In Brief
Science and Research in the Global Political Landscape: The US and China
FY 2021 Appropriations Outlook
CBO Predicts Deficit to Eclipse $1 Trillion in 2020
2020 State of the Union
House Appropriators Call for Coronavirus Supplemental
House Science Committee Announces New Subcommittee Chairs
Fetal Tissue Research Restrictions Disrupts Disease Study
US House of Representatives Launches Women in STEM Caucus
|
Science and Research in the Global Political Landscape: The US and China
The explosive growth of Chinese investment in science and technology during the past several years has been accompanied by an increasing number of collaborations between Chinese and other scientists throughout the world. US-Chinese scientific collaboration, which constitutes the largest number of these interactions, is currently impacted by political strain as well as the discovery of some "bad actors." This panel, led by four eminent scholars, will provide a forum for discussion of the growth of Chinese science, US-China scientific collaboration, and effective and equitable responses to recent challenges. Join us on Sunday, February 16 at 2:30PM PT at the BPS Annual Meeting to be a part of this important discussion.
Panelists:
Michael Lauer, Director, OER, Deputy Director, Extramural Research, NIH
Frank H. Wu, William L. Prosser Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of Law
Tai‐Ming Cheung, Professor and Director, UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California San Diego, School of Global Policy and Conflict,
Sandra Brown, Vice Chancellor for Research and Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego
Moderator:
Dorothy Beckett, University of Maryland, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, BPS Public Affairs Committee
|
FY 2021 Appropriations Outlook
Congressional Quarterly published a 2020 Legislative Preview focused on the fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations process. In it, they lay out the expected FY21 timeline with the cycle beginning on February 10 with the delivery of the president’s budget request, followed by Appropriations Subcommittee hearings in the House and Senate. The budget caps for FY21 are already in place following passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, at a $5 billion increase over FY20, or $1.375 trillion, to be evenly divided between defense and nondefense funding. While there is an opportunity for both chambers to complete work on many if not all spending bills by August recess, the 2020 election is likely to impact what is actually accomplished by the start of FY21 on October 1.
CBO Predicts Deficit to Eclipse $1 Trillion in 2020
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released the federal budget deficit projection at the end of January. CBO projects the deficit to reach $1.02 trillion in 2020. A combination of the 2017 tax cuts and a surge in new spending has pushed the deficit wider, the report shows. Overall, the CBO projected that the federal government will spend $4.6 trillion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 and bring in $3.6 trillion in tax revenue. According to the Washington Post, this year would mark the first time since 2012 that the deficit breached $1 trillion, a threshold that has alarmed some budget experts because deficits typically contract — not expand — during periods of sustained economic growth.
2020 State of the Union
The final State of the Union (SOTU) for President Trump’s first term in office struck a more unusual tone than any of its predecessors, and the partisan divide was never more apparent. While the president did not go into depth on scientific research, he did speak to healthcare initiatives that impact some areas of biomedical research.
Specifically, the president spoke about the advancement of affordable generic drugs and the increased rate of FDA approvals of new medicines. Next, the president addressed infectious disease, specifically noting the current coronavirus health crisis. The president also spoke about initiatives to improve care for those with kidney disease and Alzheimer’s, new cures for childhood cancer, a goal of eradicating the AIDS epidemic by the end of the decade and an appeal for $50 billion in neonatal research.
House Appropriators Call for Coronavirus Supplemental
House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY017) and Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on February 4th urging them to request emergency supplemental funding to combat the coronavirus, in their FY21 request, rather than transfer existing funds--an idea which HHS Secretary Alex Azar floated earlier this week, after he had already authorized the Centers for Disease Control to tap into a $105 million fund for emergency infectious disease response.
Lowey and DeLauro oppose transferring funds from important HHS activities, including NIH research and Head Start, to mount an aggressive response to this public health crisis. The letter from the two appropriators comes just as HHS announced they would be expanding their partnership with a drug company to develop a product to curb the virus, and as regulators at the FDA approve the use of diagnostics for detection.
House Science Committee Announces New Subcommittee Chairs
To begin the second session of the 116th Congress, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology announced three new subcommittee chairs. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) was named chair of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) became chair of the Subcommittee on Energy, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) was named chair of the Subcommittee on Environment.
Fetal Tissue Research Restrictions Disrupts Disease Study
The Trump administration’s eight-month old decision to limit funding of research that uses fetal tissue is already disrupting NIH research into major diseases, including AIDS, Down syndrome and diabetes. University programs that work with human fetal tissue are forgoing the federal funding they have relied on for decades, imperiling the work of scores of biomedical researchers who depend on the tissue sampling.
US House of Representatives Launches Women in STEM Caucus
At the close of January, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Haley Stevens (D-MI-11) and Jacke Walorski (R-IN-02) launched the bipartisan Women in STEM Caucus. The caucus aims to both women in STEM and broader diversity in STEM, raise awareness and advance legislation related to these issues.
With a historic number of women in Congress, including many with STEM backgrounds and in leadership positions on science and research issues, Reps. Houlahan, Stevens and Walorski were inspired to create the caucus to support and advance women in STEM, and scientific breakthroughs led by women researchers. The Women in STEM Caucus joins the growing group of science and STEM-focused caucuses in the House of Representatives, including the Biomedical Research Caucus, the Neuroscience Caucus and the STEM Education Caucus.