As details of the Clinton administration’s budget emerge, staff members in the University’s Washington office continue to monitor its likely impact—positive and negative—on the Univer-sity. On the plus side, the president has proposed increasing student financial aid, establishing a national service program to help students pay for college, increasing federal support for research and development, and restoring tax code provisions that encourage donations to non-profit organizations.
Universities’ budgets are likely to be strained, however, by proposed reductions in indirect cost reimbursements, the imposition of an energy consumption tax and reductions in reimbursement for medical education.
“The president’s proposals are comprehensive, as is the U-M’s relationship with the federal government,” says Thomas A. Butts, associate vice president for government relations and Washington office director, adding that virtually every U-M unit will be affected by the budget package.
Clinton’s final budget is scheduled for release April 5.
In conjunction with Butts, government relations officers Carolyn Jecks and Bob Samors continue to follow current legislation of interest to the
U-M, including:
—A number of financial aid initiatives, including direct lending and national service; increases in Pell grant funding; and possible reductions in funding for campus-based aid programs such as work-study.
—Reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act, which incorporates teacher training and classroom technology development.
—The National Competitiveness Act, a bill introduced in both the House and Senate to encourage technology transfer and establish national manufacturing outreach centers.
—Reauthorization of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.
—Legislation to elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet-level status.
