Government Relations

Government Relations Legislative Update

Government Relations Legislative Update

Updates on state and federal issues relating to the UW System.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Federal Update for Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released earlier this afternoon a beta version of its "Financial Aid Comparison Shopper" website as the next phase of its "Know Before You Owe" campaign. The "shopper" website is intended to allow potential students and families to compare various statistics about individual institutions, including potential debt burdens for students and graduates. The site allows comparisons of three institutions at once.

The announcement about the launching of the website is available at:  http://www.consumerfinance.gov/pressreleases/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-releases-financial-aid-comparison-shopper/.

The "shopper" website is available at:  http://www.consumerfinance.gov/payingforcollege/.

Earlier today, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) released a report that highlights the contributions of intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries to the overall economy. The report, a joint product of Commerce, its Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), concludes that IP-reliant industries contributed in excess of $5.0 trillion to the economy and 40 million jobs in 2010.

The announcement of the report is available at:  http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2012/04/11/us-commerce-department-releases-new-report-showing-intellectual-prope.

A copy of the actual report is available at:  http://www.uspto.gov/news/publications/IP_Report_March_2012.pdf.

The UW System Federal Priorities binder for FY2013 is now online. The binder is available at:  http://www.wisconsin.edu/govrel/federal-priorities/2013/FederalBinderFY2013.pdf.

(APLU and the UW System Office of Federal Relations contributed to this report.)