117th Congress
U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)
Purpose
A bill to establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, and for other purposes.
Summary of Selected Provisions
- Appropriates $52.7 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing/R&D and $1.5 billion for advanced communications R&D
- Creates a Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation focused on a periodically refreshed list of up to 10 “key technology focus areas”
- Recommends Congress provide the new NSF directorate with $29 billion over five years, with its annual budget ramping up from $1.8 billion to $9.3 billion, and increase the annual budget of the rest of NSF from the current level of $8.5 billion to $12 billion over the same period
- Instructs the directorate to apportion its budget between technology development centers, “innovation institutes,” testbeds, lab-to-market initiatives, student and postdoc awards, other NSF directorates, and the EPSCoR program
- Recommends Congress provide $17 billion to the Department of Energy and $17.5 billion to DARPA over five years to support complementary R&D
- Creates a Commerce Department program to foster “technology hubs” in regions of the U.S. that are not already leading centers of innovation, with a recommended budget of $9.4 billion over five years
Primary Sponsors
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SENATOR D-NY
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SENATOR R-IN
Co-sponsors by Party
R
7
D
6
I
0
FYI Coverage
JUN 11, 2021
MAY 14, 2021
APR 20, 2021
APR 16, 2021
MAR 26, 2021
MAR 18, 2021
FEB 24, 2021