March 28
This week in MORE POWER:
The Sky is the Limit
Practical Math
Transparency for Tax Dollars
Teaming Up for Discovery
Legislating Satellites
The Sky is the Limit
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is pushing to pass a joint House-Senate budget resolution as early as next week. Lawmakers are waiting for the Senate parliamentarian to decide whether they can extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts without making major spending cuts or tax increases to offset the cost. At the same time, Thune supports using a special budget process, known as reconciliation, to address the debt limit, keeping Senate Republicans aligned with House efforts. Leaders are racing to finalize the plan before a potential fiscal crisis, with the government's borrowing limit approaching. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) aims to deliver a reconciliation package to President Trump by Memorial Day.
Practical Math
The House passed H.R. 730, The Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act on Tuesday in an effort to modernize STEM education by weaving math into everyday problem-solving, like predicting hurricanes, understanding traffic jams, and figuring out how diseases spread. This bill coordinates Federal research and development to bring more data-driven, computational thinking into classrooms, using hands-on projects, interdisciplinary exploration, and career connections. By supporting schools with competitive grants, supporters of the bill claim it would help educators create lessons that go beyond textbooks and into real-life impact. The bill is with the Senate now.
Transparency for Tax Dollars
The House passed H.R.359, The Cost-Share Accountability Act, on Monday. This is a bill aimed at making the Department of Energy (DOE) more transparent about how it spends taxpayer dollars. Introduced by Reps. Bill Foster (D-IL) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA), the bipartisan bill requires the DOE to report every three months on how often it lowers or eliminates the money recipients must contribute to projects. Foster explained that Congress needs this information to properly oversee spending, especially as the DOE works on new energy projects. Obernolte emphasized that the government must be careful with public funds. This bill is headed to the Senate.
Teaming Up for Discovery
This week, The House passed several bills aimed at advancing science, protecting our research, and fostering collaborations that can lead to amazing discoveries. Now, it’s up to the Senate to vote on them.
H.R. 1318, The United States Research Protection Act aims to ensure that countries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia can't unfairly recruit our top scientists or swipe our latest discoveries.
H.R. 1326, The DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act seeks to bring together the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to team up on research projects and make farming more efficient and environmentally friendly.
H.R. 1350, the DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act encourages the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to collaborate on cutting-edge research areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
H.R. 1368, The DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act would strengthen the partnership between the DOE and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support joint research in areas like dark matter and quantum sciences.
Legislating Satellites
On Monday, the House passed H.R. 1325, The Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act, which would make it easier and faster for companies to launch high-tech cameras in the sky. Right now, getting a license for a private satellite system can take up to 120 days, but this bill would cut that wait time in half to 60 days. It would also bring back annual reports that explain who’s applying, what kinds of satellites are being launched, and why certain rules apply.
The bill is currently in the Senate and has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Bills Congress Passed
H.R.359, Cost-Share Accountability Act
H.R.730, Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act
H.R.1318, United States Research Protection Act
H.R.1325, Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act
H.R.1326, DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act
H.R.1350, DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act
H.R.1368, DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act
Nothing.
Nothing.
Legislation POTUS Signed
Nothing.
