The Bipartisan Innovation Act Conference Committee Meets

On Thursday, May 12, the Joint House-Senate Conference Committee began negotiations on the Bipartisan Innovation Act. As mentioned in previous Washington Insights and Highlights Newsletters, both the House of Representatives and Senate passed their respective innovations bills. These bills would authorize funding for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and provide subsidies to the semiconductor industry to restart domestic production of semiconductor chips. During the conference committee meeting, conferees from both parties stress the need to reestablish domestic production of semiconductor chips and the theft of intellectual property by foreign actors, such as China.

In March 2021, CGS joined other higher education associations in a letter to House and Senate leaders that outlined the communities’ legislative priorities for a conference committee agreement.