DC Insight - 11/10/23

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Biden Administration to wade into debate about college athletes' economic rights
The Atlantic – November 8, 2023
The Biden Administration is ready to wade into the debate about the economic rights of college athletes. The White House held an event with former college football players, including Andrew Luck, to discuss revenue sharing, safety standards and athletes having a voice in decisions, according to a White House official.

CHIPS and Science: FY24 Research Appropriations Short By Over $7 Billion
Federation of American Scientists
Science was supposed to see a major funding boost after Congress passed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act last year. The bipartisan bill promised to provide $174 billion over the next 5 years to various federal science agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). According to an FAS report, funding set aside by Congress for NSF, NIST, and the DOE Office of Science is $7 billion below authorized levels.

Science Committee Passes Weather Act Reauthorization
Committee on Science Space and Technology – November 8, 2023
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology passed H.R. 6093, the Weather Act Reauthorization, at a full committee markup with bipartisan support. H.R. 6093, Weather Act Reauthorization continues to strengthen and advance the U.S. weather system by improving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s critical weather research, supporting improvements in weather forecasting and prediction, expanding commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data, and more.

NIFA Invests in Scientific Equipment and Instruments
USDA – November 8, 2023
The Equipment Grants Program (EGP), serves to increase access to shared special purpose equipment/instruments for scientific research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs in our nation's institutions of higher education, including State Cooperative Extension Services. The program seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research at eligible institution, by providing organizations with opportunities to acquire equipment/instruments that supports the research, research training, and Extension goals of the organization. The Curators of The University of Missouri were an awarded recipient.

GOP rep announces committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses
The Hill – November 9, 2023
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Wednesday the committee will hold a hearing next week on antisemitism on college campuses amid the ongoing war between Israel and militant group Hamas. Smith announced that the committee will hear from multiple witnesses in a Nov. 15 hearing.

Reforming Higher Education, One Bill at a Time
Inside Higher Ed – November 9, 2023
The U.S. House’s education committee is moving forward with a piecemeal approach to updating the Higher Education Act of 1965—a massive piece of legislation that governs federal financial aid programs and a range of other policies but hasn’t been reauthorized since 2008. Section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires colleges and universities to disclose all foreign gifts and contracts totaling $250,000 or more twice a year. The DETERRENT Act would lower the threshold to $50,000 and require reporting annually. Gifts and contracts of any value from countries of concern would have to be reported.