The House approved earlier this afternoon the “CHIPS Plus” legislation by a vote of 243 to 187, with one Member voting “Present”. The House passage now sends the bill to the White House for the President’s signature.
Category: On the Hill
“CHIPS Plus” Bill Passed by Senate
By a vote of 64 to 33, the Senate adopted this afternoon the “CHIPS Plus” legislation. While much of the press attention has been focused on the provisions related to semiconductor chips in the 1,000-plus page bill, most of the legislation is focused on the broader scientific research enterprise. Although the legislation addresses, among other agencies, the Department of Energy, NASA, and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, the language on the National Science Foundation has been of the most interest to a significant portion of the academic community.
For example, the bill would authorize a new Technology, Innovation, and Partnership Directorate at the NSF, which would be charged with emphasizing applied research and commercialization. Another set of provisions would greatly expand the scope of the ESPCOR program and require NSF, to the great extent practicable, to allocate 20 percent of all NSF research and education funds to institutions in EPSCOR states by FY2029; the bill calls for the set-asides to start at 15.5 percent starting in FY2023. In the most recent year, about 13-14 percent of all funds went to such institutions.
A section-by-section of the summary is available here.
The proponents of the legislation hope that the House will take it up before recessing for August this Friday.
USGS, DOE Nominees Clear Committee, Head to Full Senate
Earlier today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved by voice vote the nominations of David Applegate to be Director of the USGS and Evelyn Wang to be Director of ARPA-E.
Both nominations now head to the full Senate for its consideration.
House Passes Omnibus, FY22 Chart Now Available
Yesterday the House passed an omnibus appropriations package for FY22, following negotiations between House and Senate appropriators. The final package includes modest increases for key scientific and higher education accounts. The Senate is expected to vote on the package quickly to send it to the President’s desk. Current government funding is set to expire on Friday, so another short continuing resolution will be necessary to allow the Senate to clear procedural steps.
A chart tracking key accounts relevant to UW is available here. Our office will post detailed updates as information becomes available. We will also discuss appropriations in more detail during our town hall on March 24th at noon PT (register here).
2022 Federal Agenda Now Live
The University of Washington has published our 2022 Federal Agenda reaffirming our commitment to a robust partnership with the federal government. You can view the agenda here.
On March 24th at 12pm PT, Director of Federal Relations Sarah Castro will participate in a Town Hall highlighting the key elements of our federal agenda. Members of the UW community can register here.