March 2023 Washington InfO

Biden Administration Releases 2024 President’s Budget Request

On  March 9, President Biden unveiled an overview of his fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request to Congress.  Similar to his past budget requests, President Biden’s top priorities continue to focus on more affordable health care, addressing climate and clean energy, expanding access to childcare and college, and advancing equity.  The President’s budget request also builds on last year’s enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act with proposals to significantly increase investments in innovation, research, and tech-based economic development.
Overall, the budget request would increase funding for research and development, climate and environment, manufacturing, education, and healthcare programs of interest to the research and science communities.  Key themes throughout the request include support for increasing investment in emerging technologies, such as AI and tech-based economic development, adoption of next generation technologies, including human-machine learning; understanding the impacts of climate change; and fostering best practices for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In the budget request, NSF would be funded at $11.31 billion in FY 2024, an 18.6 percent or $1.78 billion increase above the FY 2023 base level and 14.6 percent above NSF’s total FY 2023 funding including all supplemental funds.  The budget request’s emphasis on the TIP Directorate, climate, clean energy, and equity aligns with Biden Administration priorities and congressional interest in boosting NSF’s role in competitiveness.  The Biden Administration also proposes workforce investments in evidence-based training opportunities, career pathways, and sector partnership models.

The release of the budget request also kicks off the FY 2024 appropriations process, prompting the House and Senate to hold budget hearings this spring and markup the 12 annual spending bills this summer.  Lewis-Burke will continue to advocate for SIOP priorities throughout this process.

SIOP Engages Navy, Senate Offices on DOD Prevention and Wellness Workforce Needs

GREAT Chair Kristin Saboe and the Lewis-Burke team met with Navy officials and the office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) regarding new requirements for the Department of Defense (DOD) to create a prevention and wellness workforce, as part of SIOP’s defense and security advocacy efforts. The provision, championed by Senator Gillibrand, is aimed at combatting sexual assault in the military and behavioral health challenges faced by servicemembers. Given the need for the DOD to rapidly recruit, hire, and train a large number of new employees, many who may be unfamiliar with working in government settings, SIOP engaged with both the Department of the Navy and Senator Gillibrand’s staff to understand the challenges facing the DOD in meeting this requirement and evaluate how I-O psychology expertise can inform potential solutions. SIOP intends to continue engagement on this issue and other I-O focused topics in the defense and security space going forward.

SIOP Engages on Federal Hiring Legislation

SIOP met with Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) to discuss the Chance to Compete Act of 2023, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed in January 2023.  This legislation would make reforms to introduce more skills- and competency-based hiring into the federal hiring process.  It intends to build on the Trump-era executive order Reforming and Modernizing the Federal Hiring Process to require federal agencies to prioritize hiring based on skills rather than college degrees.  The Senate HSGAC committee expects to mark-up the bill this spring.  SIOP will continue to track the progress of this and all other federal hiring legislation.