ACS Joins CSNF Letter to OMB and OSTP Requesting FY24 Funding

October 27, 2022

The Honorable Shalanda Young
Office of Management and Budget
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
1650 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20504

The Honorable Arati Prabhakar
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
1650 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20504

Dear Directors Young and Prabhakar,

As you prepare the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) budget submission for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) appreciates the opportunity to submit our funding priorities for the agency.

CNSF is an alliance of more than 140 professional organizations, scientific societies, universities, and businesses united in our advocacy for the NSF. NSF plays a critical role in advancing many of the FY24 research and development priorities articulated by the Biden-Harris Administration, including advancing national security and technological competitiveness, innovating for equity, preventing and preparing for future pandemics, tackling climate change, promoting open science, and cultivating an equitable STEM education and workforce ecosystem.1

CNSF urges the Administration to request $15.65 billion in NSF research and education investments in FY24 as authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167).

We commend Congress and the President for passage and enactment of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The Act is a crucial step toward the U.S. maintaining its global leadership in research, technology, and innovation, all critical for our nation’s economic competitiveness and national security. Spreading the benefits of basic research and technology-fueled innovation across America, and expanding participation in the research ecosystem, are key aims of the Act. It established robust new funding targets for NSF to spur more research, increase STEM workforce preparation and participation, and develop a system of regional science and innovation hubs. If funded as authorized, the Act will enable NSF to help our nation remain the global science and innovation leader in the face of increased global competition.

NSF will require substantial new resources to meet the vision that CHIPS and Science establishes for the agency. Meeting the FY24 authorized funding level would empower NSF to ensure that crucial long-term programs continue to generate ideas and inventions that cannot be imagined today. The nascent Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships needs major growth to fully establish the functions laid out in the legislation and harness the power of NSF research to drive regional innovation and societal impact. NSF needs funding to expand the geography of innovation and enable increased research capacity at emerging institutions, and many worthy STEM education and broadening participation programs are authorized that would help meet the Administration’s critical equity goals. New research infrastructure and instrumentation will require substantial investments and help address the Administration’s priorities in open science and community-engaged R&D. All of these new efforts must coexist with strong funding for NSF’s critical existing research, education, and infrastructure programs that power our STEM research and education ecosystems.

As final FY23 NSF funding remains unresolved in Congress, we want to emphasize the importance of the Administration working with Congress to achieve the authorized FY23 funding level and seeking the CHIPS and Science Act FY24 funding target in the Administration’s FY24 budget submission you are now preparing. Failure to meet these levels of funding for NSF will result in a growing gap between authorized and actual funding that will equate to billions of dollars in lost opportunities to strengthen science, technology, innovation, and the STEM workforce. Now is the time to create more opportunities to bolster our nation’s competitiveness and security.

Thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, we have the playbook. FY24 is the time to fully fund the CHIPS and Science proposed activities for NSF. We look forward to working with you to support NSF funding in FY24.

Sincerely,

The Coalition for National Science Funding

cc: Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, National Science Foundation

Association of American Medical Colleges
American Association of Physics Teachers
Agronomy, Crops, and Soil Science Societies of America
American Geophysical Union
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Geographers
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