2021 Summer LAN Newsletter
Advovcacy Alert
Advocacy Leadership award application open now!
The Scientists Engaging and Educating Decision-makers (SEED) Ambassador Award is an immersive advocacy leadership program with the goal of developing trusted relationships between Society members and elected officials. Recipients of the SEED Ambassador Award will be part of a small class of Society leaders who get personalized, hands-on training to successfully engage with federal, state, and local policymakers. The application for the 2021 SEED Ambassador Award is open now - August 27. Apply here!
What's happened so far
Senators reintroduce bipartisan legislation to boost USDA research funding
Senators Dick Durbin (D, IL) and Jerry Moran (R, KS), reintroduced legislation that would dramatically increase USDA research funding. The America Grows Act would provide a 5% annual funding increase each year for the next ten years for research activities at USDA ARS, NIFA, NAS, and ERS. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D, IL-17) has also introduced a companion bill in the House. Email your Senators to ask them to co-sponsor the bill.
Movement on federal science agency leadership positions
The past few months have seen lots of movement on President Biden picks for federal science leadership positions. In May, Dr. Jewel Bronaugh was confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Bronaugh is the first Black woman and woman of color to serve as Deputy Secretary. Later that month, Dr. Eric Lander was confirmed as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In this position, Lander will serve as the first ever Cabinet-level Science Adviser. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA sent a letter of congratulations to Dr. Lander in his new position.
President Biden also announced his pick to lead Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a professor of soil geochemistry at the University of California, Merced. Berhe’s work investigates how soil regulates the earth’s climate and is an outspoken voice on equity issues. Her selection underscores the administration’s focus on climate change and environmental justice. At this time, the administration has not yet announced its pick for USDA Research, Education, and Economics (REE) undersecretary, a key position for the agriculture research community.
What's happening now
House funding committee advances science spending bills
The House Appropriations Committee is moving forward with its fiscal year (FY) 2022 spending bills, releasing all twelve bills over the past few weeks. The Agriculture bill provides $3.3 billion for USDA REE – $321 million above the FY 2021 enacted level. ARS would receive the bulk of the increase, while research at 1890 universities would also receive a significant increase of nearly $20 million. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) would receive a $15 million increase. For the first time, the House bill includes funding for the Agriculture Advanced R&D Authority (AgARDA).
The House funding bills for NSF and the DOE-Office of Science were also released. NSF received a sizeable 13% funding increase, bringing its budget to $9.6 billion. DOE-Office of Science received a 4% increase, far below the research community’s requested 10% increase. The Senate has not released any of its FY 2022 funding bills. With the August recess rapidly approaching and an increasingly full fall legislative calendar, it will likely be months before the final FY 2022 funding numbers will be decided. See the latest funding details here.
Societies make ag research and infrastructure requests
President Biden’s American Jobs Plan brought infrastructure discussions to the forefront and ASA, CSSA, and SSSA are working with both Congress and the administration to highlight the infrastructure needs of the agriculture research community. In May, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA joined APLU and more than 350 agricultural organizations to call on Congress to invest $11.5 billion in the federal agricultural research infrastructure at colleges of agriculture. The request reflected the findings of a recent report assessing the state of facilities at U.S. colleges and schools of agriculture.
ASA, CSSA, and SSSA have also been working with Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) and other agricultural stakeholders to develop an agriculture infrastructure request to be included in any forthcoming infrastructure proposals. The Societies joined 151 scientific and agricultural groups asking Congress and the Biden administration to support a $40 billion investment in agricultural research, innovation, and agricultural research infrastructure. 31 U.S. House Representatives and seven Senators signed-on to a Dear Colleague Letter supporting the $40 billion investment request.
House and Senate legislation would increase NSF funding, expand focus
Over the past several weeks, both the House and Senate approved bipartisan legislation that would significantly grow the NSF budget - now they need to reconcile the differences between the two bills. After a weeks-long debate, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The final bill encompasses the Endless Frontier Act, now just one part of the overall package, which creates a new Technology Directorate with $29 billion over five years to focus on “industries of the future.”
The House approved a similar, if somewhat smaller, effort. The NSF for the Future Act would double the NSF budget over the next five years and create a new Science and Engineering Solutions Directorate to address “societal challenges.” The next step for Congress is to reconcile these competing visions in a process that could take months. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA are long-time advocates for NSF and while the details of the final legislation remain uncertain, it’s exciting to see strong support for this vital research agency.
What's happening next
Science Policy at the 2021 ASA, CSSA, & SSSA Annual Meeting
The ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting will be meeting in-person for 2021! Join us November 7-10 in Salt Lake City, UT or you can opt to participate virtually. The Science Policy Office will be hosting several policy events throughout the meeting. See the preliminary program here and look for updates as we get closer to the meeting date.