The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)—an alliance of more than 130 professional organizations, scientific societies, universities, and businesses that advocate for the National Science Foundation (NSF)—has submitted a number of science policy priorities and key personnel recommendations to President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team.

The undersigned organizations and institutions, representing hundreds of thousands of individuals and entities working in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics, urge you to complete work on the fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations bills without delay. The disruption created by short and long-term continuing resolutions (CRs) has severe consequences for science and research. The public health and economic crises caused by COVID-19 further compound the negative effects of unpredictable funding; as such, in addition to finalizing the annual funding levels for science agencies and programs, we urge enactment of emergency research relief funding to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Public Policy Report has been released. The report provides analysis and communication on important issues in the scientific community.

House and Senate Appropriators have reached an agreement on top-line allocations for the twelve appropriations bills to divide the $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending for fiscal year (FY) 2021, but disagreements remain over the exact provisions. Both chambers need to pass and the President needs to sign the spending package before the current stopgap measure expires to avert a government shutdown.

President-Elect Joe Biden has announced that former Secretary of State John Kerry will serve as the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change. In this newly created position on the National Security Council, Kerry would become the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to have a portfolio dedicated to climate change.

President-Elect Joe Biden has announced that he will nominate Neera Tanden to be the next Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Tanden is the President and CEO of the Washington, DC-based think tank, Center for American Progress.

On December 1, 2020, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—a panel of independent scientific experts on vaccines that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—approved the recommendation that health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities should receive the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations.

As Congress seeks to finalize fiscal year 2021 (FY21) appropriations legislation, we urge Congress to negotiate and pass the FY21 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill and make a significant funding increase for NSF a high priority.

The latest Public Policy Report has been released. The report provides analysis and communication on important issues in the scientific community.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations released all twelve fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriation bills on November 10, 2020. The bills will forego Committee markups and debate within the Senate and instead serve as a starting point for bicameral negotiations on an omnibus spending agreement.