UW’s President Ana Mari Cauce visited DC last week for an exciting and jam-packed day, meeting with the members of the Washington Congressional delegation in the Senate and House of Representatives. President Cauce discussed a wide range of topics including updates on the exciting research and studies going on at the university as well as UW’s 2024 goals while thanking our WA delegation for their continued representation and support.
This week, the UW hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Panchanathan, Representative DelBene, and higher education leaders from across the state for the CHIPS and Science “Opportunity Everywhere” Forum. The forum brought together researchers, university leaders and students to discuss how Washington will be competing for Chips and Science funds, including plans to bring chip manufacturing to the U.S., train the workforce, and expand Washington’s leadership in AI and quantum.
To kick off the day, Director Panchanathan met with young UW faculty followed by an AI and machine learning roundtable to discuss recent research developments. The group then made their way to tour the Rachel Carson research vessel where they discussed marine science research made possible through NSF and NOAA funding while onboard. Washington Representative DelBene, staff from Senator Cantwell’s office, as well as leaders from Washington State University, Bellevue College, Central Washington University, Western Washington University and several community and technical colleges joined later in the day for important discussions around the future of CHIPS funding followed by a tour of the UW’s quantum facilities. Director Panchanathan concluded the day with a discussion about diversity in STEM, moderated by UW’s Dean of Engineering Nancy Allbritton. The UW looks forward to continuing our partnership with the federal government to accelerate transformative scientific research.
Read more about the forum here and here.
Earlier this month, the FY2024 President’s Budget Request (PBR) was released outlining the administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”.
The FY24 PBR included:
Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement.
Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, here. We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues.
Last week, the UW’s College of Engineering Dean, Dr. Nancy Allbritton, met with Washington’s congressional members and staff in Washington, D.C. (including with Senator Cantwell pictured above!) Dr. Allbritton was accompanied by Washington State University’s Dean of Engineering, Dr. Mary Rezac, for a few of the meetings to discuss how federal investment in research is helping lead Washington state to the forefront of scientific knowledge and discovery in areas from quantum and AI to clean energy and aerospace.
For more information about visiting the district and setting up meetings with congressional offices, please click here.
President Biden signed the FY23 appropriations bill right before the end of the year to fund the government and its agencies through the 2023 fiscal year.
The bill includes $772.5 billion in nondefense spending ($42.5 billion more than FY22) and $858 billion in defense spending ($76 billion more than last year). The bill also includes $1.8 billion in new funding to implement the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. In a previous blog (linked here) we highlight other final numbers including the Pell Grant increase, ARPA-H, etc.
The final FY23 numbers can be found on our appropriations tracker linked here. We will continue to update these numbers as final calculations come in.