On March 11, 2021, Congress enacted the latest COVID-19 relief package—the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319). The package includes $600 million for the National Science Foundation and $150 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, but it does not include research relief provisions at the levels requested by the scientific community.
The Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act has been reintroduced in the new Congress with bipartisan support and has been backed by the scientific community, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Fred Upton (R-MI), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Frank Lucas (R-OK) have introduced the bill in the House (H.R. 869) and Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced a companion measure in the Senate (S. 289).
The RISE Act would authorize approximately $25 billion across federal science agencies to be awarded to independent research institutions, national laboratories, and universities to address pandemic related disruptions to federally funded research. The legislation would allocate $3 billion in research relief for the National Science Foundation. Emergency relief funding proposed under the RISE Act would enable U.S. researchers, including graduate students and postdocs, to recover from impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers who introduced the RISE Act are requesting their colleagues in Congress to sign on as cosponsors.
Please take a few moments to ask your Representative and Senators to cosponsor the RISE Act from the AIBS Legislative Action Center.