Climate Resilience, Budget Cuts, Defense Research
BU IN DC
Sheryl Grace of the College of Engineering spoke about her research at a Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 18th.
Greg Wellenius and Amruta Nori-Sarma of the School of Public Health hosted a Capitol Hill briefing on building equitable resilience to climate events on July 20th.
SPH HOSTS CAPITOL HILL BRIEFING
On Thursday, the Center for Climate and Health at the School of Public Health (SPH) hosted a Capitol Hill briefing for Congressional staff on how to build equitable resilience to climate events. Professor Amruta Nori-Sarma highlighted CAFE, a joint BU-Harvard environmental health research coordination center supported by a $6.7 million National Institutes of Health grant. Dr. Leticia Nogueira of the American Cancer Society explained how climate change impacts healthcare delivery and access, and Marissa Zampino of the Mystic Watershed Association described community-based efforts to mitigate extreme weather impacts on vulnerable populations. SPH’s Gregory Wellenius moderated a question and answer session with the panelists and audience, followed by closing remarks from U.S. Senator Edward Markey (D-MA).
HOUSE PROPOSES RESTRAINED FUNDING FOR STUDENT AID, RESEARCH
Congress continues to work on fiscal year 2024 spending bills, proposing to shrink or hold steady funding for student aid and science accounts in order to bring spending below the budget caps set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (Public Law 118-5). Republican House appropriators proposed maintaining the maximum Pell Grant award at its current level of $7,395, eliminating Federal Work Study, and reducing funding for the Institute of Education Sciences by 12%. For science agencies, a House subcommittee recommended a 1% increase for the National Science Foundation, a 9% decrease to the National Institutes of Health, and a 0.1% decrease for NASA research programs. The House Appropriations Committee would also cut the budgets of both the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities by 10%. The spending bills still need to approved by the full U.S. House of Representatives and negotiated with the U.S. Senate, and the final budget outcome is unlikely to be determined until late this year.
HOUSE APPROVES DEFENSE POLICY BILL
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill that sets military policy and provides a framework for the research priorities of the Department of Defense. Lawmakers adopted several proposals which purport to curb malign foreign involvement in Defense-funded research, such as restricting research collaborations with Chinese entities and creating a public database of all scientists working on Defense-funded research. The bill also proposes a ban on so-called “gain of function” research with microorganisms and would require DOD grantees to provide at least a 25% cost-share. The U.S. Senate began debate on its own defense policy bill, which does not contain the House bill provisions, this week; the two chambers are expected to reconcile their bills later this year.