By: Jeffrey Bean
Two years ago, U.S. president Joe Biden signed into law one of his administration’s signature bipartisan achievements, the CHIPS & Science Act of 2022. In the semiconductor industry and in educational institutions across the United States the law spurred action and investment on chips – the small components which underpin nearly all current and future technologies. While the semiconductor industry has already started to benefit from most of the $52.7 billion appropriated, it is frequently overlooked that the Science portion of the CHIPS & Science Act (around $200 billion) remains mostly only allocated funding, not appropriated money. In layman’s terms, the money has not transitioned from plans to availability for disbursement.
If the United States wants to maintain leadership in critical and emerging technologies and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research, then the U.S. Congress needs to appropriate money for the Science portion of the CHIPS & Science Act. This lack of appropriations undercuts both U.S. domestic efforts to boost its economy and its ability to collaborate with allies and likeminded partners internationally on pre-competitive research in fields like biotech, quantum, and artificial intelligence. By contrast, the People’s Republic of China is pouring resources into science and technology fields and overtaking the United States in some crucial areas. Even by mid-2023, there was a widespread recognition among congressional staff that money for the Science Act would not be widely available, and the key research agencies cited in the legislation: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) all received appropriations well below the level authorized. This shortfall has continued, with projections showing NSF will only receive a fraction of the $81 billion over five years that has been authorized. In fiscal year 2024, NSF should have received $15.6 billion, but instead received $9 billion, 40 percent below the authorization and 8 percent below the prior year.
The positive side is that the CHIPS Act portion implementation is on track. Tabulating data tracked by the Semiconductor Industry Association shows that the CHIPS Program office has awarded over $32 billion out of $39 billion appropriated for grants, and total semiconductor industry planned investments for facilities in the United States are now over $377 billion. In making these awards, the CHIPS Program Office has now signed memorandums of agreement with over 15 firms, including giants such as Intel, Micron, TSMC, Samsung, and Global Foundries as well as smaller U.S. firms, offering support for leading edge fabrication, assembly packaging and test facilities, legacy node chips, and chips utilized in military applications. The pivotal National Semiconductor Technology Center is gradually coalescing. In parallel, numerous university electrical engineering programs, community colleges, and research facilities have been energized as the quest to make up a significant talent deficit both in the U.S. and globally remains. Yet there is a need to develop talent and innovation outside of just computing hardware.
Unfortunately, the prospects for broader revitalization of the U.S. STEM education talent pipeline, the U.S. federal government R&D enterprise, and critical scientific research remains illusory. The list of initiatives and programs in the CHIPS and Science Act for STEM research is extensive and well-structured but funding stagnant. Of course, one of the reasons for the legislation’s broad bipartisan support is the reality that the federal funding for research and development (R&D)– the backbone of national innovation – has curtailed in the last fifty years.
Some would argue that trends demonstrate private sector investments in R&D have replaced the need for extensive federally funded research in STEM. But the real dollar to result value of federal R&D funding is shared across the country (and in some cases globally), rather than concentrated in one or a handful private firms. Serving under-resourced research institutions, developing and expanding STEM fellowship and mentorship programs, regionalizing research hubs to make them more accessible, and implementing additional programs to translate scientific research into commercial innovation are all fundamental aspects of the Science Act that have not yet materialized due to a lack appropriations.
The CHIPS & Science Act negotiated from 2020-2022 represents a bipartisan triumph. The champions of this legislation need to follow through. Regardless of who wins in November 2024, future congressional sessions need to finish the job, and appropriate full funding for the Science Act components to maintain U.S. STEM research and scientific leadership.
Jeffrey D. Bean is Program Manager for Technology Policy and Editor at ORF America.