NPC Statute Passed by House; On “Hold” in Senate.  NAVREF is very pleased that after being approved by the full House Committee on Veterans Affairs on July 23, the House passed H.R. 2770, the Veterans Nonprofit Research and Education Corporations Enhancement Act of 2009, as amended, on July 27.  Thanks to the leadership of Bob Filner (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-IN), as well as Health Subcommittee Chairman Mike Michaud (D-ME) and Ranking Member Henry Brown (R-SC), the bill was passed under the House unanimous consent rules.  This was the culmination of much effort by NAVREF and HVAC staff members, with particular thanks to Health Subcommittee Staff Director Cathy Wiblemo and Professional Staff Member Kristy Park as well as Minority Staff Director Dolores Dunn.

Things are not going as smoothly for the Senate companion bill, S. 252, the Veterans Health Care Authorization Act of 2009, which includes title VI, Nonprofit Research and Education Corporations.  The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs (SVAC) has bundled together in S. 252 the NPC legislation and other bills related to veterans’ health care including personnel matters, quality management, women veterans and homeless veterans outreach, mental health care, and safety in and around VA facilities. 

The SVAC sought to have S. 252 passed under the Senate unanimous consent rules before the August recess, but ran into a snag when a senator placed a “hold” on the bill.  This arcane Senate rule allows any senator to stop action on legislation anonymously and for an indefinite period of time.  This does not mean that S. 252 is dead; it simply means that the senator who placed the hold will have to be persuaded to lift it or the Senate leadership will have to decide to override it.

As soon as more details of SVAC plans to advance S. 252 are available, NAVREF will decide on a course of action.  This may include asking NPCs to send letters to their senators urging them to support bringing S. 252 to the Senate floor for consideration and a vote.  Because VA supports title VI of S. 252 – and has testified to that effect during HVAC and SVAC hearings – NPCs may participate in efforts to secure its passage.  Please watch for an email during the coming weeks.

NAVREF Member Profiles Web Site Up and Running.  NAVREF members will recall that last year NAVREF committed to creating a web site with details about NPCs to foster communications among members and to serve as a resource for potential research sponsors. Our goal was to duplicate online the popular directory provided to NPCs and industry sponsors in early 2008. We are very pleased that this web site is now active. During the next week or so, please watch for an email from NAVREF’s administrative and conference assistant, Sonie Mathew, with a link to the profile web page. The email will provide your NPC’s log in and password information as well as instructions for accessing and populating your NPC’s profile.

Most, but not all, of the information you provide will automatically upload to a web page that is intended to make it easier to for NPCs to reach out to each other and for potential research sponsors to identify likely sites for studies. By clicking on an NPC’s name, you and sponsors will be able to access details about the NPC and its affiliated VAMC research program. A few items of information will not be made publicly available, but will be collected and held by NAVREF in order to respond to inquiries from other NPCs.

Again, please watch for an email from Sonie and then take a few minutes to input information about your NPC. Additionally, after giving NPCs a couple of weeks to enter their data, please let potential sponsors know that this NPC resource is available.