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

Office of Science and Technology Policy The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...

to establish a working group under the authority of the National Science and Technology Council 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 is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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 Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

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 of the United States, president and the United ...

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 (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 standing committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee h ...

. 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 "by 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 respondin ...

Debate and discussion

The

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...

(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 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