Rice University experts available to comment on looming sequestration and potential impacts

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Rice University experts available to comment on looming sequestration and potential impacts

HOUSTON – (Feb. 26, 2013) – Just a few days remain before new government spending cuts take effect March 1, pending any 11th-hour action by President Barack Obama and Congress. Regardless of full or partial sequestration, what will the impacts be nationally and locally here in Texas?

The following Rice University experts are available to comment:

Mark Jones, professor and chair of political science and a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, can comment on the politics of the sequestration debate and the role Obama and Congress play in navigating the crisis.

Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science and a fellow in urban politics at the Baker Institute, can discuss sequestration impacts on a local level and the surrounding public opinion and public-policy issues.

John Diamond, an economist and the Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance at the Baker Institute, can discuss federal tax and expenditure policy issues related to the current sequestration debate.

Christopher Bronk, the Baker Institute’s fellow in information technology policy, can discuss the impact sequestration cuts may have on the nation’s efforts to improve government and private-sector cybersecurity measures.

Vicki Colvin, vice provost for research, can discuss how research at Rice could be affected by cutbacks in federal funding. Colvin is also Rice’s Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

The Baker Institute has a radio and television studio available for media who want to schedule an interview with one of these experts. For more information, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Related materials:

Bronk biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/cbronk.

Jones biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/mjones.

Stein biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/rstein.

Diamond biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/jdiamond.

Colvin biography: http://chemistry.rice.edu/FacultyDetail.aspx?RiceID=602

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.