Senate Releases Annual Funding Bills (HBS)

Following the House’s activity in June, the Senate released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 draft appropriations bills late last month.  The Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill would fund the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $10.3 billion, an increase of $1.5 billion or 17 percent above the FY 2022 enacted level and $707 million above the House proposed level.  The proposed NSF increase would be the biggest for the agency in years.  The Senate specifically calls out its support for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate, recognizing its importance in supporting social science research including “advancing scientific understanding of public health, defense and security, education and learning, and the interface between humans and technology.”  Lewis-Burke’s full analysis of the FY 2023 Senate CJS bill can be found here.

The Senate will soon begin negotiating with the House on a package for FY 2023 appropriations.  Changes to the bills are likely as Democratic leadership aims to earn enough Republican votes for final passage of the bills.  A continuing resolution (CR) will likely be required to extend current funding levels past the end of the current fiscal year on September 30 and through the midterm elections in November.

 

Congress Passes Major Innovation Legislation Focused on Semiconductors, STEM Education

Congress passed the CHIPS+Science Act, a long-awaited competitiveness and innovation package, with bipartisan support.  The CHIPS+Science Act appropriates $54 billion in funding for semiconductor research and development and advanced wireless innovation infrastructure.  Included in the funding for semiconductors is $200 million for the CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund, which will support innovative approaches to semiconductor and microelectronics workforce development via the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The legislation also authorizes—but does not appropriate—approximately $102 billion to advance major research initiatives in other emerging technology areas.  Funding for these activities will still need to be provided via the annual appropriations process.  The authorization would support a number of STEM education and workforce development initiatives, including scaling STEM innovation centers, scholarship and fellowship opportunities, increased mentoring efforts for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, expanded support for minority-serving institutions (MSI) and other emerging research institutions, a new AI Scholarships for Service program, and a new Master STEM Teachers Corps pilot program.  A full analysis of the CHIPS+Science Act is available here .

Publication Type
Washington InfO

Topic
Government Relations