The Research and Development Efficiency Act () is a bill that would instruct the

Office of Science and Technology Policy An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific d ...

to establish a working group under the authority of the

National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and ...

to review federal regulations affecting research and research universities and make recommendations on how to streamline them and reduce the regulatory burden on such researchers. The bill was introduced and passed in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

during the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

Background

The

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ...

conducted a survey that found that an average of 42 percent of a federal research grant recipient's time is spent on administrative tasks.

Provisions of the bill

According to a description from Rep.

Ed Royce Edward Randall Royce (born October 12, 1951) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1993 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Royce served as Chairman of the United ...

(R-CA), the bill "establishes a working group to review federal regulations affecting research universities in order to eliminate redundant and duplicative federal regulation."

Procedural history

The Research and Development Efficiency Act was introduced into the

on July 10, 2014 by Rep. Larry Bucshon (R, IN-8). It was referred to the

United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...

. On July 14, 2014, the House voted to pass the bill in a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding v ...

Debate and discussion

The

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ...

(AAU) supported the bill, arguing that the legislation "can lead to a long-needed reduction in the regulatory burden currently imposed on universities and their faculty members who conduct research on behalf of the federal government." According to the AAU, "too often federal requirements" for accounting for federal grant money "are ill-conceived, ineffective, and/or duplicative." This wastes the researchers' times and "reduces the time they can devote to discovery and innovation and increases institutional compliance costs." Rep.

Lamar Smith Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives for for 16 terms, a district including most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as ...

supported the bill, saying that it was "an important step to ensure federal research dollars are being spent on research and not on regulatory requirements." Rep. Bucshon, who introduced the bill, said that his goal is "to alleviate some of the burden placed on our research universities so they can get back to their main goal of conducting basic science research."

References

External links