Bills giving NSF big budget boost gain traction

doi:10.1126/science.372.6544.777

GSTDTAP > 气候变化

DOI	10.1126/science.372.6544.777
	Bills giving NSF big budget boost gain traction
	Jeffrey Mervis
	2021-05-21
发表期刊	Science
出版年	2021
英文摘要	Two congressional panels have endorsed a vision for a rapid doubling of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) budget as part of a broader strategy for outinnovating China and the rest of the world. Science advocates hailed the move as an important step in a 20-year effort to move NSF toward parity with the National Institutes of Health, the giant among federal research agencies. But the panels scaled back one aspect of the original proposal, by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY): creating a new technology directorate at NSF that would dwarf the rest of the agency. In separate votes last week on related bills—one pending in the U.S. Senate, the other before the House of Representatives—lawmakers called for boosting NSF's existing programs from $8.5 billion to roughly $13 billion over 5 years. “Great news,” says one higher education lobbyist. “But there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.” Legislators must negotiate other, more contentious provisions in the sprawling Senate bill. And the bills only authorize spending; even if they become law, Congress will have to appropriate the additional money. First introduced in May 2020, Schumer's bill, the Endless Frontier Act (S. 1260), proposed a $100 billion technology directorate at NSF to accelerate development of 10 key technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and quantum information science. The money would go to create university technology and innovation centers that work closely with industry, fund test beds for promising technologies, promote entrepreneurship at campuses across the country, and invest heavily in education and training. Although the research community welcomed the idea of additional funding for NSF, some worried a huge new technology directorate might divert NSF from its core mission of supporting fundamental research across all disciplines without regard to how quickly—or even whether—it fuels economic growth and contributes to national security. Some legislators, meanwhile, fretted that NSF's directorate might duplicate research funded by other federal agencies or that U.S. competitors, notably China, might find a way to illegally acquire some of the fruits of that research. On 11 May a bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–KY) advocating for giving the Department of Energy's (DOE's) network of 17 national laboratories a bigger role in any funding boost. The letter added, “DOE and its labs are also better placed and experienced to prevent the theft of defense and other commercial technologies and know-how by competitors, including China.” The Senate commerce committee took the concerns to heart the following day. The new version, approved by a vote of 24 to four, now authorizes DOE to receive $16.9 billion in additional funding over 5 years, compared with a total of $26.6 billion for NSF's technology directorate. NSF's overall budget would grow to $21.3 billion by 2026, with the technology directorate getting $8.4 billion that year. ![Figure][1] DATA: U.S. SENATE; U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Senator Todd Young (R–IN), the chief advocate for the Endless Frontier Act during the hearing, was not happy. “This is a poison pill,” he said of the provision shifting funds to DOE. “It would underfund the technology directorate … [and] also seems somewhat parochial.” But Leland Cogliani, a lobbyist for Lewis-Burke Associates who tracks energy issues, says the change had broad appeal. Republicans, for example, “didn't want to grow the overall size of the bill,” he says, “and other senators didn't want to harm NSF core programs. They also wanted to achieve some degree of parity between DOE and NSF.” The Senate committee also responded to long-standing complaints that NSF funding is concentrated in a handful of states. It attached language backed by the panel's top Republican, Senator Roger Wicker (MS), requiring both NSF and DOE to allocate 20% of any new funds to institutions in states, such as his, that struggle to win federal research grants. It also adds geography to the categories used to define the diversity of grantees, which traditionally include race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status. “This amendment is a game changer for geographic diversity. … It is one of the changes that I am most excited about,” Wicker exclaimed. The next day, the research subcommittee of the House science committee agreed unanimously to authorize a 116% hike in NSF's overall budget over 5 years. Funding for its traditional programs would rise to $13.2 billion, close to the $12.9 billion in Senate bill. However, the new NSF directorate—called Science and Engineering Solutions in the House bill—would be significantly smaller than the Senate's version, starting at $1 billion in 2022 and growing to $5.1 billion in 2026. “This bill pushes NSF to be its own best self, not an entirely new agency,” explained Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–TX), who chairs the full committee. The committee's top Republican, Representative Frank Lucas (OK), agreed. “The funding path is practical, sustainable, and in balance with the rest of the foundation.” The narrower House bill faces a relatively smooth path to passage. However, the Senate bill, now 1420 pages, hit the floor this week with new and controversial sections aimed at dealing with China's ascendent economic and military strength. “We fear the bill may become overloaded with extraneous and complicated provisions that will undermine its primary goals,” says Barbara Snyder, president of the 66-member Association of American Universities, suggesting that AAU and other higher education groups might withdraw their support if their concerns aren't addressed. The White House will also be an important player. President Joe Biden has expressed support for investing $50 billion over several years in a technology directorate at NSF. But to date his requested 20% boost for NSF in 2022 doesn't specify any initial funding for the directorate. [1]: pending:yes
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推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Jeffrey Mervis. Bills giving NSF big budget boost gain traction[J]. Science,2021.
APA	Jeffrey Mervis.(2021).Bills giving NSF big budget boost gain traction.Science.
MLA	Jeffrey Mervis."Bills giving NSF big budget boost gain traction".Science (2021).