The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) an alliance of more than 140 professional organizations, scientific societies, universities, and businesses that advocate for the National Science Foundation (NSF) has called on lawmakers to complete appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2023 before the end of the calendar year and to fund NSF at the highest level possible. The NSC Alliance is a member of CNSF.
As you know, the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act recently provided strong support for ambitious NSF growth and expanding the geography of innovation, the coalition noted in their letter. The law authorizes $11.9 billion in FY 2023 to enable the expanded mission it outlines for NSF and numerous new activities. NSF will not be able to implement these fully without additional funding as specified in the Act. CNSF urged congressional appropriators to fund NSF as close to the authorized level of $11.9 billion in FY 2023 as possible and at least at the Senate’s proposed level of $10.338 billion.
The coalition sent a separate letter regarding NSF’s FY 2024 budget request to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Office of Management Budget. The letter urged the Administration to request $15.65 billion in NSF research and education investments in FY 2024 as authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167).
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, the letter argued. Now is the time to create more opportunities to bolster our nation’s competitiveness and security.