The Senate passed the $8.3 billion supplemental to address COVID-19 with only one Senator voting against. The House passed the measure last night.
The President has said he would sign the measure.
Category: Administration
White House Releases American AI Initiative: Year One Annual Report
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released the American AI Initiative: Year One Annual Report on February 26, 2020. The full report can be viewed here.
The report details key milestones since President Trump made artificial intelligence a focus of US national strategy in February 2019.
The national strategy focuses on investing in AI development, enhancing access to quality resources, removing barriers to innovation, training an AI-ready workforce, promoting a supportive international environment, and embracing trustworthy AI for government services.
Demonstrating this commitment, the Administration has pushed for increased funding for AI research in the FY21 Budget Request.
Upcoming: House Science, Space, and Technology Hearing on FY21 Budget Proposal
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will convene a hearing before the full committee: “A Review of the Administration’s Federal Research and Development Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021”.
Witness: Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Date: Thursday, February 27th, 2020
Time: 10:00 am EST
Place: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building
To watch the hearing, please visit the Committee Website.
The Details Still Aren’t Pretty (Part 2)
We continue to look through the budget documents released yesterday.
National Science Foundation
As noted yesterday, AI research seems to fare well across the different agencies. While the Computer Science Directorate seems to be primary beneficiary of that initiative at NSF, other directorates within the Research and Related Activities (R&RA) account at the NSF are slated for cuts in the budget. In fact, NSF as an agency would receive a cut of 7 percent in FY2021. The total budget for R&RA would be funded at approximately $6.2 billion, a cut of more than $500 below the current appropriated amount.
DOD
With respect to DOD-sponsored research, the Science and Technology accounts, “6.1” through “6.3” accounts, would see an overall decrease of 13.5 percent below the current level. The Basic Research programs (“6.1” research) would be cut by nearly 11 percent.
DOE
The Office of Science at the Department of Energy would be cut by more than 17 percent while ARPA-E is slated for elimination.
Environmental Science Programs
Not surprisingly, programs in the environmental and climate science arenas would also see cuts.
For example, at the EPA, the Office of Science and Technology would be reduced by 32 percent. Within the USGS , the Administration has proposed eliminate the Cooperative Research Units and has proposed to fund the Climate Adaptation Science Centers at $9.78 million, which is currently funded at $38.3 million.
We will continue to provide further updates. It is important to keep in mind that the president’s budget being released is the start of a very long process, with Congress having the final say in how the funds are actually appropriated.
The Details Are Not Pretty (Part I)
The details of the President’s FY2021 budget requests for various agencies of interest to UW are not pretty. Let’s start with some of the details related student aid and higher education programs at the Education Department.
Programs Slated for Elimination
- Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)– Currently funded at $865 million
- GEAR UP– Currently funded at $365 million
- Title VI/ International Education Programs– Currently funded at $76 million
- Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN)– Currently funded at $23 million.
Other Education Department Proposals
- The Pell Grant maximum would remain at $6,345. The proposal seeks to fold the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant program into the Pell program.
- In addition to eliminating the SEOG program, the budget proposals also seeks to cut the Federal Work-Study program from $1.18 billion to $500 million while also changing the allocation formula.
- The president’s budget calls for turning the various TRIO programs into a single block grant program that would be administered by states. The proposal calls for the total funds for this new block grant to be cut from $1.09 billion to $950 million.
Student Loans
- On the loans front, all subsidized loans would be eliminated, meaning all federal student loans would become unsubsidized loans, including undergraduate loans. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program would be eliminated as well.
- The department proposes to consolidate five income-driven repayment (IDR) into a single IDR program, with the repayment rate set at 12.5 percent of discretionary income. The standard repayment cap would be repealed. For those borrowers with only undergraduate loan debt, the remaining balance would be forgiven after 180 months of repayment, while those with graduate debt would have their balances forgiven after 30 years of repayment.
- Loan limits would change under the budget proposal as well. It calls for Parent PLUS loan limits for undergraduate students to be set at $26,500. Graduate students would see their annual loan limits capped at $50,000 and the aggregate limits capped at $100,000 under this proposal.
- In addition, the Administration wants to study the idea of turning the Office of Federal Student Aid into a separate, non-governmental entity.
- The Administration also wants to explore the concept of requiring “postsecondary institutions that accept taxpayer funds to share in the financial responsibility associated with student loans.”
Institution of Education Sciences
The Administration proposes to cut IES by $58 million below the FY2020 level to $565 million for FY2021. Within its budget, it is calling for the elimination of both the Regional Education Laboratories and the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems.