AAU: NSF Would Lose Nearly $500 Million Under Funding Proposal
Although Congress needs to act swiftly to pass appropriations legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown, the package of recently introduced bills for the balance of fiscal year (FY) 2024 would “reduce” the capacity of the National Science Foundation (NSF) “by almost $500 million or more than 5% below current levels. At a time when this agency has been identified as core to so many critical priorities, this decision is short-sighted and will cede U.S. leadership to our competitors,” Barbara Snyder, president of the Association of American Universities (AAU), warned in a March 4 post.
Snyder called NSF “the heart of research and workforce training in these areas and is poised to transform regional economies all across the nation through new, congressionally-mandated programs such as the Regional Innovation Engines,” and said the agency was “identified as critical to our national competitiveness in recent legislation, which set it on a five-year growth plan.” If passed as proposed, the bills will “undercut” NSF’s work and risk “our nation’s future as a global leader in science and innovation.” Congress needs to “pay more than lip service to ensure U.S. scientific leadership in the future and put real dollars forward to support NSF and its critical programs. We must refocus our efforts and ensure that we make up the deficit in FY 25,” Snyder added.