July 2014

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee recently released a “discussion draft” of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2014 to the science community. The bill will reauthorize funding and programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as other science agencies. The Senate bill, expected to be introduced the week of July 28, is remarkably different in tone and language than the House bill which is now ready for a floor vote.

The Senate COMPETES bill is noteworthy for both what is does and does not do. The Senate bill:

• Authorizes substantial year-over year increases in NSF funding for the next five years
• Does not authorize funding by directorate (with the exception of the Education and Human Resources Directorate which traditionally receives a separate line in authorization and appropriations bills)
• Does not reduce funding for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) Sciences or Geosciences directorates, and instead emphasizes the contributions of social and behavioral sciences
• Does not legislate specific conditions for funding research proposals, but highlights the “Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts” criteria NSF uses to evaluate research proposals.

One the House side, the FIRST bill provided an increase in NSF authorization levels that was larger than President Obama’s request, but less than what is needed to keep pace with inflation. Of particular concern, however, is that the FIRST bill authorizes by directorate, presumably for the purpose of cutting the SBE directorate by 42% and the Geosciences directorate by 3%.

The House bill also authorizes funding for only two fiscal years, including the fiscal year that comes to a close in two months. Both bills are strong in their support for STEM education programs at NSF.

The Senate’s version of COMPETES will likely be marked up by the full committee in September. However, given the limited number of days left in the congressional calendar (session ends on September 30), the bill will not likely receive time on the Senate floor. NSF reauthorization will need to wait until the next Congress.