Update, 10/03/2018
Federal News: The FY19 appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, which was approved by the House and Senate on Sept 13, 2018, includes: $2 billion increase in funding for NIH $425 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research $100 million increase for cancer research $86 million increase for All…
Legislative Update, 08/17/2018
Federal: More information on the ECRI-backed National Guideline Clearinghouse, including financial forecasting, has been posted by MLA. Read more from MLA News. Toxic substance regulation will change if the EPA moves forward with a plan to rely more on industry-backed research than academic studies on asbestos and other toxic chemicals. Read the full story from…
Legislative Update 06/06/18
Federal: The EPA’s Science Advisory Board voted on May 31, 2018 to review two recent proposals by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt: (1) to require that only publicly-available data be used to make environmental regulations, and (2) to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. Since public health data are often restricted to protect patient privacy, there…
Legislative Update 05/04/2018
Federal: 1) Take action in National Library Legislative Day from home, if you’re not traveling to D.C. for the event next week. Here are the priorities this year: House & Senate: Reauthorize the Museum and Library Services Act (S. 2271) House & Senate: Fully Fund LSTA and IAL for FY 2019 House & Senate: Visit…
Legislative Update 04/13/2018
Federal: Congressional Research Service reports, prepared for members and committees of Congress, will soon be available on a free public website within 90 days of creation. Prior to the FY18 omnibus appropriations bill that was signed into law on March 23, 2018, the CRS was not mandated to make this publicly-funded research openly available, although…
Legislative Update, 11/10/2017
Federal News: ALA submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security regarding the Department’s plans to monitor and collect information from U.S. immigrants’ social media accounts. In the letter, ALA representatives write that the proposal is “quite excessive and thus an invasion of privacy.” For more details, visit the District Dispatch. In national, but not strictly legislative, news…
Legislative Update – 09/22/17
Federal: The Senate Committee on Appropriations’ FY18 Labor, HHS, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill was approved earlier this month. Of note, NIH funding would increase $2.0 billion, to $36.1 billion. Funding for the National Library of Medicine would increase $21 million to $420.9 million. The IMLS budget would increase $4 million, to $235…
Legislative Update, 08/09/2017
Federal: Bills promoting open access to federally funded research and electronic communications privacy have been introduced in Congress. Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act, or FASTR, H.R. 3427, would provide public access to research published from every federal agency that significantly funds research. This bill strengthens and expands previous legislation, requiring online access…