Hello friends,
Earlier today I submitted my public comment on the proposed OMB rule change. I ended up keeping it short and focused on the international collaboration and conference travel restrictions. This felt strange because those are just two of the things I am upset about, and maybe not even the most damaging ones, but they are closely tied to my own expertise and professional impacts. In any case, it’s done and uploaded, and it feels important to have weighed in on this important fight. It looks like they’ve processed and posted about half of the 100,000 and counting contributions so far. I hope you have already or will be joining me in that number. Reminder that the deadline is midnight EASTERN time on Monday July 13. You can upload your contribution directly to Regulations.gov.

This was Year 2, Week 28, and I have a few things I wanted to share with you before I go offline for several weeks. I’ll be back on my regular beat on July 31.

• First, some good news from the courts:
  • Florida’s HB7 law¹ (the so-called “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees”² Act) went into effect in July 2022. In a divided but important ruling this week, a federal appeals court has now ruled that the law is unconstitutional and called it, "a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse."
  • The same appeals court also ruled against a challenge to college accreditation boards, rejecting the argument by Florida governor DeSantis that these accreditors wield unchecked power. This affirms a previous ruling and the judges pointed to “a wall of precedent” the complaint ignores. (I’ve been writing about accreditation as an important fight for higher ed since last May.)
• The new regulatory agenda for education was quietly published last week. The Education Department is seeking to formally rescind the student loan-repayment plan, amend Title IV, repeal disparate impact discrimination law, and more.
• PhD cohorts across the country are shrinking. Admissions have fallen by 15% on average, and application rates are down too.
• After ProPublica reported on the babies who died because their parents rejected the recommended vitamin K shot given at birth, there’s a push to start collecting data on refusal rates and their consequences. The supplement supports blood clotting and is not a vaccine, but the underlying dynamics about medical trust and parental fears are entwined. It is one of three essential interventions recommended for newborns, which also includes hepatitis B vaccination³ …something RFK’s brand new nominee for Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has vehemently argued against. You might benefit by ending this section with KFF’s palate cleanser, “Americans May Be Smarter About Vaccines Than You Think.”
• The US Global Change Research Program was gutted last year, but it is now being refashioned under a new leader, so expect more “emphasis on the positive aspects” of climate change in the next National Climate Assessment. Meanwhile, the president pardoned nine men who violated the Clean Air Act by removing emission controls from trucks.
• There’s another proposed change to NIH funding that is flying under the radar. As I understand it, the suggestion comes up every so often to cap the number of simultaneous research grants a single PI can hold. It might change your feeling about that to see the latest version and consider whether a cap as low as two seems reasonable. You can submit your considered thoughts to this Request for Information until August 3.
• I’ll end on one more bit of good news. In May, I wrote about a major ruling against DOGE cuts to NEH research, and promised I’d keep an eye on it. Those terminated grants are now moving toward being reinstated. There are strategy sessions for affected PIs and a published set of instructions for requesting the funding restoration. And crucially, even though the federal government has appealed the ruling, they did not ask for a stay of the decision, so grantees should continue submitting materials for reinstatement.

One closing thought as I’m writing this newsletter for the last time for a bit.

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who is the person I rely on when I have questions about academic labor and organizing. In a moment of the conversation where I thought we were going to have a quick “a better world is possible” beat, she surprised me by interrupting with, “No. We could have the world we want today. We have the resources, we just need more of a say in how they’re used.” It was electrifying to be reminded of that.

A better world is possible right now, if we are willing to demand it. Let's do so.
Liz

As ever, thanks for reading & thinking with me!

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