Snap Fact #171

The new bill is a comprehensive overhaul of 2007 legislation aimed at a 10-year budget doubling for involved agencies (listed below). 

Ironically, that idea was first proposed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and embraced by the Obama Administration, but in recent months, knocking the plan has become a way for House Republicans to label Democrats as reckless big spenders. 

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish a committee under the National Science and Technology Council, including the Office of Management and Budget, that has the responsibility of coordinating federal programs and activities in support of STEM* education, including at the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Education, and all other federal agencies that have programs and activities in support of STEM education. *STEM stands for the academic and professional disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Through federal funding and coordination of initiatives that support key national priorities, the Act strengthens the foundation of the U.S. economy, creates new jobs, and increases U.S. competitiveness abroad. HR 5116, which updates the America COMPETES Act of 2007, commits $45 billion to science, technology, and education programs over the next three years.