- White House Releases FY22 Research & Development Budget Priorities
- Senate Unveils “Skinny” COVID-19 Aid Package
- State Department Letter to Governing Boards Outlines Threat of Chinese Communist Party to Higher Education
- RISE Act Gains Support in House, Senate
WHITE HOUSE RELEASES FY22 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGET PRIORITIES
The White House Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy late Friday released a memo outlining the administration’s FY22 research and development budget priorities. The memo reaffirms the importance of the United States’ role as a global leader in science and technology leadership, especially in relation to the administration’s “whole-of-Nation response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The memo sets out the administration’s five R&D budget priorities, including: public health; the “Industries of the Future” – artificial intelligence, quantum information sciences, advanced communications networks/5G, advanced manufacturing, and biotechnology; national security; energy and the environment; and space exploration and utilization. The memo also highlights five crosscutting actions that “underpin the five R&D priorities and ensure departments and agencies deliver maximum return on investment to the American people.”
SENATE UNVEILS “SKINNY” COVID-19 AID PACKAGE
According to CQ News, Senate Republicans could as early as next week reveal a “skinny” pandemic relief measure which reportedly includes: $105 billion for K-12 schools and colleges and universities; $29 billion for COVID-19 vaccine and drug research; $16 billion for testing and contact tracing; liability protections for schools, businesses, and healthcare professionals; a provision to cancel the United States Postal Service’s debt; $300 in weekly unemployment benefits until December 27; and $158 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program. The bill is a pared down version of the chamber’s $1 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, collectively known as the “Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protections, and Schools (HEALS) Act,” which was introduced July 27. House Democrats advanced their $3 trillion proposal, the “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act,” in May.
The new COVID-19 relief bill would not be formally introduced until the Senate returns to Washington after Labor Day. The Wall Street Journal reports that Republican leaders are assessing support on the measure, but that Senate Democrats are already expected to oppose the bill because it is “insufficient to meet the health and economic needs sparked by the pandemic.” If Congress and the White House are unable to reach consensus on a pandemic relief measure, stimulus and relief provisions could be rolled into a continuing resolution that is anticipated at the end of September or a FY21 appropriations bill later this fall.
STATE DEPARTMENT LETTER TO GOVERNING BOARDS OUTLINES THREAT OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY TO HIGHER EDUCATION
On Tuesday, State Department Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach sent a letter to the governing boards of American colleges and universities and their affiliates seeking their assistance to safeguard American technology and asking institutions to ensure national and economic security remain safe and free from foreign interference. In the letter, Krach describes the “growing threat of authoritarian influence,” and outlines the administration’s efforts to guard against the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to academic freedom, human rights in the People’s Republic of China, investments and endowment funds, and intellectual property. The letter asks colleges and universities to critically examine the activities of Confucius Institutes on their campus, protect their intellectual property, and divest from Chinese holdings in their endowments. The letter also notes that “it is imperative that we distinguish between the CCP’s totalitarian regime and the Chinese people, whom we must steadfastly defend from abhorrent acts of xenophobia, racism, and hatred, including those from the PRC government.”
RISE ACT GAINS SUPPORT IN HOUSE, SENATE
The bipartisan “Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act” was introduced into the House in June and in the Senate in July. The AAU-endorsed measure would authorize approximately $26 billion in relief funding to support the nation’s research workforce and offset costs related to laboratory closures and lost research productivity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate version of the bill, S. 4286, recently added Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to bring the total number of cosponsors to six. As of this writing, the House version of the bill, H.R. 7308, has 124 cosponsors.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE: Critical RISE Act Relief Would Support American Research Enterprise | More Than 300 Universities, Organizations Endorse RISE Act